Dear _____,
Thank you again for signing up the the first ever Goat Trials, and we’re sorry for the wait for the featured route information this morning.
This morning we are unveiling the featured route venues for this first week, our Summit Week vertical gain challenge!
Many of you submitted guesses and scored yourselves some points before even having to lace up your shoes. We’ll post and share those points soon.
Here are the venues:
– Meadowdale Beach Park: +420 feet, start on the beach by the path tunnel and follow the main trail (either way around at the bottom) to the edge of the parking lot at the top of the hill. See the photos for the Points of Interest.
– Blyth Park, Norway Hill: +420 feet, start at the southeast corner of the parking lot, and take any route to the top of the escarpment on the pipeline right-of-way. The map shows three suggested routes, and the POI (pair of pits near a trail bend) is on the purple one.
– Seahurst Park: +380 feet, start at the plaza between the beach and the Marine Technology Lab, and take any route to the metal gate at the end of 16th Ave SW. The map shows two suggested routes. The POI is a 15-foot long fish sculpture near the Environmental Science Center.
– East Tiger Mountain, Master Link and Quick Link: +1230 feet. Start at the junction of Master Link and Northwest Timber Trail, and go up to the top of Quick Link where it meets the road. See the photos for the Points of Interest.
– Cougar Mountain, Big Tree Ridge: +900 feet. Start at the metal gate at the trailhead on Newport Way, and go up to the junction of Surprise Creek Trail and No Name Trail. See the photos for the Points of Interest.
By 11:59:59 PM Tuesday, June 23, two days after the challenge week ends, submit your achievements in the challenge. We’ll send a link to the submission form in the next message with the Seahurst and Meadowdale Beach maps. We’ll announce the points standings by Thursday. We’ll also mail your award button by that day if you’ve met the 100-point threshold for the challenge. As the weeks roll on and you keep accumulating points, we’ll keep releasing updated scores, so you can watch your point total grow and see how you rank.
Here is a link to download the maps and photos. The remaining two maps will be uploaded to the same folder later today.
Here are answers to a couple questions you may have:
Q: How can I measure my vertical gain if I don’t have a sport watch?
A: There are websites and applications that will allow you to trace a route and give you the vertical gain or profile. You can also count contour lines on a topographic map. A sport watch with an altimeter is easier, though.
Q: Will there be a real-time leaderboard, so we can see how we’re doing against the competition?
A: We won’t be able to update the point totals in real-time, because we don’t have an automated process. We’ll do our best to do frequent updates.
Again, please follow the #RecreateResponsibly guidelines while you are out enjoying the trails.
Happy hill climbing!
The Northwest Trail Runs team