Knapdale to host orienteering event

Organised by Masterplan Adventure, a non-geographically based club, the event will take advantage of Knapdale’s forested trails from July 17-19, starting on day one at Crinan.

Participants will either be cycling to the start point at Crinan harbour car park or take a bus from Lochgilphead.

Starting between 2.30-4.30pm, the orienteers will take part in either a long course (4.5km, 220m climb), medium (3.5km, 200m), short (2.4km, 120m) or orange course (1.8km, 75m) before returning 630m from the car park start point.

The second day and third days will see the participants start at Achnamara Village Hall, and take part in different routes on the two days, with distances from 1.8km to 8.3km climbing to heights of 440m.

The event is billed by Masterplan Adventure as taking runners through ‘Scotland’s last great forest’.

While the Knapdale area includes large areas of birch and Atlantic-oak woodland, the routes through this forest on this event are not being used in order to avoid summer bracken.

Instead organisers have chosen areas of mature plantation.

“Although man-made, this terrain has remained untouched since planting and has a dark, primaeval feel,” said Matserplan Adventure.

“It has never been thinned or felled and lacks any of the usual brashings and vehicle-ruts.

“It is generally fast and clean underfoot, remarkably so for Scotland.

“Visibility is not high, especially in areas mapped pale green, where there are low dead branches, which are mostly rotten and easily broken.

“It has plenty of contour detail, including steep, chunky ridges, all with a strong NE-SW trend.”

Masterplan Adventure is an orienteering club registered with British Orienteering and the Scottish Orienteering Association but exists outside of the usual ‘club structure’ - which is not designed in such a way as to allow a group of like-minded individuals to put on interesting orienteering events and activities in a creative way, unbound by geographical boundaries or inter-club politics.