10 Safety Tips When Backpacking with Scouts
Scouts have always been known for our love of the outdoors, but in the last couple years more and more people are starting to hit the trail and getting outdoors. This now makes it even more important for our adult and youth scouters to be first-aid and CPR trained, as with this increase, we are also seeing an increase in accidents. Whether you are new to the trail or highly experienced, we all end up having issues every once in a while.
It's never to late to sharpen up our skills for staying safe in the backcountry, especially when you are responsible for larger groups of youth. Here are 10 things we can all do to make sure we are better prepared.
1. Have a first-aid kit that supports the amount of people you have with you
Every scouting event we go on we should all be carrying a first-aid kit, as it is part of our 10 Essentials, but the question is: is this enough for when we are backpacking in the backcountry. Our small personal kits have a good selection of items, but they get picked at frequently, for a Band-Aid here or an aspirin there, and how often do we think our scouts are replenishing those kits.
I highly recommend having a troop first-aid kit in which the scouts can take turns carrying along the trail, but you should always know who has the kit and make sure it is quickly accessible. It is also important for multiple people on the trail to be familiar with the kit and to know how to use the items in it. I highly recommend having at least 3+ people who have been trained in wilderness first-aid, to include some of the older scouts, when out on trip in the backcountry.
2. Have an Emergency Plan
An emergency never happens when we want it to, or when we are best prepared for it to happen, which is why it is important to have emergency plans, especially when going into the backcountry. You should also have multiple people who know your plan. For example, if you are a day or two late from coming off the trail, then someone will know what your plan was and how to get help to you in the timeliest manner. Things in your plan you should share with other: where you will enter the trail, how far you expect to get each day, who is with you, where you plan to camp each night and when you plan to be off the trail. Not only do I leave these plans with other scout leaders or parents, but I will also print/write one out and place in the dash of my vehicle.
For example, if you are hiking on a trail in a monitored area, such as the park service or forest service where a ranger may be checking parking lots on a regular basis, they will most likely notice a piece of folded paper that say Emergency Plan. If the outside of this plan say Day in 11/4, Day out 11/7 and today is 11/8 or 9, then they could potentially gain access to your vehicle and take all the information in your plan to help them get to you quickly. As we all know, when it comes to accidents in the backcountry, time is not our friend.
3. Pack a Map
Each year a large number of search and rescue calls are for lost hikers. We are all so dependent on our newer technology devises, like our cell phones or GPS units, that more and more people stop taking maps with them on hiking or backpacking trips. I’ve been in a few situations where my phone stopped working, or I was having issues with my GPS, and was very thankful to have a map to refer to. As for scouts, it is very beneficial for them to learn orienteering skills, and therefore I normally do not allow them to use GPS units until they have demonstrated that they understand the basics of using a map and compass. As an adult, it’s always good to have your own map and compass and even a GPS system to make sure you are monitoring the process of the crew.
4. Bring a Back-Up Water Purification System
Water is probably one of the most important substances needed when in the backcountry and therefor making it important to have safe access in collecting water. We should always test out your water filtration systems before you get on the trail, but sometimes we just can’t help it when something goes wrong with the system. Drinking contaminated water can quickly make you sick on the trail, with things like diarrhea, vomiting and stomach pains, and when you are many miles from medical services it is best to not take these kinds of chances, especially with scouts.
Simply having a back-up water purification system as part of the crew gear can go a long way in protecting the crew and making sure everyone stays hydrated. Even if you don’t carry another pump or filter, you can always carry light weight purifying tablets.
5. Watch for Signs of Altitude Sickness
If you are looking to hike or backpack in Colorado or other mountain states, then most likely you are looking to find the beautiful views that come from being high on the side of large mountains. Altitude sickness is a frequent ailment when hiking the mountains, because unless you live in the area then most likely your body is not going to be accustomed to the lack of oxygen. Altitude sickness can create issues such as headaches, nausea, dizziness, and problems sleeping.
One of the best ways to treat altitude sickness is to take you time going up in elevation. This could mean taking an extra day to stay at a mid-level elevation, or just doing a slower pace in mileage while on the trail. Another good prevention method is to hike at the higher altitudes and sleep at the lower altitudes, for example, summit in the early parts of the day and sleep down in the valley.
Symptoms of altitude sickness are dizzy spells, shortness of breath, nausea, headaches, not hungry, or just general fatigue. The best way to treat altitude sickness is to go lower in elevation. Sometimes this may mean cutting your hike or your day short. If this is not an option, then you should take time to let your body acclimate to the higher elevation, which means when you first start seeing signs of altitude sickness stop and take breaks, drink lots of water to stay hydrated and gets some rest. This may mean instead of doing a planned 15-mile day you end up setting up camp at 8 miles. The trick, is to be aware of the symptoms and act as soon as possible, because getting sick in the backcountry is not something we want to do.
