2023 Ultimate Orienteer #1 – Lynndale Park (Night-O)

Course Designer Notes

NIGHT-O things

Orienteering in the dark is harder than orienteering in the daylight. You can’t see as far, as much, or as clearly. These course lengths may seem short, but courses take longer in the dark. If this is your first Night-O, consider either running an easier level than you typically do, or adjust your expectations and be ready for an adventurous learning experience.

All control flags have a reflective strip on them! This is incredibly helpful if you have a flashlight. 😉

Speaking of lighting- you’ll need some. You can use a headlamp, flashlight (maybe nick your bike light), or both! TIP: keep your headlamp set to low, so that when you look at your map, the reflection doesn’t blind you. Then use a handheld flashlight on a brighter setting to see the ground and sweep the trees for the that tell-tale flash of reflective strip on the control flag or the trail you need to take.

Is your compass acting funny? The magnetic needle may be attracted to the metal in your flashlight! Keep your light in your non-compass hand to prevent confusion.

Be courteous. Point your light down when passing so that you don’t blind fellow orienteers.

COURSE things

• Beginner: all controls are on major trails.
• Intermediate: all controls are on or near major trails, and there’s more route choice. You will sometimes need to decide when to temporarily get off a major trail.
• Short & Long Advanced: controls are everywhere, have fun!

Lynndale is a small park and some controls are close together. Be sure to check your control number, code and description. Intermediate & Advanced courses cross over themselves, so look carefully for your next control on the map. Some lines between control circles have been bent to improve legibility.

This map scale is 1:4000 and uses 1.5m contours (yes, you read that right: one point five meter contours). Most orienteering maps are 5m contours. Hills that look “steep” on the map are maybe not as steep as you would think.

On a 1:4000 map, features may already feel like they’re “coming up quickly”, and on top of that, your sense of distance may be screwy in the dark. Take care to not overrun what you’re looking for. Fortunately, Lynndale is also rich in linear catching features (major trails, streets, fences) to help you re-locate yourself. Note that major trails are tan, while smaller trails are black dashed lines. Some mapped small trails have disappeared, while other new social trails have not yet been mapped, both can mislead you. Remember that contours rule, and fortunately there are some distinct contour features here to help you.

Some mapped stumps and rootstocks have decided to become knolls or fully decompose. Wind has removed trees and thrown their branches all over the ground, obscuring mapped minor trails and creating new unmapped rootstocks and stumps.

As a general rule, things are slippery when wet, and it’s easy to trip over, run into, or fall into things in the dark. Be careful! And have fun.