Tracks and Trails
Youth Wilderness Camp
WHEN
Monday, July 27 at 4 pm to
Friday, July 31 at 12 pm
WHERE
The Sharpening Stone
outside Rogue River, OR
Read more about our land here
WHO
Youth ages 10-14
WHAT
A fun and engaging wilderness adventure camp with daily exploration, earth skills, games, creek visits, and storytelling around the fire. Three nourishing organic meals provided daily
TUITION
$495-695 sliding scale
Scholarships available. Email us to inquire.
Join us July 27-31st for an unforgettable week in nature!
Using The Sharpening Stone land as a base camp, we will explore the surrounding wilderness while practicing nature awareness, wilderness survival skills, animal tracking, stalking and movement. We will let nature be our guide as we explore, play and grow during this week together.
Sleep Under the StarsThis overnight camp experience is an opportunity for your child to connect more deeply with earth’s rhythms. We will sit around the campfire at night, stargaze, and share stories.
Swim in the CreekOur year-round creek is an amazing place to escape the heat in the afternoons. We will swim, explore, and work on craft projects while enjoying the pristine mountain water.
Deep Nature ConnectionOur camp provides a safe and nurturing environment for building relationships with each other and creates a strong sense of community. Through Deep Nature Connection mentoring, campers are encouraged to create meaningful connections with the natural world around them that will serve them for years to come.
Ancestral Skills and CraftsNature awareness, animal tracking, wilderness survival, fire making, archery, blacksmithing, basketry, cooking on the fire, wood carving and more! Note: The specific classes offered will depend on the interest of the group.
Meet the Camp Guides
Adam Larue
Adam has been passionately teaching about nature since he was a teenager. He began his training at Tom Brown Jr.s Tracker School in 2006, where he completed 5 courses in wilderness survival training. In 2009 he moved to The Sharpening Stone land. Here he honed his skills, becoming an expert in the local flora, fauna, and fungi of Southern Oregon. In addition to general Naturalist skills he has also spent countless hours learning and teaching many other ancestral skills including hide tanning, basket weaving, trap building, fire making etc. In 2014, Adam founded The Sharpening Stone LLC and has since hosted annual earth skills gatherings, private workshops, and youth programs for anyone wanting to deepen their connection to the earth.
Sarah Larue
Bringing a lifelong passion for nature connection and earth stewardship, Sarah is an experienced nature educator trained in the Coyote Mentoring methodology of Wilderness Awareness School and 8 Shields. She has been a nature educator for many years and is co-creator of Earthwise Forest School in Williams, Oregon. Sarah is also a mother to two boys, wife, craftswoman and Earth caretaker. Sarah loves to teach handcrafts and skills like basketry, sewing with cloth and leather, whittling, and wool felting. She lovingly tends the land at The Sharpening Stone where she co-creates and facilitates gatherings, camps, and earth skills workshops with her husband Adam, including The Sharpening Stone Earth Skills Gathering.
Stephanie Meehan
Stephanie was born and raised on the unceded lands of the Chumash people and is a descendant of the Gaelic peoples of what is now known as Ireland. She is committed to cultivating the inherent connection to the natural world, to community and to self that each child is born with, and facilitating re-connection when it has been forgotten. She is trained as a permaculture designer and a facilitator of the Work that Reconnects and draws from these as well as her knowledge of indigenous land practices when facilitating outdoor learning with children. Her intention is to work together in becoming adaptable, resilient, emotionally intelligent, collaborative, earth connected, and heart connected humans, and aims to do this in a way that feels safe and inclusive to families of all racial and gender identities.
Camp Schedule
From opening circle to closing circle, the camp guides are creating an environment of positive connection, playfulness, and confidence-building that your child can carry out into the world with them.
Welcome
Orientation
Camp setup 4:00 - 5:00 pm
Opening Circle
Fire Lighting
5:30 pm
Evening Activities
7:00 pm
Dinner6:30pm
Day Two Through Four Camp Schedule
Each full day of camp is a thrilling new adventure, influenced by our collective mood, the weather, and how nature might inspire us. Our daily hikes might take us up the mountain, or across the valley. We will play nature awareness games throughout the day that awaken our senses and tune us in more deeply to ourselves and the Earth around us.
Good morning!7:30 am
Breakfast
8:00 am
Morning Circle and Games8:30 am
Adventures, challenges,
Observing the Land
10:00 am
Lunch 12:00 pm
Afternoon Skills Focus, i.e. blacksmithing or basketry1:00 pm
Dinner 6:00 pm
Campfire Stories and Crafts 7:00 pm
Day FiveGratitude and Closing Circle
On the last morning, we will reflect on what we have learned during the week and integrate our experience with some special closing activities.
Camp Breakdown12:00 pm
Good morning!7:30 am
Breakfast
8:00 am
Closing Circle and Games9:00 am