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Wolf Camp in Summer:
Kids Day Camps all over Western Wa
Overnight Youth Camps in Washington State

School Year Programs
School Break Camps travel to Wa, Ca, Wi, La
Custom Programs for Schools & Homeschoolers
Wolf Journey Classes all over Western WA:
1-3 pm Homeschoolers; 4-6 pm Afterschoolers
The Wolf College in Summer:
Residential Teaching Apprenticeships
Earth Skills Training Camps in Western WA

Academic Year Programs:
Co-op Earth Skills Apprenticeships in Western Wa
Earth Skills Training Camps travel to Wa, Ca, Wi, La
Wolf Journey Classes 7-9 pm around Western Wa
Weekend Workshops in the Puget Sound region

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• The Wolf College SITE MAP
• Wolf Camp SITE MAP
• Wolf Journey SITE MAP
• WOLF Foundation SITE MAP
• Fun Nourishment

Wolf Camp was voted 1 of 2 Best Camps in the Northwest Family News Reader's Poll of 2001, the only year they ran a poll, and we were also chosen as one of the five "best camps ever" by YM Magazine in its March 2003 issue.

Click to skip to:
• This Year's NEWS
• VISION of Wolf Camp and the Wolf College
• HISTORY of Wolf Camp and the Wolf College
• Overview of Earth Skills and Secrets to Our Success

Mission of Wolf Camp and the Wolf College

"I will always remember the first time flying to the Pacific Northwest. It was winter, the horizon filled thickly with tall trees, so lush and with rugged glaciated mountains, and seemingly hundreds of Puget Sound islands. That was 20 years ago, and I still feel awed by this beautiful place, so different from anywhere else I have ever been. 10 years ago, my two sons attended WOLF’s very first tracking class along with my husband and me. Chris Chisholm was my boys’ much loved Spanish instructor at their school, and we were duly impressed after experiencing nature in a new way with him. It was one of the most interesting classes I had ever taken. Your WOLF experience will add so much to your life. Locals will never take the Seattle-Vancouver area for granted again, and those coming from afar will surely be inspired by our land filled with gifts of unique geography and climate." - Valarie Gervais

Wolf Camp and the Wolf College - Cooperative Adventures in the field of Earth Skills Education invites you into a world where life thrives according to its original design. We provide you with a variety of unique experiences in the field of earth skills educuation, which draws from the traditions of natural science, outdoor adventure, wilderness survival, sustainable living, primitive technology, permaculture pioneering, herbal medicine and wildlife tracking. As students of nature, we’ll step peacefully into modern society with renewed strength from the natural world, equipped to live a healthy life, and striking a healthy balance between modern society and nature as it was originally created.

We attract good role models and support special needs at kids day camps, overnight youth camps, adult training camps, weekly classes and weekend workshops as we are serious about nurturing the growth and success of every student. We teach children and adults to seek their truth, develop self-sufficiency, respect hazards, strive for success, be emotionally sensitive, express art and music, improve physical health, honor their own religion or spirituality, be tolerant of differences between people, and recognize similarities amongst everyone on earth. The physical, emotional, mental, social and spiritual health of students is our top priority, and we are able to achieve these priorities because all our instructors are seasoned teachers. We look forward to your participation in this wonderful experience, sharing new skills and stories with one another.

The Wolf Journey Earth Skills Training Course provides experienced guides to bring online and traditional correspondence students through skills of naturalist mentor, traditional herbalist, wildlife tracker, survival scout, honorable hunter, ancient artisan, sustainable pioneer, and outdoor educator. Each of the 8 volumes in the course consists of 20 field exercises which can be completed as a series, or repeated many times to gain expertise in one area of study. The online wordpress, traditional correspondence, and independent study print versions of the course also include inspirational youtube stories, myspace music, and original artwork from those who have experienced it.

The Max Davis Scholarship Fund strives to ensure that person is turned away from enrollment in any Wolf Camp program due to financial constraints. See our Scholarships & Giving page for more information.

Wolf Tracks News Update

December 1st, 2009 by Chris Chisholm, founder and co-owner.

We're gearing up for our 14th year bringing people together to practice earth skills in Western Washington, and we send out thanks for so many wonderful experiences in this beautiful region of mountains, waters, sagebrush canyons and temperate rainforests. We fondly remember those of you who have attended our camps and classes since over the years, and we would be very blessed to receive another vital year of support from you and from new friends who will attend in 2010.

