*New for 2020: Sunday Classes
(five hours each, starting at 10:00 a.m. and ending at 3:00 p.m.)

Long ago native peoples all over the world lived in harmony with the earth. The landscape was their supermarket and the natural world around them was their intimate friend. The purpose of this class is to have students for the first time learn and practice the survival hard and soft skills that aboriginal people all over the world have practiced for thousands of years so that their people might live. This course is designed to educate educators, extreme beginners or outdoor experts in the wilderness skills that are almost nonexistent in our more established education systems of today.

The Way of the Wilderness Program is sponsored by the Pearlstone Center and is designed for educators, parents, naturalists and anyone interested in significantly expanding their knowledge of ecology, naturalist skills, survival and mentoring skills. This is a fantastic introduction into the basic principles of our hands-on nature-based educational approach model. The program is a five-hour day starting at 10:00 a.m. and ending at 3:00 p.m.

In this class you will learn: Edible and medicinal plants, awareness exercises, cordage making, Indigenous ecology and mentoring techniques, tending the wild /caretaking, how to survive in the wilderness with nothing, animal behavior and much more.

Class Topics:

Spring Wild Edible and Medicinal Plants 
Spring is a great time to eat wild edibles. Learn about many of our early spring plant relatives. Be prepared to sample and eat many new foods and have a great time.

Basic Survival / Shelter / Water / Fire / Food / Why Nature Connection is so important
Did you know the average person has a 90% chance of dying if lost for one night alone in the woods at 52 degrees or below. Learn and make a survival shelter, gather water and make a fire. Come learn the basics of survival and have lots of fun while learning to keep you and your family safe. 

Advanced Survival: Bow Drill Fire and Cordage
Make your own bow drill fire kit and hopefully make a fire with it. Learn to make cordage (a type of rope) out of natural materials.

Summer Wild Edible and Medicinal Plants
This is the season of the berries. Learn much more about our plant relatives. Be prepared to sample and eat many new foods and have a great time.

Tending the Wild / Caretaking / Reading the Forested Landscape
This class is my personal favorite. In this class you will start to learn how native people gathered from the land in such a way that animals, food and biodiversity were greatly increased in their ecosystems.  This class will allow you to see what happened hundreds of years ago and see why the land is the way it is today. Class will include some caretaking the land projects.

Awareness / Bird Language: Wide Angled Vision / Fox Walking: Tracking
Start learning the language of the birds. Learn how to move as one with the landscape and to find the wildlife before it finds you.

Bamboo Crafts, Navigation and Grass Mats
So, we want to do some carving. This class is all about crafts mainly using the grasses. Make mats, clothing, Digeri doo’s, water bottles, spoons, rice cookers etc.

Fall Wild Edible and Medicinal Plants
Learn about the fall edible and medicinal plants. This is the season of the nuts. Learn the basics of many nut preparations.

$35 per person per class.

Classes free for all Pearlstone employees. Discounted to Associated Employees

What to bring? Dress appropriately for the weather, pack a lunch and bring lots of water. Pack a good carving knife, notebook and writing implement. Knife suggestion: a $15 Frost Mora knife.

Click HERE to see this year’s class topic list and dates.