The Field Guide includes the major elements of our nature and outdoors programs, and serves as a curriculum guide for our teachers. Much of the material contained herein will be taught at some point during each summer.

However, please note that it is unfinished. Some sections are complete while others, the “skills” chapters for example, are not. About 1/3 of the work is done, and none of the many pictures which will highlight it have been posted. A work in progress…

Table of Contents:

Field Guide Program

Safety Prevention, Emergency Situations and First Aid

Camping Skills Leave no Trace, Campsites, Fires, Cooking, Backpacking, Fishing

Map Skills Map Reading, Route Finding

Climbing Skills Bouldering, Advanced Techniques

Water Skills Swimming, Lifesaving, River Safety, Whitewater Rafting

Leadership

Outdoors Plate Tectonics and Landforms, Soil, Weather, Flora, Fauna

Central Virginia’s Wild Places Piedmont, Blue Ridge Mountains, Shenandoah Valley

Civics U.S. Founding, Federal Government, State and Local Government, Issues

Major Sources:

Boy Scout Field Book, any edition

Peter Alden and Brian Cassie, eds., National Audubon Society Guide to the Mid-Atlantic States, Knopf, 1999, ISBN 0-679-44682-6 (hc)

Susan T. Haas, The Family Field Guide to Charlottesville and Beyond: Great Outings with Children, Free Union Country School, 1999, ISBN 0-9671380-0-0

Chapter 1 Safety

The Field Camper who understands safety recognizes that it is always best to avoid dangerous situations and prevent accidents before they happen. While a camper may challenge himself in the outdoors, we always seek to minimize risk by taking appropriate safety measures. When an emergency does arrive, however, the camper reacts carefully and thoughtfully with common sense and training.

Part I Prevention

The Safety course is positioned at the beginning of the Field Guide and every camper who works toward distinction in the program will have to take this oral test first. We have organized the program this way in order to emphasize the fundamental importance of safety in our camp.

We do many things here that might be considered risky: swimming, tubing, canoeing, hiking in remote areas, rock climbing, and so forth. Every year in this country, hundreds of people are seriously or fatally injured participating in such activities. However, the threat of danger is considerably reduced as long as we learn from the mistakes others have made and practice certain prevention techniques.

Camp counselors and campers have to make decisions about safety prevention all the time. While we can sometimes overdo it, young people more often err on the side of ignoring important safety issues. Whereas older people may have been around longer and witnessed more accidents and tragedies, young people more often think themselves invincible and engage in risky behavior. Therefore, it is in our interest at the Field Camp to be vigilant, so that we can avoid accidents and we can all have a better time in the long run.

One last point worth making here is a piece of wisdom given to me by an old boss at the Landon School, Spud Parker. After a discussion of some safety issue, he pointed out that those who enforce safety standards are rarely recognized when their efforts are successful. That is, if you have helped to prevent an accident from happening, people generally do not know of it—because it didn’t happen. It is typically only after the worst has occurred that we look back and think about what we might have done. Those who enforce safety standards do so without congratulations and, unfortunately, must often take consolation only in their own knowledge that they have done the right thing in the long run by enforcing the tough, often unpopular, safety rules.

Planning

Accidents will occur, and we can never be fully prepared for every possible situation. However, we can take several steps in order to minimize the threat represented by various emergency situations. First, educate yourself. When a dangerous situation does arise, we are better off if we recognize the potential danger and react appropriately. We can educate ourselves about first aid, learn CPR, and familiarize ourselves with likely threats to our safety. Second, we can be prepared to react by carrying a phone, by knowing emergency phone numbers, by contacting the appropriate concerned parties such as parents, or by maintaining and carrying a first aid kit. Third, we can react responsibly. Often, when people witness emergency situations, they are inclined to avoid the situation. A responsible person, however, offers to help, and does so in a constructive, knowledgeable manner.

If you’re going on some day trip or overnight venture, as we often do at Field Camp, you can minimize the threat represented by emergency situations by taking certain precautions. First, have a plan. Make sure that everyone in your group is aware of the plan or schedule. Give some thought to the types of problems that might occur and how you would deal with them. And prepare yourself accordingly. If you are going hiking, be sure to tell others where your group is venturing, what time you expect to be back, and so forth.

Whenever engaging in any camping or backcountry adventure, a good rule of thumb is to always remain in a group and use the buddy system. Though it may seem best at times to separate, this often leads to confusion and chaos. If you do separate, be very specific about times and places for meeting up again.

Animals

There are dangerous animals in the wilderness, although with appropriate caution, episodes with wildlife are very rare. In Virginia, the four most common dangers are represented by certain snakes, bees, ticks, and bears.

There are a wide variety of snakes in the Central Virginia area. The two dangerous snakes in our area are the Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnake (Crotalus adamanteus) and the Northern Copperhead (Agkistrodon contortix). Both are pit vipers that secrete large pockets of venom in the rear of their heads, giving them a triangle-shape distinctive to the poisonous snakes. In general, snakes have no sense of hearing but they do have a very advanced sense of touch and can “feel” the approach of humans by the vibrations in the ground. Like all other animals in the wild, they avoid confrontation with humans and react aggressively only rarely, when they feel threatened. About 8,000 people in the U.S. are bitten by poisonous snakes each year, and considering the chances some people take, this is a pretty low number. Of these, about 10 are fatal. Snakes are beautiful creatures and on our annual trip to the Virginia Wildlife Center, we have the opportunity to see several of these reptiles up close.

Most of the snakes we see on our hikes are Northern Watersnakes (Natrix sipedon), harmless creatures usually seen swimming upstream before hiding behind rocks. We probably come into their territory far more often than we see them, but sensing our arrival, they typically slide away before we arrive. We have, however, come across several rattlesnakes on our hikes in the past few years and so we always have our lead hiker wary for crossing one’s path. Because snakes are cold-blooded reptiles that warm themselves by exposure to sunlight, we often find them out on a gravel road or on a rocky ridge. Whenever around rocks or woodpiles, you should be particularly wary for a rattlesnake.

Bees can be dangerous as well since many people are allergic to their stings. Although it is often unavoidable and not uncommon to get stung by a lone bee away from his nest, we can take measures to avoid being stung by a swarm. The best way to do so is to keep a respectable distance from their homes. Their nests differ by species, with hornets making paper-like nests high off the ground while yellowjackets make their homes in holes in the ground. If you happen to see bees’ nest on your hike, point it out to others and avoid invading their territory.

