The Art of Nature Awareness

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 29, 2021

The Value of Reconnecting with the Natural World 
5pm

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 fun and educational for the entire family.

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2021

Tracking: Reading the Stories in the Earth
7:30am

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.

Our Native Heritage
10:30am

The last ice age began to recede here approximately 14,000 years ago and archeological evidence has shown stone tools dating back 11,500 years in numerous rock shelters in this vicinity. This is a subject that evokes deep discussion regarding culture, topography, ecology, climate, and our predecessors’ deep connection to the land, all of which we will address. 2-3 miles, moderate pace.

Tomahawk Throwing
2:30pm

Join Mohonk’s Naturalist Michael Ridolfo to learn this fun and engaging survival skill that focuses on safety and basic throwing skills. Sign up required-no earlier than 24 hours in advance. Please call 845-256-2186 to sign up.

Ages 13 and up. Limited to 30 people. 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.

Film Screening – Planet Earth: Ice Worlds with Live Score
9pm

Although the frozen worlds of the Arctic and Antarctic experience the greatest seasonal extremes, it is the advance and retreat of the ice that is the real challenge to life. View this classic documentary accompanied by live music performed by Hajnal K. Pivnick and Dorian Wallace.

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2021

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.

Mohonk Geology Tour
10:30am

Join Professor Howard R. Feldman, Ph.D., as he shares his vast knowledge of the geologic and glacial history of the Shawangunk Mountains and its environs. 2 miles, moderate pace.

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.

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 2, 2021

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.

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.

The Gift of Trees— Our Great Benefactors
2:30pm

Trees are one of the most important resources on Earth. They fix nutrients in and cool the soil, prevent erosion, bank carbon dioxide, and so much more. 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.

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 3, 2021

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.