It's a beautiful summer day in San Francisco.

The temperature is cool, there's a little bit of moisture in the air, and inside Golden

Gate Park people are jogging, walking their dogs, riding their bikes, and there's kids

playing on a jungle gym.

Basically, everyone seems to be having a great time, except for me.

I am lost, hopelessly lost.

I have a map in my hand, and I'm staring at a circled number, number 18.

This number corresponds with a checkpoint, and I need to find this checkpoint fast.

I'm not hunting for buried treasure, I'm racing against other people in the same park holding

the same map, trying to find all of these checkpoints before they do.

I'm Amanda McGowan, and this is Atlas Obscura, a celebration of the world's strange,

incredible, and wondrous places.

If you're the kind of person who digs our website, you know, finding new ways to explore

the world around you, then I think I've found a sport that you are really going to like.

And with me to go orienteering after this.

So this map is in, like, old volcanic country in the middle of France, so it's got a bunch of

little divots and holes and little mollholes all very, very, very close to each other.

This is Julian Willett, maybe recognize his voice, if you've heard some of my other stories,

he's been in a couple of them and is my go-to voice actor.

He's my boyfriend, so he's usually around and available.

We are sitting at the kitchen table flipping through a giant binder that Julian keeps,

which is filled with maps.

...