Similarly, ticks and tick bites are common in the outdoors. The two most common ticks that represent a danger to humans are the tiny deer tick (Ixodes domini), which can carry the bacteria that leads to Lyme disease, and the locally more common American dog tick (Dermacentor variabilis), which can carry the bacteria that causes Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever. Lyme disease is not fatal although it leads to musculoskeletal, debilitatiung cardiovascular and neurological problems The chances of any dog tick carrying the fatal Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever bacteria is slight, however, and even if it does, infections can easily be treated with antibiotics. Prevention measures include wearing long pants and regularly checking yourself or others in your group during and after a hike, especially after passing through tall grass.

We were lucky enough to see our first Field Camp black bear in 2002 on a hike up Old Rag. He was relatively young, wandering up the path in front of us and occasionally turning over logs in search of food. Shenandoah Park in particular is populated by hundreds of Eastern Black Bears (Ursus americanus), and you may come across one on a hike at some point. If you should see a bear in Virginia, it probably represents little threat to you. The only exception would be if a mother thinks you are a threat to her cubs, in which case she could attack. However, these episodes are very rare. Unlike western grizzlies, our local black bears avoid almost any confrontation with humans. Nevertheless, be careful and use common sense. Black bears are very strong, fast, and ferocious if they feel threatened.

If you are hiking in the backcountry in other parts of the world, you should make it a point to familiarize yourself with the potentially dangerous animals in that region. There is an incredible variety of poisonous snakes worldwide, for example, and other bear species do not typically behave like our Eastern Black Bears. Know the local dangers, prepare yourself appropriately, and have a great time on your travels.

Weather

Lightning is an electrical discharge between two parts of one cloud, between two separate clouds, or between a cloud and the earth. Thunder is the sound that accompanies lightning as the air expands explosively away from the intense heat of the bolt. About 90% of lightning does not actually touch the ground, but when lightning does strike the earth, it can be very dangerous. Lightning reaches temperatures of 30,000 degrees Fahrenheit (hotter than the surface of the sun, believe it or not), and between the burns and the electrical charge, it can be fatal. About 100 people die each year in the United States from lightning blasts. This number might seem high, but it’s a pretty small percentage of the people in this country, and the impression of most people is that lightning is a pretty remote danger. However, given the fact that we are outdoors much of the time in the summer, we are more vulnerable at summer camp to the dangers of lightning, and we must therefore be more vigilant.

I am particularly watchful as, years ago, a student at my school died from a lightning bolt that struck a tree under which he and others were standing after a game had been called due to the weather. They ran to the shelter of the tree, and when the blast came, several fell immediately. Though the others were revived through CPR, the blast was fatal for one of the unfortunate spectators.

Part II Emergency Situations

Among the Primary Concerns to consider in an emergency situation is your own safety. Check the scene and try to determine what has been the cause of the accident (a fall, car wreck, lightning strike, etc.), whether the scene is safe for you and others (a live electrical wire, oncoming traffic, etc.), and how many people are involved. Among other concerns, you must be concerned about bloodborne pathogens. Among the most potentially dangerous are HIV and Hepatitis B. If blood is on the scene, protect yourself by wearing gloves, a facemask (a handkerchief will do), and eye protection. Then, be careful in providing for proper disposal.

Those most life-threatening immediate dangers are ones to your three major body systems: nervous, circulatory, or respiratory. For example, a massive concussion might lead to swelling of the brain in the nervous system. A heart attack or internal bleeding can lead to shock in the circulatory system. A severe asthma attack can lead to constriction of the airway in the respiratory system. As a responder to a medical emergency, one’s first concern is to determine that there is no life-threatening injury, then deal with relatively minor medical issues later. If there is an immediate danger, you need to get the patient advanced medical attention as quickly as possible.

One might suspect a threat to a patient’s nervous system if he has been or is unconscious for more than a few minutes or if he has taken a blow to the head. The primary fear here is that there may be swelling of one’s brain. Symptoms of a concussion include any change in brain activity, memory loss, temporary loss of consciousness, or obvious skull deformities. If a victim has a concussion and is unconscious as a result for less than a minute and has no other associated symptoms, then monitoring the patient may be sufficient. However, if a victim is unconscious for more than a few minutes for whatever reason and has other symptoms noted above including a history of concussions, the victim should be taken to a hospital so that he can be monitored for increasing intracranial pressure or brain swelling, a life-threatening condition that may develop from 6-24 hours after the event. Early symptoms of this condition include mental status changes, headache, nausea, grumpiness and irritability, and vomiting.

One might assume a threat to a patient’s circulatory system if you suspect either a heart attack or a blood loss. Our bodies circulate blood by virtue of the pumping action of the heart in vessels throughout our bodies. If the heart should stop, or if any of the major vessels is damaged, the body will not survive long. Symptoms of a heart attack include angina or chest pain, shortness of breath, vomiting, nausea, or unstable vital signs. You can administer aspirin or nitroglycerine for cases of angina, although if the patient does not respond to the medication, you should react as if a heart attack has taken place. When a heart stops, a responder might be able to provide cardiopulmonary resuscitation or CPR, for up to 30 minutes, in order to continue to nourish the body’s cells with oxygenated blood until an automatic electric defibrillator (AED) is available to shock the patient’s heart and hopefully restart its regular pumping action. A patient might also die, however, if there is a massive blood loss, usually through trauma to the core of the body (shock). If either of these emergencies occurs, a responder should make every effort to either maintain the action of the heart or stem the bleeding while getting the patient to advanced medical authorities. An exception to this would be when the patient is obviously dead, from lethal injuries, submersion under more than an hour, or blunt trauma with no pulse or breathing. Responders should be aware that neither CPR nor AEDs are panaceas, and most victims of heart attacks die even when AEDs are administered within a few minutes. But sometimes, these actions can make a difference.

One might suspect a threat to a patient’s respiratory system if they are having a difficult time breathing or have an elevated respiration rate for a long period of time. This might be caused by any change in their respiratory system, from a punctured lung to blockage or partial blockage of an airway. Asthma is a problem of the respiratory system, a disease that people often inherit, but one that can develop in people over time. It is triggered by allergies, temperature change, or exercise. Symptoms of asthma include wheezing and rapid or difficult breathing. The fundamental problem is a constriction or blockage of a person’s lower airway or bronchia tubes. When someone begins to have an asthmatic episode, the best response is to use a meter dose inhaler (MDI) to open up the bronchi tubes in the lungs. Shake the MDI, have the patient breathe in and out deeply, and then spray and breathe in slowly over 5 seconds. The patient should hold his breath for ten seconds. Then repeat the procedure after one minute. If the MDI does not work, one should use epinephrine in order to deal with the problem, followed by further doses of the MDI. These responses usually resolve asthmatic problems but if asthmatic incident advances to this last stage, you should get the patient to the hospital immediately.

