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Wilderness Camping Tip #9 – Cell Phones; Do they save lives or promote negligence?

10/30/2011

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Safety and Philosophy Tips 
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Safety Tip - Should You Bring a Cell Phone for Safety?

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Philosophy Tip - Is there a Place for Cell Phones in the Wilderness?

Should you bring a cell phone on your wilderness travels? While I’m unaware of any Wilderness Areas that outlaw cell phones, most land managers warn hikers to not depend on them because service is notoriously poor in most Wilderness Areas.  The controversy about the use of cell phones in wilderness breaks down to two basic arguments;

1.       They are not appropriate in a natural area that promotes self-reliance
2.       They save lives

I share the philosophical concern and wouldn’t be upset if cell phones were outlawed in Wilderness Areas. On the other hand with the advent of the smart phone which, besides the phone, can include a GPS, map, compass, book collection, and many other handy applications all in one device, they are incredibly handy.  Some of these applications may require a cell connection while others may not. I have frequently brought a cell phone on my backcountry travels for its camera and HD video capability. I have also frequently used my cell phone’s GPS although I generally find it to be inadequate because it quickly drains the phone’s battery. I usually carry an extra phone battery. During hunting season I frequently use a cell phone to keep in contact with my hunting buddies. I do not bring it for safety purposes although I would use it for such if it happened to work when I needed it. When I hike alone, for safety, I bring a Personal Locator Beacon (PLB). I bring a SPOT, which is a sophisticated version of a PLB. Whether you carry a cell phone (smart phone or otherwise) or PLB I recommend you keep the following in mind:

1.       It may not work! PLBs are much more reliable than cell phones with cell phone coverage notoriously spotty in remote areas. Both can fail when you need them most. Plan accordingly.
2.       Don’t let an electronic communication device take the place of a good emergency plan! Make an emergency plan as if you don’t have a cell phone. Utilize a Backcountry Trip Planner and carry an Emergency Backcountry Search & Rescue Report form. If you bring a cell phone into the Wilderness and it works for you, great; it may speed your emergency care. If it doesn’t work, your plan still will.
3.       Don’t expect to do something stupid and then count on a cell phone, PLB, or other electronic device to rescue you. They won’t. Electronic devices don’t perform rescues; people do and risk their lives in the process.

To See Tip #8 click here

To See Tip #10 click here

Adapted from The Camper’s Guide to Outdoor Pursuits by Jack Drury and Eric Holmlund published in 2006 by Sagamore Publishing

Additional readings on the topic of cell phones:

  •   http://faculty.deanza.edu/donahuemary/stories/storyReader$1068  article about cell phones, pbls, and the impact of search and rescues.
  •  http://www.nationalparkstraveler.com/2009/04/yellowstone-national-park-no-cellphone-towers-campgrounds-or-recommended-wilderness-limits-w  The Yellowstone National Park ban on cell phone towers.
  •  http://freeoutdoors.com/blog/wilderness/cell-phones - A well thought out article on the limitations of cell phone use in the backcountry.
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Wilderness Camping Tip #8 - Where's Your Flashlight

10/20/2011

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Safety Tip - Bring Your Flashlight!

Although I covered the topic of safety and being prepared to survive the night in Safety Tip #5 given the events over our recent holiday weekend I think I have to go back and revisit it. In the Adirondack Park at least three groups over Columbus Day weekend needed to be reminded that all groups, whether going out for an hour or a long day hike should have a flashlight. New York State Forest Rangers had their busiest weekend of the year over the Columbus Day weekend and can attribute at least three of their calls due to groups that got caught with no way to find their way out of the woods because they had no flashlights.  According to the Adirondack Daily Enterprise Dave Winchell, spokesman for Region 5 of the state Department of Environmental Conservation stated, "The number of people who still don't bring flashlights when they go on hikes, just don't realize, with fall, it gets dark a lot quicker and don't plan ahead that well," Winchell said. "We had three different searches, which it was late in the day, and people did not have flashlights with them."

So….what’s this week’s tip? Bring a flashlight! The nice thing about today’s LED flashlights is that the bulbs will live longer than you will and quality batteries will last years. So pack at least one away in your day pack and never hit the trail or the water without it. I pack two. One headlamp and one tiny back up like those pictured below. I was hunting for the last four days and you can be sure I was glad to have them with me.


To See Tip #7 click here

Adapted from The Camper’s Guide to Outdoor Pursuits by Jack Drury and Eric Holmlund published in 2006 by Sagamore Publishing


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Leading E.D.G.E.'s Take on the Common Core Standards - by Bruce Bonney

10/13/2011

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Last spring several of our clients asked Leading EDGE to design a half/full day workshop to help teachers understand the “essence” of the new reforms (i.e. The Regents Reform Agenda) coming their way from the NYSED.

In preparation, I’ve been spending a great deal of time exploring the on-line resources available to support teachers who are just now trying to grasp the implications of this massive three-pronged reform effort that promises to fundamentally change the nature of public instruction here in NYS (1. P-12 NYS Common Core Learning Standards (CCLS) in ELA/Literacy and Mathematics, 2. Data-Informed/Driven Instruction, 3. Annual Professional Performance Review). I am sure my response is not much different from any other New York State educator who has spent time in a similar pursuit. “Wow”! What a massive amount of information to engage, let alone process thoughtfully or implement effectively.

