Coyote Camp Teen Wilderness Experience
Coyote Camp is an overnight adventure in wilderness living, personal challenge and total fun for ages 13-17. Teens who have attended this camp continue to reflect back on the impact it had on them, saying, “It was one of the most important events of my life.”
Coyote Camp will not be running in 2012
We were hoping this year would maintain the same momentum and a little bit more that the last two years have cultivated. This new wave that began years ago has been awesome and fulfilling. Last year’s camp reached new horizons in all of our major areas of focus: survival, solo, and scout magic and fun. But the feedback that came early on is that 50% (of older campers especially) would not be returning. Additionally, the land we have been using is being sold, so it is time for a new piece of land–of a permanent nature–to come forward.
“ This is a hard choice for me on a number of levels. One is I really value this deep and timeless adolescent empowerment experience; it’s one of the highlights of my year and career. Two, I think we’re really good at this and hate the idea of not running it even once. And three, I really enjoy spending a couple of weeks in the summer with all of you.” —Mark Morey
Stay tuned for Coyote Camp 2013!!
This is an opportunity for teens to immerse themselves more fully in the mysteries of nature and the arts of outdoor leadership, wilderness skills, and living close to the earth. We learn ancient skills of survival and awareness including:
–building (and sleeping in!) our own natural shelters
–cooking over fires made by friction
–making our own traditional wood and bone tools
–moving silently in the woods as the native scouts did
–tracking animals
–identifying wild edible and poisonous plants.
There is time for craft work, such as making bowls and spoons with the coal-burning method once used to burn out canoes, making rope bracelets and necklaces from natural fibers we harvest ourselves, creating stone jewelry, and more! There is plenty of time to explore the surrounding mountains. Evenings are filled with the magic of storytelling around the campfire, stargazing, and listening to the night sounds. Community is an ongoing theme as teens share in the chores and cooking responsibilities of camp, where we live and work together as a group.
Fun and adventure are only part of the story. Important tangible and intangible skills like teamwork and communication; thankfulness; awareness; inner stillness and patience; common sense; self confidence; respect for self, each other, and nature; and problem solving are woven invisibly into each day. Campers might learn inner stillness through the process of sneaking up on another group. They might learn teamwork and communication through talking circles or the need to quickly build a group shelter. Our focus is on helping campers to build skills that will serve them for a lifetime.