Shooting accurately requires physical, mental, and physical/mental intersection skills. All of these skills decay, or perhaps the better word is atrophy, if they’re not maintained.
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Perishable skills
March 6, 2018Basic backpacking gear for snow camping as per Tahoe rim trail
March 3, 2018Basic gear list for snow camping**:
50+L backpack
Snow shovel
Snowshoes or cross country skis
Trekking poles
1-2 full length sleeping pads with total R-value of >4.0 (no blue foam)
Sleeping bag rated <20 degrees
3 or (preferably) 4 season tent
Stove and fuel
Cook kit
2-3L of water-carrying capacity
Backpacking toilet kit plus Wag Bag/Biffy Bag disposable toilet
Lip balm with SPF and sunscreen
Headlamp with fresh batteries
Compass
You will also need the following clothing items (no cotton allowed)**:
Wool hat
Neck gaiter or balaclava
2 pairs of very warm gloves/mittens
2 wicking underlayer shirts
2 pairs long underwear/fleece pants
2 midlayers of insulation (fleece and down)
Outer waterproof shell – jacket and pants
2 pairs warm wool socks
Winter boots (waterproof)
Snow camping at tahoe
March 3, 2018« All Events
Snow Camping 101
March 17 @ 8:00 am – March 18 @ 1:00 pm

