Saturday April 16, 2016

Lots of Crowds, Training, Outreach,

Helped Getting An Injured Hiker Out.

Tent Caterpillars.

LIFE IS GOOD!

"HAPPY AS A MONKEY IN A MONKEY TREE" 

  

Besides being a picture of the new PATC  Trail Patrol person I was training this picture is there for the PATC or NPS trail maintenance folks to plan their trip to fix this blowdown.  Hikers can pretty easily weave their way through it until it gets fixed.

 A better picture of my student. 

 

 Old Rag was crazy busy with main lot full and 200 cars in the neighbors lot.   The video shows the line at the start of the scramble at around noon Saturday.

 

Stuff happens.   This hiker slipped and badly hurt her lower right leg.  She could not weight it. 

TRAIN TO BE READY WHEN STUFF HAPPENS

Many thanks to Shenandoah Mountain Guides, The Old Rag Mountain Stewards, SOLO,  Emergency Response Training, LNT, NOLS, Outward Bound and Red Cross, Adirondack Mountain Club for all the Wilderness First Aid training I have received over the years!  Please support our wonderful outdoor education resources by taking classes with them.    I am fairly sure that it is very hard to get too much training.

The  SNP staff was somewhat tied up with two forest fires and a missing hiker.   It was decided that while the patient could not put weight on her leg that she could make some progress under her own power.

SNP Ranger help arrived good Samaritans from the very beginning.   SNP Rangers and good Samaritans are awesome!

 

Some of the trip out was happy.

 By butt scooting about a half mile in the scramble,  using crutches for about a mile on the trail and then being carried piggyback by her male companion for the last mile of the trail the impromptu team finished a successful day around 2AM Sunday morning.  YAH TEAM!

TENT CATERPILLAR RESEARCH LEADS TO A GREAT RESOURCE

CAPITAL NATURALIST BLOG

Nethers had lots of tent caterpillars showing.   Researching them I found this great blog called Capital Naturalist follow the link below to read a great post about Eastern Tent Caterpillars and then maybe enjoy some of the other great posts done by this blogger.

 

http://capitalnaturalist.blogspot.com/2016/03/tent-caterpillars.html

 

June 13&14, 2015 LNT Trainers Course

Guy W. and I train 6 new LNT Trainers

Getting ready for our two days of backpacking and LNT classes.

Each student presents a lesson on one of the LNT principals and each student provides a constructive critiques of another students lesson.    Helpful hints and suggestions are provided by all.

While the class does cover learning the LNT subject matter it is mostly about teaching and training methods that can be used to teach the LNT subject matter.

The end of a great class.

June 3, 2015 PATC Trail Patrol One-on-One Training

The following pictures are from the day I did PATC Trail Patrol new member training for Greg F.

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The following signage located at the intersection of Old Rag, Weakley Hollow, and Berry Hollow fire roads AKA PO Junction shows all the area interior to the area bounded by Weakley Hollow Fire Road, the Ridge Trail and the Saddle Trail to be a NO CAMPING AREA.     I do not believe this signage is correct but until it is fixed folks may want to play it safe and abide by it.    If I see any SNP published information that says that it is incorrect I will post it on my blog but in the meantime it is what is being displayed at SNP's PO Junction information display.

May 16, 2015 PATC Trail Patrol One-on-One Training

A new ranger.

Judy S. the PATC Trail Patrol new member who I provided one-on-one training to this weekend.

patc trail patrol training

PATC Trail Patrol

New Member Training

Glass House

Friday Night thur Sunday morning

July 15-17, 2011



Class room on the porch great weather and a full moon. 



Practice hike and scenario training,

Saturday Sunday September 25&26 2010

Saturday September 25, 2010
PATC Trail Patrol Training at Glass House

Typical class scene at Glass House




A shot of the class during their training hike.



Sunday September 26, 2010 ORMS

I did a complete circuit up the Ridge Trail and out on the Saddle Trail and fire roads. With the heavy overcast and threat of rain there were not many hikers on the mountain for a Fall Weekend.



