September 13, 2026

More than 50 orienteers braved the winding Catalina Highway to enjoy the stunning views and cool temperatures at Bear Wallow—TSN’s favorite O-Season opener—and enjoyed three fun courses set by Jason Osborn, with deft assistance from Katie, Logan, and Cole Osborn! Cristina Luis served as course consultant, map printing coordinator, and gear hauler, and Brad and Yvonne Poe assisted with setup at the start. Katie Osborn and Annie Martinoversaw the registration table and Katie detangled (literally) the e-punch rental system. Peg Davis provided an excellent beginner’s clinic and KrisAnn Traicoff got great practice with starting procedures and mastered some new software to be used at NAOC. Melissa Trout assisted with starts and greeted finishers at the download table where she was assisted by Cole Osborn. Lukas Luis offered some delicious refreshments for purchase. Control retrieval was managed by Sasha Savine, Cristina Luis, and all the Osborns. Joe Plassman helped with post-event pack up and loadout. Annie Martin served as meet director, pre-event camp host, offered rest and refreshments at a post-event Mappy Hour at her family’s nearby cabin, and is eternally grateful for all the help from the above folks. Thanks!

A gaggle of exuberant orienteers, including many first-time and youth participants, all returned with smiling faces after their trek through the woods on the Beginner course. Melissa Trout had the fastest time, followed by Peg Davis, David Edmeades, and Michelle Edwards.

The advanced courses both offered gorgeous scenery and leg-burning climbs, and kindly offered the opportunity to decide on one’s desired level of fun. A few ambitious orienteers made the choice to level-up from the Short to Long course mid-run, well done! Thanks to Billie Lubis, the official winner of the Long Advanced course, for righting a fallen control (110). She managed to clock the fastest time on the course despite spending several minutes looking for the control that had fallen down and was hiding in the grass. Erik Ringnes and Jim Holmes were the next fastest finishers on the Long Advanced. And bravo to Cristina Luis on her blistering time of 1:09:42 (though she gets an asterisk for her prior knowledge of the courses). The leaders on the Short Advanced course all showed excellent teamwork with the first place spot held collectively by Juliana Trondsen, Thor Neill, and Samantha Slavin, followed by Sara Partington with Sue Wenberg.

Several orienteers (some with a full kit of gear, and others with their pups!) opted for an Explorer course and chose their own mountain adventure.

Cheers to the promise of cooler weather and more orienteering to come this fall!