The Beneficial Side Effects of Wilderness Survival Training

As modern human beings, we are raised in environments almost completely dominated by humans.   I am talking about the majority of people, raised in our cities and suburban environments.   Artificial light.   Machine made homes, clothing, vehicles, foods, entertainment and medicine surround us.  As this has been happening at an increasing rate for the last five or six generations, our distance from the earth, from nature, continues at an alarming rate.  Society seeks to protect us from wild animals, wild insects, wild weather and the uncontrolled forces that buffeted our lives prior to our civilization.  

I am not stating this to be political.  It is a simple awareness of our natural history and our development, as a fact.   I am not saying it is right or wrong, either.  It is what it is, and human beings are in the process of deciding which of these things, these changes, are beneficial or detrimental to our lives.

At this time in our history and development, the gifts of wilderness survival, our hunter gatherer ancestors, enters the picture.   In these rapidly changing times, we are further from nature and the soil, the earth than ever before, and bringing people back into the wild provides something primal and powerful.

I have taught people wilderness skills for the last 26 years, and studied nature and native ways for over ten years prior to teaching, and I have seen what happens when students, either youth, child or adult, enter the natural world.   Learning to make fire without matches, using stones and sticks and natural fiber rope changes you inside.   Gathering the materials for a snug wild shelter and burrowing in for the night against the rain and cold, changes you.   Cooking food over a campfire and listening to the sounds of the night come alive around you, changes you.   Learning to identify plants, trees and animal tracks so intimately that they are like a part of your extended family, changes you.   This isn't anecdotal.  It is real, with lasting effects on our awareness, and our life skills.

So, this has been a long preamble to getting down to business.   In the study of nature, of tracks, of being a tracker, other things begin to happen beyond just knowing a few latin names or wild foods.   There are four things that I have seen happen.

One: Focus.   This is where you let all distractions slip away, and you begin to build your intent.   This happens when you study and observe tiny details of the coloring and shape of tree bark, of the very tips of the twigs, the scars and marks left when a leaf falls away from a bush or tree.   It occurs when you are focused on the quality and color of dark brown dust that is forming in the notch of your bow and drill fire making apparatus, as you determine if it is ready to form a burning ember.   You start learning about focus when you are alone in your shelter at night, and a shuffling noise outside wakes you out of a deep sleep, and you listen intently for the sounds of the small paws of a skunk.

Focus is a gift that comes as we allow ourselves to be absorbed by our surroundings, as it has meaning and depth, as we begin to live as our ancestors lived, close to the earth.   It gets 'real'.   But it is natural for us to relax and yet have our complete attention held by our awareness, as well as emotionally and intellectually stimulated at the same time.  Focus allows us to transcend our daily cluttered states of being and see what is important.  It is the beginning of the development of our intuitive selves.

Two: Clarity.   It comes as we spend more time in nature.   Our bodies begin to 'naturalize', and we adjust in myriad small ways to the rhythms of the wild.   Clarity is by it's nature subjective, so it is difficult to measure and determine degrees of clarity or it's development, but trust me, it is very true.   It occurs when the chaotic civilization clamor  and din begins to drift away and the sounds of nature help us get into a very deep, relaxed, almost meditative state.   It is in this state that we are deeply receptive and open in a way that is very, very difficult in our modern culture.  

Clarity is the gift that is about certainty.  It's about being sure of what you know, whether it's a feeling of the need to go to the river, or climb a tree, or build a canoe or make a gift for a friend.   Clarity is a true gift that is felt inside, and it leads to direct, powerful action.   Those actions can be internal or external, but it is a strong feeling of relief when we suddenly 'Get It' after searching for it for days, weeks or even months.  

You can't get clarity in a weekend workshop, however.  You actually have to spend time in nature, again and again, and relax, and clear your mind, and just stay in the moment.   It's something that is given when you put in the time.   It can't be rushed.  It can't be bought or sold, either.   It comes when you are ready.   And it's well worth the time you invest.