6. Be Bear Aware
If you are hiking in the wilderness, you should always be aware of what wildlife is in the area. Here in Colorado, we not only have bears to look out for, but plenty of other large and small critters like coyotes, mountain lions or even mini bears. When you are in the backcountry and sometimes miles away from civilization, it’s important to protect your food and yourself.
You should always store your food and cook at least 200 feet away from where you sleep. You should also store any additional smellables or clothes that you’ve cooked in with your bear bags as well. If your troop/crew is not familiar with the bear-muda triangle, then this could be a great topic of conversation at one of your meetings prior to going out in bear country. If you know you are in an active bear area, then it can be beneficial to have bear spray with you. If you have never used bear spray before, it can be useful to practice with it at home first.
7. Take Care of Your Feet
One of the most frequent things to cause a scout to have to leave the trail early is problems with their feet. When out on the trail many young scouts have reported feeling scared to speak up when they are having issues, whether that is because they want to look cool and show they can keep up with the older scouts or that they are worried that the other scouts will pick on them for not being as good at backpacking as they are, this becomes an issue to watch out for. As an adult, it is really important to make sure the older scouts are taking the time to teach the younger scouts about how to take care of your fee. Teach them how to recognize hot spots, how to make sure their boots fit and are tied properly, and how it is ok to ask for help if you feel like you are having an issue. The one time I will always intervene on the trail, is when I see a scout giving another scout a hard time about saying their feet hurt.
Some ways you can take care of your feet when on the trail; wear proper socks, wool or wool-blend is always your friend. Teach the scouts the saying, “Cotton is Rotten”. Make sure you have the proper footwear for the trails where you are going, make sure your first-aid kit has things like food lube, moleskin, and Neosporin creams, and try to keep your feet clean and dry. Pushing through the pain, when it comes to your feet and backpacking, will only cause you to have greater problems down the trail. Always take the time, whether on the trail or in camp, to take care of your feet.
8. Pack Extra Layers
A scout is always prepared. We also have a saying that gets used often around my house that says, “it’s better to have it and not need it, than need it and not having it”. Now in backpacking this can be a controversial topic, as there is definitely a fine line between having enough to be prepared and carrying too much weight.
When heading out in the backcountry it is extremely important to know your environment. Hopefully during your emergency planning you did some research on the area, to include the possible temperatures or weather patterns for the trip. There are many great ways to minimally pack but also have what you need. For example, you always want to pack rain protection, even if there are only slight chances of there being rain, because there is nothing that will bring on hypothermia faster than being wet and getting chilled, but your rain jacket can also be an added layer to help you stay warm.
If you are venturing into the mountains, you always want to pack a hat and gloves, as temperatures can easily drop from a warm day with your clothing of choice being a short sleeve, to having the sun go down and then you find you’ll want to get out your insulating layer and your gloves.
9. Stay on the Trail
Scouts love to explore, and to be honest I love nothing better than to allow them to explore, but we also want to do our best to stay safe and leave-no-trace while in the backcountry. We go to all these places because they are some of the most beautiful places in our country, and it’s important that we teach our scouts to make sure we are doing our part to keep it all that way. When we play and wonder off trail it can damage the plant life and even erode the hillsides. As the Leave No Trace principles teach us, travel and camp on durable surfaces. Additionally, it’s amazing at how quickly you can loose your sense of direction when your in the mountains in dense forests or even desert environments when you start getting off trail.
10. Carry an Emergency Device
As you can see from the above, a lot of my tips are centered around staying safe and healthy on the trail. Once we are able to meet these basic needs, we are then able to stay comfortable, have lots of fun and enjoy the beautiful environments around us. In our troop we do a lot of backpacking into the backcountry and in a lot of areas where there is no cell phone service. Having a way to communicate out with others off the trail can come in handy in many situations. Whether you need to tell the person providing your crew support when you’re going to be at the next trailhead, or you need to hit the emergency button and get emergency services headed your direction, having a good satellite communication device is extremely important.
I personally use the Garmin inReach Mini because I can pause my subscription or even change it to a higher plan on a monthly basis without penalty. It works really well, though sometimes in the mountains the messages can be slow to go out if you are deep in some tree cover. I finally set my device to where it can chime when a message is sent, that way I can send the message and then continue doing what I’m doing and just listen out for the chime to know that it was sent successfully. If I don’t hear the chime, then I go back and try to resend the message. When in the backcountry, I would rather my messages be sent twice by accident than never at all.
I hope these tips have been helpful for you and that you and your troop get out and enjoy the great outdoors!
