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Innovative BAWTmobiles Offer Affordable Transportation to get Youth Outdoors : City CarShare and Bay Area Wilderness Training Pool Resources to Serv
Here in the Bay Area, where we often pay the highest gas prices in the nation, transportation costs get lots of attention. But for many youth workers, transportation is not only expensive; it is often the missing link in efforts to get kids to nature. Short trips across the Golden Gate, or even across San Francisco from The Bayview neighborhood to the Presidio have been near impossible. But now there?s a new, innovative solution to this barrier, called the BAWTmobile. This aptly named problem-solver is part of a groundbreaking program that was recently launched by two San Francisco based non-profit organizations- City CarShare and Bay Area Wilderness Training (BAWT).

Understanding Frostbite
Often a misunderstood hazard in the outdoors because it has a tendency to sneak up on us, frostbite is defined as the actual freezing of human tissue. Most often it's a combination of cold temperatures (temperatures must be below freezing), wind, and moisture.

Whitewater Kayak Sport Basics For Excitement
Going on a whitewater kayak adventure can be fun, exciting, and exhilarating; however there are a few basics which you should acknowledge yourself with before even considering going on this sort of outing. For one, the whitewater kayak sport is incredibly gear intensive.

20 Tips on Sleeping Warm in the Outdoors
Sleeping warm is one of the factors that can make or break a cold weather adventure. Remember the body cools down during sleep and the blood is drawn from the extremities (feet and hands) to the center or core of the body, so proper insulation must be provided to prevent heat loss.

Wilderness Waters

If Youre Ever Lost in the Outdoors!


If you're ever lost in the outdoors use the S.T.O.P. acronym (sit, think, observe, plan) to control panic. You'll know what I mean about panic if you've ever been in that situation. And, if you haven't been turned around and you spend any significant amount of time in the outdoors, then it's only a matter of time before you do know what I mean. Psychologists have studied this mental state and found that without a known reference point the mind will begin to race in order to find one and if not found quickly then panic sets in.

So, if you're ever lost, use the S.T.O.P. acronym and ask yourself these questions:

  • What was the last point you recognized?

  • Can you retrace your steps? (In most search and rescue case studies there was a point at the beginning or just prior to panic, when the victim could have retraced their steps, but they failed to do so.)

  • Is there a place, trail, landmark you can focus on that gives you direction?

  • If NO to all these questions, then begin a slow systematic approach...
    • Slow Systematic Approach

  • Analysis of the terrain around you:

    • Landmarks (peaks, fire towers, power lines, lakes, human structures, etc... )

    • Stream Flow (which way is it flowing, what side of the stream were you on)

    • Ridgelines (which side of the ridge were you on)

  • Start a terrain feature search, by traveling short distances to locate landmarks or familiar terrain and/or trails.

    • Travel 10 minutes in the best guess direction, marking your trail back.

    • Return to your original position and try another direction.

    • In a dense forest use the prominent object method: Walk to a prominent object, marking direction of travel or the trail along the way and then repeat. If, your efforts do not turn up a known location, then return to original starting place.

    • Note: make sure to mark your trail with something that is easily seen and cannot be removed or washed away.

    NOTE: Sometimes it's just best to hunker-down and wait for a change in the weather, morning or rescue. Also, remember that most trained searchers will assume that streams, roads, trails, power lines, and lakes are barriers. So, if an organized search is expected, stay at the barriers.

    BONUS TIP: When it's getting late and you're not sure how much daylight you have, here's a little trick called Fist Time: Hold your fist straight out in front of you and set it on the horizon line, now measure how many fists to the sun. Number of fists = number of hours left until sunset. (A fist has about 15 degrees of arch and 15 degrees goes into 360, 24 times, so 1 fist = 1 hour, ½ a fist = ½ hour, etc...)

    About the Author:
    Greg Rouse has been teaching wilderness sports and emergency response at the university and college level for over a decade. He is also the founder of a unique web site called WildernessTrip.com, a one-stop resource for self-guided wilderness trip planning. This web site is basically; a free online guidebook that photo-documents trips with interactive maps and detailed route descriptions. Each trip has free pictures and free topographic maps of the trail, all in a print-friendly format. Check it out at http://www.WildernessTrip.com


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