EARTHWORKS: A FIBER ARTS & HANDCRAFTS ADVENTURE Teachers: Nicole Kielblock with special guest teacher, Ashirah Knapp 7 days, Easy – Moderate Skill level: Beginner - Advanced Ages 12 –16, July 6 -12 During this special week on the farm we will gratefully care for our 2 sheep (Miss Muffet and Bo Peep) while learning to process their fleece. We will venture into the forest looking for plants to make natural dyes from. Spinning, knitting and felting the wool, making baskets, carving and drawing will be some of the crafts we will learn how to do with our hands. There will be special opportunities to go canoeing and rock climbing. There will be horse drawn wagon rides, plenty of campfire cooking, swimming at the lake, games, stories and songs. Students will begin developing excellent handwork skills and a sense of gratitude for the materials available to us from the Earth and her creatures. Back to top

WRITERS IN THE WOODS Teachers: Jason Brueck, Linn Preissler 7 days, Ages 12 – 14, August 11 – 17 For the fifth year in a row, Kroka Expeditions and The Writers’ Express, a Boston area, educational non-profit, are teaming up to provide students with an opportunity to explore the wilderness of Vermont and strengthen their writing skills and habits. The Kroka teacher will lead the group on a one-week trip exploring the natural world and learning wilderness living skills, rock climbing, paddling, and more. Two experienced Writers’ Express instructors will guide the students as they write and give oneon- one attention in expressive and technical writing skills. We use our adventures and new wilderness skills as fodder for daily journal writing. All students going into grades 7-9 are welcome. The writing work is individualized to address the needs of each student. To learn more about The Writers’ Express and to register , please visit their website at: www.wex.org. Back to top

PADDLERS JOURNEY UP NORTH Teachers: Thomas Dammer and Kroka’s Advanced Paddlers 7 days, Moderate - Strenuous Skill level: Graduates of Intro to White Water II, Paddlers Up North and students with previous personal white water paddling experience Ages 12 to 16, July 13 – 19 This year’s Paddlers Journey is geared towards a new generation of paddlers. We will travel to the upper reaches of the Hudson River in the Adirondacks of New York. For three days, we will descend this beautiful stream surrounded by mountains and wildlife. We will paddle Class I, II and III rapids, alternating between tandem/solo canoes and kayaks. We will practice river rescue, go swimming and fishing, carve with our knives and bake delicious pies on the fire. Finally, we will enter the famous Hudson River Gorge. This beautiful gorge offers 17 miles of Class II, III and IV white water in a majestic wilderness setting. Here we will leave some of our smaller boats and add in a cargo raft for carrying gear and those team members who are not yet ready to venture in big water in canoes and kayaks. Back to top

JOURNEY TO CANADA’S NORTHBROADBACK RIVER Expedition by Cataraft, Canoe and Kayak Mentors: Misha Golfman and Thomas Dammer 21 days, Strenuous Skill level: Intermediate-Advanced. Returning students only. Ages: 15 – Adult, July 20 – August 9 This once in a life time adventure is offered for Kroka veterans. This is an opportunity to take part in a remote wilderness expedition, where from the beginning to the end we will cross no roads and see no other human beings, where the forces of nature reign over a land of endless boreal forests, mountains and rivers. The Broadback River carries its fast moving water from the heart of Northern Quebec to James Bay. We will paddle the last 200 miles of the river and up into James Bay to Waskaganish, a Village of the Cree People. This year we have the use of two Russian catarafts offered to us by the Belenkys, (the family of a longtime student and apprentice). These awesome boats have the speed and maneuverability of a canoe, the stability of a raft and an incredible carrying capacity. Having use of the catarafts opens the door to students who crave a true wilderness experience but do not have the white water skills necessary to negotiate Class III and IV rapids in canoe or kayak. In addition to catarafts, our fleet will have white water tandem and solo canoes and kayaks. This river has incredible white water, both in rapids and in waterfalls as tall as 90 feet. There are amazing fishing opportunities, blueberries, and wild life. The pace of the expedition will be set to allow for exploration, white water training, lots of fishing, gathering of wild food and fun times together. Each member of the expedition team will have a pre-trip responsibility, such as navigator, food manager, logistics manager, etc. These jobs will start at registration. To be accepted, you have to have at least one Kroka program under your belt and one of your Kroka teachers will need to give you a verbal recommendation. Application process: Fill out the registration form. Once we have received it, Lynne or Misha will call you for an interview. Back to top

THE RETURN OF GRANDFATHER’S CAMP: A TRADITIONAL BUSH CAMP CONSTRUCTION AND FOREST CARETAKING PROGRAM Teachers: Ray Reitze 14 days, Moderate-Strenuous Skill level: Beginner-Advanced Ages: 13 through Adult, August 10 – 23 In 1959 Grandfather Ray, then a young man, made his last camp with Grandfather Joe, then an old man, in a cave on the side of #5 Mountain in Northern Maine. Now, in 2007, a logging operation creeps in closer to the side of the #5 Mountain. It is time for this very special camp to move to Kroka. And we feel very honored. This camp will be in the shape of a large lean-to built with poles and lashed with spruce roots. It will be covered with birch and cedar bark (brought from the 1995 camp), pond mud and sphagnum moss. It will have a retaining wall and a fireplace. The fourth wall of the lean-to will be made of bug screen for comfortable sleeping. It will take us four days to build this ancient lodge. Unlike other lodges that we’ve built in the past, this one will be much easier for students to recreate, when in need of temporary or permanent shelter. Our lodge will be built in a far off corner of Kroka and will become one of our remote bush outposts. The second half of the program will be devoted to caretaking and keeping of the earth. Each student will be given a small part of the forest. They will make a map of it and learn to identify all plants, animals and birds that live in their part of the forest and the role each member plays in the interconnected web of life. Working with Grandfather, students will have an opportunity to move through each day in a quiet and peaceful way that allows one to see and feel the inner workings of the world. After an evening meal there will be an open discussion about the events of the day and Grandfather’s special stories by the campfire. And, of course, there will be bush walks, canoe explorations, mud baths, games and songs. Each student will craft a hunting bow out of blackthorn and learn how to use it. Back to top

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She was glowing when she returned; it was like some inner light in her had been nurtured and brought into being. She was quite different for a week or so – more focused, confident, serene.