CLASS DESCRIPTIONS
TRACKING CLASSES
THE BASICS
Learn to identify mammal tracks confidently in classes and webinars that emphasize technique and practice with many examples. We cover:
Clear print analysis
Gaits and track patterns
Tracks as windows to the animal’s behavior and biology
Basics of reading motion in tracks
ADVANCED TRACKING SKILLS
Solidify and expand your tracking skills in webinars and field workshops that cover many dimensions within the art of tracking including:
Identifying challenging tracks
Interpreting trails and tracks for animals’ speed and movement
Following trails (see also Walk with the Animal below)
Studying biology and behavior from the tracks and signs
LIVE PARTICIPATORY WEBINARS are in Zoom format.
PRE-RECORDED WEBINARS are available for free viewing in our SKILLS PORTALS.
FIELD CLASSES are one-day or multi-day. Currently scheduled workshops are described below.
You may also schedule a webinar or field class for your group, for example a nature center, biological consulting firm, fish and wildlife management office or tracking club.
The Tracker’s Field Guide is used in these classes.
TRACKING SKILLS WEBINARS
There are no webinars currently scheduled. Go to the Basic Tracking and Advanced Tracking skills portals for free viewing of past webinars.
These are Zoom webinar sessions requiring desktop, laptop or tablet (smartphones will work but a larger screen is preferable for viewing detailed images). You do not need a camera. Log-in details will be sent to you after enrollment.
$20 donation per session appreciated - enter the amount you wish to contribute in your cart
TRACK ID PRINCIPLES & PRACTICE
DATES: TBD
For new trackers as well as those wanting a refresher, this Tracking Webinar offers a solid introduction to identifying mammal tracks, using use many photos and videos. There will be interactive practice and opportunities for clarification. Participants may expand their learning in the Advanced Track Identification webinar (2nd listing down).
COST: Suggested Donation of $20
TRACKING FIELD CLASSES
4 DAY TRACKERS’ INTENSIVE
Prerequisite: Basic Tracking Webinar or Field Class), or have viewed and studied our Track ID Principles and Practice Video.
DATES: TBD
Reaching new levels in every aspect of tracking – identifying tracks, mastering gaits, visualizing animals’ movement, interpreting pressure releases, trailing, and “walking with the animal” – is our goal in this Trackers’ Intensive that spans four days at a private reserve, Windy Springs, in the southern Sierras. Each day will be filled with a variety of assignments including small group and solo projects that also bring in behavior and habitat use of the many species we have tracked here: mountain lion, coyote, gray fox, bobcat, black bear, ringtail, deer and many other herbivores. We introduce, and you practice, intuitive tracking, techniques we’ve perfected in our Walk with the Animal clinics, but there is plenty of technical tracking too. The full program runs from 4 pm Friday to 12 noon Tuesday. Some partial enrollments will be available, two or three days, for those who can’t attend all four.
Cost: $465 - Covers all four days and includes three dinners and four breakfasts; participants bring their own lunches.
WALK WITH THE ANIMAL
Prerequisite: Basic Tracking Webinar or Field Class
WALK WITH THE ANIMAL SKILLS ARE INCLUDED IN TRACKERS’ INTENSIVE - SEE PREVIOUS LISTING
Following an animal’s trail, listening to its clues about connecting to the habitat and being aware in every moment of the rich journey the two of you are taking, is an unforgettable experience. You step beyond track identification and analysis, not only into the animal’s world, but also into new levels of listening to the outdoors.
Our Walk with the Animal classes practice methods that allow you to follow a faint trail; access the mood and intent of the animal you’re tracking; understand the habitat through the animal’s eyes; and find very subtle tracks in the first place which most people would never see.
See our Walk With The Animal website.
A Glimpse of the curriculum:
Make the switch, be the tracker
Make contact with the trail
Learn how you listen
The rhythm of trailing
Secrets of finding tracks
The animal leads you to explore its habitat
Solo trailing
Maintaining contact with the trail
TRADITIONAL & PRIMITIVE SKILLS CLASSES
WILD EDIBLE PLANT COOKING
DATES: TBD
In this participatory class in Frazier Park, CA we will learn about local wild edible plants, process them and create numerous dishes for a feast in the afternoon. There will be main and side dishes as well as desserts, using elderberries, acorns, pine nuts, nettles and watercress among other plants. We will delve into the customs and stories about these plants from the native people who gathered and used them.
Suggested Donation: $25 per person.
EARTH PHILOSOPHY SERIES
We consider these workshops to be our most important, and many of the hundreds who have taken them would likely agree. They pass along universal techniques that foster grounding in, and communication with the natural world, and complement tracking and every other nature-based endeavor. “Earth philosophy” -- not a doctrine but a set of skills -- share specific methods to silence the “monkey mind," listen purely, understand our intuition or “inner vision,” communicate with things outside of us, and ground ourselves in nature—and that’s just for starters! Hardly “new age,” these techniques come from a Lipan Apache elder who was Tom Brown, Jr.’s mentor and we humbly teach them without modification.
The following descriptions provide a sense of each class, but to understand their impact and usefulness you’ll just have to experience and practice the techniques yourself—which is why we invite you to attend the first weekend at for a modest donation to cover food and materials.
INTUITIVE SKILLS + PERSONAL SKILLS WORKSHOPS (Earth Philosophy 1 and 2)
DATES: TBD
This intensive class combines two levels of the Earth Philosophy curriculum, beginning Saturday morning and running to Sunday afternoon. In the Intuitive Skills part of the program, we show you, through many activities and lots of practice, how to own and trust your intuition. In the Personal Skills curriculum, you learn how interactions with the natural world can address personal questions and empower personal gifts that may be temporarily lost in the modern world.
Specifically we cover: Walking in Balance; Relying on Your Inner Vision; Communication with Plants, Animals and Tracks; Spiritual Intent; Empowering Personal Gifts; and Learning the Four Directions.
Cost: $60 - Includes campsite fee, materials, one dinner and one breakfast.
COMMUNITY SKILLS WORKSHOP + RAZOR’S EDGE WORKSHOP (Earth Philosophy 3-4)
Prerequisite: Earth Philosophy 1-2
DATES: TBD
Graduates of the beginning earth philosophy weekend can move their skills and understanding to very deep levels in this three-day combined workshop. Day one, in an indoor/outdoor setting, is devoted to further refining spiritual communication; practicing the sacred stillness; applying earth philosophy skills in work and life; and learning and practicing healing in the narrow and broad sense. There are individual and many group activities and assignments. On days two and three we move to the mountaintop to take the next powerful steps to integrate your spiritual self with your path forward.
Cost: $365 - Covers all three days and includes two dinners and two breakfasts; participants bring their own lunches.