Our First Taste of Adventure Race/Orienteering

Okay, here's how it works. First you choose your course (levels 1-6). Then you pay your money and are given a finger timing chip. Next you head to the starting gate where you clear your chip, receive your map, and begin the race.

Since it was our first time, we chose the easiest course. Each child was armed with a compass/whistle/thermometer/magnifying glass apparatus that Ken had purchased for the children for a few bucks at REI yesterday. There were 8 flagged stops between start and finish where we had to plug our timing chip into a computer and document our visit. Man was it a blast! Dad was the navigator. One map is included with the fee, additional maps were 2 bucks.


The children took turns being the one to poke the timing chip into the little computer at each flag stop.

This was a great first-timers course for us. It was at Green River Community College were the campus is surrounded by trails and dense forest land.

We did need to take a break when the kiddos were a little tired.

Here we are after we beeped in at the finish flag and before we received our time.


We had such a fantastic time at our first race. After a snack and potty break we decided to do it again. Three bucks and a few minutes later we were running down the trail working on a level 2 course.

You can learn more about orienteering by visiting http://www.cascadeoc.org/