ALL PARTICIPANTS must
wear appropriate clothing (shoes that cover the feet and long
pants).
There may be ticks or other biting insects. Using insect
repellant
is an exceptionally good idea. It is Spring, so it is likely
to be
somewhat wet or muddy in some places.
Beginner Instruction:
There
will be two identical
sessions, one starting at 11 am, the other starting at 1 pm.
In each
session, there will be instruction on map reading, simple use of the
compass
(orienting the map) and how an orienteering course works. If
time
allows, there may be additional instruction topics. There
will also
be an exercise in which participants can put what they have learned
into
practice. Each session will last approximately 90
minutes.
Compasses will be loaned to those who do not have them.
Intermediate Instruction:
There
will be a single session
that starts at 12 noon and will last 1 ½ to 2
hours. The focus
will be on off-trail navigation (following a bearing) and keeping track
of distance, combined with terrain association. Various
navigational
and map handling tips will be introduced. Instruction will be
done
through a series of exercises that go around a short orienteering
course,
much of it off trail. Compasses will be loaned to those who
do not
have them.
It is not
recommended to try to do both the beginner and intermediate instruction
on the same day.
Advanced Exercises:
There will be three types of exercises to choose from. Each involves doing a short orienteering course in one way or another. The courses are kept short to allow participants to do more than one exercise: starting on an exercise may be done between 11 am and 2:30 pm.
Pathless-O
Activity: Find the controls in a normal cross-country orienteering course using a map on which all clearings and trails and possibly other black features have been removed. If you are thinking of doing more than one exercise, do this one first - the other exercises will show the trails, roads, etc. which would partly defeat the purpose of this exercise. Here is an example map: Pathless
Objective: To practice using contours, terrain and vegetation features in terrain association; also to practice using the compass and making distance measurements.Hiker's Quest
Activity:
Given
a map that
contains only trails,
roads, open spaces, streams, buildings and north lines, find your way
around
a course. Controls are on standard features and the control
descriptions
specify what to look for; however, none of the control features are
shown
on the map and none are on trails. The idea is to find a good
attack
point using the little information that you have with one
hint. Hint:
It is possible to reach each control without going through dense
vegetation;
although you may need to deal with a little light green or slow undergrowth
in a few places.
Here is an example map: Hiker's
Quest
Objective:
To
practice finding a good attack point dynamically when some obvious
choices
have unexpectedly bad vegetation problems. To practice
dealing with
a map whose vegetation is out of date.
Line
O
Activity: Maps have been prepared that show a twisting turning line from
the marked start to the marked finish. You are to follow the line, punching
at any controls that you find along the line. This exercise may be done in two versions:
one in which a normal map is used, the other in which all trails have been removed. For an extra challenge,
take a pencil with you and mark the locations of all controls that you find on the map. This sample uses a normal map:
Line-O
Objective: To stay in contact with the map.