CTOCers at the PNWOF

Few members of the CTOC participated in the 2026 Pacific Northwest Orienteering Festival (PNWOF). Competition terrains spanned from desert canyons and dunes of the central Washington, to intricate pine woods near Spokane, and to the mountain terrain near Mt Hood in Oregon. Eight races challenged with diverse orienteering strategies and techniques.

Isabella McDonough in F-10 group took 2nd overall place, Karin Diddise was second in the first day of competition, and Sergey Velichko took 1st place in M-60+ group.

Results, photos and map snippets could be accessed at these links
https://cascadeoc.org/2026-pnwof-standings/
https://orienteeringusa.org/2026/06/2026-pacific-northwest-orienteering-festival-event-recap/

Pacific Northwest Orienteering Festivals are always fun and challenging! Highly recommended for orienteering fans! Explore Livelox links to see maps and courses.

Winds are still a blowin' at Rabbit Creek.

With wind advisories in the valley and the whiplash of weather we have been having this spring, it's not surprising that we wouldn't get the "perfect" weather for this lovely venue. For running the temperature wasn't too far off, but the strong winds made it a cool day out on the course, and even chillier standing around at the start. The potluck was reduced to on-the-go snacks. 

The runners made a good showing on the course, but there were some scenic detours beyond exploring a new area of the map. The hikers also seemed to enjoy the course once the orientation part of orienteering fell into place. I'll take a minor amount of credit on confusion with some miss-numbered controls.

As always, thanks for the the pre-event help with company and suggestions during field review, map setup, and control placement, and even after all of that, control pick up. John gets first place in the all-round, and Cory gets first in the timed event. Jacob gets honorable mention for giving John a ride to help with control pick up.

I really do love this venue, but it is prettier before the cattle move in. Also, unfortunately due to the dry winter weather the wildflower showing this year was poor. There were a few pretty ones out such as the Blue Mountain Clover and the always stunning Bitterroot. The other item of interest we found was an artifact of the club's own making. While reviewing the map, John and I came across a PVC post and the metal wire of a long- forgotten control

See you in June!

 

If you were a British soldier in World War I, you might have marched to “It's a Long Way to Tipperary”. Saturday a different song came to mind:

Photo by Carrie Magnuson

It’s a long drive down to Oreana,
It’s a long drive, you know.
It’s a long drive down to Oreana,
Where the clean cut contours go

Goodbye Boise morning bustle,
Farewell city’s glare.
It’s a long, long drive to Oreana,
But my map’s right there.

It was a long drive. I know. I drove it in November to vet the terrain. I drove it again to vet the course design and set the controls. And, of course, I drove it again on Saturday. In each case the drive and the work were much easier and more enjoyable than they otherwise would have been without the company, advice, and collaboration of Kirsten. What I heard from several of Saturday's participants was that they also thought the orienteering on this terrain was worth the drive. Notably, Karin and Bob Didisse drove all the way from McCall. Maybe I shouldn't whine so much about the distance.

As much as I enjoyed mapping the Oreana venue and exploring the terrain, I do regret that I never had the chance to run a course there. Oreana Hills is eminently runnable with great visibility. I am gratified that many of you shared my opinion.

Photo by Kirsten Severud

Twenty participants is a large turnout that far away from town. The 3 dogs just seemed to be happy anywhere. It was an unusually savvy group. Everyone was an experienced orienteer. They arrived early, too early in the case of Bill Leahy and Christy Morris. When Kirsten and I arrived at a full 15 minutes before the scheduled start, Bill and Christy had passed by the start location, and having seen no one there went in search of the start. I don't know where they thought it might be other than the location designated in the meet announcement: the intersection of the Oreana Loop Road and Mills Road. I admire their tenacity more than their patience with the meet director. A phone call from the explorers cleared up the mystery of the vanished start location. I can only hope that the additional miles traveled garnered some valuable sightseeing rewards.

As I was saying, it was an unusually savvy array of participants. All were experienced. All had started by 11:02. All had progressed far enough by 1 PM that we were able to begin pickup an hour before the course closed. As a meet director I much appreciate the convenience of an early control pickup.

