We are looking forward to a week of adventure and learning with your child at Linne Doran (Pond of the Otter), home of Wilderness Awareness School!
Schedule: Sunday, July 14th at 1:00 PM – Friday, July 19th at 4:00 PM
Please arrive between 12:45-1pm on Sunday! Staff will be preparing for the camp before 12:45pm and will not be able to accommodate early arrivals. Please be on time so we can start the camp altogether.
We invite you to join us at 3:00 PM on Friday for a closing circle – this is a valuable time for campers to share their experiences and start the transition from a full, exciting week back into daily life with their family. A staff member will meet you near Cedar Lodge at Linne Doran at 2:45 PM and direct you to the location of the closing circle. This circle will last until around 4:00 PM, at which time the week will be officially completed. If you are unable to attend the closing circle, please plan to be at Linne Doran no later than 4:00 PM on Friday to pick up your child.
Location
Linne Doran (our campus) is located about fifteen minutes outside of Duvall in the foothills of the Cascade Mountains. It takes an hour to get to Linne Doran from Seattle without traffic.
You can find a map and driving directions on our website HERE.
Our land address is: 20410 320th Ave NE, Duvall, WA 98019
If you have any questions, please email us at [email protected]. We look forward to seeing you this summer!
To warm summer days,
| Dan Corcoran – Program Director | Nicole O’Byrne – Summer Program Manager |
Survival Trek Overnight Camp
Facilities:
Basecamp at our Land, Linne Doran: Campers will be able to set up their tents in a gendered or nongendered area according to their preference. Facilities include several port-a-potties and outdoor dish and hand washing stations. Supervised wading is available in our wild pond. No soap of any kind is allowed in our pond.
Trek Days in the Cascades Forest: For two or three days and nights, we will be traveling out into the foothills beyond our basecamp. We will make and prepare our gear and food for the trek in basecamp. On the trek, we will be sleeping in wild areas with no facilities. Teens will carry light gear and food in their backpacks. We will practice low impact camping and survival combining the best of modern campcraft and traditional wilderness survival skills.
Food:
We will provide all meals and snacks during camp, beginning with dinner on Sunday and ending with lunch on Friday. Campers will be expected to wash their own dishes and be a part of food preparation and kitchen cleanup groups. We see this as an important part of living and working together and an opportunity for developing group cohesion and cooperation.
We provide healthy food and serve local and organic fare as much as possible, particularly with regard to meat and dairy products. There are vegetarian and gluten-free options. Please make sure your dietary needs are up to date on the online registration system since we plan our menu and make our food orders prior to camp and are unable to accommodate last-minute requests.
Because of our local squirrels and mice, keeping food in tents is not an option. In general, we ask that campers NOT bring their own snacks. If your child has a medical condition that necessitates that they do so, please contact us well in advance so that we can make food storage and access arrangements with our cook and instructors. We will gladly accommodate this for medical reasons only.
Wild Foods:
In our overnight camps we look for opportunities for our students to have the experience of sampling wild foods. This experience will include opportunities to correctly identify and gather edible plants and how to safely prepare them for eating. There may be opportunities for them to experience fishing and/or hunting bullfrogs and potentially gathering edible invertebrates. All experiences will include how to correctly identify species and how to comply with the rules and regulations governing the collection of these species. We will also include how to humanely and respectfully take the life of these animals and how to safely prepare and cook them. All of these activities will be optional and if you have any concerns or questions about these opportunities please talk to the camp director at check in. We will work with you to ensure that your child’s experiences are within the boundaries of what you believe to be safe and appropriate for your family.
Fish and Frog Harvest Option: Participants may be presented with the opportunity to learn about and experience the respectful and responsible “harvest” of fish and Bullfrogs. We provide this opportunity because it is not only an important skill for survival in the wild, but it also provides an opportunity for deeper connection with a source of food. Teens 15 and over will need a WA fishing license to legally fish. If your teen would like to participate in this experience, you will need to get the fishing license prior to arriving at camp.
Medical Information:
Because of our semi-remote location and the overnight nature of this camp, it is absolutely vital that we have complete medical information and history for all of our participants. Please let us know about any concerns you have or changes to your child’s medical information or health.
Please bring any medications for your child in a ziplock bag with name and instructions. We will keep them secure and help remind campers to take their medications when needed.
For our Health policies and guidelines, click here.
Communication during Camp:
There is no reliable cell phone reception at Linne Doran, and we ask that participants leave cell phones and all electronics at home. Our phone line at Linne Doran is for use by staff only in case of emergency. Please do not expect to receive any calls from your child during the week. For many families, this week at camp is the first time campers have been away from home for so long. We are used to working with children during this exciting and sometimes challenging time and are honored to be a part of their lives during this experience.
If you need to contact us during camp, please call our office at 425-788-1301. Please realize that we usually do not call or email parents to provide updates on how your child is faring.
Important Gear Tips:
Tent: Waterproof, with a ground tarp, and your child needs to know how to set it up before you arrive at the start of camp. Please practice at home. Instructors will be available to help campers set up tents, but not to do it for them. If your child is coming to camp with a friend or makes a new friend, they may share a tent. Tents can be rented at the Seattle REI.
