Nature Camps

WALKS WITH BURROS NATURE CAMPS are located on 3,000 acres in the Blue Mountains east of Miles City, Montana. The land represents many distinct environments; prairie, desert, marshland, mountains, forests, and badlands. It speaks of every prairie ancestor who has ever walked its soil. Rich hues of diverse native grasses, healing herbs and flowers; ceremonial sage, cedar, and pines grace the red rock buttes, mountains, and badlands. This land is pristine; it has been cared for by generations of earth-conscious stewards, and has been waiting for this present time to embrace and teach children, adults, and families. It welcomes the footsteps and curious eyes of all who come to learn the secrets this natural environment has to share.
AS described in LAST CHILD IN THE WOODS, human beings are innately attracted to nature. Biologically, we are still hunters and gatherers and there is something in us we do not fully understand that needs immersion in nature.
WALKS WITH BURROS offers four camps for the 2009 summer season: WILDERNESS AWARENESS - May 22, 23, 24 & 25; SACRED PLANT MEDICINE - June 5, 6 & 7; SUMMER SOLSTICE CELEBRATION - June 19, 20 & 21; and NATURE CAMP (Adult/Child) - June 26, 27, 28 & 29 & 30. Camps are all-inclusive, minimal essentials are all that are necessary. Our camp is an earth-centered learning experience. Attendance for all camps is limited to 15 participants. A 50% deposit is required 30 days in advance of camps with balance due at the camp.
WE LOVE DOGS, BUT DUE TO THE DISTURBANCE OF THE WILDLIFE HABITAT STRANGE DOGS ARE NOT A PART OF OUR CAMPS. OUR RANCH DOGS HAVE BEEN RAISED IN THIS ENVIRONMENT AND THE WILDLIFE HAVE ADAPTED TO THEM, THEY ARE A PART OF THE SYMBIOTIC RELATIONSHIP ON THE LAND. PLEASE FIND OTHER ACCOMMODATIONS FOR YOUR DOGS DURING YOUR STAY WITH US.
Programs and activities include Wilderness Awareness, Primitive Skills, Art in Nature, Birding, Geology, Ecology, Stargazing, Nature Hikes, Animal Messages, Plant Identification and Collection, Nature Journaling, and more.
Accommodations are in tipis with compost toilets and camp showers nearby. The camp is located one mile from the ranch house, which has phone service. Meals are prepared on-sight from fresh and local whole foods, with a vegetarian emphasis.
Course content, instructors, and schedule may vary. Payment by check is preferred, we also accept Pay Pal. For further info: (406) 333-2452 or by e-mail walkswithburros@mac.com

ALL CAMPS ARE LIMITED TO 15 PARTICIPANTS - RESERVE YOUR SPOT EARLY!!
WILDERNESS AWARENESS with Chris Newhouse - May 22,23,24 & 25. Chris has studied with Tom Brown and Jon Young. He will guide us in learning basic standards of primitive wilderness survival, water purification and location, primitive shelter, fire by friction, primitive cooking methods, plant food identification and harvesting, hunting, trapping, and primitive tools (stone, wood, and cordage). $195 per person.

SACRED PLANT MEDICINE will be held June 5, 6 & 7. Nature communicates her secrets to us through texture, color, fragrance, sound and taste as well as information that comes to us through our intuition. Through cultivating respect for all living plants and animals we accept them as a gift; it is part of our human purpose to become more conscious and aware of the environment we share. Plants are capable of drawing us into a deeper understanding of ourselves as they heal us and we understand them. This time will be spent learning medicinal and sacred qualities from plants of the prairies and mountains of Eastern Montana. Other activities include wilderness awareness, making herbal wreaths, beading, drumming and more. Meals will be prepared with whole foods in dutch ovens. $100 per person.

SUMMER SOLSTICE CELEBRATION - June 19, 20 & 21. A free-spirited week-end. Nature Hikes, Wilderness Awareness, Drummaking, ( additional charge $100 small drum; $150 large drum - highly recommended!) Making Medicine Bags ($12 additional charge), Drumming, Sharing, Stargazing, Birding, and Art in Nature. A time to connect with the earth and all it has to share and teach “perhaps the eighth intelligence is the intelligence within nature, the lessons waiting to be delivered if anyone shows up.” (Howard Gardner). $100 per person.

NATURE CAMP (Adult/Child) - June 26, 27 28, 29 & 30. “If a child is to keep alive the inborn sense of wonder, they need the companionship of at least one adult who can share it, rediscovering the joy, excitement, and mystery of the world we live in” (Rachel Carson - The Sense of Wonder). The most effective way to connect our children to nature is to connect ourselves to nature. This is a five day camp; each day filled with new lessons from the earth. Wilderness Awareness, Drummaking, (additional charge $100 small drum; $150 large drum) Drumming, Tracking, Birding, Ecology, Geology, Wildlife and Plant Identification, Stargazing, and Art in Nature will blend together as we explore different directions. $425 for two.

