Saturday, Aug 9, 2014

The Quest - Oak Mountain

877 Findlay Dr

Pelham, AL Short Quest, Long Quest, Scouts Quest, Family Quest

This Event Took Place Sat. Aug 9, 2014

About The QUEST - Oak Mountain

The Quest - Oak Mountain will start at a very unique location. We will use the Pavilion just off the Peavine Falls Parking lot. The Family QUEST will venture no further than one mile from that location. The Short QUEST will cover a 2 mile radius but not extend beyond the park boundaries. The Long QUEST will cover a much larger area, perhaps 4 or 5 miles from the start.

All QUEST participants will receive a small trail map with a "Q-sheet" on the back. The Q-sheet will have one number matching each flag on the course and will give the direction from that flag to the QP. For example, when you find flag #10, look at the Q-sheet and check the direction. Suppose it says (Flag #10 - 270 deg. - 20 Points) You would leave the flag walking due "west" or 270 deg. until you reached the QP. Simple, Sometimes! Sometimes, not so simple. Sometimes, Impossible! That's where the fun comes in. The value of each QP will be posted on the Q-sheet.

"QUEST Points" (QPs) can be located in two ways. First, and easiest, you can follow existing trails to numbered flags located along the trails as mentioned above. The second way is to go directly from Flag to Flag. If you intend to find QPs this way you should go to the QUEST website Friday Night at 7:00 PM. High resolution maps will be posted of the QPs and you can determine the "most likely" course from point to point.
Go to the website from more details.

The QUEST - Family Division

The Family QUEST will limit the distance you will need to travel to reach the Quest Points or "QPs" to less than one mile. All of the QPs in the Family Quest will be very easy to reach. Many, just steps of the trails. Easy enough to reach that children can find them, with a little adult assistance. Anyone can enter the Family QUEST and compete in the Family Division as long as they have children 12 years or younger competing with them. Just bring your kids (or you neighbors kids) and have a blast. Family teams must compete together at all times. That is, the child or children must work together with all adults in the group to find QPs. One older member or an adult member of the group may not heads off alone and searches independently of the rest of the group. The Short QUEST will be limited to 3 hours.

The Short QUEST - Individual Division

The Short QUEST has a combination of easy to reach Quest Points, "QPs," difficult QPs and extremely challenging QPs. The more difficult the QP is to obtain the more points the QP is worth. To compete in the short division you will need to travel no more than 2 miles from the start and you can decide how difficult you want to make your Quest. If you want to win, then it is going to be "Tough." All QPs can be reached from existing trails. Find the numbered blue flags along the trails, get the coordinates off you cue sheet and head to the QP. Beware, following the trails to QPs will require traveling greater distances than simply going from one QP to the next. Someone good at orienteering can walk and give a runner following the trails a run for their money. The Short QUEST will be limited to three hours.

The Long QUEST - Nothing is "Off Limits"

This one will be tough. As with the Individual Short QUEST, some QPs in the Long QUEST will be easy to reach, some will be difficult and some will be extremely challenging to acquire. The QPs can be located anywhere in the 10,000 acre Oak Mountain State Park but with a 6 hour time limit, we will limit the area to a reasonable distance. You may collect QPs from the Short Quest if you like but the real valuable QPs will be located in very remote places, far from the start. You can look at the points value of QPs and their location on the maps that will be posted Friday Night, 13 hours before the start. (Lucky 13!) This is also when you will know where the start will be. The course will be designed so that Skilled Orienteer that is a strong hiker will be able to compete with runners that choose to follow the trails. The trekkers will need to be in good conditions. When I say no place is off limits, I mean it. QPs may be located far off trails in very difficult to reach area. You will likely get your feet wet as well. Just be prepared for anything. The Long QUEST will be limited to 6 hours.

Event's current local time: 2:00 AM CT

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