Three:  Unquenchable Inner Fire.    Why would living in the woods create an unstoppable inner force inside of us?   Well, it's very easy.   Living in the bush is simple yet complicated.  We have to solve lots of different problems on a daily basis to survive.  We have to figure out how to make a fish hook, or a dry warm bed, or how to make fire in the rain, or create snowshoes, or any number of difficult tasks.  And as we begin to solve those problems, it's pretty amazing how your inner world responds to those successes.   The further you go, the more awesome you begin to feel inside.   You begin to trust that no matter what problem is presented, you will be able to find a way to go over, around, under or through it.   And that's a great, awesome feeling that always stays with you.

It's true that the opposite feelings do occur in the wild too.  Depression at our failures, our struggles and our frustration are always with us as we work to figure it all out.   But experiencing our low states makes our successes all that much more sweet when we get that breakthrough.   We learn that it's all part of the process, and we don't have to fight those inner battles so hard or seriously.  Yes, they have their place at times, but we don't need to stay in them or listen to those pesky inner voices with the same volume if we want to solve the problem at hand.  

It's okay to have low times.  It's great to have high feelings too.   But through all this problem solving, we learn to be actual friends with ourselves.  We can enjoy and laugh at the way we learn, make mistakes and then celebrate the win.  

And since it happens almost ten times a day, that's a lot of wins.   It adds up.   It's a good thing.  

Four:  Pattern Recognition.   This might not seem like much at first, but it's really, really major when you think about it.  

In our modern world, apps are designed so we don't have to think.   Our appliances are all 'smart'.  Our cars and our modern tools are throw away models that we can't fix ourselves.   Everything is already 'set up' so we just have to paint between the lines, right?     Our schooling is figured out for us, by people supposedly smarter than us.   Our highways are designed by people smarter than us.  Our health care, our insurance, our government, our bank statements, our Facebook newsfeed, well, everything is all figured out.   We don't need much in the way of awareness to navigate this system, and it's designed for minimal personal input.   We just have to follow the herd and do what everyone else is doing.

Well, in nature, there are no lines, but if there were, they would be drawn by distant tree lines, or the arc of a curving river sand bar.   It's not predetermined where you will spend the night, or even if you will actually survive the night!   We can't just go to sleep and trust the system to take care of us.

Well, you can do that, if you like.   But you might end up dead with a raven pecking at your eyeballs.


Survival training wakes us up.  It makes us take a good long look at the natural world and pay attention, because our next step is close to a rattler, or a napping grizzly.    It makes us pay attention to the sky, because the weather that's coming can't be adjusted by turning up the thermostat.  

This is a crazy gift, when you think about.  Being awake is an amazing feeling.   It feels magical and powerful.   It lets you begin to see patterns in the water, the trees, the flow of sand or snow drifting in the wind, or the way the plants respond to rain.    Once you begin to see patterns in animal tracks, or the clouds, or the lines in your skin, you start to see them everywhere.

Yes, you start to see and recognize patterns not just the woods but in the city and your relationships.  You will see it in the media, or on websites.  You will see it in your inner dialogue, and your emotional triggers.   You will see it in your written words, or your daily habits and actions.

Being able to see these patterns allows you to understand them, if you choose.   When you take on those tasks, you start to see a much bigger pattern that lets you transcend the Matrix, so to speak.   You start to see the world differently than those who are stuck in their slumber, deep in the ruts of civilization.

I have to say that it doesn't make your life perfect if you have these experiences, and you will still have almost all of the same problems that everyone else has too, awake or asleep.   But you will have access to tools that let you overcome many of them so you aren't stuck in the same way.   You have a chance to slip out and be truly free of the pull of the herd.  

