I was building a family training syllabus and our leader @Patrick Russell was gracious enough to review the draft and contribute a fifth page on the topic of Outdoors Overnight and Advanced Topics. No choice but to just use the gift with full credit. A FB friend of mine also read the draft and offered a method that he used to teach homeschool students of his. Bill Cox of Survival Lore contributed a major gift to my training efforts. I wrote my own two-page Mindset Manual, printed it on orange paper and had it laminated in heavy stock. The intent is to have a reference in my grandson’s pack, as well as my pack, to refresh the mind and memory during a critical moment. I’m not sure he appreciates it yet, I know my son is kind of skeptical but so be it.

Training Primer: To plan and execute a solo hike into a remote conservation area where a story can be told. Execution: I planned a hike into the Isinglass Conservation Preserve, inventoried my Bushcraft / Survival Pack, and Saturday morning I hiked as planned. My pack weighed in at 26.6#, carrying also a water bottle carrier with my Garmin GPS i67 with SOS. Lessons Learned: Always rebuild your #2 kit after a trip and inventory it before a trip. Yes, sticky topic but a very real one. This was a great hike, good exercise, and one for which I could tell a story. Please see my Photo Journal posted in the Wilderness Mastery School FB Group. Not a member? I can help with that.

I’m still here and still hiking. We did a couple miles in an hour. My hiking partner had plans later in the morning.

The training Primer was to set up a hammock campsite in the back yard, invite my grandson over to light the fire and talk about the campsite, and spend a solo night in the hammock. After-action-report: The campsite set and lesson went quite well and was a good refresher for G Man and his dad. G Man kindled the fire using a windproof match. Then we also lost it with talk - talk - talk, but his dad, our son, saved the situation. I boiled water and reconstituted my Mountain House for dinner. Two servings - I don’t think so. The new quilt system took some adjusting but goin to bed everything seemed in order. Yes it was forecast to be cold. Quilts worked well until it didn’t. I was up multiple times dealing with cold and got about 2.5 hours of sleep until at 1:30 am I had had it. Yes - I bailed. I am stubborn but not foolish. The underquilt was sold as a two piece system and I was unwittingly using the liner as a top quilt. The single under quilt was only rated to 40 degrees. You get what you pay for. I also did not bring a beanie and I did not change out my wool socks. Future Steps: Make sure the equipment is rated for the anticipated weather. Bring dry socks and or base layers to change into, and cover your head with a weather appropriate head gear. I did get commitment from son and grandson to camp in the backyard and continue prepping for the October Course.