June 28 to July 2, July 5-9 12-16 19-24 2010 Day Program
For our young explorers we offer a one-week day camp running from 9:00am to 3:00pm. During the day we will play in the creek catching crayfish and building dams, ramble through the fields in search of berries and engage in many woodland projects, games and adventures. Here we strive to kindle a sense of wonder and appreciation for the land and all its inhabitants, including one another.
Ages: 7-9 Cost: $300
July 4 to July 24, 2010 Overnight Program
During this course, staff and students will live in a primitive camp with no running water or electricity. Tents will help to keep us warm and dry when we are not staying in student-made primitive shelters. We will learn to make fires with bow and drill which will aid us in making eating utensils as well as providing warmth while we listen to stories and work on projects around the fire.
The days are filled with lessons on numerous skills required for wilderness living; collecting and purifying water, identifying wild edible plants, learning camouflage, stalking and hunting techniques, making fire, constructing shelter and much more. But, fun is also an important element! Each morning and afternoon we will spend time at the pond or stream, working on the balance beam or just swimming around.
As the program progresses and our skills increase, we will look at the forest by night, listening for coyotes and owls as we move through the moonlit landscape. We may even stalk deer as they graze in the fields under the cover of night. Then, the three weeks of learning culminate in a twenty-four hour solo, marking the beginning of the transition to adulthood.
Ages: 11-15 Cost: $1650
June 27 to July 3, and July 18 to July 24 2010 Overnight Program
Little Hands is a one week version of the Basic Course. Geared towards younger folks, it is much more play oriented, focusing on stories and games of early woodland cultures. Basic survival skills will be taught at a pace to match that of the group appetite for learning how to use their Little Hands.
Ages: 9-11 Cost: $550
July 4 to July 17 Overnight Program
This two week advanced program is open to graduates of the Basic Course who have practiced their skills at home and demonstrated a high level of proficiency. This course will be physically demanding and will require complete commitment to learning the lessons, meeting the challenges, and drawing on one’s inner strength in order to succeed in attaining personal goals. New and old skills will be perfected and put into realistic, survival contexts to help us understand their place in true wilderness living. A strong emphasis is put on skills of invisibility, moving at night and stalking. Due to the specialized nature of this program it is run every other season.
Ages 14-18 Cost: $1100
Offered next in 2011 Overnight Program
This course is a two week advanced skills intensive open to graduates of the Basic course. Making bows, projectile points, arrows, primitive pottery, traps, stone lamps, camp amenities and various shelters are among some of the skills covered in this program. Hide tanning and advanced fire making techniques are included as well. Participants will also spend time sign tracking, stalking and occasionally venturing out at night.
Ages: 14-16 Cost: $1250
Offered in 2011
This is a two-week expeditionary program covering on the trail how-to material, as well as the logistics of planning and implementing an overland trek. Packing for meals and preparing trail tucker that not only meets the needs of the body, but pleases the palate are covered as well.
Parent and child, age 12 and up
E-mail for details
Join us for four weekend camping trips, one in each season as we explore the skills of the naturalist. Through tracking, stalking, wildlife observation and plant work we will gain insight into the world around us and the creatures with which we share it.
Parent and child, age 6 and up
E-mail for details
Parents, bring a youngster on our five-day low mileage ramble through the mountains. Camp games, stories, classes and personal time fill the days along with our exploratory rambling. Classes geared towards our younger participants take place while offerings tailored to the adults are underway.
Parent and child, age 6 and up
E-mail for details
The vision quest is an honor to undertake and a valuable experience to all who complete it. This program takes place in two parts, an initial three-day orientation campout followed one year later by a seven-day stay during which you will make final preparations and seek your vision. The last day is spent journaling, reflecting and sharing as you ready yourself to return to modern life.
Please make checks payable to Woodland Ways and mail or submit with application to:
Woodland Ways
PO Box 228
Philmont NY 12565
845-486-7092
Michael Pewtherer founded Woodland Ways in the summer of 2000 to offer young people a chance to experience living closely with nature. After graduating from the Hawthorne Valley School, he was the head instructor at Hawk Circle programs for a number of years. He also attended courses at the Tracker School in Toms River, NJ while perfecting his wilderness skills in full survival situations.
Michael worked for the National Park Service in the Smokey Mountains monitoring bear births, reintroducing the red wolf and tracking Russian wild hogs for relocation. He also spent a year in the Australian outback discovering how desert dwelling cultures differ from those of more lush environs. He is the co-author of Wilderness Survival, (McGraw Hill and Ragged Mountain Press 2006) and is currently working on a comprehensive guide to wilderness survival and primitive living techniques for North America will be released in April 2010. He has also published articles on survival techniques learned while living off the land. He currently lives in Philmont NY.