At Wild Solitude Guiding, our purpose is teaching people how to reconnect with nature. Therefore, we have designed a selection of offerings with two goals in mind: building practical skills to keep us safe, found, and having fun in the outdoors, and learning to hone our intuition, awareness and attunement to the world around us.
Map-Reading and Navigation: At it’s foundation, navigation is simply paying attention. Learn the art of observation, logic, and deduction.
Foraging: Teaches us about plants and plant communities, reciprocity, and the interconnectedness of living things.
Night Hiking: challenges our subconscious fears around solitude, darkness, and the outdoors.
Connection-Centered Events: bridges practical skills and nature connection practices into holistic events that are easy to replicate for yourself anywhere you go.
FORAGING CLASSES
Winter Foraging Class: Tea and Roots
Make wild foraged tea and learn about edible roots like Devils Club, Licorice Fern, Wild Ginger, and more, as we enjoy a beautiful winter morning walk in the woods. This class is great for beginners, families, and anyone who wants to dip their toes into the world of foraging.
$75/person
Sunday, January 8th, Wilson River Trail 10AM- 12PM
Introduction to Foraging
This is a sweet, fun two hour foraging class held in the Wilson River Canyon each month, designed to introduce you to the edible qualities of everyday plants. Participants will become familiar with 25+ edible plants, and learn all the ins and outs you need to get started with your own foraging practice.
$75/person
Sunday, March 19th, 1PM- 3PM, Tillamook State Forest
Sunday, April 23rd, 10AM- 12PM, Tillamook State Forest
Foraging is Connection
Foraging is a great way to deepen your connection with nature. In this class, we talk about reciprocity, relationship with place, harvesting ethics, identifying edible weeds, as well as the historical and cultural contexts of foraging. You’ll learn what to look for during different seasons, how to build yourself a foraging map, and how to identify plants with confidence.
$125/person
Sunday, April 23rd, 1PM- 5PM, Tillamook State Forest
The Family Walk
A Walk and Talk Lessons on Edible Plants, Observing Forest Signs & Sensory Experiences. In this class, we let children lead us through the forest, set the pace, and ask (most of) the questions. If you’ve ever hesitated tohesitated to sign up for a children’s hiking event because your kids mig
Adult $75/Kids $25
Guest Total is 5; 15% Discount to Book Full Event.
February 19th, 1PM- 3pm, Tillamook State Forest
March 19th, 10AM- 2PM, Tillamook State Forest
April 9th, 1PM- 3PM, Maupin, OR
NIGHT HIKING
Silent Night Walk
Learn to feel at ease in the forest at night with a silent walk on Wildcat Mountain at sunset. Experience all of your senses coming alive as the light fades from the sky. The forest is extra fragrant at dusk, birds will talk to us from the trees, and animals will be moving in the forest all around us. Sharing space with others without saying a word is a powerful layer to add to the experience. Afterwards, we all share a cup of tea together and discuss our individual observations. This is a two hour walk done without lights, or voices, usually on the last Saturday of every month.
$100/person
February 25th, 5- 7PM, Tillamook State Forest
March 18th, 6:15PM- 8:15 PM, Tillamook State Forest
April 22nd, 7PM- 9PM, Tillamook State Forest
May 20th, 7:30- 9:30PM, Tillamook State Forest
Full Moon Party
Release your debts and demons to the moon! Join us for a reverent, beautiful, monthly walk under the light of the full moon. Slow down and reconnect to the wheel of life in a joyful night walk with others. This event is perfect for families. Timber, OR.
$125/person
March 4th, 6PM- 8PM, Maupin, OR
April 8th, 6:30PM- 8:30PM Maupin, OR
MAP READING AND OFF TRAIL NAVIGATION
Off Trail Travel Clinic
Our Off Trail Travel Clinic is part map reading lesson, part guided hike, part choose your own adventure! You’ll learn how to use digital layers to do some of the legwork ahead of time, what clothes to wear, how to choose your lines when working through difficult terrain and more.
$180/person
March 5th, 10AM- 4PM, Maupin, OR
May 21st, 10AM- 4PM, Tillamook State Forest
Scouting Mission
Navigate logging road networks and learn research strategies, find off trail destinations like waterfalls, views and summits.
