Donna DeLuca has discovered that getting lost in the woods can be good for you-and the kids, too.
Like a growing number of northwest and west suburban sports enthusiasts, the Rolling Meadows resident and her husband, Phil, and children, Scott, 3, and Jamie, 5, are spending their weekends doing just that.
But there`s nothing random about what they are up to. It`s a sport and it`s called orienteering.
Dubbed cunning running (or walking) by devotees, it is a game that is taking folks like the DeLucas to forest preserves as well as other places not far from their own backyards, places they may never have known existed.
”It`s an attractive activity for any person of any age who just likes to be outdoors,” said Steve Maney of Naperville, an avid enthusiast and president of the 160-member Chicago Area Orienteering Club. He also occasionally has brought along his three children, ages 2 to 9.
Orienteering works like this: Individuals (or sometimes teams) go into a designated wooded area, then, with the help of a compass, a topographical map, a sheet of clues and a good sense of direction, work on finding their way out. Orienteers navigate by running or walking from checkpoint to checkpoint. The checkpoints are usually numbered cardboard boxes, tacked to trees by event organizers. Different colored flags are attached to the boxes. The red, white, orange, blue, brown or green triangle-shaped flags indicate the difficulty of the course, with white the most difficult and blue the easiest. The challenge is figuring out the fastest way to get from Point A to Point B and so on to the finish line.
Orienteers prove that they`ve hit a checkpoint by using a punching tool attached to the checkpoint-box to punch a hole into their clue sheet. Each punching tool punches a different shape.
Reflecting the sport`s European origins, orienteering courses are measured in kilometers, with distances ranging from two kilometers (about one and a quarter miles) for beginners and children and up to 11 kilometers (seven miles) for veterans. Starting times are staggered; fastest time wins.
Experienced orienteers run, but it`s also okay to walk, according to DeLuca. Times vary from about a half hour for the beginner courses up to 2 1/2 hours for the lengthier orienteer courses.
”It`s really challenging,” said the 32-year-old homemaker, who was introduced to orienteering about six years ago while living in Boston, where the sport is competing with marathon running and triathlons in a race for popularity. ”And it`s really fun. My kids think it`s the greatest to get out into the woods. It`s like a treasure hunt. And at the end, we always bring apples and water and just relax and enjoy the forests.”
Indeed, on a recent Sunday at Deer Grove Forest Preserve in unincorporated Palatine, orienteers proved just that. By mid-morning, about 60 competitors had gathered in an opening in the woods near the starting line. Some were busy checking in at tables set up under a tent. It was at the check- in table that competitors received their starting time, the topographical map and a list of clues. Clues vary, depending on an individuals` ability and the difficulty of the course, but include leads such as ”Follow the trail to junction XY, then turn left until you see a maple tree.”
Like marathon runners waiting for the blast of the starting horn, orienteers anxiously paced the area near the starting line. Some competitors were mothers with their babies strapped to their chests in Snuglis and a toddler in tow.
Other challengers were hard-core running types clad in Spandex racing regalia.
As orienteers repeatedly glanced at their watches, the race event coordinator barked out starting times. Ten, nine, eight . . . , then it`s boom, their starting time. Challengers raced into the thick of the woods, one eye on maps and clue sheets, the other scouting the terrain for destination checkpoints.
Racers seemed to run in every direction. Many seemed to double back over terrain already covered. Oops, a checkpoint missed.
”You never follow anyone,” said DeLuca, ”because chances are they are on a different course than you. It`s pretty tricky.”
About a half hour later, several of the orienteers who had been tracking the beginner course emerged from the woods rushing through the rope-marked last leg of the race and on to the finish line. Others began to file in in rapid succession.
Quickly, the conversation turned to discussions of ”What was your time?` ”Gee, that was tough,” and the slaps on the back for ”You did it, you did it.”
An exercise for both mind and body, orienteering was invented as a military regimen more than 60 years ago by the Scandinavians and has evolved into a highly competitive sport in European countries. There, meets attract anywhere from 4,000 to 25,000 participants.
Introduced in the United States in the 1970s, orienteering caught on fast on the East Coast and the Northwest and recently began attracting players in the Chicago area.
Its popularity locally is growing. DeLuca, who is immediate past president and continues to be an active member of The Chicago Area
Orienteering Club, has watched membership increase to more than 160 in the 13 years since the organization was founded here by a handful of avid orienteers. The club is made up predominantly of men, ranging from their late 30s to 50s, but there`s also a significant and growing number of women and family orienteers who participate together.
Local meets, which are held about seven times in the fall and an equal number of times in the spring, attract about 40 to 100 participants, and pre- meet beginners clinics offer easier courses with checkpoints in hard-to-miss places usually along the trails. The cost of a meet is $3 for members;
$4 for non-members.
”We`re seeing more and more moms with babies and 60- or 70-year-olds,”
said DeLuca. ”If you can walk, you can orienteer. And lately, we`ve been getting at least 10 to 15 curiosity seekers at each meet.”
Most weekends, these orienteer members, along with local Boy Scout troops and other novice adventurers, can be found thrashing their way out of the woods at the Chicago area`s 15 forest preserves, with Deer Grove Forest Preserve in unincorporated Palatine, Busse Woods in unincorporated Elk Grove Village, Waterfall Glen in unincorporated Du Page County near Darien and Blackwell Forest Preserve near Wheaton the more popular orienteering sites.
