The Art of Nature Awareness

MONDAY, AUGUST 24

The Value of Reconnecting with the Natural World
9pm

During this brief gathering we’ll learn about the legacy our ancestors gifted to us in the forms of tracking and awareness, survival skills, as well as complex and effective social structures. We’ll have a nature display to evoke questions and conversation. This will be educational and fun for the entire family.

TUESDAY, AUGUST 25

Mindfulness Walk: The Way of our Ancestors
7:30am

Learn how moving efficiently through the natural world helps to pattern our brains for expanded awareness and our bodies for balance, agility, and strength. By learning to expand all of our senses to their fullest potential, we are able to see more wildlife and discern more subtle patterns. 1 mile, easy pace, all are welcome.

The Gift of Trees— Our Great Benefactors
11am

Trees provide everything we need to live—oxygen, food, shelter, fire, tools, and more. In indigenous tradition, the trees are metaphors, a template, for how humans should live—close to the earth, rooted in our homeland, growing straight and tall, always reaching higher, adapting to the changing seasons, supporting each other, and living in balance with other species. On this casual walk through the forest we’ll cover approximately 20-25 species of trees, learn how they grow and where, their uses, and their teaching role in native lore. 2 miles, easy pace, all are welcome.

The Art of Primitive Fire-Making
2:30pm

The ability to make fire with only materials found at hand is challenging at first, but the rewards are many, as it gives us the freedom to know that we can create a fire in most circumstances and apply this vital element for heat, cooking, light, tool-making, preparing medicines, purifying water, and so much more. Participants will learn one method of fire-by-friction and apply their new-found knowledge on their own bow-drill kit. 1 mile, easy pace, all are welcome.

Evening Entertainment
8pm

More details to come.

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 26

The Five Voices of the Birds
7:30am

Do birds really talk? Consider that birds have been on the planet for approximately eighty million years and that they possess enhanced vocal and auditory apparatus. Surely these adaptations have allowed them to remain a viable life form, and their complex vocabularies have been instrumental in this success.  1 mile, easy pace, all are welcome.

The Gift of Water— Easy Hike to The Mohonk Spring
11am

All life on Earth depends on water. Today, the majority of our water comes from municipal or industrial sources. However, there are still plenty of places to find fresh, healthy surface water; all we need to know is how to read the landscape. On this beautiful path we will also learn about waterborne pathogens and how to purify water when necessary. Strenuous 2 miles, all are welcome.

Predator and Prey: The Great Dance
2:30pm

Please join Michael as we learn about this ancient relationship and its effect on the habitats in which the animals live and beyond. 2 Miles. Moderate pace.

Citizen Science with Jackie Schnurr
9pm

Did you ever want to be a scientist? Now is your chance! Recently citizen scientists have been partnering with scientists around the world to help collect data in many locations. All that is needed is curiosity, a keen sense of observation, and a smart phone. At this presentation/workshop Dr. Jackie Schnurr will help you learn to use iNaturalist, a program developed to collect biodiversity data for use understanding patterns of plant and animal distributions throughout the world. Please bring your own cell phone.

THURSDAY, AUGUST 27

Discovering the Species Around You
7:30am

Plant blindness has become a large problem in our society, with most people no longer able to tell the difference between oak and maple trees. Join Dr. Jackie Schnurr for a nature walk around Lake Mohonk, where we will discover the most common species that are flowering and learn to appreciate the identities of our plant neighbors.

Natural History Workshop
11am

The Shawangunk Ridge, where the Mohonk Mountain House is located, is one of the most biodiverse places in the northeastern United States. Join Dr. Jackie Schnurr in this hands-on workshop to learn to identify the common species of plants, animals, fungi, and lichens that surround us and to use our new found skills to explore a section of Eagle Cliff Trail.

Tracking: Reading the Stories in the Earth
2:30pm

We have been tracking as long as we’ve been human. Some anthropologists and neuroscientists propose that tracking is what has allowed our brains to develop into the immensely complex logical and creative tools they are today. We’ll begin with some clear print identification and move into tracking of situations, moments in time, and even ourselves. 1 mile, easy pace, all are welcome.

Night Hike to Copes Lookout
9pm

Here we will be moving purposefully and silently while tapping into our night vision and expanding our senses to the fullest. We’ll be on the lookout for creatures and events of the night—owls, insects, coyotes, stars, and satellites and more. Approximately 1 mile, all are welcome.

FRIDAY, AUGUST 28

The Art of Aidless Navigation
7:30am

Our predecessors had no modern technology yet could travel through varied and unfamiliar terrain and always find their way home. With the elements of nature as our guides we’ll learn how to navigate effectively without map, compass, or electronics.

PROGRAM LEADERS

Michael Ridolfo

Michael Ridolfo is the Naturalist at Mohonk Mountain House. After 20 years of rock climbing, ice climbing, mountain biking, skiing, winter mountaineering, nature photography, writing, and music, he began practicing the art of tracking, wilderness survival, and the native mentoring model. This journey has evolved into teaching children and adults how to deepen their relationship with the natural world. In 1999, he founded Wilderness Mind (now The Earthtime Project), a school dedicated to preserving the ancient arts of tracking and nature awareness.

Dr. Jackie Schnurr

Dr. Jackie Schnurr is a Professor of Biology and Environmental Science at Wells College, a small liberal arts college located in the Finger Lakes region of New York. She has been working with plants for over 25 years, and her research mostly looks at the roles that biotic factors, such as small mammals, and abiotic factors, such as light and nutrients, have on dictating plant distributions.