OFF-TRAIL WILDERNESS NAVIGATION COURSE SPRING

This Wilderness Navigation Course has three parts: Online, In-Person Workshop, and Field Trip.

If you cannot complete any of the activities during the spring course, you must rollover to the fall course. You are allowed only one rollover, after that you must pay for the course again. 

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SIGN UP PROCEDURE

1. 1. Register for this Spring Wilderness Navigation Course and pay the course fee.
   2. Register for the  Online, Workshop, and Field Trip Activities. 
   3. Buy your Compass (Suunto MC2 USGS is recommended), setup the GaiaGPS app, and subscribe to GaiaGPS on your smartphone (per Required Equipment and Course Materials tabs). 

KEEP YOUR DATES. Once you sign up for an Activity, please try to keep that date. If you move to a later date, do so very early so others have time to be pulled in from the waitlist. If you make changes at the last minute, it affects everyone.

BADGES

This course earns the Basic Navigation badge, a requirement for Basic Alpine Climbing, Alpine Scrambling, Backcountry Snowshoeing, and other courses and activities. The badge is valid for 3 years.

NOTE: This course prepares you for navigating in back country, on and off trail. Although it is suitable for students with little or no experience in navigation, you may want to take an Intro course first, which will delve into more narrowly focused, fundamental principles of navigation, and include hands-on practice. The Wilderness Navigation course is faster paced and covers considerably more content. Two introductory course options are: "Introduction to Map and Compass" offered by the Seattle Branch, and "Staying Found", offered by the Foothills Branch. Note that these two latter courses don't meet the navigation requirements for Climbing, Scrambling, Snowshoeing, etc. This one does.

LEARNING OUTCOMES

1. Understanding the Ethic of Self-Reliance. Group-reliance is not self-reliance.
2. Skilled in travel thru varied terrain & conditions, on and off trail.
3. Navigation tasks can be shared among the entire team.
4. Able to maintain high level of situational awareness – all individual team members can determine point position & return to your Camp/Trailhead working solo.
5. Skilled in using the FULL tool set – map, altimeter, compass, GPS, and awareness of emergency procedures and devices.

COURSE COMPONENTS AND TIME COMMITMENT

The entire course may take up to 30 hours to complete. Please obtain your compass ahead of time in order to meet the CONCRETE DEADLINES. MISSING A DEADLINE IS UNACCEPTABLE. PLEASE DO NOT UNDERESTIMATE THE TIME COMMITMENT FOR THE ONLINE ACTIVITIES. THEY TAKE TIME. 

• • The Online Map and Compass Activity is at your own pace over a multi-week period. It will take you a 7 to 8 hours to complete. It covers the basics of map and compass, coordinate systems, measuring and plotting bearings, altimeter and GPS system basics, and an introduction to trip planning. It may include practical exercises at home with map and compass.
  • The In-Person Workshop Activity is about 3 hours at the Seattle Program Center. You will develop a workflow that covers best practices from pre-trip preparation through post-trip evaluation, do more practical exercises with map, compass, and GPS, and get some tips on preparing for the field trip.
  • The Field Trip Activity is held at Discovery Park in Seattle. You’ll explore what Situational Awareness means, and practice the Ethic of Self-Reliance, both critical in backcountry pursuits. You’ll develop a sense of how and when to use all the tools, map, altimeter, compass, and GPS, in combination. Review of emergency communication devices such as locator beacons and satellite messengers will also be covered.