At this time one week ago, a group of sixteen Scouts from Troop 1916 were navigating their way through the woods, around large rocks, over fallen logs, through creeks, and up and down the hills of Catoctin Mountain Park in search of orienteering posts.
The journey began in the parking lot of McLean Hardware at 11:00 AM on Sunday, April 17. After a drive of a little over an hour to Catoctin Mountain Park, the boys spent about thirty minutes in the Visitor Center’s classroom learning the basics of orienteering. They were introduced to topographic maps and on how to use a compass. They found out that a secret to successful orienteering is to keep “red in the shed” (to keep the red magnetic needle inside of the black orienting arrow).
The Scouts then headed outside to try their newfound skills. They went to the Visitor Center’s gravel parking lot, oriented their compasses with their topographic maps, and started walking uphill while searching for the first orienteering post. The first post was a bit of a challenge – several boys were so fixed on their compasses that they forgot to look for the post and walked well past it. But this was a group effort and, fortunately, others found it. The boys then started searching for the next post, and then the next. The terrain was quite difficult, and it remained a challenge to follow compass bearings while at the same time climbing over large rocks, walking on steep hillsides, and avoiding stepping on a (non-venomous) snake. But after covering about two miles of ground over two hours, the group successfully found all six posts on the orienteering course.
Given their rudimentary instruction in orienteering, the boys’ completion of the course was an accomplishment. The Scouts will hopefully maintain their skills and continue to use them on future orienteering events of Troop 1916.
-- David Johanson