RETIRED Wilderness Skills Jan 30 - Olympia Friends Meeting House

8:00 AM Sign-in, Group Assignments, 10-Essentials check-in and discussion

8:00 AM Sign in, Group Assignments, 10-Essentials check-in and discussion

• Find your animal group table. Show and discuss your 10 Essentials and suitable clothing for the challenge course with one of your animal group co-leaders (or someone they designate). Then weigh your packs and get to know the other travelers in your animal group.

30 min – Instructors work individually with students

8:30    Introduction to the Outdoor Workshop and preparation for the Challenge Course

 •         Review of schedule, announcements and questions/comments/suggestions (10 min)

8:40    What could go wrong? Hazards of the Backcountry (30 min)

9:10    Essential Backcountry Skills: Food, water, shelter and others    

165 min – Groups of students rotate through four 40m sessions

• Session 1(a): Animal Protection (15 min)
  • What are the options and what differences do they make
  • Session 1(b): Party Separation (15 min)
    • How party separation works and how to pee in the woods
  • 15 min – Demonstration and hands-on activities
  • Session 1(c): Sun Protection and Illumination (10 min)
    • Session 2: Fire, cook stoves & equipment (40 min)
    • Stoves, fuel, mess kits, cooking equipment and hands-on lighting
  • Session 3: First Aid Kits (40 min)
    • Hands-on look at what to include and how to prepare
  • Session 4: Shelter (40 min)
    • Picking/preparing a site and options for erecting a shelter

12:00   Break

12:05 - Backcountry Navigation Refresher and Exercise (55 min) 

• Route finding, terrain association and being lost  

1:00    Challenge Course*

• Convene as a class to review challenge course and for questions/comments (5 min)
• Split into animal groups and carpool to trailhead (20 min)
• On the trail (each group will eat lunch at least 10 minutes down the trail) (150 min)
• Carpool back to classroom (20 min)
• What happened? Questions, comments and ideas from the challenge course (15 min)

4:30    Ways to play - other courses, clinics, seminars, events and activities (15m)

4:45    Course evaluation and closing (15m)       

5:00     End of course (put away chairs and tables)    

*About the Challenge Course: Students hike in a local park where they encounter situations requiring an effective response to injuries, physical condition challenges, weather surprises, encounters with animals and equipment failures. Navigation exercises use handout instructions/maps to practice finding ones way in the woods.