Taking Some of the Wild Out of the Wilderness

Coto de Caza’s Mike Norman has been seeking outdoor adventure for years. He careens down mountain-bike trails, rides off-road vehicles on sand dunes and is an avid fly fisherman.

But until recently, Norman didn’t feel entirely safe in the wilderness. What if he couldn’t find his way back after a five-mile hike to a prime fishing spot? What if he twisted an ankle and couldn’t get to the car by nightfall? Would he be able to survive a night in the wild?

These unsettling questions prompted Norman to seek training. In 1997 he enrolled in the Sierra Club’s Wilderness Travel Course, a 10-week series of seminars and field trips. It was there he learned the basics of taking care of himself in the wilderness. Now he never leaves for the great outdoors without the 10 essentials--map, compass, flashlight, extra food and water, extra clothing, hat, pocket knife, fire starter, first-aid kit and waterproof matches.

“I have a much better time outdoors now,” Norman said. “I appreciate what I’m doing and I’m more comfortable these days, even though I’ve been an outdoorsman my whole life.”

Count Norman among the satisfied graduates of the Wilderness Travel Course, which has been teaching outdoor skills since 1989 and is returning next month to four Southland locations. The Orange County class starts Jan. 18 at Orange High School.

The course is an outdoor primer, starting with 2 1/2-hour classroom seminars focusing on physical conditioning, proper equipment, navigation and wilderness ethics. At the Orange County location, there are usually about 100 students, divided into groups of 20 or so. The groups are led by experienced mountaineers--all volunteers from the Angeles Chapter of the Sierra Club.

“For these guys, mountain climbing is everything,” Norman said. “They are so proficient, they like it so much and they are so enthusiastic that you don’t feel like you are in a classroom.”

After three indoor sessions, the groups head out on their first outing: a 12-15 mile conditioning hike in the local mountains. Two weeks later, they are scrambling up and around boulders and practicing navigation at Joshua Tree National Park.

Learning to navigate with a compass and topographical map is one of the most important lessons of the course. It’s the key knowledge that allows a hiker to leave the marked trail without getting lost. To the uninitiated a topo map can look like so many swirling lines.

“I remember when I was learning,” said Santa Ana’s Dan Siebert, who took the class in 1997, “people were looking at the maps and seeing so many things that I couldn’t see.”

Siebert mastered the skill quickly, however, and will be an assistant leader for the third time in 2000. He, like many who take the class, has become an avid mountaineer. Last year, he climbed a 20,000-foot peak in Bolivia and this spring plans to go on a trek--including a side trip up a 21,000-foot peak--around Annapurna in the Himalayas.

Siebert and others said one of the benefits of the Wilderness Travel Course is the mountain climbing or hiking partners you meet.

“I think a lot of people want to do something like this,” said Tony Pond, one of the Orange County group leaders, “but they don’t know who to do it with.”

After the Joshua Tree overnighter, the next course outing is a one-day snow hike in the local mountains. It prepares the students for the final trip: two nights of camping in the snow in the Sierra Nevada. Snow camping at 10,000 feet is an adventure that usually provides the strongest memories and feelings of accomplishment.

“It puts them into the Sierra at a time when they would never expect to be there,” Pond said. “It shows them that they can do it and I think they come away realizing that wintertime is the best time to be there.”

The camp is near South Lake, outside of Bishop and is reached while wearing snowshoes. Groups backpack in and set up camp in the dark. During the day they hike, build emergency shelters and learn how to make water safe to drink. When the sun goes down, the temperature plunges quickly and the campers dive into sleeping bags.

Norman remembers his surprise when he awoke and poked his head out of the tent, feeling great. “I just spent the night comfortably and relaxed,” Norman said. “It’s been a positive experience and that’s amazing you can do that with 10 feet of snow on the ground.”

THE EAGLE HAS LANDED

Alaska Eagle, Orange Coast College’s 65-foot yacht, finished the Sydney-to-Hobart Yacht Race this week. Skipper Brad Avery, the college’s director of marine programs, and a crew of Southern Californians were 24th to finish. Eighty boats started the 630-nautical-mile race from Sydney Harbor to Hobart, Tasmania. Alaska Eagle finished in 3 days 4 hours 25 minutes 30 seconds.

Last year six sailors died during the race when a powerful storm hit the Bass Strait. Conditions were also rough this year, with gale-force winds and seas of 20 feet.

Alaska Eagle is currently on a 14-month cruise to the South Pacific and back. The voyage is divided in legs of 12 to 20 days and crews are selected from applications from the public. Details: (949) 645-9412.