At Rome Conservation Area in Gardner, this guided outing blends a weighted-pack hike with practical wilderness survival training. Participants choose how much weight to carry and move at a pace that suits their fitness level while covering a few miles on varied terrain with small inclines, roots, and rocks. After time on the trail, instruction turns to essential backcountry skills, including map and compass navigation, building emergency shelters, fire making, assembling survival kits, basic wood carving, emergency planning, and strategies to avoid conflicts with wildlife. Rucking, or walking with added weight, helps build strength and endurance, supports overall fitness, and prepares people to carry necessary gear or assist others in an emergency.
Please bring a hiking pack, water, lunch, snacks, and weather-appropriate clothing, along with comfortable, broken-in hiking footwear. All materials for the survival portion are provided, and those who wish may bring a carving tool, fire starter, and compass. The instructors will also offer these tools for purchase at the start of class.
The class is led by Andrea Bailey of Evolving Mind and Body, a Licensed Mental Health Counselor, Mindfulness-Based Ecotherapist, and functional fitness professional who created TheraRuck, a system that weaves rucking, mindset growth, and embodied healing, and by Tim Swanson of Owl Eyes Wilderness Survival, the founder and lead instructor with degrees in Adventure Education Leadership and Adventure Therapy. He is a Level 2 Certified Animal Tracker, Wilderness First Responder, Leave No Trace Master Educator, and published author who teaches realistic, connection-based survival and bushcraft throughout Massachusetts and New England for all ages.