There were horses and there were Redbuds blooming. Initial results below. We’ll clean up and re-post soon. Thanks for attending!
2026-03-29 Forest 44 CA Results
Monthly Archives: March 2026
2026-09-19 David Frei Kirkwood Night-O
Join the St. Louis Orienteering Club’s “flashlight” meet at Kirkwood Park. Designed for all ages, meet at the Lion’s Amphitheater and see how many check points you can find using your map and compass. Registration begins at 7:00 p.m. and the 45 minute meet starts at 8:00 pm with a mass start. There is a teaching session prior to the meet and awards following. Bring a headlamp or flashlight and a good sense of adventure!
Note: This event is park of the Kirkwood Greentree Festival. Yep, it’s on the official schedule. So, the park will be busy. The amphitheater is in the center of the park off Amphitheater Drive (appropriately named).
https://www.kirkwoodmo.org/recreation/greentree-festival
Meet Director: TBD
2026-08-04 Summer Series #8 – Broemmelsiek Park
Weeknight Series – #8
When: Tuesday, August 4, 6-8 pm
Where: Broemmelsiek Park. St Charles County. Shelter #3. Follow signs.
Meet Director: Yvonne Deyo
Meet Info: This park has a network of trails and park roads, plus several lakes, creeks, fields, and some woods. Yvonne will keep us “somewhat” on the trails, but expect a few route choices that could be bushwacky. Traditional course choices with electronic punching. Courses open from 6-8 pm.
The Registration/Start location will be at Shelter #3.
2026-07-21 Summer Series #7 – Gateway Arch
Weeknight Series – #7
When: Tuesday, July 21, 5:00-7:30 pm
Where: Laclede’s Landing, Riverfront, and the Gateway Arch National Park grounds.
Meet Director: Mark Geldmeier
Meet Info: This will be an urban scramble. That is, you’ll be using an orienteering map as usual, but instead of punching, when you get to the circle location you’ll read your clue and look around for the correct answer. Come out and learn a little history while doing a bit of exploration.
*** Update 7/15/2026 ***
The starting location will be near the cruise boats on the riverfront. More specifically at Levee Road at the top of the ramp that leads to the Paddlewheel Café. BTW, there’s a bar at the Paddlewheel Café! It would usually close about 6:30 pm, but they said they’d stay open longer if we’re hanging out. So, come early and enjoy!
The best parking option is to drive down Chouteau Ave, turn left at the river, and look for “Levee Parking” on the right. It’s $11. But sometimes they just wave you through. Other options are to park elsewhere and walk, take the Metro, or use the bike path.
There will NOT be signs, banners, or a registration table. Look for Mark (wearing a SLOC jersey and a orange hat)…standing or sitting in a chair near the Start location.
How it’ll work. You’ll get a map packet containing three things, 1) orienteering map with 24 circles indicating checkpoints, 2) a list of 24 multiple choice questions, 3) a small pencil. You’ll proceed to the checkpoints on the map (in any order) and you’ll be able to find the answer. When you finish, we’ll check your answers. I’ll keep track of approximate start and finish times.
We won’t bother with water or snacks…but there are multiple water fountains. And nearby vendors and restaurants. Oh and see “there’s a bar” above…
We’ll be ready to hand out maps starting at 5:00 pm or a little earlier. Course closes at 7:30 pm (though there’s nothing for us to pick up, so you can stay longer on your own). Come out and play!
2026-06-23 Summer Series #5 – Marquette High School
Weeknight Series – #5
When: Tuesday, June 23, 6-8 pm
Where: Marquette High School. 2351 Clarkson Rd, Chesterfield, MO 63017. Enter main entrance and veer to the right. Follow signs to a shelter/concession building in the middle of the athletic fields.
Meet Director: Terri Zuber & Mark Geldmeier
Meet Info: This large high school campus has a bit of everything. Mostly open, but a tiny bit of woods and even a creek. There will be two courses. A 45-minute score-O (where you can get them in any order) and a point-to-point course (where you have to go in order). Courses will be open 6-8 pm.
2026-06-09 Summer Series #4 – Queeny Park
Weeknight Series – #4
When: Tuesday, June 9, 6-8 pm
Where: Queeny Park. Smith Shelter. Weidman Road entrance, take first left to large parking lot. Looks for banners and signs.
Meet Director: Zdenek Palechek
Meet Info: Yes, we were here a few weeks ago, but Meet Director “Z”, has some more hidden places at Queeny Park that he’d like to share. Plus, with the vegetation completely leafed out, the park will look completely different. We’ll be using the older “manual” punch for this one. Courses are open 6-8 pm but we should be setup and ready before then. Come out and play!
