![]() ![]() ![]() The following skills will help you to travel safely, and enjoy your experience. Books can be helpful, too, but they are no substitute for experience. You can also learn them gradually, by doing short trips close to home, and asking questions at your local outdoor outfitter. Instructors teach backcountry basics, and students have the chance to practice them throughout a course. You can learn them on any Outward Bound course. To be safe and comfortable, you’ll need to practice some basics. Knowledge and skills are just as important as gear in the backcountry. Whatever the course environment, you’ll be using a map and compass to figure out where you are and where you want to go. Navigation is an essential skill taught on Outward Bound courses. Know how to navigate when you go on hiking trips. If your GPS fails, you’ll be very happy you invested some time in figuring out the age-old navigation device: a compass. Pick up a book on map and compass skills and practice orienteering or take a class offered by a local outfitter. In the backcountry, you may be reading maps to find your way on a lake or river, to go in the right direction in a whiteout on a mountain, or to decide which trail to take if you are backpacking. Be sure you have more than a GPS to guide you. NavigationĪlong with eating and sleeping, you’ll need to figure out how to get to where you want to go. Place a plastic cloth under your sleeping bag (if you’re using a tarp), and a lightweight sleeping pad, and you’ll sleep well at the end of the day. When cotton gets wet, it is much heavier, and doesn’t keep you warm, while synthetic materials do. Purchase or borrow one that is synthetic, not cotton. Of course, you’ll want a sleeping bag to put under your shelter. You’ll want to be sure all the parts are there for the tent, or that you know a few knots to set up a tarp. Whatever shelter you choose, practice setting it up before you go into the backcountry. Use a tent, tarp or parts of the environment for shelter. If you decide to buy a stove, ask someone at your outfitter store to show you the different types and to help you decide which might be best for you on your planned camping trips. Still other stoves use a type of alcohol. Once the canisters are empty, you still have to carry them. This is a very convenient fuel, but a bit heavier packaging to tote around. Other stoves use cans of pressurized gas. Some stoves require white gas, which is highly flammable and requires re-fillable metal bottles. There are many ways to prepare food in the wilderness, and many lightweight stoves to make it easy. ![]() You’ll find that simple foods can taste delicious on the trail, after a hard day of paddling, climbing or backpacking. Dinners can be as simple as adding water to a freeze-dried meal or instant soup from the grocery store, to creating yummy concoctions made with pasta and veggies, or macaroni and cheese. Breakfasts might include granola or oatmeal, with some dried fruit or nuts added.Ī good strategy for evening meals is to keep it simple at first, and become adventurous as you get some experience cooking on a small one-burner stove. In colder weather, hot drinks such as cocoa, tea, and instant soups warm the body and the spirit. Take yummy, easy snacks with you when you hike in ![]()
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