In Central Virginia, the main plant that represents a poisoning danger to us, and a relatively minor one at that, is poison ivy. Contact with poison ivy can lead to the development of itchy and sometimes painful rashes. Whenever we go hiking, we will begin by describing this plant and we will point it out to all of you. It is a green, three-leaved plant that grows as a vine. Typically, it grows low to the ground, often in border areas that receive partial shade. You might also find it suspended from the side of a tree. Its leaves appear waxy, and its stems are sometimes red. If conditions are dry, it might appear yellowish or brownish. The ivy itself is not poisonous—our bodies are generally allergic to its oil, urushiol, and our bodies react. The best way to prevent poison ivy infection is by recognizing the species and avoiding contact with it. If you do think you have come into contact, wash the affected area with soap and water within an hour of contact.

A stroke is referred to as a cerebrovascular accident (oops!) in your brain. Strokes can result from hermorrhages or ruptured aneurysms (a blown vessel) or obstructions including clots. Symptoms of a stroke would include headache, one-sided weakness, possible speech changes and dizziness. As the condition worsens, it can be life-threatening and a patient should be given immediate medical attention.

A seizure is uncoordinated electrical activity causing brain function change. The causes include epilepsy or changes in sugar or salt levels, temperature, oxygen, pressure, exposure to electricity, altitude, or toxins, though the ultimate cause may well be unknown, as seizures remain a little understood issue in medicine. If a patient is having a seizure, a responder should help to protect the patient, but not by fully restraining them. They will show declining body functions and they may be incontinent and exhausted after the episode.

The spine is made up of the spinal column and the spinal cord. The column is part of the musculoskeletal system, encasing and protecting the cord. Americans injure their spines at a rate of about 40 per million annually in the US, mostly in car accidents and violence, though falls and sports injuries contribute to the number as well. Whenever you injure the spinal column, you have the potential to injure the spinal cord. The spinal cord is part of the nervous system, a big cable transmitting information from the brain to the rest of the body. If a responder has some reason to believe there has been a spinal column injury, then he needs to stabilize the spine, and, after determining that there are no life-threatening injuries otherwise, he should “clear the spine,” that is, make sure that there is not a spine injury. A responder should palpate the patient’s spine, top to bottom, checking for pain or tenderness, then test both movement (pushing against resistance) and feeling (distinguish between sharp and dull sensations) in the hands and feet. If we suspect a spine injury, then we put the patient on a backboard and transport him carefully to the hospital for further attention. Otherwise, a patient can leave a scene of an accident on his own. Though responders need to be as careful as possible when they suspect a spinal injury, you should not be overly worried about moving the patient, whether the object is to do a physical exam or transporting the patient to safety or medical attention.

In the outdoors, we must always be aware of potential allergies and toxins in the environment. Antigens or toxins can be injected (bees, jellyfish, snake), inhaled (smoke, perfume, vapors), ingested (peanuts, lobster, MSG), or surface absorbed (pollen, poison ivy, insect repellent). Toxins are different from antigens because people are all going to be affected the same by the toxins. When these things get into your system, your antibodies attach to them, and histamines are released by their reaction. In a restricted or local area (swelling, rash, dermatitis, hay fever), this is not a problem. This can be treated with systemic antihistamines or diphenhydramines such as Benadryl, or with topical antihistamines and ointments. If the histamines are released systemically, however, you may have a more serious problem of anaphylaxis, and perhaps even anaphylactic shock. If a patient has been exposed to some antigen or toxin and exhibits an increased heart rate or respiration rate, then he should be taken to a hospital immediately. In the meantime, a responder can administer epinephrine, antihistamines and prednisone in order to deal with the potentially complicating adverse symptoms of the incident. If the patient has been exposed to a toxin, then a responder needs to make the effort to clean and dilute the toxin (cleaning surfaces, consider activated charcoal in cases of ingestion), take care of the patient’s symptoms, and evacuate if necessary. In the case of a venomous snake bite such as rattlesnakes and copperheads in Central Virginia (indicated by local swelling and pain), treat the wound, immobilize, and consider evacuation. Of 8,000 people bitten annually by pit vipers in the US, only 6 die, and most of these die from the infection rather then the venom. When you are out in the spring and summer, you should be careful to watch for ticks, millions of which inhabit each acre of land in our area, and if you find one embedded, remove it with tweezers and clean the area to counteract possible infections. Be aware that tick bites can lead to rare cases of Lyme Disease and Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, although the tick must be embedded for at least 36 hours to transmit the disease. We should also be aware of the threat represented by brown recluse or black widow spider bites, which may require attention to critical life systems and evacuation to a hospital.

Injuries to the musculoskeletal system, other than those noted above, are not generally life-threatening, and the concern of a responder is to help a patient to feel comfortable and stable, with transportation to a hospital for further attention if necessary. The musculoskeletal system is made up of bones, muscles, ligaments, tendons, and cartilage. The primary concern in these accidents is that a broken long bone (humerus, femur, tibia, fibula) may be adversely affecting the neurovascular bundle (veins, arteries, nerves), perhaps choking off blood to a limb and jeopardizing its survival. A responder should check for circulation, sensation and motion (CSM) in limbs beyond a break, and if there does seem to be a problem, one should traction the injury into position (unless there is excessive pain or resistance), by slowly and carefully pulling on the broken bone until it has re-set and CSM has returned. In any case of an unstable muscle or bone injury (lack of CSM, rapid swelling and discoloration, a pop or crack heard on fall, obvious deformities, or restricted range of motion), one should splint the injury and transport the patient to a medical facility quickly, although the only immediate emergency here would be if there were no CSM. For stable injuries, a responder should provide rest, ice for 48 to 72 hours in order to control swelling, compression, and elevation of the injury above the heart. Pain medications are noted below. Splinting should be complete, with immobilization above and below the injury, comfortable and well padded in order to avoid ischemia (threats to circulation), and compact. For joint dislocations, responders can reposition several joints (shoulder, patella, digits) if the force bringing about the injury has been indirect and if transportation to a medical facility is difficult. The repositioning should be followed by splitting, monitoring CSM, pain medication, and possible evacuation depending on the severity of the injury. For open fractures, be sure to clean the wound with betadine or soapy water, and free the wound of skin entrapments.