PARK SERVICE LEAF COLOR REPORT UPDATED EVERY FRIDAY
http://www.nps.gov/shen/parknews/fall_colors.htm


The next picture shows some of the early fall color changes. Andy, Liz, Anne and myself were on the mountain. ORMS provided, interpretation, resource protection and aided a hiker experiencing severe cramps to get down to Old Rag Shelter for transport out of the park.

PATC TP ONE-ON-ONE TRAINGING

ONE-ON-ONE PATC TRAIL PATROL TRAINING

PATC Trail Patrol provides a regular training day a couple of times a year but since dual income professional families in Washington DC have very hectic schedules PATC Trail Patrol members who are willing can provide one-on-one training to outdoor enthusiasts who are interested in becoming new PATC Trail Patrol members.

I had the pleasure of providing a day of One-On-One PATC Trail Patrol training to one of our new probationary members this last weekend. All her family members are outdoor enthusiasts so I was glad they could join us for the day.

The next two pictures are of the Cuneo family and then one of me and my student for the day.

Even though I had the role of being an instructor I had the distinct pleasure of learning from the Cuneo's who are active hikers, climbers, outdoor persons with lots of knowledge, stories and experiences of their own. If you join any of the volunteer organizations I participate with do not be surprised that shortly after joining us you find yourself a mentor and source of new information and knowledge in regards to your own unique experiences, knowledge, skills, aptitudes or areas of specialization.

SATURDAY AND SUNDAY
MAY 22&23, 2010
WILDERNESS FIRST AID TRAINING
AT EMERGENCY RESPONSE TRAINING, LLC's
NEW FREDERICK MARYLAND TRAINING FACILITY


Dave and Saleena Devore have been providing great Wilderness First Aid and CPR training at PATC for years. They recently had the opportunity to build a new home in the country side just outside of Frederick Maryland. As founders, owners and operators of Emergency Response Training, LLC they took the opportunity to plan their new home so that it included a training facility in its lower level. Having this training facility makes it easier for them to provide a more robust two day Wilderness First Aid curriculum complete with lots of hands on practice and scenario training.

For those that have never heard of Wilderness First Aid it is different from First Aid which is taught with the assumption that an ambulance and than a modern medical facility are only minutes away. Wilderness First Aid, Wilderness First Responder and Wilderness EMT are taught with the assumption that modern medical facilities will be hours if not days away.

Emergency Response Training, LLC can be reached via email at emailert@yahoo.com.

These courses were first created to aid individuals who were travelling in remote areas but it has since become obvious that this same training is useful when a modern urban area looses access to good medical services after a large disaster such as a flood, earth quake, tidal wave, or major storm.

Lots of hands on practice.


An awesome scenario.

April 24 and 25 2010
Saturday, April 24, 2010
PATC Trail Patrol Training at Glasshouse

Map and compass skills training.
Trail Patrol routine procedures training.

Trail Patrol Leave-No-Trace training.

Trail patrol scenario training.

More Trail Patrol scenario training.

Sunday, April 25, 2010 Trail Patrol on Old Rag.

MOUNTAIN AZALEAS (PINXTERS)

WERE JUST STARTING TO BLOOM

The forecast had called for rain but it turned out to be great weather. SNP was having a FEE FREE day. But because there had been rain forecast the parking lot only had about 30 cars in it and the mountain probably only had around 100 hikers on it this day. There were weekend winter days with deep snow that had more visitors.

A flutter of Swallowtails obtaining minerals from the mud. Not long after seeing these we walked through the middle of a different flutter(kaleidoscope, rabble, swarm, rainbow) of over a hundred yellow swallowtail butterflies that swirled all around us.

Looking up the Ridge Trail.

A PATC TP member providing a little bit of advice and interpretation to a couple of hikers.

The summit of Old Rag.

The Old Rag Mountain Stewards (ORMS) are back on the mountain next week.

Saturday October 25, 2009 PATC TP Training

PATC Trail Patrol Training at Glasshouse
Saturday, October 24, 2006


Early Saturday morning a double rainbow over Front Royal observed on the way to Glasshouse which is near Elizabeths Furnace in the Massanuttens.


The inside of Glasshouse cozy but adequate space for a small group of students and instructors.

Training hike starts with a little practice with map and compass.

Scenario training.

More scenario training.