The big news is that Kim and I were married on October 10th! But wait, there's more. We moved Wolf Camp and the Wolf College to Puyallup, her home town. It's a great place for Wolf Camp and the Wolf College, since it is in the geographic center of our market region, which spans from Bellingham, where I started in 1996, to Portland, from which several of our campers (of all ages) come from. It is also half-way between Seattle, where the majority of our clientele calls home, and Olympia, which is a hot-bed of apprentices hailing from Evergreen State College.

2009 was a fun year going back to my early years, using public lands to run camps, and it was a great chance to explore southwestern Washington, where I am very attracted to Mt. Rainier and the coast in particular. Puyallup is within a 90 minute drive of both, with some of the most studied state forests, protected estuaries, and wild rivers for easy tracking within 45 minutes. The attraction to the Pacific Coast is obvious, but the sand dune habitat is also wonderful for tracking. Mt. St. Helens is incredible for the study of geology, and it goes without saying that it will be exciting to live under the shadow of Mt. Rainier, with its glistening glaciers and blueberry meadows. Finally, we'll also be a 90 minute drive to the dry east slope of the Cascades, directly over which is my favorite canyon off the Yakima River.

Areas south and west of Puget Sound are also the last places left in the region which contain affordable property, so that's another attraction. Kim and I are buying a house in Puyallup which is surrounded by preserved wetland and attached to a huge, forested city park which is a great meeting place for weekend workshops, day camps, and other programs. We are currently working on permits to hold classes right there at the house as well. I hope we might be able to afford to buy raw land neighboring wilderness in 2011 so that we can re-start our Primitive Living programs as well as utilize such a property for other apprenticeships, camps and more programs.

It will be nice for me to start taking off a few of my "hats" and handing them to Kim as she transitions out of her current work, as there are 8 jobs to do in the Wolf Camp and Wolf College model. Of course, things will change, including our vision, decision-making policies, hiring, budget and finances, producing products and services, etc. Here is the Wolf camp organizational vision we've been working with over the past years:

Organizational Vision of Wolf Camp and the Wolf College

Staffing

HEALTH & FARM COORDINATOR: Let's start just above here, in the lower left of the diagram. One of our four primary roles requires permaculture and herbal knowledge, with responsibilty for the development of all farm-to-market activities, management of land/water resources, conversion to appropriate technologies, and the expansion of educational programs such as our Sustainable Pioneer, Herbal Gardeners, and other relevant apprenticeships.

BUSINESS & SITE MANAGER: Moving counter-clockwise, to the lower right on the diagram, is the next primary role that requires skills of business and educational administration, including sales. The business manager writes and updates the business plan, organizes finances, and ensures the maintenance of equipments. The Business & Site Manager also runs our Recreational Administration internship and provides logistical support for all other programs.

CAMP COORDINATOR: Continuing to the upper right on the diagram, the camp coordinator mentors other worker-owners, hired instructors, employees and students to succeed in their roles, while also continuing to co-design and promote programs so that they successfully fill according to our business plan goals. The coordinator would also supervise all other educational programs where needed. We believe that it takes a decade of teaching experience in order to create excellent educational experiences for every age group, employing various methodologies including our favorite, the Waldorf curriculum, while also be very skilled in program administration and soliciting services contracts and filling programs. The coordinator would facilitate the Earth Skills Teaching Apprenticeship and oversee all other apprenticeships.

EARTH SKILLS SPECIALIST: Finally, in the upper left we have the trackers and primitive skills specialists who can provide excellent teaching skills at our courses for all ages, but especially helping to promote and lead our resident camps and adult apprenticeships. The Earth Skills Specialist would also help to expand and fully facilitate the Professional Collatorative Trackers Training, the Seasonal Primitive Skills Programs, as well as other relevant programs.

Community

The support of our Advisory Union (Lead Instructors at Wolf Camp), the WOLF Foundation Board of Directors, Students and Parents of Wolf Camp (Wolf Boosters) are critical to the success of Wolf Camp, of course, and this is another diagram. However, we're having a hard time uploading it, so stand by!

History of Wolf Camp and the Wolf College

1992: Chrism moves to Bellingham and picks up a Tom Brown book and is amazed at all he'd missed while growing up in the north woods of MN/WI and roaming the mountains of Europe during high school and South America in college.