In treating wounds, the first concern is to control bleeding, using precautions to protect yourself, with well-aimed direct pressure, followed by elevation of the wound. The wound should be dressed and bandaged, and perhaps immobilized in order to encourage clotting. Cleaning the wound includes removing debris, cleaning around the wound with diluted betadine, and irrigate with several liters of high-pressure water. If the wound is big enough or contaminated and subject to infection (crushing injuries, open bone fractures, animal bites, joint injuries, puncture wounds), a patient should be taken to a hospital for better treatment and the administration of antibiotics. When the wound includes an impaled object, a responder might only attempt to remove the object if it is safe and easy (i.e. a finger wound), if it cannot be stabilized or if it prevents safe transport. If a finger or limb has been amputated, keep it sterile and cool and transport it with a patient, and a lost tooth should be returned to its socket as it may re-establish itself.

Our bodies’ normal core temperature is 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit, and we may develop medical problems when get either too cold (hypothermia) or too hot (hyperthermia). The body regulates temperature through sensors, and it can be affected by injury, illness, medications, fitness, acclimatization, hydration, and nutrition. We develop heat by eating and burning up the food, and we lose it through conduction, convection, radiation and evaporation. A mildly hypothermic (cold) patient, one who is alert but shivering and declining mentally is not particularly problematic as long as the patient insulates himself from the cold, wind, and rain, and eats and drinks (especially sugar for immediate heat production). However, when the core temperature drops below 90 degrees, indicated by no shivering and by a quickly declining mental status or slow critical systems, the patient is in trouble and needs to be evacuated quickly and gently to a hospital. The responder should insulate the patient and perhaps help them to breathe, but avoid excessive external heat, rough handling and further heat loss.

Hyperthermia is a condition that develops when we get too hot and it includes two problems. Heat exhaustion is a type of hypothermia that occurs when our volume of blood declines and does not allow the body to regulate temperature through blood flow and sweat. The patient needs to drink and eat and moderate their activity and environment. Heat stroke, meanwhile, is a temperature problem, when our bodies approach or get above 105 degrees, a level that adversely affects our nervous system and shows in a changing mental status. The treatment for this condition includes immediate cooling (shade, spraying or splashing with water, fanning), re-hydration, and evacuation to a hospital to monitor effects on the nervous system. Another heat-oriented problem is hyponatremia, a condition that results when people drink too much water without electrolyte intake. This is a relatively simple condition to treat with electrolytes (potassium, sodium).

Speaking of the weather, another threat in cold weather is frostbite. When the temperature is below 32 degrees Fahrenheit, one can become vulnerable to this condition, particularly in your extremeties and your face. Other factors that might contribute to the condition would be nicotine, dehydration, heat loss from wind, evaporation, or metal, or constricting clothing. If the case is superficial, the skin is going to be soft and pale with dulled sensation, and a responder can field rewarm the skin through food and water internally and dry, insulating clothing externally. However, victims of deep frostbite should be taken immediately to a hospital. This is a painful condition you should begin to treat with pain medication.

Burns are divided into three categories: superficial, partial thickness and full thickness. Superficial burns such as a sunburn are reddish with intact sensation, partial burns are similar except that the skin will blister, while full burns are marked by declining sensation, black or leathery skin without blisters. Critical body areas include the hands and feet, genitals, the face and chest—ones the patient needs in order to maintain important body functions. Look for burns that might affect respiration (inhalation injuries), circulation (volume shock), the neurological system, and the skin (infections). Also recognize that sunburnt or burned skin can lead to hypothermia. Care for the patients should include to stop the burning, administer pain medications, clean the burn with water, remove dead tissue, administer antibiotic ointments, dress with non-stick gauze, and elevate. If the burns are minor, monitor for infection, but major burns (those covering more than 10% of the body) require evacuation.

A responder to a drowning incident should first be very careful to protect himself, particularly if going into the water to rescue someone. The responder should be attentive to the patient’s major body system, breathing and beginning CPR if necessary. A drowning victim can be saved even after being submerged for over an hour, although the chances of survival are better when the incident has not lasted so long, when the water is cool, when the patient is healthy, and when basic or advanced life support begins immediately. Near-drowning are classified as situations when a patient could not self-rescue, exhibits prolonged coughing or vomiting, or has associated trauma or mental status changes. Near-drowning vicitimes can die from lung injuries associated with water inhalanation or brain injury from hypoxia. Patients who have survived near drownings should be taken to a hospital in order to monitor for these conditions.

Electrical injuries can come from either alternating or direct current. Alternating current can cause muscle tetany (keeping a patient from letting go). Responders should (be careful, critical systems, treat injuries, consider evac) Common problems include potential entrance and exit burns, and cardiac and respiratory burns. The most common type of direct current injuries come from lightning. Lightning often happens along with afternoon thunderstorms, when electrical activity in the upper atmosphere leads to strikes. It often strikes areas of about 50 yards in diameter, with ground currents rising to meet the bolt from the upper atmosphere. The main bolt tends to strike high objects, so we need to avoid high ground in these cases, seek shelter (“Faraday cages” such as cars in which the current will follow the metal into the ground), insulate from the ground (stand on your backpack, for example), and remove metal worn above the waste. Squat down on the balls of your feet with your heels together in order to minimize injuries to your core from ground current. Lightning strike victims can be affected by a variety of problems, including burns, concussion, ruptured ear drums, spinal cord injuries, heart attacks and respiratory arrest.