$85 FOR TRTA MEMBERS, $100 FOR ASPIRING TRTA MEMBERS
Click here to join or renew your membership today!
This overnight snow camping course is designed for winter backcountry enthusiasts eager to learn how to upgrade their wilderness experience by learning the skills needed to successfully snow camp. Join us for this weekend experience to learn all kinds of snow camping tips and tricks, including: winter layering tips, how to set up camp in the snow, best snow traveling practices, winter Leave No Trace wilderness ethics, campsite selection, how to stay warm when you sleep, and winter weather smarts. After a morning classroom session, we will take our learning out to the field by snowshoeing 2-3 miles to our evening destination to continue hands-on learning and make some genuine backcountry friends. You will leave this course more confident in your future winter excursions.
FITNESS REQUIREMENTS
Participants must be in good physical condition and able to carry a 25-35lb backpack while snowshoeing through deep snow. The TRTA asks that participants have completed three or more hikes of 8+ miles within the last 18 months. These physical requirements are for your safety and for the safety of the group and guides.
NECESSARY MATERIALS
Participants must supply their own food and gear for this overnight program. It is critical that you have the right gear for this winter camping trip. Limited rental equipment is available through the TRTA. You will receive the full recommended gear and food lists upon approval after registration.
Basic gear list for snow camping**:
50+L backpack
Snow shovel
Snowshoes or cross country skis
Trekking poles
1-2 full length sleeping pads with total R-value of >4.0 (no blue foam)
Sleeping bag rated <20 degrees
3 or (preferably) 4 season tent
Stove and fuel
Cook kit
2-3L of water-carrying capacity
Backpacking toilet kit plus Wag Bag/Biffy Bag disposable toilet
Lip balm with SPF and sunscreen
Headlamp with fresh batteries
Compass
You will also need the following clothing items (no cotton allowed)**:
Wool hat
Neck gaiter or balaclava
2 pairs of very warm gloves/mittens
2 wicking underlayer shirts
2 pairs long underwear/fleece pants
2 midlayers of insulation (fleece and down)
Outer waterproof shell – jacket and pants
2 pairs warm wool socks
Winter boots (waterproof)
**More details, additional optional (nice to have) items, and gear and clothing recommendations and menu suggestions are included in the SC101 information packet participants receive after completing all registration steps.
PROGRAM PREPARATION
Once you have registered for the program, you will be given additional pre-program instructions and preparation materials. These materials include: course objectives, weekend itinerary, preparation tips, food suggestions, gear requirements and recommendations, and a packing list.
CANCELLATION POLICY
In the event of cancelling your registration greater than or equal to 30 days prior to the program start date, the TRTA will retain a $35 administrative fee. Within 30 days of the program start date, tuition is non-refundable and non-transferable
CONTINGENCY DATE
In the event that the TRTA needs to reschedule this course, it will be held on the Contingency Date (March 24-25). If you cannot attend this date, the TRTA will retain a $35 administrative fee. If the TRTA deems it necessary to cancel the Contingency Date, you will receive a full refund.
We hope that you will join us on this beautiful and instructional weekend in the breath-taking Tahoe backcountry
Survive and rescue
February 25, 2018News Release
Search and Rescue
February 21, 2018
On February 20, 2018 at approximately 7:14 P.M., the Albany County Sheriff’s Office received a report of three Colorado residents that were overdue while snowmobiling in the Snowy Range Mountains. The caller had limited information regarding possible locations of the three men.
Search teams consisting of Albany County Deputies and Albany County Sheriff’s Search and Rescue volunteer’s, prepared to begin searching at sunrise on February 21st .
At approximately 1:00 a.m., our office was notified that one of the lost subjects had contacted a family member by cell phone. He was instructed by Deputies on how to access his GPS on his cell phone. His GPS coordinates put his location near the Quealy warming hut on “N” trail. The Carbon County Sheriff’s Office also received a broken 911 call from this subject as well. This subject reported that he was attempting to walk to the warming hut, however due to the depth of snow and extremely cold temperatures, he felt he wouldn’t survive.
At 2:30 a.m., our office deployed a Tucker snow cat to the area to locate the missing subject. At approximately 3:30 a.m., deputies located the subject in good health, but he was extremely cold. He reported that his party had experienced mechanical issues with one of the snowmobiles and another had become stuck in deep snow. He stayed with the two disabled snowmobiles while the other two rode double on a snowmobile back to the Green Rock parking area, to retrieve another snowmobile around 5:00 p.m. on Feb 20th. The subject that stayed with the disabled snowmobiles made a fire with what little dry wood he could find, until the fire went out. The other subjects had not returned by midnight, so he attempted to walk towards a warming hut located approximately one and one half miles away.
At approximately 11:00 a.m., on February 21st , our search teams located the other two missing subjects on “O” trail near Twin Lakes. They were escorted back to the parking area. It was determined that they had become disoriented and had taken a wrong turn while heading back to the truck. They had dug a snow cave and made a fire to survive the night.
The Albany County Sheriff’s Office wants to remind the public of the dangers of snowmobiling in the Snowy Range and the importance of having a plan, sticking to the plan and being prepared for the worst. We would recommend that all riders carry a backpack containing a GPS, trail maps, several ways to start a fire, water, food and extra dry clothing.
Typically during searches it’s easier for the search teams to locate stationary objects such as snowmobiles. If you become stuck it’s the best practice to remain with the machine, make a shelter, fire and stay put. It’s extremely risky to attempt to walk far distances in deep snow.
Undersheriff DeBree
Poland being villanized.
February 18, 2018Poland’s government says the law is needed to protect Poland from being slandered for crimes committed by Nazi Germans that took place during the 1939-45 occupation and to make the wartime suffering of Poles clear to the world. Poland lost six million citizens during the war, half of them Jews.
Several uses for aluminum foil great survival tool
January 28, 2018Aluminum foil is probably one of the most popular items used in the kitchen, especially for baking and wrapping food. But, this versatile product is also a good addition to your survival kit as it has a lot of uses when you’re outdoors.
7 Aluminum Foil Uses When You’re Out In The Wild
Being a wilderness aficionado, you need to be resourceful and learn how to maximize the use of an item by repurposing it. There are several ways you can repurpose a simple household item such as an aluminum foil and use it for your survival when you’re outdoors. Let me share with you these 7 ways you can use aluminum foil while you’re exploring outdoors. Scroll on!
1. Shelter Insulator

To keep the heat in your survival shelter, you can use aluminum foil as an insulator. Put an aluminum foil lining inside your shelter to keep you warm when you’re outdoors. You can also do this in your sleeping bag. Simply put a heavy-duty aluminum foil under it, this will also protect your sleeping bag against moisture.
2. Electricity Conductor

When your flashlight goes off in the night and the spring in the battery container becomes loose, you can replace it with an aluminum foil. Just make a substitute as wide and thick as the spring and the aluminum foil will act as the electrical conductor.
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3. Lighting

At camp nights, sometimes your flashlight isn’t bright enough for you to see in the dark. To brighten up your lights, you can use aluminum foil to intensify the light. Try attaching the shiny side of the aluminum foil to your source of light to improve its brightness.
4. Instant Plate

When you’ve run out of paper plates while you’re outdoors, aluminum foil can serve as your substitute plate. Just fold it into a form of a plate and voila, you’re good to eat! It could also be easily disposed after usage or you can clean it up and reuse it for later.
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XIAFEI New Disposable Durable Aluminum Oblong Foil Pan, Take-Out Pans, Pack of 50 With Board Lids
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5. Keep Equipment Dry

