Wilderness Survival Class with TMCC

Krud's first outing with TMCC Wilderness Survival

Last fall a friend of mine got me dialed in on a wonderful opportunity to work with Truckee Meadows Community College.  I was able to join the Wilderness Survival class as a teachers assistant with the instructor Brennan Lagasse.  We had challenging weather to say the least with a storm rolling in the Friday night we hiked in.  We then spent Friday and Saturday night out with the students practicing survival skills, taking side hikes and swapping stories around the campfire.  This has proven to be a unique opportunity for me as I love to camp and now I am able to share a little of my knowledge I have picked up over the years with the students.

I continued on into last winter working with TMCC in the role of a Teachers Assistant (TA).  Unfortunately Brennan Lagasse had to quit teaching the course due to time commitments and in particular the commute down from Lake Tahoe regularly to the TMCC campus.  The second trip I went on was full on winter camping up near Tahoe Meadows.  Again the students surprised me with their skills they had learned in the classroom and on their practice hikes.  I was impressed with their willingness to camp in the snow for 2 nights.

Dave Campbell in China photo courtesy of Dave N Campbell

Fall is upon us which means it is time to go camping with TMCC again!  I am really looking forward to it.  The students this year have an excellent teacher and good friend of mine Dave Campbell.  Dave has been climbing and skiing all over the world and spends quite a bit of time in China.  He is fluent in Mandarin Chinese and takes incredible photos to boot!  I have no doubt that the students this semester will be prepared as well as Brennan's students where in 2011.

View from the tent; Yaomei madness 2007 photo courtesy of Dave N Campbell

Dave and I will be taking the students from both classes out to the Spooner Lake area.  Fortunately for us as of now the weather looks to be pretty chill going into the weekend compared to last years storm outing.  We are leading two groups for two consecutive weekends though, so who knows what will happen weather wise by the second outing.

Our intended route for the outing (heads up Wildcat Cabin on the map is actually Spooner Cabin)

We will be walking in just under 4 miles from Spooner Summit off of HWY 50.  We will immediately leave the Tahoe Rim Trail and bomb down to Spooner Lake and then walk along the north side of the lake.  From here I know a little cross country route near the Spooner Cabin (heads up I labeled it Wildcat Cabin, but it should be called the Spooner Cabin) that will put us onto the road in North Canyon.  This leads up the canyon past Spencer's Cabin which I have visited a number of times on the Tahoe Rim Ski Tour.

same map as above but with USGS base maps...red dotted line is our route

We continue up canyon on an old road to the North Canyon Campground.  This campsite provides us with a perfect spot for group camping.  We have access to water, wood, fire rings, picnic tables, bear boxes and an outhouse.  When I go out with large groups it is important to consider the impact of the group and attempt to minimize it.  I find camping in pre existing campsites one of many ways to do this.  North Canyon Campground is a little under 4 miles from our trailhead.  My first outing with TMCC I became aware of how steep the climb up the road is.  Looking at the elevation profile below puts that into perspective.  The upside is that it is downhill most of the way out minus the small climb from Spooner Lake back up to the trailhead. 

elevation profile for our outing