Welcome! We are offering a series of workshops, retreats and expeditions. Our team has been leading expeditions into the wilderness with a combined 30+ years of experience. We are professional guides, mentors who transform human relationships with the wild. We are excited to present our collaborative, soul filled journey with the land.

Are you looking for connection?

There is nothing like traveling through wilderness in this way. Learning practical skills while having a deeply meaningful experience. It’s a place to discover yourself. This experience will bring inner lasting personal transformation.

 As you walk over this extraordinarily rich landscape with a small community, you really get the time and space to live as a wild human on the earth. It’s a truly magical, intense experience that cultivates wisdom and survival skill awareness.

The skills we cover:

• Night travel without headlamps
• Aidless Navigation
• Survival Mindset and Psychology 101
• Edible Plants
• Wild Plant First Aid/Plant Medicine
• Traditional fire skills
• Shelter Building with local materials
• Wildlife Tracking and Bird Language
• Solo Exploration
• Community and teambuilding skills
• Deep connection to flora and fauna

What about my experience level?

Even if you are an experienced backpacker or have learned some survival skills, the uniqueness of this trip will change you in some way. It isn’t about going the greatest distance, summiting the highest peak and “conquering” Nature. There will be plenty of challenges and it will be through merging with Nature that you will find grace and overcome. With that said, if you are a total beginner to backpacking or sleeping out in the wilderness, this trip may not be for you. 

Is this trip just about physical survival skills?

This is not a boot camp. The depth that we bring is what we feel really sets us apart. It’s more like a walking survival ‘right of passage’. We are going to be doing some really hard things and will depend on communication, community and compassion for each other to get us through. Our staff is highly trained in holding emotional space in extreme wilderness settings. You will also have solo opportunities on this trip to explore your relationship with the experience and yourself. We need our minds AND our hearts involved in survival situations to truly be successful. 

What kind of safety plan does this trip have?

Your lead instructors are both veteran Wilderness First Responders and have thousands of hours of dealing with situations in the wilderness. We have a very solid safety plan that you may not “see” on this trip, but it is there. Lindsay Huettman is a LMHC in WA state and can support emotional needs (this is not a wilderness therapy course but still may have theraputic benefits!)

“Connection to place” is another piece that we feel strongly about. The land we travel across is deeply loved by our staff. Our intention is to provide you with not only the ‘hard skills’ for physical survival, but also a soul connection with Earth. To feel a sense of belonging in Nature.

SPECIFICS:

When: June 16-22th, 2024

Where: Eastern Washington

Costs: $1995; Deposit $300 deposit to save your spot will be non refundable and taken off full tuition. This does not include travel. We will meet at a central location and travel by van to our site.

Medical Requirements: It is required for you to fill out a medical information form and be in good physical condition, have good communication skills and emotional health. No one is perfect-we get that. We just want to make sure this is a fit for you!

Where do I register?  If you have more questions about  this amazing experience please contact Lindsay Huettman at [email protected]

DEIA Statement: We welcome ALL of you to this experience. Please see our Agreements for Multicultural Interactions at EBMC below (used with permission from Lindsay’s MMTCP training).

We absolutely require folks to agree to the statements to come on this experience. We are committed to supporting diversity, to learn from each other as a gift not a requirement, and maintain respect for ALL people. This includes ones cultural identity, sexual orientation, economic status, heath wellness and/or challenges and respect for boundaries seen and unseen. We will do our very best to facilitate a safe and loving environment. We acknowledge our whiteness as instructors who are actively educating ourselves about our privilege, atrocities visited currently and in the past against other cultures/ethnicities, and the impact on those Peoples. We are always trying to learn, change and mostly listen. We do sometimes make mistakes and continue to strive how to facilitate programs where all feel safe and welcome.

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Land Acknowledgement

We would like to acknowledge that we run our programs in a wildlife area that is the traditional, unceded lands of the Yakima Nation. We treat these lands with deep respect and harvest plants with awareness of the cultural significance these plants, land, wildlife have to Yakima and others such as the Umatilla, Nez Perce, Walla Walla and Cayuse. We encourage you to learn about the past, current and future of these tribes.

Yakima Nation Cultural Center

Nez Perce

Cayuse-Umatilla-Walla

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MEET YOUR INSTRUCTOR

Richie Rivera-Booth

Richie grew up in the temperate rainforests of Western Washington, the traditional homelands of the Nisqually peoples. Spending summers camping and backpacking in the Cascade Foothills he developed a deep love and appreciation for being out in the natural(real) world. These experiences taught him the great value of being immersed in Nature.