We had two new CTOC participants: Robert Rich, who moved from and orienteered in Michigan and Jacob Drew, who comes to us from orienteering in the Austin area. Jacob finished first in the Intermediate division. Importantly, he graciously hung around until he could help with pickup. Kirsten picked up the Advanced end of the course. Much appreciated by the meet director.

A further note about Kirsten. She appears in the results as second in the Intermediate division. That's maybe a little misleading. Several factors need to be considered. First, she had the distinct advantage of having set the course as well as having been on the terrain twice before. To make it more interesting she claims she really wasn't in the INT division. Instead, she was in a division of her own creation, the TNI division. That's INT spelled backwards, the same way she ran the course. She also ran the first (last??) 4 controls from memory and other legs without consulting her map.

Indian Paintbrush

Carrie and Kirsten each photographed a rather large lizard. It appears to me to be a leopard lizard reported to have approximately an 11 inch length. That's a long tail. Kirsten's photo appears here because the lizard did not quite pose cooperatively for Carrie. I don't know whether it is the same lizard. There's not a lot of wildlife in these hills, so a leopard lizard is a treat.

They also found flowers. It's a little early for flowers in the high desert.

I don't know that congratulations for wedding plans belong in a meet report. They are going in anyway. Carol Baumbauer and Peter Auman are getting married next month. You seem to be a great couple. Congratulations. I do question scheduling your

Showy Townsendia

wedding on the same weekend as our annual Rabbit Creek Orienteering and Potluck. I kinda (but not entirely) get your priorities.

For the rest of you,  Rabbit Creek will be on Sunday, May 17 directed by the estimable Kirsten Severud.

John Murray (with a lot of Kirsten's help)

Meet Director

Kirsten's long distance photo of Bill Leahy

March Spring Time in Julia Davis Park Results

With green grass, blue skies, and sunny days - spring is definitely in Boise. In spite of the freezing temperatures in the morning, participants of the first spring meet in 2026 again braved the new additions to our Greenbelt maps. Many were smiling after thier courses - it is the most rewarding for the course designer :) Results are as following:

Advanced (4) 4.7 km 24 C
1 Peter Friedewald 42:45
2 Quentin Thomas 45:27
3 Bill Leahy 1:01:49
4 Dustin-Heidi-Mad Thomas 1:02:20

Sport (2) 3.4 km 15 C
1 Nathan Kelso 40:21
2 Austin-Noah Agosta 1:36:48

Intermediate (6) 3.5 km 19 C
1 Kirsten Severud 38:40
2 John Murray 53:14
3 Leslie-John Perez 1:09:16
4 Carrie Magnuson 1:23:19
5 NotACop Team 1:30:08
6 Christy Morris 1:31:30

Beginner (3) 2.1 km 9 C
1 Edith Friedewald 40:15
2 Piper Green 40:23
3 Troop 100 1:27:27

Split times and comparisons are available at Split times, WinSplits Online.

Next meet in April is in Owyhees on a new map of Oreana hills. No trails or discernable dot features! So practice your bearing techniques and contour reading upfront! Hope to see you up there smiling and happy!

Yours,
Sergey Velichko

2026 February O Meet - Fort Boise

The late, great Nelson Mandela once said, "I never lose. I either win or learn." If the sport of Orienteering has taught me anything, and often repeatedly so, it is that there is always room for learning. The months of December and January were spent excitedly expanding the Fort Boise map by Sergey, Dustin, and myself. This winter's lack of snow provided ample opportunity to scout out the Foothills trail network above our previous map. However, mother nature had different plans in the week leading up to the meet, and we chose to scrap most of those newly mapped sections to ensure we continue to be good trail stewards. C'est la vie! You can look forward to exploring those areas in drier months.

February's Meet did allow for a pivot to a motala-style event and had a great showing of orienteers of all ages, experience, and species.

