Table of Contents

*Why go to the mountains?*Before You Go*Trip Planning*Fitness*Resources*Leave No Trace*Backcountry Best Practices*Above & Beyond*Gear*To Wear*To Carry*To Cook With*To Shelter Yourself*To Sleep In and Sleep on*To Keep You Safe*To Keep You Comfortable*Maintenance & Repair*Food*Nutrition*Planning*Packaging*Food suggestion*Navigation*Map & Compass Skills*GPS Skills*Celestial Navigation*If You're Lost*Safety*Prevention*Health/First-Aid*Hygiene on the Trail*Weather*Wildlife*Plants*Water Collection/Treatment*Miscellaneous*Building Blocks/You Never Know When You'll Need It*Knot Tying*Starting a Fire (especially in the rain)*Trail Skills & Etiquette*Packing your pack*Adjusting your pack for comfort and efficiency*Conserving energy*Pacing*Trail Etiquette*When the Terrain Changes*Heading off-trail*Scrambling*River Crossings*Camping Skills - making your home in the woods*Finding a site *Pitching a tent or tarp*Sleeping comfortably, sleeping warm*Setting up your kitchen for safety and efficiency*Bear camping practices*Getting yourself clean*Disposing of human waste*The advantages of Base camping*Being a good neighbor - when you have to camp near others*Lightweight/Ultralight Backpacking, Fastpacking, Trail Running, Other Variations*When and why to go fast and light - a personal choice*Tactics for lightening up your gear and pack*Trail running/adventure running*Winter Skills *Why travel in winter?*Gear each of the sub-sections below just modifies or adds to the previously presented gear chapter*Food*Shelter*Snowshoeing and sleds*Safety*Traveling with young children and families, (also a section on novice friends and pets?)*Adjusting expectations*Tips for gear for infants and young kids*Safety and health for infants and children*The payoff - connecting our children with nature for a lifetime*Bringing a novice on the trail*Bringing your canine companions*The dynamics of groups*All groups have dynamics - expect them!*The perils of a leaderless group*Basic group stages*Strategies for short trips*Group development on the long haul*Expedition behavior

About the Author

SHORT BIO: Christian Bisson (Ed.D.) teaches Adventure Education at Plymouth State University. He has been a NOLS instructor since 1990, specializing in wilderness backpacking expeditions for outdoor educators. He lives in New Hampshire where he hikes with his wife and children. Jamie Hannon has been involved with outdoor and adventure education since 1981, guiding and teaching for a range of organizations including NOLS, the Chewonki Foundation, and the University of Maine's MaineBound. LONG BIO: Christian Bisson (Ed.D.) teaches Adventure Education at Plymouth State University. He has taught backpacking in higher education for the past 20 years and instructed in the outdoors for the past 30 years. He has been a NOLS instructor since 1990-specializing in wilderness backpacking expeditions for outdoor educators. Personally, he has hiked all over the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and Nepal. He lives in New Hampshire where he regularly hikes with his wife and children. Jamie Hannon (Ed.D.) lives with his family in the Baker River valley of NH. An Associate Professor of Adventure Education at Plymouth State University, he teaches a range of practical skills and theory courses. He has been leading outdoor experiential programming since 1981, and loves to run, hike and ski throughout the mountains of the Northeast