Backcountry Navigation Workshop
Fully enjoy exploring the backcountry with important navigation and safety skills.
Online Segment - Pre-Adventure Planning: Thursday, May 2, 2024 - 6:30 PM - 8:00 PM
Field Segment - Backcountry Navigation: Saturday, May 4, 2024 - 8:30 AM - 2:30 PM
Cost: $200 per person (limited to five explorers)
Maximize your joy and peace of spending time in the backcountry by learning some basic navigation skills and be prepared for backcountry emergencies. Join us for this two part workshop (online and field) to learn how to navigate anywhere in the backcountry and stay safe.
Online Segment: Pre-Adventure Planning
Learn how to develop your own backcountry routes and itineraries and enjoy backcountry areas you might not have considered before. During the online portion Friday evening, you’ll learn how to create a route using Google Earth and import that route into GaiaGPS, ready to use in the field. We’ll cover the Ten Essentials Plus system, including the importance of sharing your route, itinerary and important medical information. The zoom call will be recorded, allowing you to review it at your pace in the future.
The Friday evening course, via zoom, will focus on the following pre-adventure tasks:
Create a route using Google Earth (much easier) and import the route into GaiaGPS (or your favorite GPS app).
Identify two emergency contacts and learn how to communicate effectively with them throughout your adventure.
Review the Ten Essentials Plus system, beginning with the two most important items in your pack.
Learn how to completely avoid hypothermia.
Stay found throughout your adventure and eliminate the Search in Search and Rescue.
Field Segment: Backcountry Navigation and Safety
The field portion will start at the Mount Margaret Trailhead NW of Fort Collins in the Red Feather Lakes area. This is an absolutely stunning area that you’ll want to return to over and over again. We will cover the basics of using a map and compass and many additional navigation tips. We will follow the route we created the night before, approximately 4 miles roundtrip.
You’ll learn the following during the field portion of the workshop:
basic map and compass skills, including how to find yourself on a map and navigate from point to point
navigating without a map and compass or any electronic device
using GaiaGPS successfully
using a satellite messenger effectively
using the Ten Essentials successfully for unplanned nights out
securing water
how avoid hypothermia with an SOL Bivvy XL as well as staying dry during thunderstorms
learn how a variety of wildlife species are using this area, noting tracks, scat and other activity
By taking this workshop you’ll be more at ease in the backcountry, never worrying about getting lost or surviving multiple, unplanned nights out waiting for help. I look forward to meeting you and supporting your backcountry adventures.