National Outings Training Trip - Backpacking Rawah Wilderness, Colorado

Welcome

The National Outings Training Trip (NOTT) culminates the Sierra Club leadership training program. Participants on this trip will have completed the six-month homeschool training program (open this link for more information about the program). 

After an applicant has been accepted into the program and prior to the start of the homeschool training phase, an applicant, with the assistance of the Training Support Committee Co-chairs and Homeschool Mentor, will select an appropriate NOTT. 

Only active trainees in the Sierra Club National Outings Training Program may register for a NOTT, with the assistance of the Training Support Committee.

The Field Trip

Our trip will be in the ancestral lands of the Núu-agha-tʉvʉ-pʉ̱ (Ute), Cheyenne, Arapaho, and Eastern Shoshone ceded under duress in the treaty of Fort Laramie.

The 78,000-acre Rawah Wilderness lies to the north of Rocky Mountain National park in the Roosevelt National Forest. The field trip immerses trainees in Sierra Club’s best practices. Three or four veteran trainers will guide prospective leaders through all aspects of planning, preparing, and leading National Outings. Although this trip focuses on backpacking training, lessons learned are appropriate to all Sierra Club trips, regardless of the type of National Outings trip.

During each of four full days in the field, the Leader of the Day (LOD) team will put into practice what it planned during the home school phase. With guidance from our Field Trainers, each team will lead all aspects of our trip for an entire day. 

Training days are long and full, and the trip is physically and mentally demanding. In addition to typical trip activities, such as meal preparation and hikes, scheduled breaks will allow for in-depth group discussions and daily training exercises. These daily activities will provide each trainee the opportunity to practice skills and deal with leadership situations that may occur on an actual trip, but the practice of being the trip leader for a day is the heart of the training. 

Each day trainees will receive multiple forms of feedback—continually while hiking, in a nightly debrief, and more detailed in a personal development plan at the end of the trip, the Individual Development Plan (IDP). The training program generally mirrors homeschool lessons but also covers important topics that only can be learned in the field. This trip prepares trainees for a knowledgeable, working relationship with other Sierra Club leaders in the years ahead. 

At the conclusion of training, new leaders will be on the path to lead Sierra Club trips that help others explore, enjoy, and protect the planet.

Upon successful completion of this training, the trainers will submit a "Training Trip and Trainee Summary" (based on the IDP) to each of the 18 subcommittee chairs who manage the 350 outings each year. Specific subcommittee staffing decisions are made by the subcommittee chair, not the Home School Mentors or Field Trainers. This report will include a description of the training, trainee strengths and areas of growth, which subcommittees the trainee is interested in, and the trip leadership role assigned by trainers (e.g. trainee, assistant, provisional leader, or needing more technical or leadership experience). 

Day 1: The trip begins at the Denver International Airport in Denver, Colorado at noon. From there the group will drive to the Tunnel Campground near the Laramie River, a drive of about three hours. Trip leaders will talk about the rest of the trip, set group norms, and address lingering questions trainees would like answered.

Day 2: We will depart from the Tunnel Campground in the morning and begin our backpacking trip by ascending the West Fork Trail into the Rawah Wilderness. Our first day will feature elevation gain of between 2,000-3,000 feet over four to six miles, depending on the pace of the group.

Days 3-5: Over the next three days of backpacking, we will travel generally northwards, gaining and losing elevation as we traverse mountain passes, pass high alpine lakes, and possibly navigate some residual snowfields. Our route and itinerary will be determined by conditions, the pace of the group, and the decisions of the LOD teams.

Day 6: Sad to say, but our time together will be coming to an end. We will exit the Rawah Wilderness using the Camp Lake trail, returning to our vehicles by mid-afternoon. We will then make the three-hour drive back to Denver International Airport, where our trip will conclude.

Getting There

Transportation will be provided between Denver Airport and Tunnel Campground and trailhead. A class roster will be shared to encourage room sharing before and after the trip, if desired. It is highly recommended that participants plan to make a hotel reservation at or near Denver International Airport on the night the trip concludes. Please do not plan to take an evening flight out of Denver that day, as we could be delayed for any number of reasons.

Please do not make non-refundable travel arrangements until notified to do so by the trip leader.

Accommodations and Food

Since we will be backpacking, the accommodations are those you load into your backpack. There are no amenities once we pass the city of Fort Collins on our way to the campground. Food is a critical part of any Sierra Club trip, and one of the great aspects of this training is that trainees can practice providing food to a group of backpackers. Trainees plan, purchase, pack, and prepare all meals for the days they are Leaders of the Day, a role practiced during homeschool assignment 7. Mentors provided instruction, and on the trip, Field Trainers will provide guidance for this seemingly daunting task. All food costs on the trip are included in the training cost. Upon completion of the training, trainees will submit for reimbursement for the food they provided in the same way that leaders do on actual trips. The first meal of the trip will be dinner on the first night and the last meal will be breakfast/brunch on the last day before departing.

Trip Difficulty

This Sierra Club national backpack trip is rated a 2. The daily backpacking mileage is moderate, but the terrain is steep and the elevations climb to over 11,000 feet. The entire trip mileage is about 20 miles. The mileage is across high alpine terrain, which can include extreme weather conditions and storms. The temperature can vary in summer, with the potential for very warm days and lows close to freezing at night.

Equipment and Clothing

The trainers will bring all the group equipment: pots, stove, cooking utensils, water treatment. Water will be purified with Micropur chlorine tablets or boiling. Detailed equipment list will be provided several months in advance of the trip.

References

• National Geographic Trails Illustrated—Poudre River/Cameron Pass (Map 112)
• 100 Classic Hikes in Colorado, Scott S. Warren (Hike 21)

Conservation

Although the Rawah Wilderness is a federally protected wilderness area, it still faces challenges. As the climate changes, the mountains of Colorado face an increased threat from wildfire. In 2020, the Cameron Peak fire, the largest wildfire in Colorado history, impacted a massive area near where our trip will travel. We will travel through areas heavily impacted by the invasive mountain pine beetle, which have killed millions of trees throughout the western United States. The mountain pine beetle benefits from a longer breeding season as a result of climate change. We will also discuss the ongoing drought impacting the western United States, where reduced snowpack in areas like the Rawah Wilderness impact water availability across the region. During our trip, while hiking through this beautiful wilderness, Field Trainers and trainees will present contemporary conservation topics, from climate change to forest practices to the mining history of the region. We will also talk about how leaders can incorporate conservation topics—regional, national, and global—in the trips National Outings sponsors.