Jennings' class shows how to hit the trail
BRADY TWP — By most definitions, camping can be as simple as pitching a tent in the backyard and spending the night there. Backpacking, on the other hand, requires quite a bit of planning, proper gear and a little bit of ruggedness.
Last weekend, Jennings Environmental Education Center offered a “Backpacking for Beginners” class for the third straight year.
While the previous classes were co-ed, this year's class, which had an attendance cap of 10, was open to women only. One person canceled at the last minute, so the group ended up being nine students and three Jennings educators.
Miranda Crotsley, program director at Jennings, said a couple of other state parks in the region had similar classes for women that were well received.
Those in the class either had no or very little backpacking experience.
“It's a great way to get everybody introduced. It really helps to get people to experience it for the first time, see what they like, see what they don't like,” Crotsley said.
Crotsley said interest in backpacking among women has risen in part thanks to the popularity of “Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail” a memoir written by Cheryl Strayed published in 2012 and made into a movie released last year.
The book tells the story of an 1,100-mile journey, though most people start out with just a simple overnight or weekend trip.
The Jennings class took a common backpacking route in the area, the North Country Trail, which runs through Jennings, Moraine State Park and McConnells Mill State Park. The trail starts at the New York-Vermont border and goes more than 4,600 miles to its end in North Dakota.
Though Moraine State Park does not offer any tent camping sites, backpackers using the trail can stay in one of several three-sided Adirondack shelters. Backpackers can reserve the shelters in advance online.
The Jennings class walked 5.5 miles from a trailhead on Route 528 to the shelters, where they spent the night before hiking another mile to a pickup point.
Before hitting the trail, participants learned about some of the basic skills one needs before venturing out into the woods for an overnight trip.Brandi Miller-Parrish covered cooking and meals. Typically 1 to 1.5. pounds of food will provide 3,000 calories, enough for one day.“You get to eat well because you are exerting a lot of energy, don't look at serving sizes,” Miller-Parrish said.Cooking is done with small camp stoves that burn white gas or propane, and most hot meals simply involve boiling water and mixing in dehydrated or freeze-dried foods, she said.But that doesn't mean food options on the trail are limited or boring.“We are now at a point in our culture and in our society where we have a lot of options. You can do a lot of different things,” she said.The biggest safety concerns any camper or hiker should have in the woods are poison ivy and ticks, she said.In case of emergency, several members of the group carried cellphones, even though coverage in Moraine is often spotty.Animals or other threats are seldom an issue, although anything could happen.Instructor Stephanie Taylor said she has never come across a bear in the woods, and venomous snakes are only found in certain areas.“If you were to come across a black bear, the best thing you can do is to make yourself as big as possible, some people take their coats and bring them up over their shoulders, and make a lot of noise and usually black bears will go the other way,” she said.Another key item to address for a backpacking trip is the pack itself. Since backpackers carry food, water, clothing, cooking equipment and everything else they will need, it is important for the pack to fit and be comfortable.The internal-frame backpacks used by the class, provided by Jennings, had numerous adjustable straps.By putting the heaviest items in the middle of the back and making proper adjustments, the wearer can ensure that the majority of the weight is carried by their lower body, not their back and shoulders, Crotsley said.The participants said they were interested in taking the class for different reasons.Katie Williams of Cabot said she signed up with three members of her boyfriend's family.One of the attractions of the trip was spending time in the woods without distractions.“We're thinking of it as family bonding time,” she said.Laura Keller of Butler said she would like to learn the basics so she can go backpacking with her two children, ages 7 and 10, who are already excited at the prospect.“You need to learn things like packing food, water filtration, how to pack your backpack and what backpack would fit me,” she said.Laura Smith of Butler said she is a parks and recreation management major at Butler County Community College and hopes to work for the state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources one day.Though she had been backpacking before, the class offered an opportunity to learn things that could come in handy in her career.“With all of the girls and three of the DCNR staff, I'll be able to learn some new tips. I think it'll be fun,” she said.Crotsley said there are plenty of good places to go backpacking within a day's drive of Butler County. A backpacking trip can be planned with multiple stops along a trail or a hike in to a camping spot where a group sets up for several days.Some of the popular places in the region for backpacking include Oil Creek State Park in Venango County, Clear Creek State Park in Jefferson County, the Allegheny National Forest and the parks and forests in the Laurel Highlands.
