March Break Retreat

We are excited to be offering our sixth annual March Break Nature Retreat! This retreat will offer you a chance to rejuvenate in nature’s beauty, deepening your connection to, and understanding of, the natural world. We will be expanding our awareness & knowledge, while exploring some of the many uses of nature’s gifts. Learn new skills to bring back to the classroom or integrate into your life with friends, family, or at work. Families are welcome to attend and learn new ways to connect in the outdoors as a family.
Some of this years activities may include: learning to felt, making pine needle baskets, tracking wolves and other creatures through the snow, winter games and fires, learning about what we call “coyote mentoring”, sharing great food and so much more. Come alone, with a friend or with your family and deepen your connection to the land in the Algonquin Winter Wonderland!
A Children & Youth (6 – 12yrs) program will run simultaneously with the adult program.
Activities Include:

• Studying Wildlife through the “Eye of a Tracker”
• Snowshoeing and Camp Fires
• Basket and Container Making with Natural Materials
• Wilderness Awareness Games/Activities
• Story Telling
• Wilderness Crafts with Natural Materials
• Intro to Mentoring with Nature’s Cycles (Coyote Mentoring)
• Good Food & Good Fun
• And Much Much More

Location: The Wolf Den Bunkhouse, in Oxtongue, Ontario. Approx 20min East of Huntsville.

Cost: $380 – Adult; $280 – Children (includes lodging and dinners from Sunday-Tuesday)

Dates:  Sunday March 9th – Wednesday March 12th

• Bursaries are an available option through the Best Day Ever Fund. Contact our office administrator (Amanda) for an application or further questions.
•  Transportation is not arranged or organized by the program, so individual/family organization of transportation is necessary.
• All bursaries dependent upon individuals/families being able to organize their own transportation to the site.

Registration

To register for the March Break Retreat contact us at 416 792 2772, or email info@pineproject.org

Book the Whole Wolf Den this Fall or Winter

Bookings for this upcoming fall and winter are starting to roll in. 

Stewardship Project: Great Wilderness Clean up

Stewardship: the ethic of taking responsibility as caretakers for the World around us.

 

On Saturday June 2nd the Wolf Den, in partnership with Algonquin Outfitters will be forming The Wolf Pack to beautify interior sites in Algonquin Park. Participants will receive free day passes from Algonquin Park, free canoe rentals from Algonquin Outfitters, and 2 nights for the cost of one for the weekend accommodation at the Wolf Den. The event will begin on Friday night with organizing into groups and the distribution of gloves and bags. We will clean up all day Saturday, returning to the Wolf Den for a potluck supper and prizes provided by Algonquin Outfitters. This event is fun, social and extremely successful.

 

We do this for a number of reasons.  Acts of stewardship are a way of giving back to the world that provides for us.  Picking up a bit of garbage not only helps beautify the landscape but it also helps set a baseline for others to follow, resulting in less litter throughout the summer.  Stewardship is also good for the human spirit.  People feel good about contributing to something positive and in a group setting this positive feeling is intensified.  Smiling, laughing, and forming new friendships are just a few of the side effects.

 

We will be keeping The Wolf Den group to a 30 person maximum for simplicity and effectiveness. Please contact The Wolf Den for further details.

 

If you can't make this event there are other groups participating in a larger event on Mothers Day weekend.  Visit Wilderness Clean up for more information on other groups. 

 

If you can't make either event dates then I encourage you to go out on one of those days (or both) and pick up a bit of trash!!

 

March Break Retreat for Educators and Nature Lovers

We are excited to be offering our fourth annual March Break Nature Retreat! This retreat will offer you a chance to rejuvenate in nature’s beauty, deepening your connection to, and understanding of, the natural world. We will be expanding our awareness & knowledge, while exploring some of the many uses of nature’s gifts. Learn new skills to bring back to the classroom or integrate into your life with friends, family, or at work. Families are welcome to attend and learn new ways to connect in the outdoors as a family.

A Children & Youth (6 – 16yrs) program will run simultaneously with the adult program.

When: March 12 – 15, 2011 (March Break)
Where: Wolf Den Hostel and Nature Retreat, Oxtongue, ON, 8 min West of Algonquin Park.
Food: We will provide healthy, wholesome dinners.
Participants bring & prepare their own lunch & breakfast in the Wolf Dens communal kitchen.
Cost: 
Includes 3 nights accommodations,
3 dinners, course materials, snow shoes extra if required.

Adult: $360

Youth/Child: $220

Activities Include:

Studying Wildlife through the “Eye of a Tracker”
Snowshoeing and Camp Fires
Basket and Container Making with Natural Materials
Wilderness Awareness Games/Activities
Story Telling
Wilderness Crafts with Natural Materials
Intro to Mentoring with Nature’s Cycles (Coyote Mentoring)
Good Food & Good Fun
And Much Much More

For more information please visit The P.I.N.E. Project

Algonquin Winter Wildlife Tracking

Join White Pine Programs on it’s 13th Annual Winter Wildlife Tracking
trip to scenic & Wild Algonquin Provincial Park.