WALKS WITH BURROS CAMPS are also available for private family and group retreats. Upon request, activities for private retreats can include Wilderness Awareness, Drum Making, Stargazing, Art in Nature, Medicinal Plant/Geology/Ecology Walks, Guided Hikes; with free time for exploration and contemplation. Camps are all-inclusive, bring minimal essentials and let us do the rest! Phone: (406) 333-2452; e-mail: walkswithburros@mac.com

PROGRAMS AND STAFF
Monica Ford Ravenheart returns this year for the Adult/Child Nature Camp to share her wisdom of the Earth’s Song. With drums and rattles, Monica will guide us in an open communication with the animals, rocks, plants, trees and waters of this sacred landscape. We will attune to the drumming pulse of buffalo hooves, past, present, and future, and witness what it truly means to connect to our own spirit by reconnecting with the spirit of nature. Monica has years of experience in working with the earth and the bison, and has taught their wise ways to all ages. She is the keeper of the vision of the Universal Wheel of the Circle of Life.

WILDERNESS AWARENESS with Chris Newhouse. Chris has an unparalleled passion for bringing people to nature. He is a graduate of Tom Brown Jr’s Tracker School; an intensive education in primitive living/survival skills. Chris has also received a certification from the Children of the Earth Foundation learning different ways of sharing primitive living skills with children. He has been involved in Jump Start Leadership Programs, Montana Yellowstone Expeditions, Hopa Mountain, Manaia, Montana Outdoor Science School, Park County Environmental Council, and Big Brothers Big Sisters. Chris feels the most rewarding part of his involvement and work is bringing kids closer to nature because that is where we do the most learning and gain the desire to live entirely.

ART IN NATURE with Mary Ogdahl. Mary grew up in the hills of Eastern Montana. Having alot of physical and mental freedom gave her the chance to develop her own perspective on nature and how it effects all of life. As a young child she always loved to draw and even though she had limited materials available, Mary was not deterred from finding a way to express herself through art. She spent much of her time using whatever materials were around her including nature.
As Mary progressed through her educational years she studied art. but was not attracted to the art world as it was presented to her in traditional education. Because of this she considers herself to be a self-taught artist. Most of her knowledge of creativity comes from experimentation in ways to express what her life is about.
She spent 10 years teaching art at the elementary level. Her method of teaching children is not concerned so much with technique as with personal discovery and having the confidence to allow the expression to come out. Mary believes that through art children (and adults) can become more open to a broader interpretation of life. (Mary is First Aid and CPR Certified.)
MIKE SMITH has spent a lifetime hiking and camping. At a young age he hiked and camped with family and friends and in later years with his children in the mountains of Montana, Colorado, Wyoming, and Utah.
“Although I have spent the last 17 years as an engineer my true passion is the outdoors, a passion I am looking forward to passing on the my grand children”.
More recent adventures have taken him to Tanzania where he spent ten days trekking the Western Breach to Uhuru Peak, on Mount Kibo, (more commonly called Kilimanjaro), and the Caribbean side of Costa Rica and Panama where he spent time with the healing and singing shamans of the BriBri Tribe.

BEVERLY AXELSEN , Camp and Program Director, is indigenous to the land where the Nature Camps are located. She spent her childhood on this 6,000 acre playground; learning from the rocks, plants, and animals, feeling the elements, riding horses and sliding down gumbo banks.
Thirty five years ago she moved away to experience the world from a greater perspective, spending time in Europe, Mexico, Caribbean, Costa Rica, Panama, Bocas De Toro and major cities.
She pursued a career in Marketing and Merchandising; working for various companies as a broker and a Market Sales Manager for a large corporation for twelve years. In 2003 as a result of downsizing she had the chance to fulfill her dream of returning to Montana and living near the land where she grew up. While in Montana she has immersed herself in herbal studies, creating a small herb farm in Livingston and continuing to learn and share with others the sacred and medicinal qualities of plants with “MEDICINAL PLANTS FOR THE BODY AND SOUL” classes and workshops in Livingston and at the ranch.(Beverly is First-Aid and CPR Certified)

DRUMMAKING with Marta Quest of Buffalo Womans Vision. Marta has more than 17 years experience making drums, rattles, and masks and teaching others to make their own. Discover your unique rhythm, sound, and creative pulse by making a beautiful and powerful hoop drum using rawhide, maplewood and sheepskin.

The following classes and activity leaders will vary.
GEOLOGY - a study of the composition, structure, and origin of the earths rocks in Eastern Montana.
ECOLOGY - a study of the relationship of organisms to one another and to their physical surroundings.
STARGAZING - become aware of the vastly bigger realm out of which planet earth was born. Observe the celestial bodies and other masses beyond the earth’s atmosphere.
ANIMAL MESSAGES - the natural world and the animals within it speak to us everyday; by their behaviors, appearances and characteristics patterns. Learn what to look for as we move about the land and become aware of how nature is woven into our lives.

AROUND THE WORLD, THERE IS AN INCREASING SENSE THAT HUMANITY IS APPROACHING A CRITICAL TURNING POINT AND THAT THE FUTURE IS IN OUR HANDS...ESPECIALLY THE HANDS OF OUR CHILDREN. MOTHER EARTH IS WHERE WE CAN COME TO LEARN, GROW, AND HEAL.
E-mail us at:
walkswithburros@mac.com