Sleeping Bag and Ground Pad: Nights can be chilly in this area, even during the summer. Please make sure your child has a warm bag. Keeping a bag dry can be a challenge for campers if the weather turns damp. Neither down or cotton provide adequate warmth if they get wet, and can be very unpleasant. Please make sure that your child’s sleeping bag is made of entirely synthetic material.
Clothing: Cotton is great for warm, dry days. We recommend clothes made of polypropylene, “fleece”, other synthetics, or wool for wet, cool conditions. Cotton loses all of its ability to insulate when it is wet, and can lead to hypothermia. We require that all campers bring several top and bottom layers, and socks, which are not made of cotton. Some cotton clothing as per the gear list is fine.
Hiking Shoes: Please make sure that the sturdy hiking shoes your camper brings are well “broken in” prior to camp. Sneakers and light hiking boots or shoes are great. Heavy backpacking hiking boots are not necessary and may be too heavy for most activities. New boots can cause blisters, which range from merely very uncomfortable to having a serious impact on ability to participate. We will be covering a lot of ground both off and on trail, and potentially walking through swampy, marshy areas.
Knives:
- For this camp please send your child with a sharp, fixed-blade knife with a sheath and with a blade 4” or shorter. Smaller students may find a smaller blade easier to work with. NO SERRATION. Serrated blades are not good for carving projects and are difficult to sharpen. Knife safety will be taught and campers will be supervised in their use. Folding “pocket” knives are not allowed at our camps for our projects.
- Morakniv Companion in orange is the knife we recommend and will be available for purchase as part of the online registration process. Knives will not be sold at camp or during the in-person check-in process on Sunday. If you have already enrolled and would like to purchase a knife, you may email [email protected]. We cannot guarantee that knives purchased the week of your program will be delivered before your camper’s first need of them.
Gear List
Key Gear Needed:
Backpack – well-fit backpack with hip belt to carry gear on the trek is required. It does not have to be a full sized backpacking unit since we will only be carrying small amounts of gear. We recommend a pack in the 30-50 liter size. It is important that the pack fit your teen well and be large enough to carry the trek overnight gear. A larger duffle bag or pack can be left in basecamp with extra gear not needed for the trek portion of the week.
Wool Blanket – Teens will need a sturdy wool blanket that can get dirty. It doesn’t need to be 100% wool, but avoid cotton. 70 – 80% Wool blended with some nylon or polyester is fine. Military surplus stores or Amazon are good places to shop if you don’t have one.
Small Tarp – Campers will need a ~6’x8′ tarp that they will be sleeping under for several nights of the camp. Lightweight (and more expensive) options are fine, but not essential. Standard small tarps from a hardware store will also suffice.
Mosquito Head Net – We will be sleeping without tents in the deep woods. Bugs may be bad, especially at night.
Stainless Steel Water bottle – (optional) 32 – 40 oz, wide mouth used for purifying water, cooking, etc. Do not get a painted, insulated or coated bottle, since we will be putting it in a fire to heat.
Water Filter – (optional) – bring one if you have one that you want to practice using. We will provide water filtration for the group.
Required Gear:
- 30-50 liter backpack
- Wool blanket
- 6×8 ft tarp
- 50ft of Paracord
- Small waterproof tent (for nights on our campus) – please make sure you and your child know how to set this up
- Sleeping bag – synthetic
- Sleeping pad – insulation from the ground
- Toiletries and personal medication
- Towel
- Sunscreen and/or sun protection
- Insect repellant
- Outdoor clothing
- sturdy pants
- shorts
- wool and/or polar fleece layer (top and bottom)
- warm jacket
- rain jacket and pants, or poncho
- warm hat
- swimming suit
- water shoes – shoes that can get wet and muddy
- socks (including some non-cotton)
- underwear
- Hiking boots or shoes – see description above
- Basecamp shoes – extra shoes for lounging around camp. Close-toed sneakers are best.
- Cup or mug
- Spoon and fork
- Bowl and plate
- 2 sturdy Tupperware containers – labeled with name and big enough to carry a hearty lunch and snacks into the field.
- 2 sturdy 1-liter water bottles – metal or “Nalgene” style is best. Please, no bottled-water.
- Day pack – should be large enough to carry lunch, water, and some extra clothing.
- Journal (paper notebook)
- Pens and pencils
- Plastic garbage bag or pack cover – large enough to cover your bag. For rain protection.
- Headlamp or flashlight
- Bug head net
- Bandana (for games)
- Small personal bottle of hand sanitizer
- Fixed Blade Knife (must be 4” or less w/sheath) non-serrated, NO FOLDING BLADE KNIVES.
Optional gear:
- Pillow
- Long underwear
- Binoculars
- Biodegradable Soap
- Hydration pack (i.e. Camelbak) – still bring water bottles
- Fishing Gear/License
- Unpainted stainless steel water bottle
- Water filter
- Paracord
*Please leave behind electronic games, cell phones, and other unnecessary items!