My background is in information technology, even having co-authored an RFC, but nothing is as exhilarating as sport orienteering, an intense, off-trail running race thru the woods, where navigation, route choice, and problem solving are tested, all done on the fly using an ultra-detailed topographical map while in oxygen debt. To put it in perspective, the maps are so detailed that individual rocks are mapped, and the world's best do this in under 5 minutes per K.

Here you'll find my OLog of orienteering adventures with plenty of maps and routes, and when I'm not orienteering, training, or traveling, I occasionally find time to explore some of my other interests and post them here.

The Treasureboxes are based loosely on the 160 year old pastime of letterboxing, an intriguing mix of treasure hunting, puzzle solving, stamp art, and hiking or trail running. The idea is to find a cool place and leave a treasure there in the form of a unique stamp, and to write clues, like a treasure map or outdoor puzzle, for others to work out and lead them to the spot. Or, alternatively, to decrypt others' clues and leave your mark once you find the spot they lead to.

My interest is in writing interesting and innovative treasure hunts; I leave the competition over letterboxing websites, databases, drive-by experiences, growth for the sake of growth, and obsession with logging finds and numbers to those who enjoy it. My outdoor puzzles often take quite a bit of perseverance and insight to solve; I hope you get the chance to enjoy a few of them as much as I enjoyed devising them.

While off the mainstream, I'm not totally clueless -- In 2003 I wrote the original book on the pastime of North American letterboxing, The Letterboxer's Companion (now in its second printing). This is cool -- ever since I was a kid, I had a dream of writing a book which included embedded clues to treasure in the outdoors. I also co-founded the Letterboxing North America web site in 1998 and wrote the original FAQ (both managed by others now), and in 1999 became the first to find 100 American letterboxes. Not bad for someone in disdain of letterboxing competition and numbers.

I've also take commissions to write treasure hunts, with an emphasis on puzzles, problem solving, geography, and general cleverness. If you're in the market for a treasure hunt writer, and who isn't, e-mail me.

The 2003 US orienteering national championship relay team. We're the well-dressed lot in the middle.

The 2006 US orienteering national championship relay team. We're on the left this time.