CalWood Overnight

We spent the weekend at CalWood Education Center, hiking, camping, and practicing wilderness survival skills.  Students hiked 2 miles in to the campsite, set up a wide range of shelters (tarp shelter, tent, schwag), and, after some lunch

we hit the trail again to do some wildfire mitigation.

Students braved a cold night, using hot water bottles at their feet to stay warm, and loving the fire early in the morning.

After a second group hike to see a waterfall and mountain lion’s winter cave,

After another delicious lunch, everyone piled into the van and headed for home.

Many thanks to our co-instructor Kelly Grebe for her assistance and expertise of the local flora, fauna, and landscape.

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Gear Check!

Students spent the day in the park across from PS1 learning the ins and outs of backpacking gear.  Topics included strategies for staying warm while sleeping, how to layer insulating clothing, water filtration, stove use, backcountry cooking, and packing strategies. 

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Water Sentinels

PS1 staff and students spent a chilly Wednesday along Bear Creek on the 16th of April collecting water samples for the Sierra Club’s Water Sentinels Program.  Kirk Cunningham, Bill Myers, and Dan Ridgeway  of the Sierra Club facilitated the outing.  Students collected samples that will be laboratory tested for the presence of E coli, Selenium, Nitrogen, Phosphate, and Copper, as well as taking and recording measurements of water temperature, conductivity, and dissolved oxygen content.  The Water Sentinels Program is an important grass-roots way for the public to monitor the health of their waterways, and to make sure our governmental agencies are doing all they can to keep our watershed clean.

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Smoke, no fire…yet.

The CAP class spent Tuesday’s session at the park across the street working some bow drill skills, with special guest instructor and Cottonwood Institute founder Ford Church lending a hand.  Although the bow drill is an extremely difficult skill to learn and master, the students pushed through their difficulties and kept working at it even after many frustrating setbacks.  Most students/groups got at least a bit of smoke today, a great start, and one that we’ll build off as the quarter goes on.

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Cordage and Tea

Students spent class today researching and utilizing Stinging Nettle, a plant well-known to native people for its nutritive properties, its medicinal uses and for producing the strongest plant-fiber cordage in the natural world.   Students sampled Nettle leaf tea, and discussed The Sacred Question.

Special thanks to Jessie and JJ (our newest TA) for their assistance as we learned cordage.

New quarter, new instructor…

The CAP class at PS1 started the new quarter with new instructor Steve McCue, who will be taking over for Megan to finish off the year.  The class spent the day discussing the import of Awareness, a skill absolutely essential for survival in both natural and urban settings.  The class finished the day with rehearsal for tomorrow’s convocation presentation.