This allows you to live life differently.   You see the world differently, too.  And the way others see and experience you is also different.  They won't know what it is, but they will feel your freedom.  You will exude a different vibration, and one that feels really good.   Yes, some people will be afraid of that feeling, and stay asleep, which is fine.    There is no judgement about the life each person chooses to live.   But honestly, I have to admit it:  Being even slightly more free feels really, really, really good.

Come to the wilderness.  The water's fine!   We need you out here.  

I promise, it will be worth the leap ten times over in how you learn to navigate not just the forest but the rest of your life.

The Perils of Over Inspiration: The Dilemma of Modern Wilderness Skills Instructors

Heading into the wild for the Hawk Circle
winter survival trek.

 I saw this article recently and I was both saddened for the man who succumbed to hypothermia, his family and for the instructors and wilderness school who taught him some of his initial skills, and for our wilderness education field in general.   It made me take stock yet again about the power and responsibility that we, as instructors of wilderness living skills, have, and for the ultimate impact our teachings can have on our students.

I have to add that there were many things missing in this article, including details about the types of gear he was carrying, his mental status, his family or relationship quality and other things that can come into play, like the weather at the time, and food choices or availability.   It doesn't go into whether he had practiced and trained for this outing, or what his level of experience was and many more questions we all could think of to ask about this person and the specific circumstances of this tragedy.

In the short of it, that stuff doesn't matter.   He died.  He died trying to live off the land, and practice the same skills that many of teach and share every day.   And that should sober us, and make us think long and hard about how we teach, how we practice, and how we prepare our students, who might someday try a similar sort of walkabout.

The Cherry Valley Creek: 
So Peaceful and Tranquil,
Yet Great Perils Lie for the Unwary!

It's easy to dodge our responsibility, if we choose.   "Hey, it's not one of my students.   My students would never do that."  I think it is natural for the first response to be one of defensiveness, to protect ourselves from any part of blame for this avoidable tragedy.   I know that some of that was running through my head at first.

However, it leads me to thinking about how we inspire our students.  I thought about how I was inspired, long ago, by my teachers, like Tom Brown, Jr, and John Stokes, and Jake Swamp.   I thought about the ways they inspired me, and, at the same time, balanced that with appropriate cautions and warnings in the right amounts too.   Tom used to say (and probably still does) that "the Earth will never hurt you, as long as you move and flow with it".   I believed this statement, and still do, to a degree.   But I also know that there are people who could take that statement and walk out the back door into the wilderness fully believing in it, and die a few hours later because they didn't really know what it meant, and they took that one statement out of context of a larger perspective and body of knowledge.

In other words, Tom spoke those words to us, as adults, and in the context of a full week of immersed learning and focused teachings.  He knew we weren't going out the door at the end of the day, or couple of days, and he had time to share the full spectrum.   I know, because while 20 percent of his teachings had this same type of beautiful, inspiring harmony, there was another 20-30 percent that lay in vivid stories and teaching that scared the crap out of me.   It balanced out.   It made it complete, and left me with days and nights lying in bed and going back and forth, always thinking things like:  "Am I ready to go into the woods yet on my own, to live this philosophy?"   "Have I practiced enough, to where it is reliable and a part of me?"   and "what the heck does that mean, 'the Earth will never hurt me as long as I move and flow with it?'  What is 'flow' anyway?"

Brian Sullivan heads into the wild 
for a spring survival test.

You can see, this topic is complex.   It has a lot of threads, and has few easy answers.   It is something I think about while working in our barn, mentally preparing for summer camp, or on the long drives through the rural New York countryside, heading to a meeting or after school program.   In the past few weeks, I have come up with a couple of ideas so I thought I would lay them on you and see what you think.

First, and easiest, is to Balance Inspiration with Hazard Awareness.  Give equal time to each area of your program, and tell stories on both ends.   Yes, it is great to share the wonder of seeing an early sunrise on the banks of a river, or hike in the moonlight, or whatever.   Those things are amazing and can help us feel like we are walking in the footsteps of the ancients.   But it is important to also share stories of hypothermia, of adequate nutrition and caloric intake on a wilderness trek, especially for teens and young adults.   You don't have to do it all at once, but make sure you do it.  Seriously.

