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All the FAQs

What is Orienteering? When are the events? How much does it cost? What should I bring? What if it rains? What types of events are there? What courses and competitive classes are offered? How do I use electronic punching (EP)? What is e-punching, and how do I read the splits? What are the hazards? What is Lyme Disease? But I was taught to always stay on the trail... What do the abbreviations found in results mean? Where can I get equipment?

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What Are the Hazards?

Like any outdoor activity, orienteering does carry risks, however remote. These include sprained ankles, bee stings, snakes, mountain lions, wild pigs, and pot farmers. However, the most realistic and serious concerns are poison oak and tick-borne Lyme disease.

Photo gallery image (click to enlarge)

Photo gallery image (click to enlarge)

Poison Oak

This is a major problem in some Bay Area parks (http://baoc.org/maps/locales.php). If you don't know what poison oak looks like, these photos show its spring and summer appearance, and how it turns red in the fall.

If you see any PO, go around it, not through it. Remember the motto: bright red leaves of three, let it be. If you do get a rash in 24–48 hours, it is best to treat it as soon as possible with a topical steroid cream. Do not wait and let it get into a nasty blistered rash. If you treat it early when you first begin to notice itching, and you only have some small red bumps, it is easily controlled.

Be forewarned, poison oak is a chameleon—it can manifest itself as ankle-high plants, huge shrubberies, or vines winding around trees.

There are several products that claim to provide protection either before or after exposure (note, however, that their mention here does not constitute any endorsement):

For more information on this bane of orienteers, see the Poison Oak FAQ (http://www.knoledge.org/oak/) or the Poison Ivy, Oak, and Sumac Information Center (http://poisonivy.aesir.com/).

Lyme Disease

Transmitted by tick bites, Lyme disease is potentially quite serious. Evan Custer, our resident M.D., has written an excellent article on Lyme Disease (http://baoc.org/faq/lyme.php) that covers incidence, symptoms, tests and treatment, and prevention.

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