Trails Skills Training and Wilderness First Aid
Hitch 3: September 6 , 2016 – September 11, 2016
Copper Mountain Loop, Black Canyon National Recreational Trail (Mayor, AZ)
Project Partner: BLM, Hassayampa F.O.; SOLO/Central AZ Mountain Rescue Association- WFA.
Hitch Accomplishments: Trail Skills Training; New Tread Construction; Wilderness First Aid (WFA) Training Certification.
Total Miles Hiked: 6.5
Day One: Tuesday, Sept. 6, 2016: Copper Mountain Loop Trail Construction
After Labor Day on Monday, the Field School Crew headed back up to Copper Mountain Loop to continue with trail skills training and new trail construction on the northwestern region of the 7. 6 mile Loop. The crew gained more practical trail
skills and better understanding of trail design while building upon their work from last week. The weather was extremely
pleasant with no rain and primarily overcast. The more the crew spends time on the trail, the more confidence and understanding of trail design and construction they gain.
Day Two: Wednesday, Sept. 7, 2016: Copper Mountain Loop Trail Construction
The trail continues! The crew continued cutting new tread using McCleods, pick mattocks, shovels, and loppers to remove vegetation and small rocks and defining the trail corridor following. The Field School crew were met with BLM Youth Coordinator, Lawrence Harper and BLM PDO Associate District Manager, Patrick Putnam and hiked the Loop Trail to assess work that has been completed and mileage to-be-constructed. The crew made substantial progress and are proud of their accomplishments. The crew has two more days scheduled on Copper Mountain Loop in Week 5.
Day Five and Six: Saturday, Sept. 10, 2016 and Sunday, Sept. 11, 2016: Wilderness First Aid (WFA) Training, North Mountain Visitor Center, Phoenix
Starting at 7:30 a.m., the Field School Crew met at ACYR and traveled together to the North Mountain Visitor Center for day one of Wilderness First Aid (WFA) training, facilitated by the Central Arizona Mountain Rescue organization (CAMR) 
and SOLO Wilderness Medicine. WFA is 16 hours long (two days), and focuses on the basic skills of: Response and Assessment, Musculoskeletal Injuries, Environmental Emergencies, Survival Skills, Soft Tissue Injuries, and Medical Emergencies. Over the two-day training, the 
Field School crew members worked together to learn how to assess, treat, and, when possible, prevent medical and traumatic emergencies within the scope of their training in a wilderness and outdoor setting. Crew members came prepared
to the training with their program backpacks packed with typical supplies and equipment that they will have with them on hitch (e.g. sleeping bag, sleeping pad, fleece, rain jacket, etc.) and learned how to use and improvise medical necessities (like splints and padding) from such supplies/equipment in medical emergency situations. The course was a combination of both classroom lecture and hands-on scenarios.
Practicing a litter carry.
Kam presenting his padded arm-sling constructed from a sleeping pad…in WFA the students learn how to improvise emergency/medical necessities using the supplies they typically have when they are in a field setting.