Wilder's Guild Homestead & Ranch Overnight Camp
Become a Wilder
Wilder's hold a deep connection to the natural world. They feed, clothe and shelter their family while taking care of the land they live. In homage to the Little House books, Wilders create a world where the needs of people and the needs of what is natural peacefully coexist.
Join the Wilders Guild
Take the most creative, wholesome and fun-loving aspects of Little House on the Prairie, Drama Club and Top Chef and you have the Wilder's Guild! Campers roam 120 acres of rolling acres of forest, field, creeks and valleys at Spirit Springs Ranch. This is the perfect setting for both wild and cultivated adventures in homesteading, theater crafting, outdoor skills and forest games.
Home base is a rich forest world where campers eat the fresh harvest of the wilderness everyday as they learn the basics of nomadic cooking, food preservation and medicine making. We will also track wild cats and deer, discover the daily routines of local coyote packs and Great Horned Owls and move in the forest silently. Summer days are filled with shaded forest adventures crafting simple homemade bows and working on the essentials for wilderness survival skills. We cover forest shelters and finding food and water.
Campers learn to preserve, dry and can fresh fruit and veggies. Shady afternoons are spent concocting tales for their outdoor dinner theater productions, building the perfect camouflage and shelters for forest games, tracking local wildlife and experimenting with plant dyes to color their own camp t-shirts.
Evenings and meals are be spent socializing, singing and performing around a campfire shared with our Ranger's Guild campers.
Parents drop off campers at Spirit Springs at 5 p.m. Sunday. Pick up will be at 2:30pm on Friday. Optional shuttle service from the Berkeley Marina or the San Francisco Airport is available for an additional charge (see below) To connect with the shuttle service, students' flights to have limited arrival and departure times. Contact us to learn more and before booking flights.
Register for Wilder's Guild at Spirit Springs Homesteading Overnight Camp
| Closed |
Ages 8-13
$650
Wilder's Guild Overnight Camp Session 1 July 18-23, 2010 Overnight 5pm Sunday-2:30pm Friday Outside Comptche, CA Map It |
| Add to cart |
Ages 8-13
$650
Wilder's Guild Overnight Camp Session 2 July 25-30, 2010 Overnight 5pm Sunday-2:30pm Friday Outside Comptche, CA Map It |
| Add to cart |
Ages 8-13
$50
Shuttle from & to Berkeley Marina or SFO Airport Start & ending days of course Limited times Call or Email to designate a time or location |
A Day in the Program
Each day we practice skills in caretaking and nature awareness. This personal and deep understanding of ecology helps students discover their own connection to nature. We also spend time in the farm garden and tending the land. In the forest we wild craft plants to feed our families and make herbal medicines. We also develop the basics of many homestead skills such as preserving and nourishing foods and traditions as well as wilderness skills like animal tracking and archery.
Whenever we introduce a skill, we refine and test it by making real crafts to take home to our families. Students work in a team to make decisions and complete group projects. These team skills are honed and put to the test while solving puzzles and riddles of ancient wisdom.
Safety is the foundation of this course. From campfire tending to sewing, parents can feel confident and proud that their kids are learning and adhering to core routines of safety and care.
We help children to feel like that group of kids wandering country backyards 50 years ago: independent, tired, muddy, wet and happy from the woods and wild. We are acutely aware of full and real hazards of the out of doors after years of working in environmental education. We try to move away from the highly structured and limiting tolerances of conventional environmental education while keeping kids truly safe but not encapsulated from, or phobic of nature. We are deep patriots to the value of offering guided yet very free and transparent experiences for kids. We believe it is okay to be thirsty at times, cold at times, and wet at times. It builds empathy and care for the gifts of life. It fosters adventure and sincere accomplishment. We also believe it is critical to feel supported and cared for as they truly explore their passion and responsibility. And through a healthy life immersed in nature, they test the limits and great potential of the often untapped physical and emotional resiliency they possess.
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