You want me to do what!!!

"Come backpacking with me." Tom said. "It will be fun!" It had been 4yrs since I had been responsible to teach survival training to girls ages 12-15 and help girls ages 16-18 guide the younger girls in learning their skills. At age 15 the girls had to show their knowledge by taking a 5 mile survival backpacking trip using makeshift tents and bed rolls. We always had a blast seeing how they learned, from experience, what was needed and what was not! So my adorable husband thought that I would enjoy doing it with him as he learned these same skills! What he didn't understand was that in these past 4yrs, my body has 'matured' to a degree that such strenuous exercise is more work and pain than pleasure, sigh.

Jeff, our instructor's patience, enthusiasm and knowledge was delightful and supportive of everyone's needs and level of ability, with tips to make everything work with ease!! Including starting a fire with rain saturated wood! Thank you!! You are a fun, and entertaining teacher!!

I learned or was reminded that:

a- birch bark and pine needles make great fire starters; the store bought fire starter was beneficial when the wood was too wet for the wet birch bark or the strike anywhere matches with nothing dry to strike them on; a piece of sand paper stored in with the matches would have been good; a folding camp knife made cutting larger logs a breeze

b- wool socks keep the feet not only warm but also dry; polyester socks allow the wool socks to slip easily, thus preventing blisters

c- sturdy, well fitting, water proof, high top hiking boots are a must; they were a great blessing

d- I can do with only one change of clothes (which would have lightened the pack a LOT)

e- an empty milk bottle (to fill with water upon arrival) and soap on a rope would have been nice for a sanitation station to wash hands and brush teeth

f- pond scum is a great bug repellent as is 98% deet

g- bear canisters are worth the extra weight

h- there was little time to read, because it took a LOT of time gathering wood to keep the fire alive,

while I waited for the others to return from their hikes, so one small book would have been sufficient to bring instead of two

i- the comfort of a slightly larger tent (one which allows a person to sit up in) would be worth the slightly extra weight; one advantage of the small tent was it kept us warm thus eliminating the need for the wool blanket which would have lightened my pack; the ground cover under the tent and the plastic under the bedding helped keep the water off the bedding and mud off the bottom of the tent

j- the kid-sized self inflating pad to lay on was a blessing worth its little weight, as was the light quilt in place of a sleeping bag

k- dried food is better than fresh, when possible, to keep the pack lighter; one dish and set of plastic ware and plastic cup was enough; to lighten the load bring no cans (especially those requiring a can opener) they are too heavy and need to be carried out as well (I had 2 tiny cans with pull tops); we used all the food we took except for a small amount of ground beef

l- a steri-pen is a MUST as is a water filter to be sure of safe and palatable drinking water; we were drinking water from a pond

m- Since I didn't go on the hike, I didn't use the compass

n- the first aid kit came in handy, not only for myself, but others in the group, since I had some things which they didn't

o- one quart of water on the trail was sufficient for a short hike and 2 bottles to fill upon arrival thus lightening the pack

p- a simple sheet of plastic would have been lighter than my home-made sit-upon made from duct-tape

q- used both the wind breaker and the rain poncho, which was a blessing when the rain came, because it was enough to keep me both warm and dry

r- a paper hat doesn't hold up to rainy conditions even when it has been coated with a moisture barrier.

s- taking long walks for weeks while carrying increasingly heavier loads before embarking on such an arduous adventure would be an excellent idea

t- ZipLock bags for things in the back pack and a large plastic bag for over the back pack were great suggestions for keeping everything dry in-spite of two nights of rain

u- the plastic trowel was much lighter than the metal one, which I originally intended to take and plenty strong enough

v- a small roll of toilet paper with the cardboard pulled out of the middle allowed for ease of use

w- a small bottle of hand sanitizer in the bag of toilet paper was a good substitute for water and soap when necessary

x- ZipLock bags DO NOT keep things dry when left out in the rain

y- the flashlight was a MUST in finding my way to a 'sitting log' in the middle of the dark and stormy nights

z- it is important to leave things better than they are found, which gave a use for the extra large plastic bag