July 26-30, 2021: Advanced Wilderness Survival Day Camp in Puyallup/Tacoma

This week, participants will embark on wilderness challenges at a survival encampment. Shed the modern luxuries that you learned to value during introductory camps and put your skills to the test by trailing animals, foraging for food, purifying water, making fire and herbal medicines, crafting stone tools, and more while keeping your community’s camp safe. Transform your struggling colony into a thriving wilderness village!

Camp this year runs from 9:00-3:00 with drop off between 8:30-9:00, and pick-up between 3:00-3:30. Campers are grouped with others closest to their age within our hallmark 6-1 average student-teacher ratio that’s so critical for safe and profound outdoor experiences. You can also check out other day camps in Puyallup & Lake Sammamish.

Camp Goals & Skills

Traditional Survival Shelters, such as the Wickiup and Thatch Hut;
Practice Bow Drill method of fire-by-friction;
Natural Water Purification [seeps, filters, rock boiling, and locating natural springs];
Honorable Harvesting Methods, cooking, and eating the Top 10 Most Important Survival Plants;
Medicinal herbs of the northwest;
Cooking over an open fire and practice Wild Edible Foraging & Preparation (Herbs, Nuts, Roots, Flowers, Fruits, Insects);
Spinning natural rope for your shelter, bow-drill kit, shoelaces, and fishing line;
Breaking rocks for stone tools;
Stealthy movement in emergency situations;
Community planning and population dynamics;

Prerequisites & Itinerary

Available for Ages 8-14 with prerequisite any prior camp with us. Itinerary is uniquely designed by lead instructors based on advanced requests from campers and on the first day of camp.

Camp Leaders

Kim & Chris Chisholm guide professionally-trained staff instructors at our hallmark 6-1 average student-teacher ratio that’s critical for safe, profound and fun outdoor experiences. Read our FAQ’s for more details and check out camp testimonials dating all the way back to 1997!

Pickup/Drop-off Times & Location

Instruction runs 9:00-3:00, with drop-off as early as 8:30 AM, and pick-up as late as 3:30 PM, at Camp Curren, 13220 50th Ave E 98446 south of Hwy 512 off Canyon Road between Puyallup & Tacoma.

Pandemic Era Health Protocols

We exceed the state’s pandemic era guidelines for day camps (pdf) and child care facilities, and to start each day, camper must pass our health screening (and fitted-mask approval) every morning before being allowed to exit vehicles. We will have 3 independent camp groups operating on site at Camp Curran each week. Each group will consist of 9 campers with 1 lead instructor and 1 teenage assistant.

Please click here for full details on our health and safety protocols during the pandemic era. Masks and hygiene protocols will remain as strict as last year: proper hand sanitizing whenever sharing tools and materials, before entering toilet, and supervised hand washing afterwards. Toilet facilities will be fully aired out (door open for at least a minute) between uses. For more information, please click link at start of this paragraph for staff-related facility hygiene policies and our other communicable disease prevention protocols.

3-6 foot outdoor distancing will be our goal as per the latest CDC summer camp guidelines, whereas last year we instituted a “zombie” theme and walked children in formations to keep them 6-12′ apart. All staff will be vaccinated this year, and children are more aware of pandemic protocols now, so we will instead train them in our specialized “outdoor safety and awareness” theme and encourage self-enforcement of distancing, with redirection from staff when encroachment occurs. We know from experience that people of all ages naturally brake distancing on a regular basis, so parents should be aware that it will likely occur during camp despite daily trainings. If unrelated children ever accidentally touch, they will be directed to sanitize hands immediately. Children must also maintain greater than 6 foot distancing from staff at all times, except when all parties are stationary and wearing masks to take temperatures, or to help with hands-on projects like archery training, etc.

Tuition

Please choose your contribution level for Puyallup Summer Day Camp weeks. It’s fine to mix and match prices if registering multiple children/weeks.

$485 to attend and sponsor a camper receiving financial aid.
$425 to attend and sponsor a camper applying for a merit scholarship.
$365 for 2021 rate which is set to cover our tighter 4-1 student-staff ratio during the pandemic era, and to recover expenses from last year’s pandemic-related cancelations.
$285 for 2020 rate is fine if you were not able to attend last year due to the pandemic, or are experiencing financial issues this year.
$225 if your camper completes a merit scholarship.
$165 if you successfully apply for financial aid to attend camp.

The only additional expenses you may incur for camp are that you will need to pack a lunch and snacks every day, and of course all campers need health insurance. Tuition includes organic t-shirt at your first camp with us, then either an orienteering compass, recommended field guide, firesteel or other essential depending on number of camps attended, age and availability.

Registration

Registrations for Summer 2021 will be taken in the following order.

At this time we are reserving remaining spaces for those who still have a deposit on file with us from 2020 pandemic cancelations. Simply send us an email with the dates you wish to reserve, and that’s it for now. We will invoice you this spring for summer balance payment, and will have you update registration forms with health screening a few days before camp starts.
Waitlist Is Available: If new spaces open up, we will contact parents with campers ages 8 and above in the order we receive requests. Just send us an email with your • name, • preferred camp themes and dates, • child’s name(s), and • assessment of ability to follow our pandemic health protocols written above. Thanks!

Pandemic-Year Registration Process: New campers need to complete and return a Word or PDF or Google Doc registration form within a week of receiving confirmation of available space. We will email invoices in the spring, and to make final confirmation of attendance in the summer, a minimum $195 deposit will be due in July, with options to pay balances via paypal, credit card, or check as described on the invoice by the end of the summer camp season. Deposits we have on file that are not used this year will be kept as full credits for next year, except in case of financial hardship, no matter the reason for missed camp days.

Non-Pandemic Year Registration Process: Use the PayPal system normally seen below, or sign into paypal.com and “send money” to our email address, or call us at 425-248-0253 with a credit card, or open our Registration Form (Word or PDF or Google Doc) on your computer, fill out one per new participant (not needed for returning campers) and send or email it back to us. We also have a Bilingual Chinese-English Registration Form PDF or Word Doc. You can also send a check deposit payable to Wolf Camp, 1026 14th St. SW, Puyallup WA 98371.

Email us to be put on our our list for this program in the future. We always keep your information absolutely private, and will never share it.

Refund Policy: Deposits ($100 for day programs, $200 for overnight programs) are not refundable unless we don’t accept your application. If you cancel for any reason, you may receive a full credit good through the following calendar year on appropriate and available programs listed on our schedule, although an additional deposit is needed to secure your spot in the future program. If a program you sign up for is canceled and not rescheduled at a time you can attend, you may receive a full refund except in cases of natural (weather, geologic, wildfire, etc) disasters, epidemics, grid failures, government shutdowns, conflicts or curfews, or other unforeseen emergencies making it unsafe for staff and/or attendees to reach or use program locations, in which case all payments made will be held by us without expiration date for your future use in appropriate/available programs of your choice. Reasons include the expenditure of funds (property rentals, advertising, materials, admin staff time, etc.) long before programs take place, i.e. deposits make it feasible for Wolf Camp to schedule programs in the first place, but our mutually understood agreement is that Wolf Camp will run the program at the safest available time in the future. Finally, no refund, nor credit, is given if a participant is asked to leave a program for inappropriateness as determined by our kids, youth and adult agreements for participation.