Blog

I just finished a very busy, but very wonderful, week working with the four leaders of the Ranger Program at YMCA Camp Ockanickon & Matollionequay located in Medford, New Jersey. Monika and Jessica, and Matt and Zach, will be spending this summer leading trips that hike up a portion of the Appalachian Trail through Northeastern Pennsylvania, then paddle down the Delaware River. So we worked together to get them certified in Wilderness First Aid (WFA), learn the fundamentals of land navigation, and develop their backcountry skills as they get ready to soon head out on their own with their groups. With only three days to train, our schedule and work was compressed and intense, not to mention the rain, heat, and ticks. But these four worked extremely hard, and they did so with smiles on their faces, sprinkled with much laughter, the entire time. Trust me, they may have had […]

True North just completed yesterday a Wilderness First Aid (WFA) course for a great group. Several of them are Boy Scout leaders who are preparing to take their Scouts to Seabase next month, while two others are getting ready to head to Brazil with Engineers Without Borders as part of a development project. Many thanks to all of them!

Last night, I started the first of a four session Wilderness First Aid (WFA) course with Scout leaders at BSA Camp Guyasuta in Sharpsburg. Not only are they a great bunch, but Camp Guyasuta is truly a hidden gem. Most people (including me) have been whizzing by it on Route 28 for years, not really knowing that it’s there. Trust me, it is truly a slice of peaceful wilderness tucked away in a largely urban landscape. I’m thinking that True North may need to hold more classes there!

Erik spent part of his Memorial day with a great group from the Butler Outdoors Club as part of their “Outdoors Extravaganza” teaching them how to build a fire. Now they are better prepared in an emergency to build a knee high fire in the pouring rain in five minutes. Don’t think it can be done? It can. Just ask this group. Don’t know how? Then consider enrolling in one of True North’s upcoming survival courses. Many thanks to Becca for helping out. Hope that you are all enjoy a safe and happy holiday.

On Friday night, 40 students and staff from a Pennsylvania university needed to be rescued in Kentucky after they got lost while hiking along a popular trail.  Clearly, no one in the group had bothered to learn the basic map and compass skills that would have let them safely find their way, or, more importantly, would have likely prevented their predicament in the first place.  Regrettably, this is the way many people approach the outdoors.  Except, that is, Ian and Skot, who just completed “Basic Wilderness Navigation” yesterday. On what was probably the loveliest day of the year so far — clear skies with a bright sun, little wind, and temperatures in the low 50s — we met at Hartwood Acres County Park to learn the fundamentals of map and compass. We started the first evolution of the course learning the basics of a standard USGS topographic map, and then […]