Clearly, my greatest need was to put together some resources that participants in our workshops can use to streamline and simplify their search for relevant and accurate information. The “overview” documents on our resource page are two that I will be using and that we think might be helpful to a wider audience.

 Initially I decided to just “scout” the territory and see what is out there on-line to help me.

The “Common Core Standards Initiative – Website Resources” is my most up-to-date effort to compile a list of those sites I’ve found valuable.

You’ll note that I say “up-to-date”! Given that this reform effort is a rather classic example of  “rebuilding the plane while it is flying”, the information that is available changes rapidly. Some of the sites I visited last March are no longer current or even on the web. The same goes for some of the information on the sites. Earlier this week a colleague informed me that the research element of the Regents Reform “triad” originally labeled as “Data-Driven Instruction” (D-D-I) was being renamed  “Date-Informed-Instruction” (D-I-I). I can’t verify if that is an “official” change from NYSED or a local modification in nomenclature. Either way it makes clear that we must pay close attention to a reform landscape that is shifting as we speak. This is particularly true regarding the still evolving structure of assessments to measure student progress/achievement. It also suggests checking references across sites --- and creating a scorecard to keep track of the acronyms!

By far the most comprehensive site I visited is www.engageny.org. If required to choose only one web resource to consult, this would be the one for me. I do not claim to be qualified in any respect as an expert in website design, but this site seems to have almost everything an educator in NY might need to get started. I found its organization very helpful and easy to maneuver with some practice. Be warned, however, that virtually all the headings on the homepage “menu” (Teachers, Principals, Network Teams, etc) will take you to links that contain multiple pages of documents and/or instructional video clips. Let no one be misled – slick organization cannot disguise the fact that the scope of this reform agenda is all encompassing. New York State educators are going to be held accountable for expectations, understandings, and processes that take hundreds if not thousands of pages to outline and describe. The mass of information is clearly a “Beast”!

A second document I plan to use in our workshops is the “Tour Guide to New York State’s Common Core Resources”. I created this reference to help workshop participants locate specific documents that will help them address direct questions/issues related to the P-12 NYS CCLS. In addition to a brief description about the document, we’ve put in a web link so that an observer can access and download the document as a personal reference. 

Neither of these workshop resources is comprehensive and both are certainly subject to improvement. It is also important to once again acknowledge that updated or modified versions of these documents may be available but remain undiscovered at this writing. Having registered these disclaimers, we nonetheless think these are a useful guide to exploring the vast terrain of this reform effort.

Let us know what you think.
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Wilderenss Camper tip # 7 – What I hear vs what I see

10/10/2011

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Tricks of the Trade: Getting a response from your fellow campers

It is often frustrating trying to get a response from your fellow campers. When asking questions such as, “Does anybody want to take a break? Do you want to set up camp? Do you want to stop for lunch?” It is common to get no verbal response and the non-verball response might range from a shrug of the shoulders as if to say, “I don’t really care,” to a look of exhaustion.  Learn to anticipate the group’s needs and to read the non-verbal signs as well as the words you hear.  In these types of cases I suggest two things.

1.  Try asking the question in reverse form. Instead of asking, “Does anybody want to take a break?” ask, “Is there anybody who doesn’t want to take a break?” Is is important in terms of safety to take a break if one person needs to take a break. If the question if phrased in this way it requires a unanimous vote not to take a break.

2.   My rule of thumb is, “If you have to ask the question then you already know the answer.” In other words, if you ask the question, “Does anybody want to take a break,” then you are probably thinking that someone might need to take abreak. In that case don’t bother to ask the question. Just do it. If you are asking, “Should we start looking for a campsite,” you are thinking, it is late in the afternoon, the group has had a hard day, or a combination of such thoughts so again, just do it.


To See Tip #8 click here

To See Tip #6 click here

Adapted from The Camper’s Guide to Outdoor Pursuits by Jack Drury and Eric Holmlund published in 2006 by Sagamore Publishing


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Wilderness Tip #6 - Selecting Firewood

10/4/2011

1 Comment

 
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Environmental Tip - Selecting Firewood
The first decision is whether to have a fire or not. My rule of thumb is if, there is ample dead and down fuel, there is not an abnormal fire hazard, and the environmental impact is minimal then a fire is probably okay. I suggest wood for fuel be no larger in diameter than four inches (a little bigger than wrist size) and a length that fits into the fireplace.  It is your responsibility to make sure the fuel is burned completely down to ash and no remaining fuel is left in the fire. 

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In case it isn't obvious this was not an environmentally sound fire. The wood is too big in diameter and too long to burn in this fireplace. In this case if dead and down firewood is not readily available the campers  here should not have had a fire.

To See Tip #5 click here

Adapted from The Camper’s Guide to Outdoor Pursuits by Jack Drury and Eric Holmlund published in 2006 by Sagamore Publishing
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