Wilderness survival 2.0

Laura Reeves and Dwayne Logan - instructors for Wilderness Survival Course

With driving rain pelting into my face and wind howling so hard I couldn’t hear the person just a few feet away, I pined momentarily for the dry warmth of my suburban Winnipeg home.

I questioned whether a wilderness survival skills course had been the right choice for a weekend getaway. Wasn’t there a yoga retreat somewhere?

The instructors Dwayne Logan And Laura Reeves were obviously more than competent. They could start a fire with sticks, gather clean water from morning dew and make stone tools.

I knew it was time to buck up. After admonishing myself for not bringing proper rain gear or warm clothes (just 48 hours ago it had been a sweltering 36 degrees), I settled in and fully immersed myself in Laura’s talk about awareness. After all, it was a welcome reprieve from the physical work we’d been doing earlier in the day when we’d been trying to start a fire with a primitive contraption called a ‘bow drill”.

Laura pointed out the difference in awareness TODAY versus the awareness we would have had as hunter gatherers, (or, if we simply paid attention what is going on around us). Take a quick glance around the grocery store and you’ll know what I mean. Most people are walking around with their heads down, texting or listening to their iPod. They wouldn’t know if a black bear was walking a foot in front of them.

Obviously, that just wouldn’t fly in the wilderness. Still, when Laura told us to take off our shoes, I thought maybe I hadn’t heard her right. It was raining (and there might be sharp things on the ground)! Soon, we were practicing our ‘fox walk’- a technique meant to heighten all of our senses and awareness – just like a fox cautiously walking through a field.

Within minutes you could see the group’s fear and reluctance was gone. A primitive connection to our senses was being unearthed.

The day was long and cold but I began to notice that there was never a moment where I felt as tired as I do sitting front of a computer. It’s a funny paradox that physical work done out in nature still somehow boosts your vitality.

We were all grateful when Sunday emerged as beautiful sunny day. We worked as a tribe would have, making stone tools, fishing line and cordage (rope). By afternoon we were working together to prepare a simple meal of wild gathered greens, fish baked in clay and bannock (with acorn flour) cooked over an open fire.

On a micro level, I learned so many new skills. I probably won’t throw a spear anytime soon, but I will cultivate and nurture many other skills I feel are essential. Things like identifying and gathering wild edibles, using a knife properly, making food, like fish, as simply as possible over an open fire. And I will be working hard to master the art of starting a fire without matches.

More importantly though, I left with the peace of mind that comes from knowing I can care for my family under any conditions.

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Adrienne Percy attended the Harvest Moon Society’s wilderness survival skills course in July at Clearwater, Manitoba. Adrienne lives in Winnipeg with her partner and two young children. She writes a blog called Soul Fude (www.domesticdiva.ca) where she explores whole foods, natural healing and urban homesteading.

Dwayne Logan and Laura Reeves will be teaching a Wilderness Survival Skills workshop at the Harvest Moon Learning Centre (Clearwater, MB) next year on July 27-29, 2011. Please visit http://www.harvestmoonsociety.org/workshops/prairie-culture/ for more information and registration.