Our abdomens are made up of hollow organs (stomach, intestines, ureters) that have pain sensors and respond to stretching with pain, solid organs (spleen, kidneys, liver and pancreas) which have much blood but few pain receptors, and the peritoneum or lining of the abdomen which has a large surface area and is enervated at a specific site when irritated by blood or intestinal contents. A pain in the abdominal area can be either a minor problem (gas in the intestines) or a serious issue such as appendicitis, and it is often difficult to determine the cause of the pain. Abdominal pains are more likely to be serious when the pain is exacerbated by movement or accompanied by vomiting, diarrhea, when the stool or vomit includes blood, when the pain is constant, when the heartbeat is rapid, or when the patient is elderly or pregnant. In this case, you should take the patient to a hospital for further analysis. fs

People who have diabetes have a hard time regulating their body’s sugar/energy levels so some have to take insulin while others can control this through their diet. Diabetics can suffer from one of two problems, either too little blood sugar (hypoglycemia) or too much blood sugar (hyperglycemia). Hypoglycemia is accompanied by metnal status changes, elevated vital signs and rapid onset. This condition can be corrected by giving the patient sugar, followed by hydration and complex carbohydrates. Hyperglycemia is caused by insufficient insulin levels, and is characterized by slower onset, progressive dehydration, loss of appetite, nausea, intense thirst, decreases in mental status and flushed or dry skin. If you suspect that a patient with diabetes is suffering from either problem, don’t hesitate to give them sugar, which will alleviate the former problem and will not exacerbate the latter. Never give a patient insulin.

Over-the-counter pain medications include acetaminophen (Tylenol), aspirin (Bayer) and ibuprofen (Advil). The latter two are better with inflammation, while the former is better with fever. If you want to respond to pain and you are worried about bleeding, administer acetaminophen.

Responsible people keep well-stocked and well-organized medical kits in case of minor incidents or major medical emergencies. Consider including personal protection such as gloves, mask and eye protection, a pocket mask for resuscitation, medications including pain medications, epinephrine and activated charcoal, trauma care including dressings, roller gauze, cravats, splints, and a 60 cc syringe, routine items such as bandaids, gloves, tape scissors, small dressings, blanket pins, sterilized strips, needles, tweezers, iodine, and adhesives and other items such as foot and water, sugar, garbage bags, blanket pins and a communication device (radio, cellphone). Personal care items might include foot care, blister care, toilet paper, teeth care, throat lozenges, lip protection, eye protection, sunscreen, insect repellent, and water disinfectant supplies.

Ch. 2 Camping Skills

Leave No Trace

Campsites

Fire

It’s hard to imagine what it might be like to camping without having a fire. Campfires are often the focus of a outdoor excursion, and they provide many benefits. They provide warmth and light, a source for cooking, and a central gathering place for a group of campers. Even on the hottest summer days at Field Camp, we build fires and gather round them to roast marshmallows.

Fires can cause problems, however. They leave dark, sooty stains on the ground and nearby trees, they require constant supervision, and they can get out of control and cause great damage. Thus, it is important for all those who are intending to maintain a campfire to be aware of both the benefits offered and dangers posed by fire.

Firelays

Kindling

Fuel

Starting a fire (oxygen)

Extinguishing fires

The Old Rag Fire of 2000

Cooking

Backpacking all to be completed soon

Ch. 3 Map Skills to be completed soon

We now live in a world in which maps and navigational instruments are becoming increasingly sophisticated. It is now quite possible to navigate your way through the backcountry, through the countryside, throughout the world even with a handheld, battery-powered device that combines a plethora of maps and location information. All maps, from sophisticated electronic types to traditional topographical maps, have common features and

Types of maps

Map symbols

Orienteering

Route finding with a topographical map

GPS

Ch. 4 Water Skills to be completed soon

Ch. 5 Climbing Skills to be completed soon

Ch. 6 Leadership to be completed soon

Chapter 7 Outdoors

The Field Camper who understands the outdoors knows about our natural world--from the natural history that has taken place over millions of years and hardly changes during our lifetimes to those more recent developments such as the trees whose growth we can count in concentric rings. To be completed soon

Plate Tectonics and Landforms

Why is it that the earth is made up various landforms such as mountains, valleys, plains, and oceans? Much of the physical character of the earth and this region can be explained by the theory of plate tectonics. As earthquakes or floods, for example, might suggest, our land and landforms are constantly changing. And since the earth is about 1.2 billion years old, we humans, in our 70 some years here, have little opportunity to see much of the very, very slow change that is taking place. But if you could witness the events of millions of years of change in the land, you would likely see the evidence of the theory of plate tectonics.

Geologists have theorized that the earth’s surface is divided into a dozen major plates that are constantly in motion, albeit slow motion, due to the heat in the earth’s core. The North American Plate, for example, moves to the west at the rate of about a centimeter per year, or at about the same speed as the growth of one’s fingernails. Three types of motions occur at the boundaries of plates. Transform boundaries are where plates are sliding past one another, and these are often the sites of earthquakes. Convergent boundaries are where plates are colliding, causing one plate to move beneath another in a process known as subduction. All of the major mountain chains, including the Appalachians, as well as 80% of the earth’s volcanoes, are a function of convergent plates. Convergence events that create mountain chains are called orogenies. Divergent boundaries are where plates are moving away from one another, and these lead to rifts such as the Mid-Atlantic rift in the Atlantic Ocean.

The Appalachian Mountains began to form about 450 million years ago, when the land that is currently North America and that of northwest Africa converged, creating, in part, a major landmass called Pangea, and forcing the North American plate beneath that of Africa and forming mountains. These collided further about 380 million years ago, but the major convergence occurred about 300 million years ago, when further subduction resulted in much of the folding and faulting seen in the rocky outcroppings of the mountains today. The Appalachians were then probably the tallest mountain range in the world. Later, about 250 million years ago, a rifting or separating occurred in the mid-Atlantic as the continents began to diverge into North America, Africa and Europe. The Atlantic Ocean has continued to widen in the past 250 million years. The once high and mighty Appalachians, mountains that may have reached as high as the Alps or the Himalayas, began to erode away. The region’s rivers carried sediments to floodplains and valleys, creating the flat, rolling, gentle topography now characteristic of the region.

Landforms

Central Virginia sits in the heart of the Piedmont, literally the “at foot of the mountain.” To our west are the Blue Ridge Mountains, the local section of the larger Appalachian Mountains which stretch in a long band from Maine to Georgia. The Piedmont is the landform between the mountains and the fall line, a relatively sharp drop in the land’s altitude where we now find falls on the rivers. Here in Central Virginia, the Piedmont is wide and encompasses a broad area from western Albemarle County down to Richmond. However, in other places, it is pretty narrow, especially further north. The Piedmont and all the land to the east of the Appalachians has, for the most part, formed due to the buildup of sediment from the eroding mountains. Further east, beyond the fall line, is the flat landform known as the Atlantic coastal plain. The coastal plain contains all that sandy, flat country east of Richmond and down to the beaches.