Learn the skills and techniques experienced off trail enthusiasts use to research and evaluate potential objectives, BEFORE setting off into the thickets. This class is an excellent companion to our Off Trail Travel Clinic! Become a master of uncharted terrain and bring your dreams to life!
$180/person
April 14th, 10AM- 4PM, Tillamook State Forest
CONNECTION WITH PLACE
The Intimacy With Place Series
Our cornerstone offering. This is a series of trips designed to teach you how to build intimacy with place through solitude and repetition. A little bit of everything we offer at Wild Solitude rolled into one: foraging, map reading, relationship with place, mindfulness, silent hiking, community, competency, and skills practice all while we tour a spectacular and off-the-beaten-path area you won’t soon forget.
Each event will highlight a different area and we will use our time spent afield to practice a variety of skills like identifying plants, navigation, foraging, animal sign observation, creek crossings, off trail travel, map reading, trip planning and more. If you know you are interested in our work but aren’t sure where to start, this event is the heart of it all.
After the days hike is over, you’ll receive a digital handout from us detailing everything you need to know to continue building a relationship with the area, including GPS coordinates, driving directions, and seasonal suggestions for future visits to the area.
$180/person
Wilson River Canyon Secrets. February 18th 10AM- 4PM Glenwood, OR.
Criterion Tract. March 4th 10AM- 4PM. Maupin, OR
North Fork Salmonberry. March 18th 10AM- 4PM. Timber, OR
Criterion Tract. April 8th 10AM- 4PM. Maupin, OR
Beaverslide to the Salmonberry. May 20th 10AM- 4PM. Timber, OR.
SLOW HIKING
Do Less. Experience More
Join us for a casual stroll in the woods, no objectives or destinations, no comparison or competition. Enjoy some of our favorite nature connection practices, and learn more about what makes the places we guide so speci
$75/person
February 19th, 10AM- 12PM, Tillamook State Forest
April 9th, 10AM- 12PM, Maupin, OR
PRIVATE GUIDED TRIPS
If you can dream it, we can craft it for you on one of our two spectacular locations.
Want to backpack deep into a canyon to sleep under some of the last old growth trees in the forest? Do you long to take a private tour of the best swimming holes in the Tillamook? Are you ready to dive deep into the impassable-seeming canyons above the Deschutes River, searching for passage in places only seen by bands of deer and elk? Want to spend a day visiting every known waterfall in the Kilchis River canyon? Or maybe you dream of knowing the steep, ancient legacy roads of the Trask, it’s towering waterfalls and basalt formations.
Along the way, we’ll practice skills specific to the forests and steppe of the PNW, find some forest snacks, maybe see some animals, and you’ll come away with dozens of ideas for trips to the future area.
Every private event is fully customizable, and after the days hike is over, we will send you a digital handout that covers everything you need to know to return again and again, building a relationship with the places we share together. You’ll also know how to apply our methods to your own favorite forest homes, so you can continue finding cool secret spots and developing intimacy with place wherever you go.
Four, six or eight hours of guided hiking and instruction, plus an intake interview to assess your fitness level, discuss your goals and make arrangements.
Prices below assume ONE guest. We accept groups up to 5 total, but please note that some locations require us to transport you and our limit on those trips is three. You may add another guest for $100, subsequent guests $75.
4 hours: $400 weekend, $200 weekday
6 hours: $450 weekend, $250 weekday
8 hours: $500 weekend, $300 weekday
Overnight Trip Rate: $550 weekend, $350 weekday
Looking for Private Guided Trips, Advice Services and ways to work together 1:1? Click the link.
Questions? Suggestions? Crazy Ideas? Drop it in the comment box below and we will get right back to you!
- TOPOPHILIA: Relationship With Place and the Humbling Unpredictability of Elk with Hunting Guide Tyler Houck
- TOPOPHILIA: Risk Management, Fear, and the Love of Climbing with Climber & Mountain Athlete Brad Farra
- TOPOPHILIA: Intimacy With Place Interview Series with Guide Book Author Matt Reeder
- TOPOPHILIA: Intimacy With Place Interview Series: Canyoneering with Mike Peterson
- TOPOPHILIA: Intimacy With Place Series: Canyons, Access Issues, Permit Systems and Wildfire with Ryan Ernst
Posts of Interest
There is No Moon, There Are No Stars
June 10, 2020
Lest You Forget Why We Came
June 22, 2020
Wild Solitude Guiding 