Thank you to all who joined and shoutouts to Dustin for co-directoring this meet with me and Heidi (and Tia) for assisting in control pickup when the meet directors were tuckered out at the end of a long day! Our next meet is being hosted by Sergey in the Julia Davis/Municipal Park area on March 15th. See our CTOC Meetup page for details and RSVPs. Never stop learning my orienteering friends!


See below for meet results and split times can be found here:


https://obasen.orientering.se/winsplits/online/en/default.asp?page=classes&databaseId=110595&ct=true


Beginner

Brady and Grant Meyring: 25.30
Cat, Trenton, and Oscar Yates: 1:07.28


Intermediate

Kirsten Severud and Pepper Pupper: 41.59
Clint and Cooper Thomson: 50.26
John Murray: 1:01.53
Malia, Eddie, and Lylah Lopez: 1:13.54
Heidi Thomas and Tia Pupper: 1:14.02
Christy and Scott Morris: 1:41.41
Cat Stauffer and Jaz Imamovic: 2:01.10
Dave Byrd: mp


Advanced

Sergey Velichko: 37.30
Ted Smith: 39.00
Frank Morris: 44.13

2026 Junior Orienteer Sponsorship Program

The City of Trees Orienteering Club is excited to announce the return of our Junior Orienteer Sponsorship Program in 2026. To help grow the sport and encourage the future generation of orienteers to pursue national meet exposure, we will offer annual sponsorships of up to $200 for eligible local junior orienteers, with a maximum of $1,000 made available each calendar year.

Eligible junior orienteers (age 18 and under) must:
● Maintain an OUSA junior membership ($10/year) - https://orienteeringusa.org/membership/
● Commit to providing meet day support for at least one local CTOC event per year
● Commit to attend at least one national competition per year

Reimbursable expenses up to $200/junior include:
● OUSA junior membership fee ($10/year)
● National event registration fees (typically average $40-$70/event)
● Free loan of club’s SI stick for a season

List of national and international meets is available on OUSA and CTOC websites. See at the right.

Junior orienteers and their parents and guardians who are interested in seeking sponsorship support can inquire further by emailing Club’s President Sergey Velichko at savelichko at yahoo dot com.

Simplot Sport Complex

2026 started off with a bang!  15 brave souls came to enjoy the sunshine on a chilly January morning.  We haven't used this area for a meet since Nov 2023 so it was time to bring it back.  I chose to limit the meet to the Simplot complex itself in hopes of making a very runnable course.  Plus with it being January and not knowing what the weather was going to do I was hoping for a safe bet, and man did it pay off.

It is a very open area so finding fun spots to place controls was a slight challenge, but with the help of my Dad we walked the area several afternoons and came up with what we thought was a decent and speedy course.  It has been a while since I've set a course with actual controls and I forget how much work it is!  We set the bases the day before and then only had to set the flags and e-punches.  Thankfully I had some great help the morning of and we were able to get it done with time to spare.

The weather cooperated with us big time - the inversion blew out, there was no wind and the sun made an appearance. John was the first out on the course and the rest of the competitors trickled in as the morning warmed up.  With it being January it was membership renewal time so it was nice to see some familiar faces as well as many new ones.  We had a very first timer (Welcome Tim!) who took on the beginner course and got a real hang of it and then took on part of the Sport course (on his own time). We had a good showing across the courses and man times were tight among the running competitors. 

A big thank you to a few people:

• Sergey for all the assistance prior to the meet and for picking up controls after the meet.
• My Dad for spending hours walking around in the afternoons mapping out the course and placing bases day before and hauling all the stuff to/from the shed to the event and back again
• Frank for being speedy and taking on the west side of the course in the morning - such a huge help!

We are going to be at Fort Boise/Mountain Cove O-Meet on Sat, Feb 21 at 10am and if we are lucky enough there is a rumor that we might have a girl scout with some cookies available to purchase!  Hope to see you all there and don't forget to renew those memberships!!

