Women's Outdoor Survival Class

The Women's Outdoor Survival Class was a great mix of ladies. The youngest was 8 years old and her mom was a fellow graduate of UW Stevens Point. We also enjoyed perfect weather throughout the day long workshop.

We started the day out talking about medicinal and edible plants and then broke off into pairs to learn to identify the plants in the field. After that we headed into the prairie area of Grobschmidt woods to talk about finding and collecting proper tinder to start a fire. With six people gathering dead grass and cattail fluff, the task was finished in no time at all.

We then headed into the woods and bushwacked into a wetland area in order to gather straight, tall grass that was perfect for making cordage. We took the grass back to a tree that had fallen over and sat down while I taught how to weave the grass strands into rope. Those closest to me taught the others further away and in no time at all, everyone had weaved about a foot of cordage that was strong enough to use to lash together some wood. With that knowledge we breaked for lunch of bannock bread with foraged dandelion heads and a quick stew. There was an additional home prepared meal for a few gluten free members of the group.

After lunch we learned how to build a debris hut and as the day was drawing to a close we headed back out of the park to sit in the shade while I taught how to make a healing salve using the medicinal plants I had taught at the beginning of class.

An incredibly fun group of ladies made for a perfect day! I love my job!