”It`s a sport that is growing fast here (in the United States),” said Lawrence Berman, editor and publisher for Orienteering North America, a magazine published in Cambridge, Mass. He said that participation in orienteering clubs and competitions throughout the United States has increased 10 to 12 percent annually in the last six years.
”We feel that suddenly people are going to discover orienteering and it will get overwhelming participation the same way running and then triathlons did.”
Avid orienteers such as Doris and Steve Malott of Rolling Meadows say what`s so appealing about orienteering is that it can be both competitive
(racers vying against their own best times and others) or ”just a great way to get out into the woods and discover the great parks close by.”
”When you sit at a computer eight hours a day like we do, there`s nothing greater than getting out into the woods and enjoying the colors and the fresh air on weekends,” said Steve Malott. Both he and Doris are employed as electrical engineers.
Added Orienteering North America`s Berman: ”It`s a lot like cross-country or downhill skiing, where you can go out there just for the fun of it or compete seriously against other racers. The beauty of it is that it is very fun and can be done by anyone. It`s not something like running, where unless you do it well, it is a real drudgery.”
Whether it is for the competition or the we`re-just-in-this-for-fun-and-a-l ittle-exercise appeal, orienteering is, indeed, gaining popularity here as club members and other newcomers to the sport spread their enthusiasm.
Said Maney, president of the Chicago Area Orienteering Club: ”We`re trying to increase the awareness of the club and possibly expand our courses to maybe even Lincoln Park, because we`re getting lots of calls from people real interested in giving it a try.”
What`s more, orienteering has also recently been discovered by local park districts and forest preserve districts as an attractive offering for their members and the general public.
Next spring, the St. Charles Park District will offer a one-day course in orienteering for its members from 1 to 4 p.m. on March 21.
Orienteering was first introduced to the park district last summer as a popular activity for 4th through 6th graders enrolled in the summer camp program, according to Mary Ochsenschlager, naturalist for the St. Charles Park District.
”The children had so much fun, we decided it shouldn`t be just for kids, but also for the whole family,” said Ochsenschlager. ”People are always looking for good family activities, and this just seems like a real good one.”
Not only is orienteering entertaining and fun but Ochsenschlager and other recently sold-on-it enthusiasts say it`s a great learning tool for young and old alike.
”It acquaints the children with a compass and a topographical map, and it also forces them to think out how they can get to the next place the quickest way,” said Ochsenschlager.
That`s no secret to local Boy Scout troops, which have long lauded the learning experience of the compass and the woods and have been testing their mettle at orienteering for several years.
Said Dennis Stromberg, den leader for a group of 10-year-old Cub Scouts from Prairie School in Naperville: ”We`re always looking for activities to get outside and to do exploring. The kids get real excited about orienteering just like they do about camping.”
Dilip Das, a curator and youth education coordinator for the 1,600-acre Morton Arboretum in Lisle, couldn`t more strongly applaud the benefits of orienteering for youth. Each year through the arboretum`s three-night, two-day resident program, more than 750 5th graders come to the woody outdoor museum to learn about fauna and flora and nature. One of the mainstays of that program is an afternoon orienteering session.
Classes of about 25 students are split into three groups and sent out with a teacher or arboretum guide to navigate a course among the 45,000 tagged woody specimens.
The idea is to learn hands-on and decipher those tags, which include information on everything from the year the specimen was planted and its botanical name to its location on the arboretum grid.
”It`s a great way to introduce children to the compass, because it`s fun to explore,” said Das. ”The practical applications are that, if they can use the compass, they can hike anywhere they want. It opens new exploring adventures for them.”
Indeed, so widely popular has the program become that Das said Morton Arboretum officials are considering offering orienteering classes to adults.
Local forest preserves are also seeing increased interest in orienteering.
The Du Page County Forest Preserve District currently offers two permanent orienteering courses open year-round to the scouting troops, field trips and the general public at Blackwell Forest Preserve and Waterfall Glen. (Reservations are required and can be made by calling 708-790-4900, ext. 243.)
At the forest preserve orienteering courses, participants are given questionnaires to go along with their maps, with the answers found at the different checkpoints. They include lessons such as ”What are the cells of Mt. Hoy made of?” or ”What is happening as the garbage in the hill decays?” ”We think its a great education and recreation activity,” said Jim Walser, naturalist for the Du Page County Forest Preserve District. ”We`re seeing more and more families and scouting troops checking this out.”
Cub Scout troop leader Stromberg agreed: ”It helps the kids develop the ability to travel in an unfamiliar area and to learn while they are going.”
Moreover, added DeLuca, finishing a course provides a real sense of accomplishment.
”I never in my life thought I`d be wandering into a woods and thinking it was fun to try to find my way out,” she said. ”But you really feel a lot of pride when you accomplish it. I`ve only had to abandon one course. Most times, you can always find your way back to the road. And of course, we make sure everyone has completed the course at the end. We never leave anyone in there lost.”
For more information on Chicago-area orienteering clubs, call DeLuca at 708-397-7492.
