CLASS DESCRIPTIONS
TRACKING CLASSES
THE BASICS
Learn to identify mammal tracks confidently in classes and webinars that emphasize technique and practice with many examples. We cover:
Clear print analysis
Gaits and track patterns
Tracks as windows to the animal’s behavior and biology
Basics of reading motion in tracks
ADVANCED TRACKING SKILLS
Solidify and expand your tracking skills in webinars and field workshops that cover many dimensions within the art of tracking including:
Identifying challenging tracks
Interpreting trails and tracks for animals’ speed and movement
Following trails (see also Walk with the Animal below)
Studying biology and behavior from the tracks and signs
LIVE PARTICIPATORY WEBINARS are in Zoom format.
PRE-RECORDED WEBINARS are available for free viewing in our SKILLS PORTALS.
FIELD CLASSES are one-day or multi-day. Currently scheduled workshops are described below.
You may also schedule a webinar or field class for your group, for example a nature center, biological consulting firm, fish and wildlife management office or tracking club.
The Tracker’s Field Guide is used in these classes.
2024 TRACKING SKILLS WEBINARS
There are no webinars currently scheduled; they will be added later in the year. Go to the Basic Tracking and Advanced Tracking skills portals for free viewing of past webinars.
These are Zoom webinar sessions requiring desktop, laptop or tablet (smartphones will work but a larger screen is preferable for viewing detailed images). You do not need a camera. Log-in details will be sent to you after enrollment.
$20 donation per session appreciated - enter the amount you wish to contribute in your cart
TRACK ID PRINCIPLES & PRACTICE
TBD
For new trackers as well as those wanting a refresher, this Tracking Webinar offers a solid introduction to identifying mammal tracks, using use many photos and videos. There will be interactive practice and opportunities for clarification. Participants may expand their learning in the Advanced Track Identification webinar (2nd listing down).
COST: Suggested Donation of $20
2024 TRACKING FIELD CLASSES
Additional classes will be added during the year.
4 DAY TRACKERS’ INTENSIVE
JUNE 21-25, Fri pm -Tues noon
Reaching new levels in every aspect of tracking – identifying tracks, mastering gaits, visualizing animals’ movement, interpreting pressure releases, trailing, and “walking with the animal” – is our goal in this Trackers’ Intensive that spans four days at a private reserve, Windy Springs, in the southern Sierras. Each day will be filled with a variety of assignments including small group and solo projects that also bring in behavior and habitat use of the many species we have tracked here: mountain lion, coyote, gray fox, bobcat, black bear, ringtail, deer and many other herbivores. We introduce, and you practice, intuitive tracking, techniques we’ve perfected in our Walk with the Animal clinics, but there is plenty of technical tracking too. The full program runs from 4 pm Friday to 12 noon Tuesday. Some partial enrollments will be available, two or three days, for those who can’t attend all four.
COST (all 4 days): $465 - Covers all four days and includes three dinners and four breakfasts; participants bring their own lunches.
Participants must have taken Basic Tracking with us (webinar or field class), or have viewed and studied our Track ID Principles and Practice video.
WALK WITH THE ANIMAL
Prerequisite: Basic Tracking webinar or field class
WALK WITH THE ANIMAL SKILLS ARE INCLUDED IN JUNE 21-25 TRACKERS’ INTENSIVE; SEE ABOVE
Following an animal’s trail, listening to its clues about connecting to the habitat and being aware in every moment of the rich journey the two of you are taking, is an unforgettable experience. You step beyond track identification and analysis, not only into the animal’s world, but also into new levels of listening to the outdoors.
Our Walk with the Animal classes practice methods that allow you to follow a faint trail; access the mood and intent of the animal you’re tracking; understand the habitat through the animal’s eyes; and find very subtle tracks in the first place which most people would never see.
See our Walk With The Animal website.
A Glimpse of the curriculum:
Make the switch, be the tracker
Make contact with the trail
Learn how you listen
The rhythm of trailing
Secrets of finding tracks
The animal leads you to explore its habitat
Solo trailing
Maintaining contact with the trail
BASIC TRACKING IN JOSHUA TREE
Prerequisite: None
TBD
This two-day Basic Tracking class takes advantage of a splendid location, a private park service campground in Joshua Tree. We will introduce track identification with abundant field practice tracking jackrabbits, foxes, bobcats, coyotes and other desert animals. We will cover mammal signs, track interpretation and awareness skills. This class is offered through the Desert Institute. To enroll, call the Desert Institute at (760) 367-5535 or go to its website.
Enroll through the Desert Institute.
2024 TRADITIONAL & PRIMITIVE SKILLS CLASSES
There are no classes currently scheduled; they will be added during the year.
WILD EDIBLE PLANT COOKING
TBD
In this participatory class in Frazier Park, CA we will learn about local wild edible plants, process them and create numerous dishes for a feast in the afternoon. There will be main and side dishes as well as desserts, using elderberries, acorns, pine nuts, nettles and watercress among other plants. We will delve into the customs and stories about these plants from the native people who gathered and used them.
