White Earth 2019
Saturday and Sunday July 13 and 14
Forest orienteering event on the White Earth and Wahstao maps.
Same courses both days – come for one or both.
(No extra charge for the second time).
Information on this web page subject to change. Please check back later.
Location: SE of Smoky Lake. Approximately 1.75 hours drive from Edmonton. Location Map
Terrain: rolling sand hills; some areas of subtle contours, but major features are never far away. Very few trails; more plentiful animal tracks, which generally have not been mapped. Unfortunately there is new deadfall throughout the terrain, most of which has also not been mapped. Near controls, we have done our best to add some of the new deadfall to the map.
Map: 1:10,000 with 5m contours; originally mapped 2005; some updating since.
Registration/starts
Saturday 11:30am – 1pm (beginner & refresher clinics available during this time) Courses close: Saturday 4 pm*;
Sunday 10am – noon (beginner & refresher clinics available during this time) Courses close Sunday 3pm*
*everyone must check back in by this time.
Help picking up controls on Sunday much appreciated.
Courses:
1/2 Beginner/novice – controls on sandy road / major trails to start, then controls just off trails; some flagging when trails are indistinct. 2.2 km
3 Intermediate – controls on major features close to ‘handrails’ (such as trails) and/or with catching features nearby. Simple route choice problems; 4.3 km
4 technically advanced but short and on gentler terrain; unfortunately there is a lot of deadfall that is hard to avoid; 2.4 km
5 technically advanced long; 5.8 km
6 technically advanced longest; 7.3 km
Start locations:
The start for courses 3, 4, 5, and 7 is ~315 m back up the road from Registration / Finish.
The start for course 1 / 2 is a further 400 m south along the main track from Registration / Finish
Entry fees:
All participants must sign a lilac waiver.
Orienteering Club Annual Members: $10 per map, which may be shared by a family/small group. Fee includes SPORTident electronic timing card, plus, if necessary, compass and whistle. $5 each additional map for small groups going out together. (Deposit of driver’s permit required for rentals)
Non-members: $15 per map, which may be shared. Fee includes SPORTident electronic timing card, plus compass and whistle. $5 each additional map for small groups going out together. (Deposit of driver’s permit required for rentals)
Organizers: Mary-Lou H (O300 official), Kim K (O200 official)
Course setters notes
- As mentioned above, there is new deadfall that has not been mapped but we did try to map any deadfall that was close to controls.
- Where the forest is free of deadfall, it is absolutely lovely
- We saw 3 deer (2 adults and a fawn) while out flagging the control locations, and a few orders of magnitude more mosquitoes
What to bring: Clothes suitable for the weather, sun screen, insect repellent, your own water supply to carry if it’s very hot. Long pants and long sleeves highly recommended (protection against ticks and rose thorns) Bring a whistle and compass if you have your own.
Driving directions:
from the south on SH 855: turn right/east onto Twp Rd 590.
After about 8km, at the ‘almost’ T-junction, turn left/north onto RR164.
Drive 3.2km north.
Turn right/east onto Twp 592.
Drive 1.6km east. Watch for orienteering signs indicating to go south/right down an unnamed dirt road.
from the west on Hwy 28: from the Hospital at the east edge of Smoky Lake, drive about 7.5km east along Hwy 28.
Turn south/right onto RR164.
Drive 3.2km south, then turn east/left onto Twp 592.
Parking location:
820 m after turning south onto the dirt track off of Twp 592 (see map), turn left (east) through the gate onto the well-head access road.
Park beside the track, leaving room for vehicles to get through. Registration is 500 m further south, back along the main track you came in on, from where you turned to park
* Note: as of June 30th, there were large pools of water on the track, and deep-ish ruts, but the organizers had no problems getting through in a VW Golf Alltrack.
Other Attractions to make it even more worth your while coming:
Map is quite close to the historic Victoria Settlement and Metis Crossing – original buildings, interpretive staff. Take Victoria Trail off Hwy. 855, just north of the river.
You can visit Skaro Shrine, built in 1919 as a replica of the Grotto of Lourdes. NW corner of Hwys. 45 & 831.
Lots of lovely Ukrainian Orthodox Churches, including historic (1904) Pakan Church.
On Saturday 10am until noon, there’s a Farmers’ Market at the Smoky Lake Agriplex (northeast part of town, visible from Hwy 28