Two years ago in the late summer, I started seeing bear scat along a field edge on the way to my sit spot. An inch and a half tube full of raspberry seeds is hard to miss or misidentify here in northern Vermont. Then a bit later the chokecherry bushes in the south end of […]
A common pastime of outdoor enthusiasts is collecting edible mushrooms. This endeavor must be pursued with great caution since mistaking a poisonous mushroom for one that is edible can cost you your life. There are many old wives tales that would have you believe that there are easy ways to avoid poisonous mushrooms through blanket […]
Sitting in the cold: Why would you want to do it and how you can make it work… If I were to suggest to most people that it’s a great idea to go outside even in the thick of winter and sit on the cold wet ground for half an hour… they might think I’m […]
The Awareness Trail Exercise is one that has confused many a Kamana 3 student. Chris Laliberte, creator of Community School at Wilderness Awareness School, has rewritten and re-formatted this exercise for your benefit. Hopefully this rewrite will give you more clarity about what it is that you are actually doing as you continue to deepen […]
The crow’s wings flap intensely. The arc of its vertebrae steepens and then flattens out. Its target, a red-taild hawk, shifts its weight to avoid being mobbed. The crows partner cackles and then takes its turn. The three birds fly to the south to find another location for their game. It’s winter and the views […]
Imagine a wonderful story you’ve been told. Where were you? What was the place like? Who were you with? Was it night or day? By a fire? How did you feel when you were hearing it? And now consider…what did the storyteller do that drew you in and captured your imagination? These are elements to […]
Once humans developed a need to travel on water in order to fish, trade, and explore, cultures worldwide created lightweight boats consisting of the skin of an animal stretched over a light frame of wooden poles or strips. One such boat is the coracle. This is a boat of the British Isles and is varied […]
By the time you finish the Kamana program you will have done at least 52 Field Inventories. That’s quite a few. Field Inventories are a part of almost every single Field Exercise. What I’m trying to say is, they will become or already are a core routine for you if you are serious about doing […]
Venomous Spider: The Black Widow When considering venomous spiders and spider identification, the first one that comes to mind is the Black Widow. In North America, there are around five species of the Black Widow spider. You can easily identify the black widow, especially the female, because of it’s round, bulbous belly. The female Black […]
I’ve been studying topographical maps and compass use for several years. By no means does that make me an expert. There is much to learn on these 2-dimensional images of a 3-dimensional world. Contour lines, magnetic declination, water, peaks, saddles, vegetated areas, and the list goes on and on. Do you know what I love […]