Second, make sure You are Modeling Safe Behavior.   This means bringing a first aid kit on your treks and outings, and know how to use it.  Get certified for CPR and all that, so you are trained up and professional.   Wear warm clothing and gear when appropriate, and don't cut corners with safety in your programs.   Bring flashlights and headlamps, and make sure all staff carry them as well, even on short day hikes, just in case.   Bring warm clothes even on warm days, in case someone gets cold or immersed in cold water in an accident.   Don't model behavior that could be dangerous in front of kids that could easily begin mimicking your actions in unsafe ways.  

Hawk Circle Assistant Director Randy Charles 
teaches students about respect for the bush.

Third, Teach from Your Own Mistakes.   In other words, share your failures, your times where you forgot your rain coat, or got lost, or built your shelter poorly, etc.   If you don't have a lot of those, then you have to use other people's misfortunes or learning stories, changing the names if necessary so as to not embarrass anyone.   Doing this will help your students see that it is possible to make mistakes, and to fail, and to have to work at these skills, and that they don't come easy.   It helps to hear stories about how much practice it really takes to make a fire in the rain with one match, or skin a deer at -3ºF or whatever.

Fourth, Emphasize that there is Nothing Wrong with Using Back Up Gear while you are Learning.   I think this is pretty self explanatory, but hey, I have to say it.   And an addendum to this one is Watch out for The Crazy, Passionate, Over-Inspired Student!  This is where your mentoring really has to kick in.   You have to be willing to make sure that students are also modeling smart, safe behavior, and if they don't, then let them know they might not be able to stay in your program.   Not as punishment for being inspired, but as a safety issue for other students.   And for the safety issues for themselves.  

In  those situations, you have to find ways to get through to that person, not in front of the group where they might be embarrassed or feel self conscious, but at another time, discreetly, and have many as many conversations as necessary to help them value their own life, and others nearby.   What will help is if you have developed a bond of trust, and if you communicate through that trust, and really listen to what they are saying, and hearing whether or not you are getting through.   It takes time, and it isn't easy, but this is what we do.  This is what makes us good and real and awesome.

Ryan Smith cooks over an open fire on
his wilderness skills intensive.

It's all great to share about how the native people didn't have this or that, and could do these amazing things, but all of your great teaching will amount to nothing if you have a student get over-inspired and head out in bad weather and die.  Or fall off a cliff.  Or cut themselves with a hatchet or a knife doing something stupid.  So trust me on this, and tone it down a little.   Just be real.

Fifth, Be Sure to Praise Good Examples of Positive, Safe, Smart Behavior.   Give credit to your staff.   Give credit to the parents.   Give awards to kids who don't get cut, or forget their rain coats, or whatever.  I guess you can figure out what will work in your school or class, or camp or program.   But it is true that what we focus on will get attention and lead to positive change.

I do think that over inspiration can be a real problem in some learning cultures in various wilderness schools, and the problem sometimes comes about because we, as instructors, like to share what got us into these skills, or way of life, and we share the same stories because it worked for us.   However, we just sometimes forget about all of the other stories that were also shared at the same time as we were learning, or maybe our teachers never gave those to us in the first place.   So we can just go through our teaching routines, and find the balance, and tone things down, and make the adjustments.   It's not really all that hard, but the payoff is sweet.

I remember sharing some stories with a group of campers about one of my survival camp outs, telling them about the back up food I brought, and being huddled in a thick wool blanket in the early morning cold, leaning against a big pine tree and seeing the raccoons heading back to bed along the creek in the mist.   I remember sharing about my army poncho, and how it kept me warm and dry in a massive, two hour downpour in the back country on a cold November evening.   A year later, one of those same campers came back and shared her story, about how she remembered my wool blanket, and brought one along on her camping trip and was able to see deer pass within a few feet of her, on a morning where she would have had to leave early because it was just too cold for the clothing she had on.   Kids listen.   They understand, and they emulate.  And when they have a success, they will know your teaching helped them have that experience, and it will be good.   And those teachings will be passed down to the next generations, and so on.