2026-04-02 Queeny Park – Summer Series #1
Weeknight Series – Opener (REGISTRATION)
When: Thursday, April 2, 5-8 pm
Where: Queeny County Park. Smith Shelter (Weidman Road Entrance)
Meet Director: Zdenek Palecek
Meet Info: A special opening event for the summer weeknight series. Yes, this one is on Thursday evening (the rest of the summer events should be on Tuesday evenings).
Meet director, Zdenek (or you can call him “Z”), has a little treat setup for us to enjoy at Queeny. It’s a short 10 checkpoint course, visiting all of his favorite locations in the park. If you know Queeny, there are woods, fields, ponds, and plenty of trails and manmade things to keep your navigation on track. This will be “rogaine” style, which means you can visit the checkpoints in any order, and you only have to get as many as you feel like.
He’ll be there before 5:00 for any early birds. Show up and start whenever you want. Yes, there might be a few showers or storms around, but we have a shelter to stay dry before and after. Come out and play!
2026-03-07 Scout Orienteering Event Results for Scout Groups
Dear Fellow Scouters:
On behalf of the St. Louis Orienteering Club and the Greater St. Louis Area Council I would like to thank you for attending the 22th John Smerek Scout Orienteering Festival. The weather was clear and sunny. All in all, the scouts and scouters had a great time. The festival attendance was up slightly from 2025. This year we had 18 units with 136 participants.
Attached are the results from the 2026 Scout Orienteering Festival Score-O competition based on the punch cards received at the finish. The festival is designed to test a scout’s (buddy pair or three not groups of four or five) map reading and strategic planning skills. The awards for the top finishers are embroidered neckerchief slides. The scores were very good again this year.
I had trouble reading the names on a few cards, so I apologize for any names that are miss spelled.
The GSLAC Map and Compass Committee is hard at work designing next year’s course. If you have any ideas on how to improve the festival or you would like to join the committee, please let us know. Please talk up the festival at your district’s roundtable and encourage all your neighboring units to attend next year.
Next year’s 23th John Smerek Memorial Scout Orienteer Festival is scheduled for March 6, 2027. I hope everyone will be back again next year. The GSLAC Map and Compass Committee is putting on a “First Class Orienteering” course on May 16 and again in October. Go to the council website to register for these events.
If your scouts would like to do some additional orienteering the St. Louis Orienteering club puts on a local event each month, with courses for beginner to advanced orienteers. For more information visit the club’s website at http://www.stlouisorienteering.org.
The GSLAC Map and Compass Committee conducts adult leader training sessions for adults each year. Please check the Council Calendar for the date for the next session.
Yours in Scouting,
David Fisher
| 22th John Smerek Memorial Scout Orienteering Festival | ||||||
| March 7, 2026 | ||||||
| Total | ||||||
| Name(s) | # | Unit | Age | Penalty | Points | |
| David Fisher | 1 | 496 | 70 | M | 265 | |
| Dennis Brinkley | 1 | 778 | 60 | M | 190 | |
| Tim O’Donnell | 1 | 361 | 73 | M | 145 | |
| Auggie Midden | 3 | 361 | 12 | M | 140 | |
| Tommy Spal | 14 | M | ||||
| Liam Andrws | 12 | M | ||||
| Trey Ran | 3 | 750 | 13 | M | 135 | |
| Herry Johnson | 13 | M | ||||
| Soyn Berrong | 14 | M | ||||
| Cooper Bleigh | 2 | 100 | 15 | M | 115 | |
| Tristan Mapb | 13 | M | ||||
| Ryan Forbs | 4 | 750 | 10 | M | 90 | |
| Jack Carsen | 11 | M | ||||
| Drian Nasun | 12 | M | ||||
| Mason Phillips | 12 | M | ||||
| Landon Ehlert | 2 | 361 | 10 | M | 90 | |
| Devon Ehlert | 14 | M | ||||
| Jason Chierek | 2 | 179 | 45 | M | 90 | 65 |
| Oscar Chierek | 12 | M | ||||
| Peter Spal | 2 | 361 | 13 | M | 60 | |
| Aiden Flarm | 14 | M | ||||
| Carter Phipps | 3 | 776 | 14 | M | 60 | |
| Curtis Jones | 14 | M | ||||
| Treyce Byron | 12 | M | ||||
| Ryan Lechgec | 3 | 809 | M | 55 | ||
| Gaun Stxni | M | |||||
| Mich Jennings | M | |||||
| John Berrong | 3 | 750 | 11 | M | 55 | |
| Alex Vigil | 13 | M | ||||
| Borrett Tindra | 13 | M | ||||
| Lucas Miller | 3 | 750 | 13 | M | 50 | 45 |
| Josh Luner | 12 | M | ||||
| Sam Flynn | 12 | M | ||||
| Tristan Byron | 2 | 776 | 14 | M | 20 | 45 |
| Mason TenEucl | 13 | M | ||||
| Henry Domlade | 3 | 809 | M | 5 | ||
| John Applebaum | M | |||||
| Maximo Iganez | M | |||||
| Willian Allen | 6 | 975 | 72 | M | Rec | |
| Kent Ruffing | 58 | M | ||||
| Grant Pendley | 14 | M | ||||
| Nogan Schaub | 11 | M | ||||
| America Iha-Kannojie | 13 | M | ||||
| Julie Iha-Kannojie | 11 | F | ||||
| Competitors | 43 | |||||
| Teams | 17 | |||||
Livelox – Publishing my route, Virtually watch event
Analyze Your Race: A Beginner’s Guide to Livelox
Ever wonder exactly where you lost those two minutes on leg 4? Livelox is the ultimate post-race analysis tool for orienteering. It lets you visualize your GPS track on the actual competition map, compare your lines with competitors, and replay the race in real-time.
