Mountain Shepherd Wilderness Survival School part 2

John, Joe and Leita taking notes during class.

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 [This is the second part of a four-part eyewitness report. You can be notified when each article is published, just subscribe above. Your email address will be kept confidential. All photos (c) 2010 Sandi Bird]

“If you are entering the wilderness on a ‘Go Lite’ philosophy, you’re being selfish.” The instructor’s statement took me off guard. But his next statement hit too close to home with me. “What if you run into someone hurt, lost, or something?”

My mind flashed back to March of 2000 when I’d set out on an overnight solo hike along the 20-mile stretch of the Appalachian Trail that runs from Hwy-311 to the Cloverdale area. Everything was going well until fairly early on day two. I made the mistake of taking my eyes off the deeply leaf-covered trail that headed down into a gap to look across and see how close I was to Tinker Ridge.

My mistake cost me dearly. As I stepped into the deep leaves my foot stepped on a fallen limb. Down I went, and for five minutes I couldn’t move. Sharp pain had shot through the right side of my body. After a struggle with my pack, I managed to roll over and get on my feet, but I couldn’t put any weight on my right ankle. Thanking God that I had hiking poles, I chastised myself for my unwise actions.

My pickup truck was thirteen miles away, over Tinker Ridge. As I painfully and slowly made my way down the trail a couple from New Hampshire passed me. We had both spent the night at Campbell Shelter, and amazingly I’d gotten an earlier start than they had. I asked if they had a cell phone so I could let my family know what had happened and maybe get someone to come and help me.

I’ll never forget how I felt when they said that they had a cellphone, but the battery was a little low and they couldn’t let me use it because they might need it... Later that night, after going through 2 sets of flashlight batteries, I ended up sleeping on the narrow trail as it started going down Tinker on the Cloverdale side. My back was to a rock, my behind on the trail, and my feet dangling off the side. Sure wish that couple had taken Reggie’s class!

Day 1 started with Reggie giving a brief background about himself and Mountain Shepherd. He then began covering the Seven Priorities of surviving in a survival situation. These are the things you need to know to increase your survival chances. And while they may seem like a “no-brainer” when you read the list, most people don’t have enough training, if any, in most of them to stake their lives on. Learning ahead of time that the majority of survival situations last less than three days should ease your mind. If you remember that and learn the following 7 priorities you’ll dramatically increase your odds of survival.

It took all of the first two days of our four day course to cover the following seven topics. The class flowed from outdoor to indoor classrooms throughout the day and the pace was geared to assure that even the slowest person had enough time to gain a working knowledge. Reggie encourages hands-on training as the most effective way of learning a skill.

The 7 Priorities

1. Positive Mental Attitude. Reggie discussed the 7 Stresses and 5 Fears that affect people in a survival situation. According to Reggie, “People who do well in a survival situation Know there will be Stress, both physically and mentally. They can recognize it physically and mentally. They understand it physically and mentally. And they accept it physically and mentally.” “A crappy attitude will affect every decision you make. It will kill you.”
2. Wilderness First Aid. It is a top priority to treat any of your injuries right away. Everyone should have some basic wilderness first aid knowledge. It isn’t just the outdoorsperson who might someday be in a survival situation.
3. Sheltercraft. After treating your injuries, the next most important item is protecting yourself from the elements. Hypothermia can set in quickly in cooler weather, but even in hot climates heat stroke can be just as formidable an enemy.
4. Firecraft. Used for warming the body to prevent hypothermia, drying wet clothing, heating food and signaling for help…would you be able to start a fire in the pouring down rain to prevent hypothermia?
5. Signaling. “You have to Help the rescuers find you!” Imagine hearing a rescue plane fly over, but you’re in dense foliage and can’t be seen. You’d be surprised how many ways you can help your rescuers find you.
6. Watercraft. Learn how to be prepared in advance and how to protect yourself when in a survival situation.
7. Food. The least important, but the item that most people freak out over. You can live without food for a number of days. Take care of the other six areas and then work on finding food.

Building an emergency shelter, starting a fire even when it is raining, snaring and foraging for safe food, signaling for help, the myths and truths about snake bites and much more are included in the first two days itinerary. The training we received was invaluable and brought with it the confidence that we were all much more empowered to survive if we were ever thrust into a survival setting. Once tragedy strikes, it's too late to prepare.

In Part 3 of this eyewitness report we will cover the evasion and escape training offered in the Hidden Pursuit course, we'll look at the other courses that Mountain Shepherd offers, and we'll meet another student. And in part 4 we will meet the third student and conclude with final thoughts from both instructor and students.

For more info: Visit Mountain Shepherd Wilderness Survival School's website at: www.mountainshepherd.com. Mountain Shepherd trains military special forces groups and VMI cadets and are also available to schedule private sessions for Boy Scout troops and corporate groups. Special courses are available for parents and their children ages 10-17.