After graduating highschool, going to college and finding success in various jobs, Richie found something lacking. The depth that he knew was possible wasn’t being provided on the modern path. In seeking, he went back to Nature. He took countless trips into the wilderness, both with friends as well as on solo adventures and often with minimal gear. This still wasn’t enough!

It wasn’t enough until he found mentors that could help guide him into the depths of what Nature really offers. Using, among many other tools, intention and ceremony to help him access the depth he longed for. A whole new realm was opened up!

Now, he was not only learning survival skills like making friction fire, building shelters from the land, learning wild edible and medicinal plants, tracking wildlife and more.

He was also building relationships, connecting with the land, the animals and plants, the waters, the winds…that would in turn teach him more about himself and bring him a sense of deep connection. He was coming home, falling in love with Earth and finding himself empowered like never before. It was this combination of getting out along with being supported and guided by Nature Connection Mentors that made all the difference.

In 2009 Richie decided to take what he was learning and do a deep dive. He spent the entire Winter(90 days) mostly in solitude in the foothills of Mount Rainier. During this time he had to really face himself. When he felt like he couldn’t go on it was his Nature relationships, his deep connections, that he called on to get him through.

Now as a husband, father, homeowner, and working professional he continually relies on these skills and relationships he develops from his time in Nature. His life is continually enriched from these Nature Connections and he has dedicated his life to helping others access the hidden powers of Nature.

Richie’s years of experience in Nature Mentoring include working with the Wilderness Awareness School for over 16 years. Instructing youth as well as being a student himself he learned the school’s unique Art of Mentoring model. He has been an instructor and director running youth programs, summer camps, expeditions and more. His attention eventually turned to working with adults and training apprentices in the Art of Mentoring. Richie is currently in his 9th year and the lead core instructor for the school’s 9 month flagship adult Immersion Program.

He continues to guide people on their own personal journeys. Leading backcountry expeditions and also supporting people in bringing these valuable skills home to their daily lives and routines through private mentoring. Getting out leading expeditions like this with Lindsay is one of the finest, most challenging and rewarding things he gets to do!

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Lindsay Letitia Huettman

I have been learning about and from plants of the PNW since 1999. My first degree is in Ethnobotany Stewardship Education and I have been teaching wild plant classes since 2006 for Wilderness Awareness School and my business Lady Botanica.

My passion for plants has led me in many directions:

Arborists/horticulturalist, landscaper, permaculturalist, organic farmer and gardener, wild plant forager, medicine maker and plant technologist, survival skills instructor, plant biology/chemistry dork, paleobotany enthusiast and aspiring elder plant ID expert.

I am completely enchanted, held and supported spiritually, mentally and emotionally being in wild places. Its has healed me, cultivated me into the person I am today…and it continues too.

My History: I grew up in Michigan/on the Great Lakes and started as a horse packing/trail guide at 15 years old. I started studying plants, traditional skills, plant and earth intuition/spiritual practices, as well honing my trail guiding skills. After graduation, I left Michigan for Colorado-a long time dream to be in big Mountains to be a wrangler on a dude ranch. From there I move to Montana and spent many an adventurous year rock climbing in the Bitterroots and rafting on the Lochsaw, Blackfoot and Clarkfork rivers.

I also started school at University of Montana studying Native American Studies and Botany, where I was employed as an arborist/groundskeeper.

I fell in love with the wonderful classes and was encouraged by my teacher to come to Washington State to do an internship with a organic farm. I was only supposed to be gone for the summer but fell in love with the Upper Skagit and all my mentors.

Its now 24 years later and in that time I have a become a whitewater guide since 2004, finished my BA degree in Ethnobotany, been a Wilderness First Responder since 2008, worked for Wilderness Awareness School as a core staff for 8 years; and now run the program I created in 2011 called Wild Plant Intensive. In 2016, I went back to graduate school and received my MA in Counseling Psychology focusing on grief and trauma counseling. Recently, I am on track for graduating to be a certified Mindfulness Meditation Teacher (MMTCP).

I have also gratefully studied with many Elders on spiritual and deep connection with wild places and non human allies as my teacher. These practices are the foundation for everything I do and who I am.

Please see my CV on my introductory page “Welcome to Plantdorks”.

My hope is to continues to bring ALL my loves together to provide experiences for you in our Return to the Wild: Nature and Soul Experiences series.