Here is how to get your results onto the platform and start learning from your mistakes.
You will need to create a new account. The only information required is your name, email, country, and a password. Choose the Livelox limited (free option). When you add that you are a member of SLOC, we will be able to upgrade you to the ad free version. (Livelox.com)
Step 1: Record Your Session
To get data into Livelox, you need a GPS recording of your run. Most orienteers use a Garmin watch, but any sports watch or smartphone app (like Strava) that exports .GPX or .FIT files works perfectly.
Step 2: Connect or Upload
Scan the LiveLox QR code on the map to locate the event. Locate the table of classes, find the class you raced in, and select “Add route”. There are two primary ways to get your track into the system:
The easiest method if you use a Garmin
Use the Fetch from Garmin option. After your Garmin Connect account is linked (one time activity), you will be presented with a list of activities – just choose your activity to load.
The Manual Upload:
If you don’t use a synced service, export the .GPX file from your device to your computer or phone. Choose to Upload file, locate the file on your device and you are finished.
Step 3: Align and Analyze
Returning to the list of classes, select “Show Replay” to see your “snail trail” move across the map. Toggle on other competitors to see where they found a better thicket bypass or a faster route choice.
2026-03-29 Forest 44 Conservation Area
It’s been a long time since we’ve orienteered here. Forest 44 Conservation Area is known as the gateway to the Ozarks. One of the closest locations to St. Louis with a typical Ozark type ecology. Once a cattle ranch, it was purchased by the Missouri Department of Conservation in 1990. There are spring-fed creeks, a network of trails, and a mix of flat areas and large hills. This time of year will still have great visibility in the woods, but with a splash of color from the early blooming red buds. Come out and play!
Date: Sunday, March 29
Location: Forest 44 Conservation Area. East entrance parking lot. From I-44, exit Hwy 141 south. Turn west on Meramec Station Road, then south on Hillsboro Road to parking lot on right. *Note: There is lots of construction. The last half mile of road is completely torn up (it’s temporary gravel). Hillsboro Road is closed south of the parking lot (so you must come from the north). Easiest navigation directions would be to Kraus Farms Equestrian Center. The conservation area parking lot is right next door.
Time: Courses open at 10:00 am. First start 10:00 am. Last start Noon. Courses close at 2:00 pm.
Courses: The Yellow course is the best option for beginners, families, and those that want to have an easy walk. Some are off-trail, but not far. The orange course has a mix of easy and difficult checkpoints. It may be harder than a typical orange course, but appropriate for adventure racers working on their navigation. The red course is for the more experienced participants.
Meet Notes:
- This area is popular for horse-back riding. Yield to any horses on the trails and/or let the riders know you are there.
- All courses will require a creek crossing at the beginning and end. There might be dry spots to cross but getting your shoes wet is likely (and the odds will increase depending on the rain in the days before the event).
- The map is old. The trail network is about 75% accurate. Some trails have been re-routed and some retired. The only update to the map was to clarify trails for the Yellow course.
- The mapped vegetation has matured, but vegetation boundaries are still fairly close. The western half of the area has open woods with great visibility and good running.
- There are numerous “watering holes” for cattle across the area. These are mapped as small ponds. You’ll visit several of them.
Meet Director: Mark Geldmeier mgeldmeier@earthlink.net