Let's make sure we can pass on the best of our teachings to the kids of the future.   Doesn't every student of ours deserve our best?  And, if we do this, in a serious and deliberate way, the passing of this young Scottish man will not be for nothing.  It will matter.  It will make a difference.

Maybe his family would like that.

What do parents think?  

What do students of the wilderness feel about this post?

What do you think?

Passion and Commitment

Most of you who are reading this blog are committed in many ways to learning earth skills, to getting closer to nature, to finding your vision and walking a strong path. I would bet that all of you are passionate about learning and growing, too.

At Hawk Circle, I haven't really pushed the whole 'Passion and Commitment' thing, because I think it can be overused. I think people can beat themselves up over going out to dinner rather than staying home and making acorns. I have seen students become almost immobilized by their worry that they aren't passionate enough. Or committed. Have you seen this?

I guess the bottom line is, for me, anyway, that I don't want someone to feel bad about themselves. I don't think that is the way we are going to really learn our skills. Or atleast, it shouldn't be that way. Because it just doesn't feel good. And if you start to associate not feeling good with wilderness skills, or getting outside, then it is a bad trend.

Guilt trips don't really work. Boot camp doesn't really work, long term. What I have seen work is being inspired. Connecting with that spark that comes from sweet discovery of a new track, or finding an awesome new berry, or making a superb bow. Hearing a story about how native people lived can be inspiring. Hearing stories about one of your friend's camping trips, or newly learned skills, definitely is inspiring!

When I am feeling low, or flat, and I don't feel like I am all that passionate, I do a couple of things. I go visit people I know who are passionate. Like Michael McCarthy, the artist/blacksmith/gardener...(the list goes on and on) and just being around him gets me excited to work on something, anything, again. Or hanging around with Barry Keegan, making any number of crafts. Or just hanging out in the barn with our students, who are always working on a ton of different things.

If no one is around, I will pull a book down that particularly spoke to me, like Barry Lopez's "River Notes" or Ed Abbey's "Desert Solitaire". Rereading certain passages definitely lights a fire under me, and gets me in the right mindset or mood. It just takes a little 'shot' and off I go....

Commitment is just a larger part of this. It says, "Don't give up!" even after I have just blown off a weekend to have down time with the kids. With commitment, it helps to have a long range view rather than looking at every little bump in the road, and to just give yourself a break.

As Carey Odes once said "It's not like the earth got screwed up in a day, or a week or a year. It has been happening for generations, even hundreds of years. We aren't going to say, 'Hey, the earth will all be perfect on Friday. Now what are we going to do next week?'. It just isn't going to happen like that. So everyone just settle down!"

Carey is pretty funny, but he does make a good point. We all need to settle down, and just be committed for the long haul. Recognize that it takes all of us a long time to make effective, real change, and that we will get there sooner by being inspired and loving ourselves, rather than beating ourselves up or feeling guilty.

Okay, I wish that I could magically wave a stick and everyone would change and be passionate instantly, but in the long run, we need to take care of ourselves, and do our best and take it day by day.

Another bit of good advice is something John Stokes, of the Tracking Project, in New Mexico once told me when I was learning my own skills. He said "Just try to practice one thing, a small thing, each day, and you will find that knowledge growing larger and larger, rather than pushing to do everything all at once. It just takes one or two small things to add up fast."

I listened to his words and I started to make a fire with a bow drill, every day. Just one fire, and in six months, I was starting to learn something about fire! I made fire with cedar, with sycamore, with milkweed bowstrings, with cottonwood, willow, alder and elderberry. It was an awesome time and I learned a lot.

That advice is definitely something I am happy to pass on.

Let me know if this helps!