2026 Simplot Results & Winsplit Results

Advanced (5) 4.9 km - 26 controls

1) Ted Smith  26:59

2) Dustin Thomas  28:36

3) Sergey Velichko  28:59

4) Helle Beattie  37:15

5) Cat Staufer  1:25:56 

Intermediate (3) 4.1 km - 19 controls

1) John Murray  44:07

2) Heidi Thomas  45:47

3) Donna P  1:39:00

Sport (6) 3.4 km - 16 controls

1) Max Haustia  49:42 (missing punch)

2) Cassandra Swann  52:22

3) Jerry Stewart  1:12:56

4) Crabtree Family  1:28:20

5) Asker Beattie  1:29:14 (incorrect control punched)

6) James & Sander Beattie  1:30:00 (incorrect control punched)

Beginner (1) 1.1 km - 9 controls

1) Tim Kesinger  56:06 

Around the Armstrong Municipal park

While it was drizzling and sun was not smiling through the clouds, nevertheless, the weather was excellent for an orienteering event and challenging courses set on new map of Armstrong Municipal park and surroundings. "Fun!" - that is what any meet director wants to hear from finishers. And we heared this many times today :)

We had quite a number of kids on the beginner course. We should be watchful for some of these superfast super-orienteerers! Team of Asker, Chase, Jane, and Sam finsihed within seconds from each other and all under 9 minutes. Isabella was next while executing solo, a little bit over 9 minutes. Max cleared the sport course at one hour and three minutes. The intermediate course was most competitive with 14 takers. Kirsten had a solid win with Carol second, and Karin third. Helle unfortunately couldn't finish trying to catch to the superfast super-orienteerers team, otherwise, it could be more heated battle for the crown. On the advanced course a merely one minute and one second separated Ted and Peter, both with perfect 44-45 minutes. I did preprun the Advanced course in 45 minutes and thought this may be the perfect time but Ted showed that it could be even better!

Advanced 6.3 km 25 C
1 Ted Smith 44:05
2 Peter Aumann 45:06

Intermediate 4.8 km 25 C
1 Kirsten Severud 42:31
2 Carol Baumbauer 49:45
3 Karin Didisse 55:19
4 John Murray 1:01:48
5 Leslie-John Siebold 1:10:21
6 Dave Byrd 1:15:11
7 Team Sprint 1:57:52
8 Cristy-Scott Morris 2:06:26
9 Austin Agosta 2:13:04
Dustin Thomas mp
Helle Beattie dnf

Sport 3.7 km 18 C
1 Max Hasiuta 1:03:33

Beginner 0.9 km 7 C
1 Asker Beattie 8:19
2 Chase Brown 8:21
3 Jane Boespflug 8:22
4 Sam Boespflug 8:55
5 Isabella McDonough 9:14
6 Team Tree Crab 28:25
Katerina Snarskaya mp

Split times on Winsplits to compare and see where you may have lost time.

We are defining 2026 club events and will post them soon. Some preliminary schedule is available at the right together with the list of major national and international events.

See you next month enjoying outdoors!

Cheers,
Sergey

Black Rocks, Black flies... few canyons

October 18, 2025

Fall or late winter, this venue can be great in the cooler parts of the year. It was another beautiful day to be out and about in the desert of Idaho. The winds were calm, and while the starting morning temperature was cool, it quickly warmed through the early afternoon.

Start view point

This meet was a bit of a group effort. Originally Sergey had planned to lead, but plans changed with work travel. He was able to provide me with the courses he was considering. John and I went out on the last 80°+ day of the season to review courses and do additional fielding. Maybe it was the last hurrah before the colder weather moved in, but the flies were incredible the day we were out. They covered our backpacks, flew in our faces, and filling the car during the drive home! Luckily they had decreased significantly by the meet day, although still very present. I still had a fly or two in my car two days later.

Back in town, somewhere along the line my personal laptop gave me issues, leading to some team computer time to get courses updated and maps set. John and I both learned a few things about using OCad working through it together putting the finishing touches on the maps.

Terrain

A few gentlemen took on the Advanced course and reached areas on the NW part of the map we hadn't seen before. We skipped the canyon this year, but we'll bring it back, because it is a very cool feature of this map. 

