One of the key components of the Guardian Intensive Training is service to community. In addition to learning wilderness survival skills, the trainees also take on missions, which can include anything from cleaning up illegal dump sites in the forest to wetland restoration.
In all things, including missions, the trainees learn to move stealthily through the forest, to leave no trail or trace behind them. This can be especially difficult when cleaning up a public site, as one of the requirements is to not be seen or heard by other people. It’s not so much that the trainees shouldn’t be seen doing good deeds, but more so that remaining invisible challenges them to be far more present and aware than they would otherwise be.
Being stealthy requires that they use their navigation skills to scout the area ahead of time and determine the best entry and exit points, as well as the best place to unload debris so the Forest Service can pick it up later. Having no tools, they must use what they find. In one case, they used a piece of illegally-dumped carpet as a tarp to haul other debris out.
To complete their missions effecti
vely, they must keep track of where they’ve been and where they need to go next. Having no maps, GPS, or compass, they use stones, sticks, and pine cones to craft a map from what they’ve learned by scouting out and familiarizing themselves with their surroundings. When it is time to move to a distant and unfamiliar area, the guides make a similar-type map showing the lay of the land, significant landmarks, directions, and distances. The trainees memorize the map, then scatter the sticks and stones and restore the map site, so as to leave no trace.
Together they will recall the map as they journey to their new destination.
Weather forecasting is another useful skill the trainees have progressed in. Knowing the language of the air, winds, and clouds, enables them t
o know if and when they can move on with their mission/journey, or stay put until the weather is favorable.
Two suns ago they left their last ‘sedentary’ camp where they returned several forest areas to their pristine state. The photos in this post show what they removed in their restoration labor of love. The trainees felt excited about exploring new territory, as they had been in this general area for almost a full moon. At the same time, there was also trepidation and anxiety about coordinating their invisible exit, which was delayed by a day of continuous rain. The four coordinated and completed their restoration missions by staging all of the garbage close to, but invisible from a road. Next they proceeded to load their packs with their belongings and hide them near their exit trail. Finally they erased any trails or signs of their presence in the area and moved the trash next to the road to be cleaned up by the Forest Service.
They completed that f
inal step before setting out at dawn, and reading the lay of the land, according to the map they memorized, and then traveled to a small wilderness lake. Stay tuned for more of their adventures…
Learn more about the trainees’ experiences in the audio below!