While average citizens were at home enjoying their day off for Labor Day, the SCA crew was hard at work developing their skills in Wilderness First Aid. We met our Aerie Backcountry Medicine instructor Shawn who taught us all of the basics of caring for a sick or injured person while in the field. From hypothermia to anaphylactic shock to stomach bugs, we covered it all. It took us three days to get certified in Wilderness First Aid and CPR, and we all passed with flying colors. We then headed off to Wet Beaver Creek Wilderness near Sedona for an overnight Leave No Trace training trip. We were joined by Elizabeth from the BLM and Dave, our outdoor skills professor. We carried everything we needed to our campsite, four miles up the trail. We each taught one or two LNT principles until we all had a clear understanding of all seven. We put our new knowledge to work immediately by camping in the most careful way possible and cleaning up the highly impacted site. During our time in the wilderness, we cooked on camp stoves, ate new foods, hiked to the top of the mesa, and watched the stars – more stars than some of us had ever seen before. We also were able to swim in the cool waters, quite a treat for us hot desert dwellers. We are all enjoying this program – what a great opportunity!