Participant(s)	Course	Time
Pete F	ADV	1hr 11min
David M	ADV	1hr 33min
Scott G	ANV	DNF

The intermediate map also extended further to the north. Karin gave it a great run, while pairs took a more leisurely approach. 

Participant(s)	Course	Time
Karin D.	INT	1hr 5min
Leslie & John	INT	2hr 8min
Cat & Jaz	INT	2hr 21min
Cynthia & Jim	INT	DNF (1hr 7min, control 1-8)

As often is the case, John gets his own category. Since he helped vet the courses and set controls, he challenged himself to do the intermediate course from memory. Since this meant a few different approaches to controls, versus the advance course he'd hiked previously, he stumped himself on one control, resorting to one minor peak at the map. Memorizing a map is an interesting practice, especially in an area where you are not intimately acquainted with the terrain 

Participant(s)	Course	Time
John M	INT	1hr 35min

Practice... practice... practice... but it still never makes you perfect in this sport. First timers and newer orienteers took on the Sport course with grit and determination, at least until there were higher priority parties to attend. 

Participant(s)	Course	Time
Kendyl & Naomi	SPT	1hr 43min
Austin & Noah	SPT	3hr 56min
Edith & Pete	SPT	DNF (1hr 3 min, controls 1-4, 10)

Kendyl and Naomi

Until next time! Stay tuned to MeetUp for our next event.

Kirsten

Apparently there needed to be a few more of these guys around to help with the flies. 

Orbweaver spider

Granite Peak Meet Results

 

It was the night before Granite Peak and all along the Payette

smoke filled the air just as all of the controls were set.

Up on the mountain top as day descended into night

Andy took a photo that made it alright.

Photo credit to Andy Hill who took this photo on Saturday morning.

I know that our sport has the reputation for going forward in daunting weather. I have directed meets in the snow and in triple digit temperatures. Where I draw the line is health and safety. Air quality in Cascade was decidedly unhealthy. I wavered until Friday evening on whether to postpone the meet. The much better air quality on the mountain decided the question. Andy camped there on Friday night and took the photo that illustrates the enormous difference between the air quality in the valley and on Granite Peak.

For me the highlight of the meet was Eloise's breakout performance. In national orienteering competition Eloise at age 14 would compete on an orange course. An orange course design encourages navigation using large features, trails and linear features (streams, fences, etc.). Effective navigation on the Granite Peak Intermediate Map requires contour reading, vegetation reading, and a higher level of topographic awareness. In addition, it is longer and more physically demanding. Her third-place performance against older and more experienced orienteers speaks to her expanding capabilities. Bear in mind that she was alone in truly rugged and wild country. A note about the terrain needs to be emphasized: There is only one road bisecting the map. There are no trails.

David and Alecia brought their friends, Daphne and Will Kemper, to get their first taste of orienteering. Will is a long-time competitive cross-country runner and the North Junior High XC coach. I hope that the distraction of a map and compass on unfamiliar terrain enhanced rather than distracted from the experience.

I am grateful to Kirsten and Pepper (she is a dog that can run like few others) for picking up the southern intermediate controls and to Carol and Peter for taking the long hike to pick up the advanced controls. Carol and Peter did not find Control 10 at its designated boulder. Detectives that they were, they determined that it had been vandalized ( my apologies to U of I alumni for that choice of words ). The investigators did provide accompanying photo of Control 10 along with elk tracks in the dirt. I know I'm presuming guilt in the absence of due process, but I still will not be sympathetic if the coming hunting season does not go well for that elk.

I am also grateful to Andy on two counts. He picked up the northern intermediate controls. Also he critiqued the map. Among his many observations, the bare rock and cliffs should be simplified and the distinct trees should meet some clearly stated standard. As the mapper I know that the designation of distinctive trees wasn't even up to the standard of haphazard. My apologies to those of you who struggled with those trees.

Put our next meet on your calendar. On Saturday, September 27 Sergey will direct a meet on a the new Idaho City Southwest Map. Check out his extensive mapper's notes on Meetup.com.

Also anyone inspired to compete at the top levels should consider the Orienteering National Championship Meet in the Boston area October 11-13.

John Murray

Meet Director