(More than you wanted to know about Orienteering?)

Orienteering is a sport in which orienteers use an accurate, detailed map and a compass to find points in the landscape. It can be enjoyed as a walk in the woods or as a competitive sport.

A standard orienteering course consists of a start, a series of control sites that are marked by circles on the map, connected by lines and numbered in the order they are to be visited, and a finish. The control site circles are centered around the feature that is to be found; this feature is also defined by control descriptions. On the ground, a control flag marks the location that the orienteer must visit.

The control flag marks the spot that is circled on the map. It is made of fabric hung on a triangular box-kite-like wire frame. Each of the three square cloth faces is made up of a white upper triangle and an orange lower triangle. In North America, the flag is usually hung from a branch or piece of deadwood near the control site, while in Europe the flag is usually hung from a wooden framework or metal stake stuck in the ground.

If you've read this far, you may be interested in learning more! You can visit orienteering links from my home page.