NC High Angle Rescue College
Level IV

Howard Miles and I attended Level IV of the NC High Angle Rescue College at Stone Mountain. This level centered around land search and navigation. We spent Friday night and part of Saturday in the classroom, learning the basics of tracking, map reading, and compass navigation. On Saturday afternoon, we went to the visitors' center at the mountain and got some practice running compass courses.

Sunday was the big day - our rather large class of 60+ students split into two groups, and each group started at opposite ends to go through a 6-mile hike that went to the top of Stone Mountain itself, and skirted Wolf Rock. The hike was quite a challenge - we climbed and slid down steep hills, scaled sheer rock faces, and crossed running streams. Throughout the hike, our objective (besides not getting lost or falling off the rock) was to navigate using our compasses and topo maps to a series of targets, set earlier that weekend by the instructors. The first challenge was navigating to the right area. The second challenge was finding the darn target - which was sometimes fastened underneath a rock ledge, or stapled inside a hole in a tree trunk.

Click the thumbnails to view a larger photo in a separate browser window.

Level IV students gather Sunday morning to start their hike.	Howard was sporting his "never get lost" fluorescent lime-green jacket. Here he is doing a rather good imitation of a sunrise.	With my gazillion layers of clothing (two t-shirts, two long-sleeve shirts, a sweatshirt, a wind/rain jacket, and winter coat), I felt like Ralphie from the movie "A Christmas Story" - "Aaaahh! I can't put my arms down!"
Now THAT's wilderness survival!	Instructors Joe Burris and Terry Foxx have a pre-hike pow-wow	Around 8:30a, our group of 31 students headed into the woods at the start of our trail.
We found our first target, #25, tucked away inside a tree.	This first sheer rock face that we had to clamber up was only a HINT of more difficult things to come!	It's not evident in the photo but, we both almost got carried away to Winston-Salem by the horrendous wind that was raging at the top of this rock!
The view from the top of Stone Mountain was quite incredible - that is, if you could stay standing long enough to enjoy it	Ropes provided some measure of comfort on some of the steeper rock faces	A view across the valley to Wolf Rock
Sean (Eastern Burke County Rescue Squad) takes a breather after reaching the top	Howard and I	Ah but the break didn't last long. In no time we were on the trail again. Seemed like the rock faces were only getting steeper!
We found our second target right at the summit	For each target, a different pair of students would get the bearing and take the point to lead the group to it	Targets were found in the darndest of places - and of course, NEVER within view from the trail!
I'm not sure what was harder on the ol' knees and ankles - climbing up the rocks or sliding down them!	Almost looks like a ski slope!	Water run-off made for nice slick spots straight down the rock. "It's not the fall that hurts ya, it's the sudden stop at the end!"
We were actually given the wrong coordinates for our next target! But despite it being on the opposite side of the trail from where it was supposed to be, Erin (Winston-Salem Rescue) was able to locate it.	More awesome scenery!	The multiple-trauma that ALMOST was - this dead tree had been hanging by a splinter, across the trail, until just a few seconds after we'd stopped short to see if we could remove it. Right before our eyes it came crashing down to the ground where 4 or 5 of us would have been had we not stopped walking when we did.
Break time!	Jim (Winston-Salem Rescue) gets a bearing on his compass for our next target	Taking a load off...
I don't think that David (Winston-Salem Rescue) even so much as broke a sweat the whole day	Now THAT's what I call "relaxing"!	Imagine what it would have been like to live out here
Nothing unclear about THAT sign!	Our group crossed paths with the other group at the top of the waterfall. Debbie (Cary FD) takes a lunch break.	Joe (left) led this group in the opposite direction from ours
Big Ray (Wrightsville Beach FD)	Mt. Mitchell FD	The ultimate water slide!
Crossing the streams was a slippery affair	David (Winston Salem) found our next target up the hill	Erin was becoming our target magnet, she led us to the next one
Instructors Squirt and Terry had all kinds of gear in their packs, including some rope that we strung up across some particularly treacherous crossings "just in case"	Lunch by the waterfall was quite the welcome break	We came across these old stills in the middle of nowhere
The next few slopes were some of the steepest and toughest I've ever climbed	Instructor Squirt	Finally, around 4:30p, our group made it out of the woods
Diesel and his handler enjoy a break together	Robert Swiger kicks off the graduation ceremony	What better end to a back-to-nature kind of day! These guys let me get right up to them to get a photo.

Copyright 2005 NCFirewolf