Wilderness Survival Craft Day Camps at Lake Sammamish

July 31 – Aug 4, 2023 Wilderness Survival Craft for ages 8-13 with no prerequisite, and seven year olds ok with older sibling at camp. Four new spaces are available as of May 25th.
August 7-11, 2023 Wilderness Survival Craft for ages 8-13 with no prerequisite, and seven year olds ok with older sibling at camp is currently open to • campers with credit from prior years, • campers needing prerequisite to attend the Aug 14-18 advanced survival, and • campers applying for financial aid scholarships. If you don’t meet these qualifications, please click here to join the list for priority placement for any spaces available this summer.
August 14-18, 2023 Advanced Wilderness Survival for ages 10-15 who have completed at least two prior camps this year or in past years, and qualified nine year olds ok if attending with an older friend or sibling, has 6 new spaces available we added May 1st, while the overnight option is waitlisted.

Wilderness Survival Craft is especially great for hands-on learners, and the theme celebrates its 26th year this summer at the Hans Jensen Group Camp where we can safely roam hundreds of acres of wild state-owned forest.

Re-create a traditional way of life with us, honoring the gifts of wood, stone, fire and water. We’ll follow the critical order of survival, practice emergency response scenarios addressing the top hazards in nature, build warm shelters, purify drinking water, make fire, and prepare the most important plants and insects for survival.

Campers will also witness bow drill fire by friction and then work with a team to practice it themselves. They will learn aidless navigation for lostproofing, craft tools of stone, including a coarse knife. They will make rabbit sticks and other honorable hunting implements, learning that all life – plant, animal and mineral – is sacred to be respected.

Camp Itinerary

Itineraries are subject to some amount of change based upon location, weather, instructor preference, and natural resource availability.

Monday: Awareness, Navigation & Community Building

Morning Session: Introductions; Awareness Training, Order of Survival
Lunchtime: Bring & Eat Lunch from home, then our After Lunch Activities (ALA) include choice of Archery, Chill Time, Sprinkler Games & Swimming (creek wading, or go to lake for swim tests on days lifeguards are available)
Afternoon Session: Natural Navigation & Survival Shelters

Tuesday: Water, Wild Edible & Medicinal Plants

Morning Session: Water Purification Practice, Digging Seeps & Rock Boiling Demo
Lunchtime & ALA: (see monday description)
Afternoon Session: Top 10 Plants, Wild Teas & Edible Insects

Wednesday: Emergency Shelter & Fire

Morning Session: Fire Pits & Safety, Bed-Pillow-Blanket for Baby Fire, Tinder & Firesteel Trainings;
Lunchtime & ALA: (see monday description)
Afternoon Session: Matches Training, Bow Drill Demo & Challenge

Thursday: Animal Craft

Morning Session: Rope Making, Stone Knife Making; Intro to Animal Trailing;
Lunchtime & ALA: (see monday description)
Afternoon Session: Rabbitstick Training, Honorable Hunter Training, Animal Trailing;

Friday: Survival Scenarios

Morning Session: Survival Review & Scenario Challenges;
Lunchtime & ALA: (see monday description)
Afternoon Session: Survival Craft Trading Market & Closing Ceremonies

Daily Camp Schedule, Pick-Up & Drop-Off Directions

8:30-9:00 Check-Ins & Morning Care (gate opens at 8:30)
9:00-9:30 Songs, Stories, Stretches & Late Check-Ins
9:30-12:00 Morning Lessons with snack break at 10:45
12:00-1:00 Lunch, Games & Archery Option
1:00-3:00 Afternoon Lessons with water break at 2:00
3:00-4:00 Camp Crafts, Creek Time, Berry Picking & Early Check-Outs
4:00-4:30 Aftercare & Final Pick-Ups (all-staff meeting starts at 4:30)

Best arrival time is 8:45-9:00 am, and best departure time is right around 4:00 pm, at the Lake Sammamish Hans Jensen Group Camp, 4460 East Lake Sammamish Pkwy SE, Issaquah WA 98029. The land is managed by the state park but not generally open to the public. Look for the hard-to-spot gravel driveway ACROSS THE STREET from the East Lake Sammamish BOAT LAUNCH – by the park ranger’s house – NOT THE MAIN PARK ENTRANCE.

