The Art of Nature Awareness

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 30

Program Introduction: 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, and 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, DECEMBER 1

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. Here we will learn not only who is vocalizing but reach into the question of why, and, just as important, what this can teach us about ourselves and our relations with the natural world. 1 mile, easy pace, all are welcome.

The Gift of Trees— Our Great Benefactors
10:30am

Trees provide everything we need to live—oxygen, food, shelter, fire, tools, and more. They fix nutrients in and cool the soil, prevent erosion, bank carbon dioxide, and so much more. In every 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 tree, learn how they grow and where, and learn their uses and their teaching role in native lore. 2 miles, easy pace, all are welcome.

Tomahawk Throwing
2:30pm

We’ll learn the fundamentals of safe and effective tomahawk throwing and how to adapt to changing conditions. Don’t be fooled—this skill is an effective tool for enhanced brain wiring and concentration, attributes that help us in all aspects of our lives.

*Note: Ages 13 and up. Masks and closed-toe shoes required. All participants must go through a 15 minute safety protocol at the beginning of the session. This cannot be repeated if missed.

Night Hike to Copes Lookout
9pm

Moving deftly and silently and tapping into our night vision. Be on the lookout for creatures and events of the night—owls, insects, coyotes, stars, and satellites. We’ll tap into our deep sensory awareness to take in as much information as possible. Approximately 1 mile, all are welcome.

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 2

Early Hike – Lost Proofing
7:30am

This is the companion to the orienteering program. Here we’ll employ the elements of nature as tools in aidless navigation instead of map and compass. 1 mile, easy pace, all are welcome.

The Art of Primitive Fire-Making
10:30am

Fire is an essential element for our long-term survival. The ability to make fire with only materials found at hand is a skill that our ancestors possessed for thousands of generations. 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.

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.

The Gunks Ridge and Valley Towns Through Time
9pm

Join professor and author Ronald G. Knapp as he takes a walk through time viewing the topography of the Shawangunk Mountains with escarpments, boulders, cliffs, crevices, and “sky lakes.” Of the three Victorian hotels that were constructed in the northern Shawangunk Mountains in the decades after 1869, only Mohonk Mountain House remains.

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 3

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

Learn how moving efficiently in nature helps to pattern our brains for expanded awareness and our bodies for balance, agility, and strength. Shifting to our ancestral gait makes us instantly quieter in the woods and enables a more intimate perspective into the natural world. 1 mile, easy pace, all are welcome.

The Geology of the Shawangunk Ridge
10:30am

The Shawangunk Ridge formed as a result of several tectonic collisions followed by periods of erosion that lasted for a billion years. Come take a walk through time as we observe some of the key evidence that reveals the geologic history of the region, including the source of the famous conglomerates, the fossil record, and the influence of mile-thick glaciers.

Discovering the Species in the Forests of the Shawangunk Ridge
2:30pm

Dig deeper to learn about the factors that determine why plants grow where they do on this walk along Eagle Cliff. This nature walk will observe patterns in the plant community and look to discover the processes that cause them. We will learn many different tree species, as well as some understory species as we come across them.

The Eastern Coyote
9pm

Join naturalist Pam Golben as she presents Eastern Coyote history, physical characteristics, diet, role in our ecosystem and how to be a good neighbor to these fascinating creatures. Pam will have on hand pelts, a skull and track castings!

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 4

The Building Blocks of Fairy Gardens: Ferns, Mosses, and Lichens
7:30am

On this walk around Lake Mohonk, we will observe those members of the plant and fungus kingdoms that are underappreciated and seldom observed: ferns, mosses, and lichens. When observed closely, there is a whole world that can be discovered. Learn how these simple plants and fungus are important to the ecosystem, and discover a new world right below your feet!

MEET THE PROGRAM LEADERS

Michael Ridolfo
Michael Ridolfo is the Mohonk Mountain House naturalist. 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.