Suggested Donation: $25 per person.
OTHER SKILLS CLASSES
DATES: TBD
We will list other classes such as moccasins, plant uses and primitive skills as we establish their dates and details.
2024 EARTH PHILOSOPHY SERIES
See below for details about the 2024 Solo Spiritual Quest July 27 - August 3, 2024.
Other Earth Philosophy classes will be scheduled later in the year.
We consider these workshops to be our most important, and many of the hundreds who have taken them would likely agree. They pass along universal techniques that foster grounding in, and communication with the natural world, and complement tracking and every other nature-based endeavor. “Earth philosophy” -- not a doctrine but a set of skills -- share specific methods to silence the “monkey mind," listen purely, understand our intuition or “inner vision,” communicate with things outside of us, and ground ourselves in nature—and that’s just for starters! Hardly “new age,” these techniques come from a Lipan Apache elder who was Tom Brown, Jr.’s mentor and we humbly teach them without modification.
The following descriptions provide a sense of each class, but to understand their impact and usefulness you’ll just have to experience and practice the techniques yourself—which is why we invite you to attend the first weekend at for a modest donation to cover food and materials.
INTUITIVE SKILLS WORKSHOP+PERSONAL SKILLS WORKSHOP (Earth Philosophy 1-2)
TBD
This intensive class combines two levels of the Earth Philosophy curriculum, beginning Saturday morning and running to Sunday afternoon. In the Intuitive Skills part of the program, we show you, through many activities and lots of practice, how to own and trust your intuition. In the Personal Skills curriculum, you learn how interactions with the natural world can address personal questions and empower personal gifts that may be temporarily lost in the modern world.
Specifically we cover: Walking in Balance; Relying on Your Inner Vision; Communication with Plants, Animals and Tracks; Spiritual Intent; Empowering Personal Gifts; and Learning the Four Directions.
Cost: $60 includes campsite fee, materials, one dinner and one breakfast. Go to enrollment below.
COMMUNITY SKILLS WORKSHOP + RAZOR’S EDGE WORKSHOP (Earth Philosophy 3-4)
Prerequisite: Earth Philosophy 1-2 required
TBD
Graduates of the beginning earth philosophy weekend can move their skills and understanding to very deep levels in this three-day combined workshop. Day one, in an indoor/outdoor setting, is devoted to further refining spiritual communication; practicing the sacred stillness; applying earth philosophy skills in work and life; and learning and practicing healing in the narrow and broad sense. There are individual and many group activities and assignments. On days two and three we move to the mountaintop to take the next powerful steps to integrate your spiritual self with your path forward.
DETAILS & ENROLLMENT will be posted as soon as the dates are set.
SOLO SPIRITUAL QUEST
No Prerequisite
JULY 27 - AUGUST 3, 2024 (Saturday-Saturday)
For the 27th year, we are pleased to offer the Solo Spiritual Quest, an experience for answering deep personal questions, balancing and grounding one's life, and empowering one's personal gifts. Our past quest participants have ranged in age from 16 to their 70’s, with extraordinarily varied backgrounds.
While the quest has roots in ancient ceremonies that have occurred in many cultures around the world, it maintains its relevance and power for us modern people. This is because the very act of being alone for four days and nights, and fasting within the rhythms of nature, brings you to a threshold of teaching and centering. The unessential tends to be stripped away, allowing you to discover what is real and necessary for you at this time. Some have quested to sort out important decisions, some to empower underused gifts, and some to shed the complicating “chaff” that modern life bestows. Some of our questers repeat the quest every few years.
Like most significant learning events, the quest does require sacrifice and usually has challenges that tend to be unique for each quester. It is not an experience to undertake out of mere curiosity because it requires a significant commitment. However, the strength you find within yourself, and your willingness to go to the edge of the unknown to learn, create an experience that you can draw on for a lifetime.
Our Solo Quest borrows from no specific tribal tradition. It is a four-day fast, during which you drink ample water. Though others will be questing at the same time, you will be alone in your personal quest circle in a pine/oak woodland. You will have no distractions (journals, cell phones, music, etc.) but will have a sleeping bag and sufficient clothing. You leave your circle only to use your personal latrine and to leave a marker for the facilitators once a day. You will see no one during your fast, though we do set up a communication system for your safety. There is a day and a half of orientation and preparation before you begin your quest, and there is a day of transition after you come out. We feed you before and after your fast and watch over the area 24 hours a day during it. The 2024 quest will be held on 320 acres of private land in the southern Sierras at about 7000 feet elevation.
COST: $450 - This fee goes entirely to direct expenses such as lease of the land, insurance, food and travel costs for the staff, who volunteer their time for this seven-day program. Some scholarships are available.
To participate in this year’s quest you must ask for an application and return it to us by June 15, 2024. If you have any questions, please CONTACT Jim or Mary at any time and we would be happy to talk to you.
To REGISTER & PAY for a Tracking or Field Class go to ENROLL and fill out the form.