When the rain starts to pour, you can use aluminum foil to wrap up your things to prevent them from getting wet. Prioritize the things that can get broken or you can’t afford getting soaked like electrical gadgets and matches. You must remember though that this would not make your things waterproof but it will definitely lessen the risk of getting wet.
6. Fishing Lure

Because of the reflective property of the aluminum foil, it can attract the fishes in the water. Use a little piece of aluminum foil as your fishing lure. Shape the aluminum foil like a small baitfish then attach it to your fishing hook.
7. Sharpen Blade

If you want to sharpen a dull pair of scissors, you can rub its blades in a thick piece of aluminum foil against both sides of the blade for about two to three minutes. After doing so, you can now use your scissors easily. You can also do this trick with other blades like your survival knife but you’ll be needing a thicker aluminum foil. Make sure to be extra careful as you might cut yourself.
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Hoffman Richter HR-30 Tactical Folding Knife
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Watch this video to learn how to boil water using aluminum foil:

These are just some of the survival uses of aluminum foil that my friends I tried while camping outdoors, but I’ve heard there are a lot more uses it offers. If you’re about to head out for an adventure, you might want to pack some aluminum foil in your bug out bag. Who knows, you might be needing these hacks when you’re out in the wild.
What other aluminum foil hacks do you know? Have you tried any of these hacks before?
Where to build shelters
January 24, 2018- Don’t build your shelter in a ditch, a ravine, or any other place where rainwater could potentially accumulate. Keep distant from rivers as well.
- Make sure the ground is not damp. If it is, cover the ground with leaves and smooth twigs.
- Remove the sharp edges of the branches to keep yourself from getting injured.
- Don’t use rotten or extremely dry branches. Aside from being a fire hazard, they are not exactly sturdy.
- Set up your shelter in a space, which is relatively free from rocks.
- Don’t hurt living trees as much as possible.
How to handle the big apocalypse in a big city
November 24, 2017Interesting article I found
Eugene K. Chow
iStock
November 24, 2017
Thanks to wildfires, hurricanes, and certain leaders trading threats of nuclear annihilation over Twitter, you’ve probably been thinking a lot about disasters recently — specifically how not to perish in one.
And if you live in a city, this kind of thinking can be extra fraught. It’s easy enough for doomsday preppers living in the woods to head for bunkers filled with canned food, but how are you supposed to get out of dodge when you don’t even own a car?
Fortunately, or perhaps unfortunately, there are no realistic scenarios that would require a sudden, mass evacuation of an entire city.
Nuclear attack? I hate to break it to you, but nuclear-tipped ICBMs travel far too quickly to give anyone time to flee before all are incinerated in hellfire. Dirty bomb? Conventional explosives combined with radioactive material would not release enough radiation to kill anyone or cause severe illness.
Even most natural disasters wouldn’t require a sudden evacuation. Hurricanes are slow-moving and their paths can be predicted while earthquakes happen without warning.
“A lot of what drives big evacuations is often mass hysteria,” said John Renne, director of the Center for Urban and Environmental Solutions at Florida Atlantic University.
So while you may not need to head for the hills when disaster strikes, you still need to be prepared. The key is to think more realistically about disasters, evacuation plans, and what you actually need to stock up on (fewer nail-studded bats, more bottled water).
Here are a few things city slickers should consider to realistically prepare for a sudden disaster:
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1. Plan on staying put …
“There are really not a lot of scenarios where you would want to evacuate a whole city,” Renne said. “Panic leads people to want to evacuate, but that may not necessarily be the best thing to do.”
During some types of disasters — a chemical attack, for instance — it’s safer to shelter inside rather than evacuate. Even during the largest terrorist attack in history — Sept. 11 — only a small section of New York City needed to be evacuated.
“Most typically you would evacuate the parts of a city that are being impacted to a different part of the city,” explained Renne.
2. … But be ready to go at a moment’s notice.
Most people won’t need to evacuate, but if you happen to be in the area that is directly affected, you’ll need to be prepared to leave quickly.
The fires that scorched California’s Napa Valley swept through residential areas so rapidly that in many cases people only had a few minutes to evacuate. Hesitation proved lethal, and many victims died because they didn’t hear the initial warnings.
