We are a few people who love teaching about the outdoors and who are dedicated to the education of primitive and traditional skills as well as the history that surrounds them. For "primitive skills are our shared inheritance. It is the shared thread which links us to our prehistory and binds us together as human beings." -Steve Watts

Our main purpose is to learn from those who know, share what we know, and gain friends. Our focus is on the basic skills and knowledge that has made us who we are today; for the only way we have advanced so far is by knowing the past but desiring the future. 
Many times the old legends say it best:

• "We do not go to the green woods and crystal waters to rough it, we go to smooth it. We get it rough enough at home; in towns and cities; in shops, offices, stores, banks—anywhere that we may be placed—with the necessity always present of being on time and up to our work; of providing for the dependent ones; of keeping up, catching up, or getting left. "Alas for the life-long battle, whose bravest slogan is Bread."I am talking ... to those of the world's workers who go, or would like to go, every summer to the woods. And to these I would say, don't rough it; make it as smooth, as restful and pleasurable as you can."  - Nessmuk 

That is our hope, that we can help all who come to be able to make life, as well as camping, "as smooth, as restful and pleasurable as you can." For the more we know the less we need, making life simpler, especially in the outdoors. There is a tranquility that effects our life as we travel amongst the trees and upon the raw ground, choosing our own trail. While we view the lofty mountains and drink from the crystal streams, there is a draw to encounter the unknown, to discover the forgotten scenery, and to become explorers of the vast depths found both within your surroundings and within yourself. These wanderings through the hills, grasslands, and deserts are the moments that clarify life and smooth the strains of the city's requests.

We have great plans and high hopes for what we can become with the help of our wonderful community, but right now we are small and just starting out. We help teach local schools and scout troops, and we are working in conjunction with Majestic View Nature Center, Living Arts School, Colorado Skin on Frame Kayaks, and Cottonwood Institute.

---

​
​Ryan "Drover" Hall

Drover's passions in life are teaching, being outdoors, and making things; if he can do these three things he’s a happy man. He believes in a life full of adventure, with survival walkabouts in the deserts, going on bicycle trips (like from California to Florida), exploring majestic canyons, and gliding through untouched snow in the backcountry.  He follows the old mantra of “the more you know the less you need”.  Thus he’s a man of many skills from the modern age all the way back to ancient times.   He tans hides, carves wood & stone, makes kayaks from raw materials, builds with timbers, plays with clay, makes herbal medicine, and is a blacksmith. He also welds, develops websites, takes photographs, does graphic design and video editing. 

Drover started S.O.L.S. to share the passion of the outdoors. 

​​
​Beth Hall

Beth grew up on the east coast in the greater DC area. As an adult she escaped to live out west from Idaho to Arizona, Colorado to Utah, and fell in love with the vast open views of mountains and deserts, picking up knowledge and skills along the way. Recently she has landed next to Lake Michigan. Beth feels most like herself when near water and believes that there is so much to learn from it's movement.  She loves discovering patterns all around her. A few of her favorite things include rock hounding, making music, and hanging out with her family. Teaching comes naturally to Beth, as her excitement about learning is contagious.