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Next trip June 23, 2006: Contact for details.

Coming July 22nd, our 3rd semester of Wilderness Skills Classes in Athens, GA

Welcome! info

              Life is good on the trail. As John Muir once said, "cares fall away like autumn leaves". Indeed, a walk in the mountains sparks a tremendous sense of liberation. What is even more liberating is having everything one needs for a two-night stay slung across the shoulders in a light backpack. The Appalachian Backpacking Courses provide detailed and personal guidance for beginning, experienced, and future "thru" hikers. Each tutorial course is tailored for individual needs, and each session features a guided backpacking trip in the Appalachian Mountains. We want to share thousands of miles of backpacking lessons with you to help you take the next -or first- step in your own experience.

Our purpose is to guide each student through the steps to reach their own backpacking goals. We help each student -through on-line tutorials and personal e-mails- prepare for their trip. Students must bring their own backpacking equipment, provide and cook their own trail meals, and carpool/caravan to trailheads. We guide each student every step of the way, from obtaining the best trail maps and compasses in town, to using them to navigate in the field. Find out about specific course content for beginning, experienced, and thru-hike courses.

General Information (Follow links for more detailed information)

Guides - Nate "Tha Wookie" Olive and Sarah "Island Mama" Janes, the authors of the ABC Tutorials, invite each client and friends of the ABC Tutorials along for a free interpretive backpacking adventure. Read about their own adventures here.

Trip Location - Remote, privately owned beautiful land in the Appalachians of North GA or North Carolina. Class participants may also join Tutorial authors on a free camping trip (we cannot "guide" in National lands) to some amazing places from North Georgia to Virginia after they have completed the class tutorials. Customized trip locations and lengths are available- contact for details.

Class Size- 1-8 people.

Reservations- Contact Tha Wookie to inquire about private courses. Please note that this is not a guide service for public lands.

Cost -$250 per person for internet tutorials and personal consultion from Nate "Tha Wookie" Olive. Includes: Access to tutorial prep books, 5 hours of phone consultation, email support for 2 months, gear list critiques, recommendations, and personal meetings before and after free class trip.

          -$500 per person includes all of the same, but on a one-to-one basis for the pre and post trip sessions, the option to customize the course exactly to your personal interest, 15 hours consultation, an additional pre-trip meeting, and more...

Transportation- Students must provide their own transportation to the class trip, or we may arrange a carpool.

Contact- Book your course here, or just say hello!