To avoid getting caught flat-footed, listen carefully to any emergency alerts from local news stations and monitor social media for developments on evacuation orders. They could come at any time.
3. Stock up on the right supplies.
If you plan on riding out a disaster in your apartment, you will need to have a lot more on hand than just Netflix and a case of wine. At a bare minimum, you should stock enough water and non-perishable food to last three days.
It’s also a good idea to have a basic emergency kit with a flashlight, batteries, first aid, and a solar charger to keep your smartphone humming. But if cell service goes down or the lines get overcrowded, having a hand-crank radio will be critical for receiving emergency updates.
And in case you do need to evacuate your neighborhood, you should have your “go-bags” already packed with important documents, non-perishable food, water, and medication. It’s also a good idea to include a flashlight, some extra batteries, chargers, some cash, and basic toiletries.
While it may be tempting to cram as much food and water into your bag as possible, you shouldn’t carry more than 20-25 pounds of gear. Unless you’ve got a fancy hiking pack that’s designed to carry heavy loads safely, stuffing more than 20 pounds in a regular backpack will put a lot of strain on your body and make it hard to move quickly.
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4. Know your surroundings.
Whether you’re fleeing or staying put, you really need to know the ins and outs of your home and neighborhood.
For instance, depending on the type of emergency you’re in, you may need to shut off your gas, electricity, or water in your house or apartment. So figure out in advance where these controls are and how to access them. The last thing you want is to accidentally set off a gas explosion when you light a match.
And if you do have to evacuate your home, it helps to already have an escape route planned out. Bear in mind that exits can become blocked, so having an alternate is critical.
You’ll also want to figure out the location of your local evacuation center and how you’d get there. Cities with good emergency plans might even have fleets of buses ready to ferry people there, but you don’t want to count on it.
Lastly, if you do have to escape, please be sure to check in on elderly, very young, or disabled neighbors to make sure they have options to get to safety as well.
5. Relax.
More than a New Age mantra, a positive attitude is the key to surviving an emergency. Nearly every outdoor survival guide begins with maintaining a positive attitude, keeping calm, and not letting anxiety or negativity infect your thoughts.
Hopelessness is a dangerous feeling when under extreme duress. Only by maintaining a positive outlook will you be able to maintain the willpower to survive.
You might be drinking toilet water, but at least you’re doing it from home
Hunting season is underway here’s a couple ways to stay safe
September 20, 2017General Safety:
Tell someone where you will be hunting and when you will be returning.
Know the weather conditions in your hunting area and dress accordingly.
In an emergency, stay calm and stay put.
Avoid hypothermia. Know how to treat it if it strikes.
Keep rested, hydrated and well nourished.
Carry a survival kit and a small first aid kit with you at all times.
Know how to build a fire in all weather conditions and carry the supplies to start one.
Carry a map and compass or GPS unit and know how to use them.
July 9, 2017
8:51 PM, Jul 8, 2017 3 hours ago
UPDATE (July 9, 4:38a): The Kern County Sheriff’s Office confirmed two search and rescue volunteers were robbed at gunpoint.
http://tpc.googlesyndication.com/safeframe/1-0-9/html/container.html Officials said it happened on Saturday while conducting a rescue operation for a hiker in medical distress on the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT). The incident occurred off a nearby trail, in the segment of the PCT between Highway 58 and Kelso Valley Road. The suspects were two Hispanic male adults carrying rifles and handguns. The rescuers were not harmed during the incident, but were advised by the suspects to leave the area immediately. After the robbery occurred, the Kern County Fire Department assisted Sheriff’s personnel with a hoist rescue of the injured hiker and three others.
The Sheriff’s Office and USFS have initiated a hard closure of that segment of the PCT until it can be determined the trail is safe to reopen. Investigation into the incident is ongoing. =============================================== Kern County Sheriff’s are investigating an incident involving their search and rescue crews tonight. The incident took place in the Piute Mountains near the Pacific Crest Trail.
Residents that live near Jawbone Canyon tell 23ABC they received a phone call earlier this evening, saying search and rescue crews were allegedly robbed at gunpoint. KCSO has not yet confirmed the allegations, but did say that no one was hurt in the incident. Kern County Sheriff’s Office Search and Rescue volunteers robbed at gunpoint during rescue
Portion of the Pacific Crest Trail closed
Robin Gracia, Jessica Harrington