Camp Leaders

Camp Directors Ansley Roberts & Matt Hale are on site all week with Wolf Camp founders Kim & Chris Chisholm teaching groups and directing professionally-trained staff instructors at our hallmark 6-1 average student-teacher ratio that’s critical for safe and profound outdoor experiences. Read our FAQ’s for more details and check out camp testimonials dating all the way back to 1997.

Health Protocols

Hygiene protocols will remain the same as last year as long as there is still no evidence of Covid transmission in the outdoors with plenty of room to spread out. To start each day, campers must pass our health screening before being allowed to participate in camp, and we still require all campers to carry masks in backpacks. If there are reports of group participants who came in contact with an infection, we require participants of that group to wear masks when lined up or seated less than 3-6 feet from others. As before the pandemic, we will continue requiring hand sanitizing whenever sharing tools and materials, before entering toilets, and we supervise proper hand washing after campers exit toilet facilities – doors left open between uses to ensure ventilation.

Full vaccinations are strongly encouraged – we follow the scientific consensus – with tetanus shot (usually given as part of the normal Tdap vaccine series) considered the most important in the field of outdoor education. Otherwise, we know that due to our 100% outdoor setting, combined with health screenings, contact tracing, supervised hand washing, bathroom ventilation, mask use when exposure has been reported in a group, and individual/family style tenting at overnight camps, the risk of disease transmission has been negligible at Wolf Camp, so other vaccination records are not required.

Please click here for full details on our health and safety protocols during the pandemic era, see the latest CDC summer camp guidelines, and the state’s pandemic era guidelines for day camps (2021-22 pdf will be updated if/when 2023 guidance is issued).

Camp Tuition

$595 tuition at Lake Sammamish includes all expenses except you’ll need to pack lunch and appropriate outdoor wear. Discounts are available including $10 off per additional week you attend this summer, and $10 off per additional family member attending this summer. Or contribute $695 to be eligible for a $100 tax write-off and matching-donation programs, helping sponsor a camper receiving financial aid via the Conservation College – Max Davis Scholarship fund.

Alumni and those who had to cancel in 2020-22 due to pandemic era issues may attend at least one week at our pre-pandemic tuition rate if camp is unaffordable this year, and anyone including new campers may apply for a scholarship. When the Conservation College or other funding source can’t cover a need, we provide in-house financial aid to ensure everyone who applies can access at least one Wolf Camp week based on demonstrated need.
You will need to pack a healthy lunch, water and substantial snacks every day. Tuition includes t-shirt at your first camp with us, then choice of orienteering compass, recommended field guide, firesteel and other outdoor essentials depending on number of camps attended, age and availability.

Registration:

STEP 1 – Reserve your spots in camp by making $100 deposits for day camps, or $200 deposits for overnight camps via one of the following methods:

• Zelle to “kim@wolfcollege.com” with a note including your email address, camper name and age, camp dates and theme;
• Or call us between 9am-9pm at 425-248-0253 ex 1 or ex 2 with a credit card to register over the phone;
• Or use the PayPal system if appearing below;

STEP 2 – If this is your camper’s first year with us, complete our once-in-a-lifetime Registration Form within one week of making your deposit, otherwise we will have to refund you and give your spot(s) to others. You can use our Microsoft Word or PDF registration form, or make your own copy of our Google Doc form, or choose our Bilingual Chinese-English Registration Form PDF / Word Doc– one per new participant. We’ll need you to email it back to us for review within one week to maintain your reservation. Again, skip this step if your camper has attended anything with us in the past.

STEP 3 – Pay balance before or during your summer camp week. We’ll email you an invoice this spring with camp prep info and balance payment options (Zelle, PayPal, Check, Credit Card) that can be done in advance or during your first camp week. All payments are non-refundable unless we refuse your registration. However, if you cancel (at any time for any reason is fine) we will save your payments as credit for you to use in future years, or you can choose to have us move the funds into our scholarship account if you prefer. The best practice is to make the minimum deposits to register, and then wait to pay the remaining balance during your camp week via Zelle to “kim@wolfcollege.com” saving us time and transaction fees, or you can PayPal us at that same email address, or give us a check or have us run a credit card on site.

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

Refund Policy: Payments 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 may be 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, grid failures, epidemics, 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 a no-show without prior notice, or asked to leave a program for inappropriateness as determined by our kids, youth and adult agreements for participation.