BOW Workshop

Last weekend, I signed up for a Becoming an Outdoor Woman workshop, held up near Fairbanks. Becoming an Outdoor Woman was developed to help women learn about outdoor activities so they can take part without feeling overwhelmed or intimidated. This workshop had courses about hunting, fishing, field dressing, tracking, safety, navigation, backpacking, and many others.

Some of you are probably wondering why I was in a workshop like that. Well, first of all, I may be knowledgable about some things (I actually probably could have taught the backpacking course), but there are many other things I don't know about. And some things you just can't learn from YouTube. Secondly, my friend invited me to go with her, and I thought it would be a fun trip.

I took Chainsaws, On the Lake Spin Fishing, GPS, and No-911 First Aid (aka Wilderness First Aid). By far, my favorite course was Chainsaws. They taught us the parts, how to maintain it, how to safely start it and use it, and of course, we got to chop some things up! Least favorite was No-911 First Aid. First of all, I kind of knew a lot of that stuff because I'd helped Ethan with Outdoor Emergency Care in the past. Secondly, there was one lady who lived in some cabin in the wilderness with three little boys and was also a hypochondriac who took over the class. She asked way too many questions, including some stupid ones, like whether you would catch diseases from not drying your hands after you wash them (really? You're worried about catching diseases from not drying your hands when you are drinking from a slough?). She also needed an EMT class for some of the things she wanted to do, in my opinion.

I didn't get too many pictures because I was too busy learning and having fun. But I did catch a couple of fish, so here's some pictures of that for you.

My tiny little trout.

See? That's how small he was.

The second trout. I'm told rainbow trout look different in the Lower 48.

So would I do it again? Absolutely, it was a lot of fun and I learned a lot (and by the way, there are many states that have this program, Google it if you're interested). But, it's intended to give women the confidence to get out there, start asking questions, and start doing it. So I think maybe, at this point, I'm ready to get out and do things. And I'm not afraid to ask for help. I reckon if I wanted to go shooting, I know people who would take me, no problem. But I would definitely recommend it to anyone who wanted to learn how to get out there and do some outdoors stuff. Or, you know, come visit me. I'll take you. :)