Archive for the ‘Photos’ Category

Allegheny River Sojourn 2013

Allegheny River Sojourn 2013

As I sit here relaxing on a Sunday morning, cradling a hot mug of strong coffee in my hand, I cannot help but fondly reflect on one of the most terrific programs in which I have been involved in a long time.  I spent three days, from Thursday of last week through Saturday, paddling along the Allegheny River with six amazing kids from the North Side and seven terrific instructors. The program was the “Allegheny River Sojourn and Program for Urban Youth.”  Envisioned and developed by Melissa and David Rohm of Paddle Without Pollution (PWP) the goal of the program was to introduce a group of urban youth to the beauty and wonders of the outdoors.  As they paddled their canoes and kayaks, they not only saw scores of Bald Eagles, but they learned about the important role of watersheds, they leaned about plant identification, they saw bear bear tracks and scat […]

Read more

Outdoor Photography

Outdoor Photography

So as to better inform others of the activities and adventures that are taking place at True North, we make the effort to regularly alternate our various photographs.  Like the ones that currently grace the header and footer of our Facebook page.  Thanks to local professional photographer, Abie Livesay, we are extremely lucky to have more than a few beautiful ones from which to chose. During the weekend of May 26-27, 2012, True North hosted a “Fun” Survival Overnight for a group of individuals who have some of the highest PMA levels that Erik and Larry have ever seen.  True North planned the event in order to help make up for a survival training course for which this group had registered the previous November, but which … How shall we say? … had gone slightly awry thanks to an unplanned abundance of hunters roaming the Laurel Highlands searching for bears. […]

Read more

One Tough Navigator

One Tough Navigator

Congratulations to Mendl B. of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania for completing a private lesson in Basic Wilderness Navigation. We first met earlier in the week at Commonplace Coffee in Squirrel Hill on Forbes Avenue for a “classroom” session to discuss the fundamentals of land navigation … like the parts of a compass; the differences in compass types genrally; how to read a topographic map; the difference between Magnetic North and True North; plus many other points.  There, Mendl bought me a cup of coffee that might be the best that I ever had! Then, yesterday, as part of the “field” session, Mendl braved a blazing sun and a 103° heat index to walk on and off trail at Hartwood Acres County Park to practice the practical elements of navigation.  He learned that while navigation is fairly easy conceptually to learn, it is a bit harder to do in actuality.  However, half way […]

Read more

Team True North

Team True North

Training for Team True North has already begun in earnest. Janée Romesberg will be representing True North Outdoor School in the Lionheart Adventure Race from August 11-12.  Lionheart is a 25 hour race beginning in Ohiopyle, Pennsylvania, in the beautiful Laurel Highlands, which involves mountain biking, trail running, kayaking, rappelling, and orienteering over an 85 mile combined course. Janée has already completed the Basic Wilderness Navigation and Advanced Wilderness Survival courses in recent months, but she will be working with Erik and Larry to refine many of the required skills that she will need for this race. Follow Janee’s personal blog posts about her training experience with True North at the links below! Training for Lionheart Continues  

Read more

Congratulations to a New Crop of Navigators!

Congratulations to a New Crop of Navigators!

Congratulations to the students from Venture Outdoors who just completed Basic Wilderness Navigation.  Eleven adventurous members – two of whom traveled from as far away as Cleveland – participated in the two session course.  And lest anyone think that just because the word “basic” is in the title that it must have been easy, let’s just say that it wasn’t your average walk in the park! During the initial classroom session, which was graciously hosted by Exkursion, an independent outfitter in Monroeville, we started by learning the fundamentals of a topographic map and the various types of compasses.  Certainly, there was quite a bit of initial head scratching since few of the students had ever done anything like it, but by the end of the evening they were confidently plotting bearings on a map, and they could easily explain the difference between Magnetic North, Grid North, and True North. Now, […]

Read more

Stay in Touch