Editor’s note: Many thanks to the Ojai Valley News-Ventura Sun for allowing us to reprint its excellent article about our Basic Backpacking course that begins on Feb. 20. Kudos to the author who is a true hiker in our mountains and an excellent journalist. Register or learn more at: https://www.sierraclub.org/santa-barbara-ventura/bbc-class
By Perry Van Houten
Learn the fundamentals of backpacking during a Basic Backpacking Course offered by the Santa Barbara-Ventura Chapter of the Sierra Club.
The course, being offered for the first time, includes six weeknight classroom sessions and four outings, starting Feb. 20 and concluding March 30.
Backpacking Course, in Sequoia National Park.
Photo by Homer Tom.
The Sierra Club’s Scott Nelson, a backpacker for some 50 years, will lead a team of expert instructors teaching students safe, enjoyable and responsible wilderness travel. “They’ll be able to go and plan their own trips, have fun and feel safe,” he told the Ojai Valley News.
The course is designed for people who’ve done some hiking and want to go backpacking, but they’re not entirely comfortable with that. “Or they’ve done a little bit of backpacking and found out they’d really like to know more about navigation or that they have the right stuff,” Nelson said. “Or they just want to find other people to go hiking with and become friends with.”
Proper footwear, outdoor clothing and backpacks will be covered, said Nelson, who for 20 years worked for outdoor retail establishments REI and Sport Chalet.
Car camping, campsite practices and navigation in the wild (without a cellphone or GPS unit) are other topics covered. “You have to have a foundation of map and compass, so if you drop your phone and it breaks, you can still find your way,” Nelson said.
Water treatment, sleep systems, shelters and leave-no-trace are also on the course schedule. “A lot of that is hands-on during the outings,” Nelson said.
The class size is limited to about 20 students to provide more personalized experience, said Nelson, who’s leading a group of 11 instructors. “We’re real excited about that,” he said. “People will get to know each other, and it’ll be a fun, interactive group.”
The four outings will be on a trail and moderately strenuous (5 to 7 miles in length). The six classroom sessions will be held at the Poinsettia Pavilion, 3451 Foothill Road in Ventura. Students will provide their own equipment for the course.
Going back to the days of John Muir hiking in Yosemite, “the Sierra Club has always had outings as part of its mission,” Nelson said. “Then, when it was threatened, those were the people that became activists to protect it. You don’t care about something if you don’t know anything about it.”
Nelson, who grew up in the Torrance area and for 20 years taught a wilderness travel course for the Angeles Chapter of the Sierra Club, has backpacked since high school in the local mountains and the Sierras. He moved to Ojai in 2017.
He picked the Sespe River, Gene Marshall-Piedra Blanca and Chorro Grande trails in the Ojai backcountry as some of his favorites. And more far-flung outings such as Mount Pinos, especially in the snow. “Because it’s higher elevation, it’s a real special place,” he said.
Tuition for the Basic Backpacking Course is $200 for Sierra Club members and $235 for non-members. (Join the club for as little as $15 a year at act.sierraclub.org/donate.) “The money goes to pay for the classroom,” Nelson said. “All of the instructors are volunteers.”
Nelson encouraged getting outdoors and into the local mountains but learning to do so safely and comfortably. “In Southern California, we have these big mountains that are really accessible and really nearby, and especially in Ojai,” he said. “It’s such a hiking town. We have such an opportunity for great hiking here.”
A basic medical information form and a liability waiver are required for registration. Register at: https://www.sierraclub.org/santa-barbara-ventura/bbc-class
Schedule
- Thursday, Feb. 20: Classroom for physical conditioning, footwear and the 10 essentials.
- Saturday, Feb. 22: Day hike in local mountains.
- Thursday, Feb. 27: Outdoor clothing, backpacks.
- Saturday and Sunday, March 1 to 2: Car camp in Los Padres National Forest on campsite practices and navigation.
- Thursday, March 6: Leave-no-trace, water treatment, sleep systems, shelters.
- Thursday, March 13: Food planning.
- Saturday and Sunday, March 15 to 16: Backpack trip No. 1 in LPNF.
- Thursday, March 20: Outdoor hazards, electronics and communication.
- Thursday, March 27: Trip-planning workshop.
- Saturday and Sunday, March 29 to 30: Backpack trip No. 2 in LPNF.