TRACKER GATHERING
CALENDAR OF EVENTS
"Arrive when you can, depart when you wish."
Workshop, Clinic and Presentation Calendar
Workshops are offered daily by experienced certified trackers who hold Professional or Specialist Certifications or have scored 98-100% on Track and Sign Certifications. Some of these experts will present free indoor tracking-related talks or "clinics" each evening at 6pm. Other workshop leaders are master naturalists, primitive skills & survival training, trailing professionals and nature writers.
The workshop leaders determine their audience. Beginner? Intermediate? Experienced? Everybody? The pricing is set by the workshop leader. Most leaders accept their own reservations, deposits and tuition.
Questions about making reservations for any workshop should be directed to the workshop leader whose email address will be found on the workshop page.
Find links to all the workshops, clinics, leader bios below in the Calendar of Events, the heart and soul of what's going on for the ten day Tracker Gathering. Clicking the link of the name of the workshop will bring you to information about the workshop, the presenter, and payment information if there is any.
Tuesday and Wednesday, September 1 & 2 (no events)
Early check-ins for Leaders scouting for best workshop locations
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Thursday, September 3
Tracker arrival day. Terry and Kim will be available to greet you and show you around all day Thursday.
PS: You may check in on ANY day – Thursday is simply the "kickoff".
No activities scheduled until 5:00pm.
4-7pm Evening meal prep, mixer, hilarious social time.... all leading to a presentation by Kim.
5 - 6pm The Lodge: Humboldt Track & Sign Brain Teaser & Mixer Shake off the travel cobwebs and get into the track & sign mindset. Dive into track casts, feathers, skulls, bones and mandibles displayed on the table. Tackle 20 fun track & sign identification questions with real tracks (casts), feathers, skulls, scat. No sharing answers or scoring required. This fun, low-pressure warm-up sharpens your tracking eyes, boosts critical thinking, and gets you attuned to the wildlife stories you'll spot in the Redwood forest, trails, sandbars and meadows over the next week. And you will instantly begin making new friends.
6pm The Lodge: WELCOME! -- Terry Hunefeld & Kim Cabrera
6:30-7:30pm Free: The Secret Life of Camp Ravencliff: Tracks, Trails, and Things that go Bump in the Night - Kim Cabrera
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Friday, September 4
9am - 1pm Discover Bear Bites, Beds & Stomp Trails - Kim Cabrera and Terry Hunefeld
9am - 1pm Tracking The Wild: Learning to Read Tracks and Sign - Alexis Burnett
9am - 4pm Transform Your Tracking: Critical Observation Skills for Trackers & Trailers - Jonathan Shapiro
5-7pm Evening meal prep, meal, social time and a free event. The Lodge.
6-7pm Free: My Mountain Lion Adventures -- Matt Nelson
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Saturday, September 5
9am - noon Track and Sign Identification: A Practical Approach Mike Cox
9am - 4pm A "Mock Eval" (An "Eval" With No Stress) Accelerated Learning -Jonathan Shapiro
9am - 4pm What's Going On? Reading the Wild in Tracks, Trees, and Time- Sam Giovanetti
1pm - 5pm Writing about Wildlife Tracking - Mallory Clarke
5-7pm Evening meal prep, meal, social time and a free event. The Lodge
6pm Free Clinic: Five Free Internet Websites Essential For Trackers - Terry Hunefeld
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Sunday, September 6
8am - 6pm Tracker Certification Day 1. Evaluator Matt Nelson
9am - Noon Eel River Sand Canvas: Decode Animal Stories with Tracking Icon with Kim Cabrera
9am - 4pm What's Going On? Reading the Wild in Tracks, Trees, and Time - Sam Giovanetti
9am - 4pm Fast Track Your Tracking Skills; Recognize Prints and Patterns – Leah Olivotti and Nate Young
5-7pm Evening meal prep, meal, social time and a free event. The Lodge.
5 - 6pm The Lodge: Humboldt Track & Sign Brain Teaser & Mixer Same engaging mind-warmup as Thursday’s Mixer — but with all-new tracks, feathers, skulls, and questions. Expect more fun, fresh challenges, new people to connect with, and plenty of “aha!” moments that lock in your skills for real-world tracking.