Minerals and Rocks

Minerals, the building blocks of rocks, are naturally occurring inorganic crystalline substances with a characteristic chemical composition and structures that determine their appearance. Minerals can be a single element, such as gold or copper, or a combination such as quartz, which contains the elements silicon and oxygen. Minerals are recognized by certain physical properties such as hardness, fracture (the planes along which they break), luster (how it reflects light), and crystal structure. Common minerals found locally include garnet, a glassy, hard, red 10- to 20-sided crystal, mica, a soft, plate mineral found in sheets, and quartz, the hardest common mineral and usually appearing milky or transparent with a glassy luster.

Rocks may be made up of a single mineral of an aggregate of different minerals. There are three basic types of rocks. The first are igneous, ones that have formed of molten material beneath the earth’s surface. These are “intrusive” if they formed below the surface and “extrusive” if they formed through volcanic activity. The second are sedimentary rocks, formed from the compaction of layers of sediment at the earth’s surface. The third are metamorphic, rocks that have been transformed due to heat and pressure beneath the earth’s surface. The process of rock creation is best described as a cycle, and this area is characterized by rocks of a wide variety of types. Among the common rocks in the area are limestone, a sedimentary rock derived from the accumulation of shells and sea organisms in areas once covered by sea water. Much of the Shenandoah Valley is made up of limestone. Granite is a beautiful, intrusive igneous rock, made up of specks of quarts, feldspar and mica, and found commonly in the Shenandoah National Park. Schist is metamorphic rock common in the Appalachians and formed from other rocks such as shale, sandstone, basalt, slate and granite. Gneiss is a common local metamorphic rock formed from granite and other rocks rich in quartz and feldspar. For pictures of each of these rocks, see the Mid-Atlantic Field Guide, pp. 25-26.

Soil to be completed soon

Weather

The climate which prevails in Virginia is “humid subtropical.” This climate is characteristic of much of the Mid-Atlantic and Southeast regions and is bordered on the South by a tropical savannah climate is southern Florida and on the north by a humid continental climate, beginning in parts of Pennsylvania and extending west to the Dakotas and north into southern Canada. Humid subtropical climates are found in subtropical zones from 20 to 40 degrees north and south of the equator in areas relatively close to the oceans. Large humid subtropical regions also exist in eastern China, eastern Australia, and the southeastern countries in South America. Humid tropical climates feature hot, humid summers and mild humid winters with precipitation year-round, often contributing to mixed forest vegetation.

The motion of the earth’s atmosphere (its “weather”) results from hot air near the equator rising and spreading towards the poles while cold polar air sinks and flows toward the equator. Because of the earth’s rotation, we have vast wind patterns making their way around the oceans and over landmasses worldwide. At our latitude of about 37 degrees north, we experience westerly winds, meaning that most of our weather systems come from the west. In the Northern Hemisphere, the weather systems blow counter-clockwise in a low-pressure system and clockwise in a high-pressure system. Weather in Virginia is alternately affected by low and high pressure systems which typically last 3-5 days before being replaced. The weather here is thus a combination of westerly winds and of occasional fronts coming in off the ocean.

Our summer weather tends to be hot and humid with occasional showers and thunderstorms. This is due to the Bermuda High, a huge high-pressure system covering the tropical portion of the North Atlantic Ocean. Hot and humid winds from the south travel north in a counter-clockwise motion, bringing warm, moist air from the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico into the region and the state of Virginia. The showers and thunderstorms during the summer are largely due to this humid air rising rapidly on hot days and forming into rain at the higher, colder altitudes. On many summer days, if you are patient, you can literally watch cumulus clouds rising to greater and greater heights, their cauliflower-like heads growing, and sometimes forming into rain.

A Nor’easter is a type of weather system that happens several times of year in Virginia’s fall, winter and spring, and can bring many inches of either rain or snow. It happens when high pressure travels south from Canada just as low pressure makes its way up from the tropics. When the two fronts meet, they begin to move in a counterclockwise direction, with the low pressure shoving under the warm, humid air in the Southeastern U.S. and forming rain while the high pressure system to the east rises above colder air producing precipitation there too. Nor’easter are often the cause of several days of rainy, dreary conditions in the fall and spring, or for a day’s worth and many inches of snow in January and February.

The State of Virginia receives about 32-48 inches of rain per year. In the mountains, the amount of precipitation is generally higher due to the orographic effect. This is because winds carrying humid air are more often forced up as they pass across the mountains, and since higher elevations are cooler, the colder atmosphere often can not hold the humid air and it forms into rain there. The descending, drier air on the leeward side brings less precipitation. It is also not uncommon for this area to be affected by ice storms. These happen when the temperature at the surface of the earth is below freezing while it is above freezing higher in the atmosphere. Precipitation falls to the earth as rain, but it freezes either close to the ground or once it has landed. This can lead to dangerous driving conditions and costly repairs to power lines that fall due to heavy ice buildup.

Snowfall can be highly variable from year to year in this area. During some winters, we receive very little snow. I recall that we had little more than a few dustings of snow during the Winter of 1991-1992 in Charlottesville. The Winter of 1994-1995 was a harsh one, however, during which several feet of snow and very cold temperatures combined for difficult conditions and “no school” for at least a week. On average, we receive about 12-36 inches of snow locally, although the number is higher for the mountains due to the orographic effect explained above.

Heavy annual precipitation, combined with the steep topography of the Blue Ridge Mountains, can lead to floods from time to time in this area. Flooding can occur when rains combine with spring snow thaws or during heavy summer thunderstorms. Locally, an extended period of rain over northern Albemarle and Madison Counties in June, 1995 lead to a damaging flood along several mountain rivers including the Rapidan and the Moormans River. The North Fork of the Moormans River, above the Sugar Hollow Reservoir, was the site of severe flooding and mud slides, as trees and dirt in the wet mountain hollows gave way due to the extraordinary amount of precipitation. The North Fork of the Moormans continues to show evidence of the 1995 flood although the trees, shrubs and grasses along the river are starting to establish themselves again.

Lightning is an electrical discharge between two parts of one cloud, between two separate clouds, or between a cloud and the earth. Thunder is the sound that accompanies it as the air expands explosively away from the intense heat of the bolt. Lightning is common in this area, although it strikes the ground only about ten percent of the time. Lightning can be very dangerous and one should practice certain safety precautions whenever caught in such a violent storm. Click here to learn more about lightning safety.