1993: Chrism embarks on wilderness quest (See Chapter 4 story in Wolf Journey) and begins practicing earth skills with friends in Bellingham.

1994: Friends in Bellingham start a tracking club, meeting weekly to practice earth skills, while Chrism studies on Lummi Island.

1995: Wilderness Awareness School moves to Washington State, which excellerates the development of a future Wolf Camp.

1996: Chrism embarks on a group vision quest with a guide in Bellingham, and the idea for Wolf Camp is born. Tracking Club runs first workshop near Bellingham, and Chrism leads another on Lummi Island. Parents begin requesting that Chrism teach after-school earth skills lessons.

1997: Chrism officially founds Wolf Camp in January, runs the first day camp in July, and starts after-school and evening classes. Wolf Camp runs its first custom program, for the Lummi High School.

1998: Chrism begins writing Wolf Journey. Carol Goulet comes on board as lead instructor for Wolf Camp which runs two full overnight youth camp weeks as well as four full summer day camp weeks. After school classes start filling up.

1999: Chrism publishes Wolf Journey Part One - Trail of the Naturalist. Tracking club members depart Wolf Camp, taking youth class students with them. Bill Baroch and Nikki van Schyndel come on board during evening classes for adults.

2000: Chrism writes Wolf Journey Part Two - Trail of the Tracker, and begins accepting correspondence students working through Wolf Journey. Nikki is first participant in the pilot Earth Skills Teaching Apprenticeship. Bill Baroch teaches camps along with Carol and Chrism. A 40 acre property with cabin on Lummi Island becomes home for Wolf Camp. Aldin Huff attends day camp at age 7, and will go on to become our first day-camper-turned- instructor in 2009.

2001: Chrism publishes Wolf Journey Part Two - Trail of the Tracker. Kate Hedges is first official graduate of the Earth Skills Teaching Apprenticeship, and goes on to found the first earth skills educational institute in Scotland. Griz Chambers attends camp at age 14, and will go on to be our earliest overnight-camper-turned-instructor in later years. Judy Chaisson attends her first Wolf Camp workshop, and goes on to co-found the WOLF Foundation.

2002: Chrism writes Wolf Journey Part Four - Trail of the Survival Scout. Earth Skills Teaching Apprenticeship expands to 4. Camps begin to increase in size upwards of 20 students. WOLF Foundation is co-founded by parent of a beloved Wolf Camp student who contracted bacterial menengitis in the previous winter. Glen MacKay attends Wolf Camp for the first time, and goes on to be our youngest-ever camp instructor in 2008. James Helms attends his first overnight camp at age 9, and will go on to become a camp counselor by 2009, with his younger brothers close in his footsteps, as well as father later joining the WOLF Foundation.

2003: Chrism writes Wolf Journey Part Five - Trail of the Stone Age Artisan. Graduates of the Earth Skills Teaching Apprenticeship increase to 6, including graduates Krista Rome, now an important advisor. Micah Fay pilots our Primitive Skills Preparation apprenticeship and goes on to live primitively in the western wilderness over the following 2 years. Griz Chambers is first graduate of our Youth Mentoring CIT Program. Wolf Camp helps the Lummi Island Heritage Trust secure ownership of the 40 acre property, now to be designated as open space. Chrism buys property for Wolf Camp on Woods Lake in Snohomish County.

2004: Chrism publishes Wolf Journey Part Three - Trail of the Herbalist. Lorien MacAuley and Scott Fanello, as well as Griz Chambers, complete the Earth Skills Teaching Apprenticeship, while also Lorien & Scott start the pilot Three Seasons Earth Skills Apprenticeship. Chrism buys additional 5 acres with camp house. Morgan Tidd and Patrick Wiley attend Wolf Camp, and will go on to become camp counselors, earth skills specialists, and logistical wizards. Nicco Minutoli attends camp for the first time, and his father becomes WOLF Foundation president.

2005: Morgan Tidd becomes first youth to complete all portions of Wolf Journey Part One - Trail of the Naturalist, to certification level. Jason Patterson comes on board the staff, and Chris "Huck" Anderson completes the Earth Skills Teaching Apprenticeship, then goes on to found Lost & Found Adventures back in his home of Phoenix, AZ. We also pilot our first Recreational Administrative Internship with our first graduate, and Jay Doyon pilots our Sustainable Pioneer apprenticeship as our first graduate of that apprenticeship program.

