Join us on an adventure in fishing, crafting, and exploring the hidden secrets of the streams, lakes, and rivers that surround us. We begin the week at Kroka Village where we will carve our own fishing poles, learn to tie flies, and rig our lines. In the afternoons we will try our luck from shore, testing our patience and our wit while exploring the magical forests that surround us. Then with barrels packed and lines reeled tight, we will head out on a three-day expedition by canoe through one of Vermont’s most famous fisheries. Each day we’ll paddle further downstream, learning about currents, eddies, and fish habitat. In the heat of the day we’ll stop to swim and to test the many rope swings and jumping rocks along the shore! We will camp in the forest and cook delicious dinners over the fire. We eat what we catch: eager fisherfolk should be excited to catch, gut, clean, and cook their fish! If you’ve fallen hook line and sinker for the adventure of fishing, this expedition is not to be missed!

Experience the thrill of adventure and wilderness while creating a close circle of new friends. This program is designed as an introduction to Kroka and will cover the basics of our curriculum: navigation, backpacking, canoeing, camp craft, and rock climbing. After two days of "Kroka 101" training at our base camp, we will depart for our journey by foot and paddle, experiencing the beauty of the wilderness as we swim, craft, and spend evenings by the campfire. This program is designed as a bridge for students who are new to Kroka's expedition lifestyle, and participants will be able to enter any intermediate Kroka program with competence and confidence.

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to live in a time when all the necessities of life were made by hand from the raw materials of the earth? During this exciting week of adventure and discovery we will settle into traditional dwellings made from poles and sod. We will learn the names of trees as we search for the perfect branches that will become our bows and arrows. Days will be filled with playing forest games, swimming, lighting fires, learning to cook wholesome feasts, and experiencing a day of rock climbing. Venturing deep into the forest we will set up a wilderness outpost and learn a variety of primitive crafts. Come celebrate the wonder of craft - producing useful things from the gifts of the forest - and return home with your own creations.

You cup it gently in your palm, the most powerful force on Earth, the source of life. This miniature sun spun to life with wood gathered from the forest has been enlivened from your gentle breath to become fire. During this adventure we will learn to make fire as was done in ancient ways with friction and flint and steel. As we travel the forest, we will learn to carry the fire with us, and to bring it to life in the wet and rain. Coals from the fire will burn the branches that become our spoons. As we deepen our relationship to this sacred element, we will learn to make, tend, use, celebrate, and care for it. We will come to know Fire as a sacred part of our lives. More than this, traveling through the wilderness will teach us to connect with the living Earth, be it gathering wild edibles or building an overnight shelter. We must all come prepared to carry an overnight backpack through the mountains, leaving modern conveniences behind, and proudly carry our inner flame of community.

Engage your senses in this adventurous week of growing, foraging, and cooking delicious food. Become a master forager, a farm-to-table chef, and a connoisseur of wild tastes. We begin our journey on the Kroka farm, where we will cultivate vegetables and nurture animals that will provide us with the gift of food. Trading our pitchforks for knives, we will learn and master technical cooking skills from local celebrity chef Theresa Darling. We will test our recipes in Kroka’s state-of-the-art sustainable kitchen – then take it up a notch by cooking over the open fire in the backcountry. With bags packed full of fresh ingredients, we will hike out to a wilderness campsite and build a stone hearth for cooking. Here we blend the culinary skills of the kitchen with the wild wisdom of the woods. As we prepare our recipes we will form a close-knit community of friends and share stories and songs. Our week will culminate with a student-prepared feast to share with the Kroka community!