Surviving the Wild

Now that fall has arrived, many students will take advantage of outdoor activities.

But as winter nears and animals prepare for hibernation, there are precautions students need to take.

Before you head out, here are some tips to keep you safe while you enjoy the wilderness.

Make a Plan

Before you step out the door, know where you're going.

Check the weather conditions and make a plan that says where you'll be and when you'll be back. Leave the plan behind with someone and a note on your vehicle when you hike.

"If you're not back in a reasonable time, then you have a place to start the search from," said Dave Early, a survival instructor in the Physical Education, Health and Recreation Department.

Basic Essentials

Even if you plan to hike for one day, you should pack a basic tool kit just in case.

First, bring a tool to build a fire.

"It could be a cigarette lighter. It could be a metal match. It could be a road flare. There are a number of different ways to build a fire," said Early. Also, carry a pocketknife and something to build a shelter.

"That could be just a very large, industrial-grade plastic garbage bag that we could just crawl into and cut a hole for our head and squat underneath that and be protected from the wind and the rain."

Bring food and water, a map and compass, extra clothes for the weather, a flashlight or hood lamp, a small first-aid kit, a whistle and a cell phone.

"Put this kit together," said Early. "Make it small, make it light. Make it portable… It'll be sitting in the bottom of your day pack and you'll always be ready to use it when you need it."

Practice

Practice using these tools. It may take a while, but it just might save your life. "The biggest thing that people need to carry around is the knowledge of how to use all those things," said Early. "If you don't know how to build a fire in the woods after it's rained for three or four days, you don't know how to construct a shelter that's going to stand up to a hard wind and a snowfall or a heavy rain or something like that; all that stuff is worthless because you'll burn up a lot of energy trying to use and do those things very inefficiently."

Dangers

Keep in mind certain dangers that could turn your trip into a nightmare. The two biggest dangers are extreme weather patterns and wild animals, bears in particular. Senior Brandon Jones, the marketing director at EPIC Adventures, said he once had a close call with a bear when he hiked in Alaska. Jones said he and his companions heard gunshots a fourth of a mile away from his campsite.

"We didn't hear gunshots hit anything and then it had to have been 15 minutes later the dogs outside of our tents started freaking out and it was most likely a bear out there like 50 feet away from our tent," he said.

However, bear attacks usually occur from being surprised, not from stalking.

STOP

Unless you're an advanced hiker, you should stick to well-traveled trails. Most search and rescue operations are over and done within 48 hours, but if you are lost or injured, remember the acronym S.T.O.P. S is for stop. Don't move. Stop what you're doing. T is for think. Think about where you are, where you've been, what you've been doing. O is for observe. Look around you. There could be food, water and shelter nearby. Look for a way out. There could be a road 250 feet away. P is for plan. What will you do? If it gets cold and dark, build a fire and shelter. "Everything usually looks better under the bright light of a new day," said Early. "You may not sleep very well. You may be kind of cold. You may be kind of miserable, but it'll be a new day. You'll have a full day of daylight to pursue your plan."

If you're injured, follow the same procedure, but try to move as little as possible.

Junior Ketti Wehrly, a student manager at EPIC, said she endured injuries during a group backpacking trip in the Cascade Mountains. Wehrly slipped 40 feet down the edge of a trail.

"Looking back on it, there's just so many precautions we should've done and we just hadn't prepared, we just didn't do it. We should've had our ice axes out. We should've had helmets on," said Wehrly.

Senior Luke Parsons, a student manager at EPIC, says outdoor activities are all about "hoping for the best and planning for the worst."

"It all comes down to planning," he said, "just being ready."

"If a student is a newcomer to outdoor activities and hasn't done any hiking, backpacking or things like that previously, I would encourage them to participate in activities with a group of people who have those skills ready and learn and develop and build their skill sets," said Early.

For those interested in outdoor activities, the Recreation and Leisure Services department offers several courses including backpacking, survival skills, kayaking and canoeing.

For more information, contact the Recreational Management Director Matt Chase at 359-7964.

Students are also encouraged to attend backpacking trips with EPIC students. For more information on that, call EPIC Adventures at 359-7920.