Spring Backpacking; A Reminder Of Winter and A Taste Of Days To Come

This past Wednesday, Manitouwadge was hit with a spring storm of rain, snow and freezing rain. Less than ideal conditions to introdroduce the Northern Studies class to backpacking. The students however, had the skills and gear to deal with the conditions even if they may have had doubts about what they were getting into.

The outdoor skills we have learned up to this point have dealt with providing for our basic needs while in the bush; safe and comfortable shelter, food and water, warmth, and social/emotional well being. This trip would introduce the students to environmental ethics and minimum impact camping skills.

The chosen campsite was RC17 rapids, a popular summer destination outside Manitouwadge where people often spend the day swimming, tubing down the rapids and camping. The site is also on the Black River canoe route from Manitouwdge to Lake Superior. This site has a beautiful section of cascades surrounded by mature jackpine forest and sandy level areas for camping.

At the site the students participated in discussions about what ethics are and how some activities people did in the past are no longer acceptable to society today. We also discussed how our undisturbed natural areas are disappearing and the remaining ones are under increased pressure because more people are attracted to fewer areas. This concentration of people to an area can quickly degrade an area unless we use skills that minimize our impact on these areas when we use them recreationally if we want to keep them in a natural state. In this respect, human actions that were acceptable in the bush in the past are no longer acceptable today.

With this in mind, we spent the remainder of the time learning and practicing minimum impact camping skills. The students built an minimum impact fire, cooked lunch and cleaned up the fire site so no trace was left to see. They also learned the proper methods of handling wastes in camp to reduce the risk of disease transmission and attracting animals to the site.

As a teacher, I was very pleased with the level of participation and positve attitudes diplayed throughout the lessons.

Our last day we were rewarded with a warm sunny day and good trail conditions to walk out on. In all it was a great trip.