Hurricanes, defined as storms with winds of 74 m.p.h. or greater, bring violent winds, heavy rain, and dangerously high seas during the late summer. These severe, revolving storms form in the Atlantic Ocean and follow warm ocean currents in a northwest direction causing much damage to islands and the coast. Though this area is relatively immune to the most destructive damage from hurricanes, we can receive high winds and heavy rains from hurricanes and tropical storms that make their way inland.

The smallest but most violent storms, tornadoes are twisting spirals of air that can destroy almost anything in their path. Though the U.S. has more tornadoes than any other nation, few touch down in Virginia.

Clouds form when moist air cools, causing the formation of water or ice crystals high in the sky. Different types of clouds are indicative of different types of weather and give us some clue to atmospheric conditions and future weather. Among the most common types of clouds are cumulus, cumulonimbus, cirrus, stratocumulus, fog, stratus and nimbus. Cumulus clouds, my favorite type of clouds, are bright, white, billowing clouds which form on warm days as rising moist air forms into water at relatively low altitudes. These clouds are often associated with the best summer weather, although cumulus clouds may grow and grow and form thunderstorms. Cumulonimbus clouds are very tall “thunderheads,” rising from near ground level up to 7,000 feet, their tops made up of ice crystals. Cumulonimbus clouds produce lightning, thunder, rain, and at times other severe weather such as hail, high winds and tornadoes. Cirrus clouds are the thin, wispy clouds. They are high in the sky, at about 5 miles altitude, and are actually made up of ice crystals. Cirrus clouds approaching from the west can often signal coming rain or snow. Stratocumulus clouds are low, flat-based, white to gray clouds that usually cover the sky and are arranged in rows or patches. Stratus and nimbostratus clouds are low, indistinct, gray clouds usually covering the sky. The latter are those which bring rain. Fog are clouds formed at ground level, either as humid air overruns cold surfaces or as humid air cools overnight.

Extremes - (coldest, warmest, most snow, highest rainfall, worst flood, worst hurricane...)

Although the Central Virginia area is relatively close to the Atlantic Ocean, a moderating influence on our climate, we have four distinct seasons. Our temperatures reach highs in the 90 in the summer and highs only in the 30s during spells in the winter. The seasons are caused by the differing periods of sunlight we receive as a result of the Earth’s 23.5 degree tilt on its axis. The Northern Hemisphere receives more sunlight in the summer than in the winter as the sun seems to travel a longer course through our sky. Of course, the Earth is really doing the travelling, around the sun. At our latitude, the noontime sun at the winter solstice has an altitude of about 30 degrees above the horizon and at the summer solstice, it has an altitude of about 75 degrees above the horizon.

The summer begins on June 21 or 22, the longest day of the year, known as the “summer solstice.” The region experiences long periods of heat and high humidity with occasional rain showers and thunderstorms. The fall begins when the sun “crosses” the equator, on the “autumnal” equinox, on September 21 or 22. This is one of two days during the year when the duration of the day is equal to the duration of the night. Although the early fall is often still very hot, due to the fact that the earth still retains energy from the summer, the heat gradually moderates. The colors are extraordinary here with the leaves of the rich oak-hickory-maple forests changing to a variety of reds, oranges, and yellows before turning brown and falling. Winter arrives on December 21 or 22, the “winter solstice.” The coldest temperatures occur in January, but as the days slowly get longer, the cold weather moderates. Spring begins on March 21 or 22, the vernal equinox, when the sun appears directly overhead at the equator. Sunshine and rain bring green to the grass and yellow to the farmer’s tulips.

Flora

Biologists classify living organisms into major groups called kingdoms. There are ... kingdoms including... Kingdoms are further subdivided into phyla, phyla into classes, classes into orders, orders into families, families into genera, and genera into species. All these classifications are made according to common features. Species, the lowest classification, are populations that are generally able to interbreed and produce offspring. Living organisms are known by common names, such as “Northern Red Oak,” but these may be different from place to place. The most accurate name for organisms are latin scientific names, consisting of two words indicating a genus, then a species. For example, the northern red oak is more accurately known as Quercus rubra. The name is italicized indicating that it is not an English phrase.

The major types of flora which we see in Central Virginia are listed below. This is by no means an exhaustive list, but it is a start for the student of the outdoors. Further species information can be found in the National Audobon Society Field Guide to the Mid-Atlantic States, our Camp bible on the outdoors.

Cinnamon Fern Osmunda cinnamomea 4”. Fern found locally in moist forests, it has stalks covered with cinnamon-brown wooly hairs.

Christmas Fern Polystichum acrostichoides 21”. Most common fern in this area with stout and scaly stalks and leathery lustrous fronds.

Eastern Red Cedar Juniperus virginiana 40’. A compact columnar tree with tiny, scale-like leaves, small berry-like cones, thin reddish bark. Grows in open fields and tree lines all over this area.

Virginia Pine Pinus virginiana 40’. Found in dry, rocky areas, often in pure pine stands, the Virginia Pine has dark red-brown bark with thin, scaly plates. Its needles are 2” and it has a rounded 2” cone. Its branches droop below a spreading crown. It’s always looked scrawny to me, standing above the soft bed of its old, fallen, rust-colored needles.

Eastern Hemlock Tsuga Canadensis 70’. The hemlock has a pyramidal crown with drooping branches and ½” flat and flexible needles. Its cones are ¾” long and hang at the twig ends. Its distinctive bark is brown and furrowed in scaly ridges. Hemlocks are found locally in ravines and rocky outcrops, and do well in weak soils. Unfortunately, many of the hemlocks in the Blue Ridge are dying, due to disease and an insect called the woolly adelgid.

White Oak Quercus alba 90’. The white oak has 7” leaves with 5-9 rounded lobes that turn red or bronze in the fall. Its bark is scaly, light gray, and shallowly furrowed. Its acorns are 1 ¼” long with a shallow, warty cap. An important lumber tree, it is found all over the area.

Northern Red Oak Quercus rubra 65’. The red oak has 7” leaves with 7-11 lobes with bristly toothed tips that turn red in the fall. Acorns are 1” with a shallow cap.

Flowering Dogwood Cornus florida 25’. The Dogwood has 4” leaves that turn red in the fall. It is generally a small tree that grows in the shade of hardwood forests or along its edges. Its tiny white or cream flowers, four to a group, blossom in late April and early May at the same time as the azaleas. Hundreds of flowering dogwoods are planted in the area along roadsides and in neighborhoods and yards.