6pm Free Presentation: Storytelling night - sign up to tell your favorite story about wildlife and tracking. - Sam Giovanetti
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Monday, September 7
9am - 1pm Tracking The Wild: Learning to Read Tracks and Sign - Alexis Burnett
8am - 4pm Tracker Certification: Day 2 Evaluator Matt Nelson
9am - 4pm What's Going On? Reading the Wild in Tracks, Trees, and Time - Sam Giovanetti
5-7pm Evening meal prep, meal, social time and a free event. The Lodge.
6pm Presentation: How I ended up creating a tracking book... and what I learned along the way - Sam Giovanetti
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Tuesday, September 8
9am - 1pm Taking The Animal Home With You - the Magic of Casting -Terry Hunefeld
9am - 4pmFast Track Your Tracking Skills; Recognize Prints and Patterns – Leah Olivotti and Nate Young
9am - 4pm Seeing The Animal - Real-world Trailing Training - Jonathan Shapiro
5-7pm Evening meal prep, meal, social time and a free event. The Lodge
6pm Free Presentation: Bird Tracks You Will Be Asked at Certifications - Terry Hunefeld
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Wednesday, September 9
8am - 5pm Track & Sign Certification Day 1. Evaluator Matt Nelson
9am - Noon How Dusty Back‑Country Roads Become Nature’s Chalkboard - Kim Cabrera
9am- 4pm Making Fire From Nothing - Real Life Primitive Skills -Zander Balthaser
5-7pm Evening meal prep, meal, social time and a free event. The Lodge
5 - 6pm The Lodge: Track & Sign Brain Teaser Back for another round of the popular Track & Sign Brain Teaser (see last Thursday’s Mixer for the full vibe) — this time with completely different specimens and questions. You’ll have a blast, meet more trackers, learn even more, and head back into the field with sharper eyes and deeper confidence.
6pm Free Presentation: North American Bird Feathers asked at Certifications... revealed!
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Thursday, September 10
8am - 4pm Tracker Certification Day 2. Evaluator Matt Nelson
9am- 4pm Making Fire From Nothing - Real Life Primitive Skills- Zander Balthaser
5-7pm Evening meal prep, meal, social time and a free event. The Lodge
6pm Free Presentation: Critical Thinking - An Essential Skill in Obscure Track Identification - Jonathan Shapiro
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Friday, September 11
9am - 4pm "Mock" Eval A Certification With No Stress - Accelerated Learning, Tons of Fun - Jonathan Shapiro
8:30am - 1pm Redwood Forest Beds: Kim Cabrera's Bear Bed & Trail Expedition - Kim Cabrera and Terry Hunefeld
9am- 4pm Making Fire From Nothing - Real Life Primitive Skills Workshop - Zander Balthasar
5-7pm Evening meal prep, meal, social time and a free event. The Lodge
6pm Free Presentation: Avian Predation: Questions To Ask Yourself On Certifications
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Saturday, September 12
9am - noon Tracking With Terry at his Fave Ravencliff sites -- Terry Hunefeld
9am - 4pm Finding Wildlife: Discover Landscape Funnels to Locate Wildlife -- Leah Olivotti and Nate Young
9am - 4pm Seeing The Animal Real-world Trailing Training - Jonathan Shapiro
5-7pm Evening meal prep, meal and social time. The Lodge
6pm Closing Ceremony & Farewells - Sharing What We Learned
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Sunday, September 13
6am - 11am Final Good-byes - Homeward Bound
Navigating the TrackerGathering website
Roadmap: TrackerGathering website directory
Calendar of Events: Workshops, clinics, presentations, certifications... the Calendar is the Heart of the Event.
Reserve & Register to attend the Tracker Gathering
TCNA 2-Day Certifications with Matt Nelson
FAQs - Things you don't know – but need to know!
Matt Nelson and Leah Olivotti
at a TCNA certification in Wisconsin
Oh, What Fun We'll Have!
SMITHSONIAN MAGAZINE COVER STORY: The TCNA Track & Sign Certification was the cover story in SMTHSONIAN MAGAZINE. If you've never participated in a Track & Sign certification, we recommend you read the fascinating Smithsonian story written by an actual participant. Also, to get a feel for the Certification process, check out the TCNA Certification page - also an excellent glimpse into The TCNA Certification Process.
A Few Southern Humboldt County Mammals Recorded and Reported to iNaturalist.org
