Greetings,
Thank you for registering for the Night Connection Overnight with Wilderness Awareness School in Duvall, Washington. We are excited to meet you at Linne Doran, Wilderness Awareness School’s 40-acre campus.
This page contains information that you will need to prepare for this program. Please read it carefully.
If you have any questions regarding your registration, please contact Wilderness Awareness School at (425) 788-1301 or [email protected]; our office hours are 8:00-4:00, Monday through Friday.
If you have any questions about registration, refunds, or transfers, please visit our Cancellation and Transfer Policy. Please see our Covid Guidelines for our most up-to-date health precautions.
We are looking forward to a fabulous course together!
Sincerely,
Nicole O’Byrne
Adult Program Manager
Natalie Copeland
Lead Instructor
Night Connection Overnight
When:
Saturday, April 27; 12 PM – 12 AM
Sunday, April 28; 12 AM – 11 AM
Please arrive at 12:00 noon to allow time for orienting you to the space and setting up your campsite.
Where:
Linne Doran is located about fifteen minutes outside of Duvall in the foothills of the Cascade Mountains. The address is 20410 320th Ave NE, Duvall, WA, 98019 and you can find a map and driving directions here.
What to Expect:
Arrive well-rested if possible, to maximize your night experience. When you arrive, you will be signed in and oriented to the land, facilities, and where you will be camping. After this, you may return to your car to retrieve your camping gear and set up your spot. When you finish setup and join us for our group introduction, please come prepared with a full water bottle, a snack if you need it, a notebook and writing utensil, and any gear you need to be comfortable for the day.
We spend most of our time outside. Be prepared to dress in layers so that you can adjust easily (see attached gear list). This is not a heavy hiking course, but we will be moving through the woods, at times off trail. Expect that you may get muddy and wet.
We will spend significant time outside regardless of the weather. We encourage you to be prepared for all types of weather, including pouring rain, and bring several layers and a change so that you can be comfortable throughout the class. We recommend that you nor wear cotton as a base layer, as it loses its insulative qualities when wet. Wool or synthetic clothing is best. We will have a camp fire at night to dry off / warm up before bed if necessary.
The approximate schedule is as follows:
- 12 PM: Set up camp
- 1 PM – 5 PM: Structured activities
- 5 PM – 6 PM: Dinner on the fire
- 6 PM – 11 PM: Structured activities
- 11 PM – 12 AM – Optional activities, or bed
- 12 AM – 6 AM – Bed
- 6 AM – 8 AM – Optional activities, or bed
- 8 AM – 9 AM – Breakfast on the fire, camp cleanup
- 9 AM – 11 AM – Structured activities
.
We’ll cover many topics including:
- Wilderness Awareness core routines of nature connection and awareness
- Stargazing, astronomy, and sky navigation basics with a simulated sky (and the real sky, depending on weather conditions)
- Candle-making
- Basics of the electromagnetic spectrum, and light science
- The phases of twilight
- Games to practice using your non-dominant senses
- Challenges to move confidently through the dark woods
- Techniques to calm your nervous system and address your fears in the dark.
- Campfire songs, stories, and cooking
- Tracking birds, dreams, and the sky
- And more!
Health Precautions
We ask all participants to stay home if they have signs or symptoms of Covid-19. Please see the following Dept. of Health Guidelines for an updated list of symptoms. All students are asked to quarantine or isolate if they have symptoms or a Covid exposure per the most up to date state and county guidelines.
Facilities:
Our Linne Doran campus includes Cedar Lodge (our indoor classroom and meeting space), a large yurt, several outdoor firepit classrooms, and the land itself. There are porta-potties on the property. Linne Doran has limited cell reception and no internet access.
All participants are highly encouraged to camp Saturday night on our campus using their own gear. Campers may tent, hammock, tarp, or ‘cowboy camp’ in our forest, our field, around the campfire, or in their vehicles. We do not have space for RV’s or for campers that are larger than a standard pickup truck. Potable water, firewood, and porta-potty access are provided. Participants are not required to sleep at campus, but risk missing late-night and early-morning activities by leaving. (Structured activities will run until 11 PM and resume 9 AM, with options for additional activities in-between.) If you would like more modern accommodations, there are some Airbnb/VRBO type accommodations nearby, as well as a Tolt McDonald Park (20 minutes away) for large RV set-ups.
Food:
Meals are not provided for this course, although there may be a “midnight snack” and tea/coffee provided. This course runs for 23 hours, so please eat lunch ahead of time and bring dinner, breakfast, and any snacks that you may want. We do not have any way for you to refrigerate your food, so you may want to bring a cooler in your vehicle. The only method you will have for heating your food is the campfire, so you may want to bring a meal that doesn’t need to be heated, a meal that’s fun and easy to cook over the open coals of a campfire (tin foil packets, camp pot for soup or water, etc.), or a camp stove and a cooking vessel. You may not keep food in your tent/camp area overnight, but you may store it in your vehicle.
How to Get Here: Driving directions can be found here, or click here to find Linne Doran on Google Maps.
Our Campus address:
20410 320th Ave NE
Duvall, WA 98019
GEAR PACKING LIST
Please bring the following items.
- Activity Gear
- 2 liters of water
- Notebook and pen/pencil
- Flashlight with a red light setting (if your flashlight does not have this setting, we will provide you with a filter.)
- Clothing layers
- A mug for your tea/coffee
- Daypack (to carry the above items)
- Blanket, sit pad, or cozy-creek style camping chair for activities that require sitting outside.
- Clothing that is appropriate for the weather. Have multiple layers that you can add/remove during the day, and a change in case you get wet. This could include:
- A wool or synthetic base layer (top and bottom)
- Mid-weight wool/synthetic jacket/sweater/top
- Heavy-weight wool/fleece jacket/coat
- Wool, Fleece, or water-resistant synthetic pants
- Waterproof rain pants
- Waterproof rain jacket
- Wool/synthetic, or waterproof hat
- Gloves or mitts
- Wool socks
- Dry change of comfy clothes for sleeping in (including socks)
- Appropriate footwear (close-toed shoes for activities, camp shoes if you’d like your feet to breathe at night)
- Hand/toe-warmers (optional)
- Food Gear
- Saturday night dinner (to be eaten/cooked over/around the campfire)
- Sunday morning breakfast (to be eaten/cooked over/around the campfire)
- Personal food/mess gear (plate, bowl, cup, mug, utensils)
- Personal cooking gear (should you choose to use it – camp stove, camp pot)
- Cooler (optional, as there will be no refrigerator/freezer access)
- Camping Gear (not all required gear – camp comfortably for your body.)
- Tent with a rainfly and footprint, or camping hammock
- Sleeping bag and pad (with temperature rating appropriate for season)
- Pillow, extra blankets
- Hot water bottle
- Toiletries and personal medication