Mountaineers Visit Alderleaf Wilderness College

We had a blast teaching wilderness skills to kids from the Seattle Mountaineers.  They arrived by bus and spent a day in the woods with Alderleaf Wilderness College instructors learning wilderness survival skills that included making shelter, wildlife tracking, making fire, and wilderness navigation.

Here are some photo highlights:

Instructor Gabe demonstrates the skills of how to make and work with fire.  He made the fire with a bow drill kit and here he is using a set of primitive fire tongs to move burning wood.

A young student practices scraping red cedar bark to make a fluffy tinder bundle for starting a fire.  Making a large and very dry tinder bundle is an essential skill for effective fire starting in the wet Pacific Northwest.

Here is a group of young Mountaineer students posing next to the debris hut survival shelter that they built.

This young group of Mountaineers explores the creek at Alderleaf and learns about wildlife tracks and sign.  On a warm day, the creek is generally just a great place to be and explore!

Thank you Mountaineers!

We look forward to seeing you again!

Most of Alderleaf's weekend courses are open to families and we are holding one more week of Summer Nature Camp for youth in August. We are also available for custom courses like this special class with the Seattle Mountaineers. To learn more about all of these opportunities, visit our Courses Page.