Thank you for your interest in enrolling in the 2011 WILDERNESS BASICS COURSE starting on January 25. We meet every Tuesday night at 7:00 PM until 9:30 PM for 10 weeks at the Lawrence Family JCC in UTC.

On the Tuesday night classes we will be having demonstration, lecturer, video, slide, PowerPoint presentations on all aspects of wilderness travel including such items as first aid, different types of equipment, insects, navigation, food preparation, large animal encounters, water filtering systems, staying warm, and weather, to name a few.

We have scheduled two Saturday day hikes up Cowles Mtn., near Mission Gorge Blvd. and Navajo Blvd. on January 29 and on February 5. You can choose to do both of these day hikes or just one of them. The main purpose of the day hike is to give you an idea of how physically fit you are in comparison to the rest of the class. You will be timed and you will be able to compare your time to the rest of the class by looking at a graph and seeing where you fit in. This way you will know whether to sign up for the easier weekend backpack trips or for the more challenging.

Approximately, every other weekend, starting on February 12-13 , we will be heading out to different parts of the local deserts and mountains for our weekend camping trips. The first trip will be a car camp trip leaving Saturday morning and returning Sunday afternoon or night. You will have a choice of approximately 20 different car camp trips to choose from for that weekend. They range from extremely easy to very difficult, with each leader specializing in a variety of different subject matters; such as star gazing, flora, wildlife, Indian lore and survival techniques. Each person is encouraged to form carpools and cooking groups.

On February 26-27, there will be a Land Navigation weekend trip, where we will spend the entire weekend working on our navigational and backpacking skills. There again you will have approximately 20 different trips to choose from. The March 12-13 weekend trip is a desert backpack trip to Anza Borrego State Park followed on March 25-27 by our Snow Camp outing. For the snow camp outing we will be leaving by bus from the Cubic parking lot on Balboa Avenue at approximately 3:00 PM Friday, for a trip to Mammoth. You will again need to choose the level of difficulty you are comfortable with on either cross-country skiing trips or snow shoeing trips. You will also be learning how to build snow shelters, igloos and stay warm. This usually turns out to be everyone's favorite trip. There is a separate fee for snow camp of approximately $135 to cover the cost of the buses, catered breakfast, gym use, etc. which will be collected in March.

On April 16-17 we will have our Reunion/Graduation Ceremony. We will have a potluck dinner on Saturday night followed by slide shows from different leaders' trips. We invite students to spend Saturday night at the lodge at no cost and the following morning, before and after breakfast, sign up for the optional hikes.

We encourage all students to either borrow or rent their equipment until they get more familiar with all of the different types of equipment available. However you will need good boots for each outing. One of the first lectures is on how to find the correct boot, so please wait until that lecture before purchasing your new boots.

Attached are the forms necessary to enroll for the class. Most of the forms can be completed online, however the waiver form will need to be printed, signed and mailed to the WBC along with your check for $135 ($150 if in person or in paper) payable to the WILDERNESS BASICS COURSE. After processing your forms we will send you a confirmation enrollment card. On the first night of class you will be directed to the Advance Registration table where you will pick up your WBC course book, folder and compass. Please arrive to the first class at least 15 minutes early.

If you have any questions not answered above, please email: info@wildernessbasics.com