Over the past decade, White Pine Programs, a unique nature-based learning or-ganization from Maine, has developed a relationship with the Wildlife Research Station, a well-known field science facility located in the heart of Algonquin Park. As a result, we’re able to offer this unique educational expedition that focuses on wildlife tracking, winter ecology, and nature connection.

The goals of the trip are to immerse participants in a tracking culture. Each day, we scout for track & sign, make a plan, then track & trail wildlife all day in small groups. At the end of the day, we unwind, eat hearty meals, and share the story of the day, all the while making hypotheses as to the movements and interactions of the animals we track and trail.

Over the past 12 years, we’ve tracked & trailed: Eastern Wolf, American Mar-ten, Fisher, River Otter, Red Fox, Snowshoe Hare, Moose, White-Tailed Deer, Long and Short-Tailed Weasels, Mink, Ruffed Grouse, and more.
Topics Studied include: track identification, sign identification, trailing, trail interpretation, trail patterns vs. gaits, predictive trailing, winter birding, bird language, kill site analysis, and more.

Contribute to Science: Each year, we coordinate our efforts with those of various re-searchers in the park and serve as a data collection team- contributing to interesting studies. Past courses have collected data for studies on: Eastern Wolves, Moose, Fisher, Flying Squirrels, American Marten, & Gray Jays.
We only take 10 participants on this journey. Such small groups facilitate quality tracking time in the field and around the dinner table at night. The Staff is led by Dan Gardoqui and Alexis Burnett

Read the Reviews….
“This was a wonderful week. Small groups, excellent leader-ship, and exciting animal tracks wherever we looked. I could’ve stayed another week!” -2004 Participant
“Everyone was so supportive – the instructors & the group. It doesn’t matter where you are on your journey…beginner or experienced… you feel comfortable.” -2002 Participant
“The Algonquin Tracking trip is unbelievably rich with learning experi-ences – inside and out.” -2008 Participant


Register online http://www.whitepineprograms.org/get-involved/register/ or call 207-361-1911 today. There are only 10 spaces.
Dates: Sunday Feb. 19 - Friday, Feb. 24 2012
Cost: $695 USD (includes food, & lodging)
For more Details: Contact Dan Gardoqui dan@whitepineprograms.org

Edible Wilds and Medicinal Plants Class

June 9th - 12th

Presented by Earth Tracks

The plant world provides many gifts for us; Nutrition, Medicine, Utilitarian Uses, Natural Beauty & Guidance among others. It can be hard to know where to start when first learning how to work with the plants that surround us. In this class the student will learn how to penetrate the ‘wall of green’ and begin their own journey with the plants that surround us. We will focus on proper identification techniques, the use of field guides, drying, storing and preparation of these plants, medicinal properties as well as herbal tea making. The participant will gain practical hands on experience and come away from the program with an understanding of how to pursue future studies of wild edible and medicinal plants. These skills and techniques will help to deepen your relationship with the plant nation and provide a solid foundation on which to increase your knowledge.


This class will take place at the Wolf Den Hostel and Nature Retreat
near Oxtongue lake next to Algonquin Park The cost of the program is $350 and includes 3 nights lodging, 3 dinners*, instruction and all materials.

Registration for this program will be done through Earth Tracks. We require a $100 deposit in order to secure your spot in the program. For more information please visit our website at http://www.earthtracks.ca/

For information on the Wolf Den and their facilities please visit their website at
http://www.wolfdenbunkhouse.com/

* We will supply 3 dinners. Participants are responsible for their own breakfast, lunch and snacks. Full kitchen facilities are available.

Wolf Den Green Building Workshop #1 - Stage Two - April 29th, 30th, May 1st

The Wolf Den is currently undertaking its first building project. We are building a very small, experimental building using recycled material and alternative building methods. The building purpose is to explore less impactful building options while re-using waste materials. From the ground up the building will consist of used car tires, local timber, straw bale, used windows and doors, used glass bottles and possibly a living roof. The building will be off the grid with day lighting and solar powered LED lights for night time. The eventual building design will evolve through the process allowing for learning along the way

Stage one – Site Preparation – Removal of a few small trees and root systems - hand shovelling a hole10’X10’ wide and 4’ deep to get below the frost line. COMPLETE Many thanks go out to Earth Steward Intern Stephen Fuller, and our 2 Irish helpers Rory Maguire, and Mark Bulling. They spent many hours digging the hard ground while being devoured by blackflies and mosquitoes

Stage two – Foundation – No Gym memberships required for this great full body work out! The dirt removed from the hole will be pounded into used car tires which are stacked like bricks to form the foundation walls in a design sometimes referred to as earthship or tire home. The days will not just be pounding tires. There will be routines of health, community and nature incorporated into the event, including sit spots, morning exercises and stretching, nature hikes, music and pot luck meals.

Cost: Just your labour, eagerness to learn and a fun attitude

What you get: Free accommodation at the Wolf Den for Friday and Saturday nights. Experience with tire home building (also can be used for retaining walls), good work out, free guided interpretive nature hike, free time with nature.

To Register: Please email Ben at wden@wolfdenbunkhouse.com Space is limited to 6 people but we plan on running more workshops this summer.