Sassafras Sassafras albidum 40’. A tree with a distinctive, fragrant leaf, which comes with 1, 2 or 3 lobes. A camper once described the 2-lobed variety as having the shape of “a mitten.” It has thick, furrowed, gray-brown bark. Its roots are pungent, and can be used to make tea.

American Basswood Tilia Americana 80’. The basswood has large oval or rounded and coarsely toothed leaves that turn yellow in the fall. Found locally in the Blue Ridge and in the Shenandoah Valley.

Yellow Poplar Liriodendron tulipifera 100’. The yellow poplar or “tulip tree” is common in the area. Called the tulip tree because of its large, tulip-shaped flowers, poplars can be very tall, and have a stately, thick, gray bark with regular white furrows. Its fruit is cone-like, made up of winged seeds.

Red Maple Acer rubrum 70’. Right now, while I’m writing this on March 27, 2001, I can look outside and see red buds on some of the tall trees and I know they’re red maples. They’re a sign that spring has arrived. It has very distinctive pattern in its leaves. It is also the first tree to show fall colors, turning brilliant orange, yellow and red.

Honey Locust Gleditsia triacanthos 80’. The honey locust has 8” leaves consisting of oblong 1” leaflets that turn yellow in the fall. Fruit are black, twisted pods. The tree also characterized by thick, woody thorns that can be over an inch long.

Ailanthus Ailanthus altissima 60’. Ailanthus, or the “Tree of Heaven” is not a native species. It was introduced from Asia and it has become invasive. It has 24” leaves made up of 4” leaflets pinnately compound, and it has tiny yellow flowers in branched clusters. It can grow just about anywhere, even in cracks in concrete. You often see it along roads and railroad tracks, or in other places where the soil has been overturned and not planted.

Black Cherry Prunus serotina 40’. The black cherry can be identified by its scaly dark gray to black bark or by its toothed, elliptical, curling leaves. It has ½” red or black cherries with edible but bitter flesh. Its seeds or wilted leaves can be poisonous and often pose a threat to horses and livestock.

Apple Malus pumila 30’. Apple trees are pretty easy to identify in the summer—just look for the apples. The trees are generally not tall, and the leaves are wavy-edged, toothed, and hairy on the underside. Apple trees were introduced here from Eurasia and grow all over. We find them in the Shenandoah National Park at times, evidence of the settlers here prior to the park’s existence. They’re also good climbing trees, with many low, convenient branches.

American Sycamore Platanus occidentalis 90’. The sycamore has silvery-white bark, overlaid with peeling patches of darker gray and brown. Its leaves are large, 6” oval, maple-like, and toothed, turning brown in the fall. This is among the area’s largest trees, and great for shade.

Shagbark Hickory Carya ovata 60’. The hickory has thick, green to brown or black husks, which contain edible nuts that ripen in the fall. Its leaves are 11” with 5 elliptical or oval, pointed, finely toothed leaflets.

Weeping Willow Salix babylonica 40’. Introduced from Eurasia, the weeping willow is not a native, but it is found all over this area along watersides. It has long slender, drooping branches, ones from which a child can swing sometimes if careful. The leaves are 4” and turn yellow in the fall.

American Chestnut Castanea dentate 20’. We find these small trees on hikes in the Blue Ridge, particularly at Riprap Run. They’re the sprouts from long-dead trees. The area was once covered with large chestnuts, but they’ve been wiped out by disease, and the sprouts rarely live long enough to fruit. The leaves are 7”, oblong, toothed, and waxy, and turn yellow in the fall.

Mountain Laurel Kalmia latifolia 10’. A rounded evergreen shrub or small tree with a crooked trunk, mountain laurel is found throughout the Blue Ridge. It typically grows in the shade of hardwood forests, and features ¾” white or pink clusters of flowers with red dots.

Highbush Blueberry Vaccinium corymbosum 10’. Large, rounded shrub with 2” leaves. The flowers are white bells in clusters that bloom in May and June, and produce a dark blue edible berry ripening from June-August. We find these on our hikes in the Blue Ridge.

Eastern Redbud Cercis Canadensis 25’. A small shrubby tree with wonderful, heart-shaped leaves that grow in lines along its branches. The redbud might more accurately be called the “purplebud,” as its small magenta flowers bloom in April here before its leaves and provide a brilliant color to forests and roadsides still showing the gloomy grays and browns of deep winter.

Highbush Blackberry Rubus allegheniensis 8’. Ah, the blackberry bush. A thorny, thicket-forming bramble with 5” leaves growing on stalks along pathways in partial sun. The flowers are small and white, and give way to ¾” black fruit, which ripens around here in June and July. I know its summer when a camper comes to me with his hands and face covered with red and black juice stains, carrying a load of berries in his shirt, asking “Can we keep these?”

Ch. 8 Central Virginia’s Wild Places

The Field Camper who understands our local area understands the physical, cultural and economic geography of the Central Virginia region.

As residents of the Charlottesville metropolitan area, we are blessed to be living in a region which is characterized by a wide variety of landforms and many well-preserved natural areas.

Charlottesville is a part of the Piedmont, an area of relatively flat land with some rolling hills adjacent to the ancient Blue Ridge Mountains. To the west of the Piedmont, beyond the Fall Line, is the Atlantic Coastal Plain. To the west are the Blue Ridge Mountains, the Shenandoah Valley, and the remainder of the Appalachian Mountains, of which the Blue Ridge is the easternmost edge. These landforms extend from Pennsylvania down through Georgia. The Piedmont and the Coastal Plain has been formed from millions of years of erosion from the once-towering Blue Ridge Mountains.

Charlottesville, which has a population of …, is a part of Albemarle County, which has a population of… Charlottesville is the … largest city in Virginia. It is famous as the home of Thomas Jefferson, the third President of the U.S., the author of the Declaration of Independence, and the Founder of the University of Virginia. His home, Monticello, is the annual site of the Fourth of July Naturalization Ceremony which the Field Camp regularly attends. The University of Virginia, of course, is the area’s other major feature. It is Virginia’s premier university and one of the top few public universities in the nation. The University, and its fine hospital, and the region’s natural attractions are the principal factors bringing population to the city.

Cultural, economic

The major local park is Shenandoah National Park. Founded in 1935, the park covers much of the Blue Ridge Mountains north of Afton up to Front Roya