This last weekend I had the wonderful opportunity to go backpacking in the Coyote Gulch area of Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. As an aspiring recreation professional, and as a prepper, there were a few lessons that I picked up over the course of the trip that I wanted to pass on.
1. Know where you are going. Our instructor had never been to the location, but he did his homework and had the appropriate selection of maps and literature about the area. One thing that he had done was make a few photocopies from the guide books about the area, so he didn't have to pack the full book. This was an advantage both weight wise as well as serving as a disposable resource. If the copies got wet or ruined some other way, he would not ruin the book.
2. The difference between personal and professional responsibility. When hiking, backpacking, bugging out, you need to understand the difference in responsibility. When by yourself, you can take the risks that you want, take as much or as little gear as you want. But with a group, especially if you are leading one as a professional, you have a commitment to the people you are with. Things like group first aid kits and training, cooking and sanitation equipment, and the experience to share what works best for different areas, climates, weather.
3. Make sure you have the right gear. Period. I messed up. Everyone forgets something every trip, and I forgot two things; camp shoes, and hand sanitizer. It got tiring to ask for some every time I had to visit a tree privately. The camp shoes would have been nice to have do to the large number of stream/river crossings. Waddling around camp barefoot with wet feet was not too fun. Dry socks and dry footwear would have been wonderful. At the same time, having gore-tex boots, while not able to keep the contents of an entire river out of my boots, were quite dry after a day without any river crossings. Another foot saver was my pair of sock liners. My last big hike, I got blisters galore without them, and this time I returned after a four day trip without a single blister.
Remember, we can learn from all sorts of venues, so apply what you learn everyday to how you can be more prepared.