2006: Chrism writes Wolf Journey Part Six - Trail of the Hunter-Gatherer. Megan Damofle starts her Earth Skills Teaching Apprenticeship, and with much prior herbal medicine training, transforms over the next couple years into our lead Herbal Instructor. Lorien, leading our tracking camp this year, comes across a young male cougar who had just died of starvation, and for Chrism, it was a sign to transform leadership of Wolf Camp toward into a less individualistic program.

2007: Chrism writes Wolf Journey Part Seven - Trail of the Sustainable Pioneer. The Wild Gardeners Herbal Apprenticeship is piloted, Andrew Twele completes his Earth Skills Teaching Apprenticeship and goes on to develop our Primitive Skills Preparation program. Morgan & Indigo Tidd, Patrick Wiley, James Helms, Charlle Borrowman, Alexandra Bunker, Elise Santa Maria, Anna Flies, and others complete our Youth Mentoring CIT Program by this time, with many going on to become instructors lately.

2008: Chrism offers Wolf Journey freely online. After another 5 years of injury-free earth skills programs, Chrism sells camp house on 5 acres, and operates primitively on remaining 40 acres around Woods Lake, which he also sells at the end of the summer. Wolf Camp gets home office in Snohomish, and begins offering weekly classes again for the first time since departing Bellingham.

2009: See news above!

2010: Kim & Chris add the name "Wolf College" to reflect our growing adult programs.


If you are already familiar with earth skills education, you know that we are more than a regular nature and wilderness camp for youth, but offer a range of programs for adults and families as well. To us, earth skills education includes knowledge of the naturalist mentor, traditional herbalist, wildlife tracker, survival scout, ancient artisan, honorable hunter and sustainable pioneer. Whatever your outdoor skill level, join us at a program to experience what we offer!

We specialize in the following Earth Skills:

  • Nature Awareness & Wilderness Survival
  • Wildlife Tracking & Birding / Animal Tracks & Bird Language/Voices/Vocalization
  • Wild Edible Plants & Herbal Medicine / Ethnobotany & Herbal Spas
  • Sustainable Pioneering (sustainable forestry, organic farming and appropriate technologies)
  • Emergency & Primitive Shelter Building / Leave No Trace Camping
  • Traditional Crafts: Flint Knapping / Hide Tanning / Parfletching / Basketry / Cordage & Rope Making/ Leatherwork / Knots
  • Primitive Fire by Friction (bow/hand drill, flint & steel, etc.)
  • Primitive Hunting and Fishing / Rabbitstick, At-Latl, Spears, Bow & Arrow Making
  • Sailing / Kayaking / Canoeing / Excursions & Trips
  • Rock Climbing & Backpacking / Astronomy & Geology
  • Naturalist Journaling & Sketching / Nature Arts / Flute & Hide Drum Making
  • Campfire Music & Stories / Professional Storytelling
  • Myriad Habitats: Old Growth Rain Forests / Wetlands / Inter-tidal Life & Marine Mammals / Ponds & Lakes / Sagebrush Deserts / Alpine Glacier Ecology
  • Wilderness First Aid / Search and Rescue / Human Tracking / Lostproofing & Orienteering

  • Wolf Camp was voted 1 of 2 Best Camps in the Northwest Family News Reader's Poll of 2001, the only year they ran a poll, and we were also chosen as one of the five "best camps ever" by YM Magazine in its March 2003 issue. Secrets to our success include:

    • Some of the most seasoned instructors anywhere in the outdoor field, teaching the most cutting edge environmental education, with music, the arts, and storytelling woven into lessons.
    • Average camp and class sizes of just 12 participants with 6-1 ratios, and multiple weekly camps in the summer, plus multiple classes every week of the academic year.
    • An incredible diversity of public lands within minutes including ocean beaches, alpine meadows, temperate rainforests, and sagebrush canyons.
    • Stellar safety records based on proven cooperative teamowork with courses run by instructors trained in Site & Risk Management; Wilderness First Aid & Response including EMTs; Search & Rescue; and up to Masters Level Teaching Degrees.
    • Commitment to nurturing all students including their emotional, physical, mental, social, and spiritual health, with attention given to allergies, dietary concerns such as vegetarian and pork-free meals, plus fresh organic and wild foods.