Night-O in the Yukon

With winter approaching faster than some of us would like, the Yukon Orienteering Association held their final meet; a night-O. With only five hours of darkness in the Yukon in mid-summer organizing a night-O can be rather difficult. So this years annual night-O was held in late September close to ten in the evening. The meet was held on the Hillcrest map where last years WCOC sprint was held.

With my rather small headlamp I managed to find all the controls but not without a few bobbles. Fortunately the course planner hung some reflectors on the flags but those only help a certain amount when your headlamp only illuminates about six feet in front of you. Running through the woods was particularly difficult because your light would only illuminate the tree directly in front of you. Therefore in any dense woods you could only see about 2 feet forward.

Another note, avoid running in any rough ground, it often leads to face-plants irregardless of the lighting outside. A big thanks to all the volunteers who made this year very successful and enjoyable!