Learning to count on nature

By Paul Boerger
Published: Wednesday, February 14, 2007 4:06 PM CST

Tim Corcoran says he became a man at the age of 12 when he completed a three-month, 35-state backpacking adventure by making a solo climb of Mt. Shasta.

“I created my own personal code of honor on the mountain,” recalls Corcoran, founder of the local Headwaters Outdoor School. “I vowed I would dedicate my life to connecting boys and girls, men and women, all people, to the spirit of the natural world.”

After recently instructing an 11-day winter class during which 14 students learned a variety of survival skills, Corcoran said there is more to nature than simple survival.

“Through all the craziness in this world, the one constant you can count on for wonderment is nature,” he said. “The school helps people have a personal relationship with nature. It benefits all areas of life, relationships, health, mental health and fun.”

The class was held at numerous locations, including Headwaters land near Mt. Shasta, on the flanks of the 14,162 foot mountain, and at Lava Beds National Wildlife Refuge.

Students learned about winter shelters, fire making, hunting and trapping (with no animals harmed), winter travel and wildlife identification.

Headwaters offers year-round outdoor experiences including wilderness skills, vision quest, nature retreats, plant medicine, earth philosophy and a rite of passage experience for young boys.

Corcoran's recent class began with two and a half days living in bark tepees, then moved to the mountain for two nights in snow shelters. It concluded with four days at Lava Beds.

“With the world getting more crowded,” Corcoran said, “winter is a time in the wilderness you can always be alone. It's all yours.”

He said spending two nights in a snow cave can make class members wonder, “What did I get myself into?” But, “Almost every time, people don't want to leave the winter behind. The experience becomes winter appreciation.”

In the snow above Bunny Flat on a sunny day, Corcoran urges class members to get their snow shelter built before night falls; he knows it's going to get cold, and the weather could turn bad.

“I don't want to hear about fatigue,” Corcoran says. “Just get the shelters built.”

Corcoran said his interest in the wilderness began at a young age with his grandfather and uncle, who first took him into the woods when he was just six years old.

He said his backpacking trip at age 12 was a rite of passage, “my becoming a man trip,” he called it.

At age 17, Corcoran said he spent four months alone in the Canadian wilderness practicing earth skills.

“No matter how long you live, nature will never stop taking you deeper into itself,” Corcoran says. “Our ancestors lived closer to the land. The school helps you remember what you already know, what's in your blood.”