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Walkabout Expedition - A weeklong wilderness survival skills course

June 21-27, 2009; 3:00 p.m. Sun. - 12:00 p.m. Sat.
Central Washington high desert; Lead instructor Johnny Miller; $875.
Food and camping provided; Duvall and Airport shuttle available

Have you have ever wanted to know what it might be like to relate to the Earth without the conveniences of our modern world?

If so, this may be just the wilderness survival course for you!

During the 7-day Walkabout, you will be able to explore this realm with safe and highly experienced instructors who are skilled at creating challenges that are just within your grasp! The week-long walkabout about serves as a stepping-stone for those wanting to expand their connection with nature and build their wilderness living skills.

This wilderness survival skills course is designed to allow you to experience nature in a pure and unmediated manner, and feel the freedom of walking across a landscape and learning to trust the earth to provide for all of your needs.

We’ll learn and apply wilderness survival skills as the opportunity and need arise...finding shelter and wild edible plants, learning navigation techniques and fire-making; this wilderness survival course gives you the opportunity to experience nature in an ancient and meaningful way.

A few things that you need to know if you are interested in this wilderness survival skills course….

This course is very challenging, both physically and mentally. As a participant, you must be prepared to push yourself beyond perceived physical, emotional, and mental boundaries while amongst the elements of nature. Through your own internal process you will have the opportunity to learn how to better flow with natural processes as you learn to rely upon nature’s bounty for food, water, and shelter.

We will cover various ancient wilderness survival skills such as making fire by friction, constructing primitive shelters, locating food and water by identifying of indicator species, and much more! Perhaps most importantly, you will learn to relax more while increasing your level of comfort, and we hope that you will carry this forward into a feeling of connection with your environment in the future. This shift is possible whatever your experience level, and comes as a result of seeing beyond your personal challenges to the abundance of nature as you learn to travel through various environments with a minimum of gear.

We will carry some gear, most of which consists of the clothing that we will be wearing. You will receive a required gear list upon registering for this course, and there will be an opportunity to modify what we actually carry with us prior to heading into the field and depending on the weather and other factors.

We will spend a large portion of our time hiking over varied terrain, being aware of our surroundings and staying on the lookout for potential food, water and shelter resources. We will spend some time in camps along the way where skills will be taught and practiced. However, the emphasis of this course is on moving through our natural landscape. We will cover large distances over uneven ground, potentially without food and water for extended periods of time.

If you have any concerns or questions about whether this wilderness survival course is a good one for you, or if you have any special needs that you would like to discuss prior to registering for this course, please feel free to contact us and we will be more than happy to talk with you. 425-788-1301.

Lead Instructor Biography:
Johnny Miller is an instructor with our Expeditions and Special Programs, as well as a Youth Programs instructor. He hails from the North Cascades, where he has worked for 11 years for the Forest Service as a Wilderness Ranger, trail builder, and a forest fire fighter. He has also trained with and worked for the Boulder Outdoor Survival School in Utah, taking adults on expeditions from mountains to desert with minimal gear. Johnny has a bachelor's degree from the Evergreen State College in Ethnobotany, and an A.A.S degree in Forestry from Green River Community College.

 

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