Field Curriculum
All of my trips are learning-intensive, regardless of the trip length or location, or the group’s experience level or fitness. Each trip is unique, however, and we tailor the lessons accordingly.
The curriculum has two parts:
- Planning, detailed on the Planning Curriculum page
- Field, detailed below
On shorter trips, a greater portion of your time will be spent learning. On longer trips, the learning is concentrated at the beginning (which conveniently slows us down, allowing us to ease our bodies into the trip and to eat some of our pack weight); in the middle and end, the goal is to apply and master these new skills.
Note that all the subjects listed below may not be taught due to land regulations or environmental limitations. For example, there will be no fire-starting clinic in an area where open fires are banned, and no river fording clinic in an area where there are no notable rivers. However, we can certainly still discuss these topics.
At the trailhead
- Gear & supply check
- Packing a backpack: load distribution & organization
- Pack fitting
Leave No Trace
- Durable surfaces
- Cryptobiotic soil
- Alpine vegetation
- Campfires
- Pooping and TP
Hiking
- Layering
- Hiking efficiency: effort and breaks
- Trekking poles: sizing
- Trekking poles: when (not) to use
- Foot care: blisters and maceration
Environmental challenges
- Talus and scree
- Slabs and slickrock
- Bushwhacks
- Early-season snow
- Creek crossings
- Cold-and-wet conditions
- Hazards: avalanches, lightning, floods
Navigation
- “The toolkit”: equipment, skills, and experience
- Map reading: scale, contours, shading
- Dead reckoning
- Compass: orient a map, and find and transfer bearings
- Altimeter watches
- GPS apps
- Relative strengths of each navigational tool
- On-trail navigation
- Off-trail navigation & route-finding
Camping
- Campsite selection
- Shelter types: pitching instructions, pros/cons
- Bed making: layering, contouring
- Stove operation
- Fire-starting
- Knot tying
- Quick-start morning tactics
- Protocols for leftover food
- Overnight food storage
Nourishment
- How much food
- What types of food
Hydration
- Water planning
- Finding water
- Water purification
- Filling techniques with different bottles
- Water quality
Personal health & safety
- Personal hygiene
- Backcountry bidet
- Women-specific topics (e.g. menstruation, UTI’s, hair care)
- Overuse injury prevention & care
- Clothes washing
- Poison ivy identification
First aid and emergency
- First aid philosophy & supplies
- Emergency communication
- Gear care and repair
Gear care
- Reset dry
- Pot cleaning
- Protecting air-filled sleeping pads
- Shelter + guyline storage
Wildlife and insects
- Biting insects (mostly mosquitoes)
- Bear protocols
Naturalism and history
- Geology
- Glaciology
- Watersheds
- Plants & trees
- Wildlife
- Birding
- Human history