In late June, I traveled to Northern Arizona where I attended a week-long wilderness survival/primitive skills course taught by Tony Nester of Ancient Pathways. I've never done an Outward Bound program, but it's probably fair to say that this was quite similar to that. I did it because the Thoreau in me wanted to try a little bit of "living deliberately," i.e. I wanted to get off the grid - if only for a few days - and connect with the wilderness. I'm glad I did it and would highly recommend any of his programs. As I indicated, the course is a mix learning survival skills and primitive technologies, e.g. friction fire-making (something I have yet to master... word to the wise, bring several methods of fire-making with you when you venture into the woods, unless you're Al Cornell, who paid us a visit... he's a master of the craft and a scholar of primitive fire-making... have a look at this video).

I've included photographs of my reasonably comfortable lean-to (pine needle bedding... works for a couple of nights then needs to be refreshed as it starts to compress...), the Sycamore Canyon (much smaller than the GC, but still breath-taking, and devoid of people) and the view from Tony's property in the high desert outside of Flagstaff.

I first heard about Tony and AP in this NYT article. If any of this has piqued your interest, check out the sites for Rabbitstick and Winter Count. See also these sites for similar schools in Montana and Maine.

Spent the nights before and after the course at the Hotel Monte Vista in 7,000' Flagstaff, a neat little town.