Kl Kayenta

My desire to make anasazi pottery started with my interest in primitive and survival skills. I love the fact that you can go into the wild with nothing and get all you need to survive and even flourish from the earth. The idea that you can go out and dig up some “dirt”, shape it, paint it and fire it all using only materials found in nature is amazing to me.

I love the outdoors and going on adventures, camping and hiking, campfires with friends, running, playing soccer, and wilderness skills. I love the Anasazi culture, and I especially love their pottery. I really enjoy travelling and visiting the many ruins and museums all over the American Southwest.

Erik Rasmussen

Erik Rasmussen has been interested in the outdoors since he was very young. His naturalist training started at the age of seven.

His childhood programs stoked his love of the outdoors. Growing up he learned fire by friction, arrowhead knapping, basketry, bowry, primitive pottery, tracking, bird language, edible and medicinal plants and much more. He started teaching when he ws 13 years olf. When he was old enough Erik started to facilitate programs of 20+ kids in nature exploration classes. He has taught at many classes in the Western United States.

Wanting to round out his skills as an Outdoorsman Erik attended the University of Utah and received his Bachelors in Parks Recreation and Tourism; emphasizing in Adventure and Outdoor Programs. He also received an Entrepreneurship Certificate. During his time in school Erik continued his practice in survival skills but also gained proficiency in mountain biking, rock climbing, snowboarding, skiing, kayaking, backpacking and other outdoor sports. To finish off his school career Erik interned at EarthWalk Northwest where he assisted with classes and soaked up skills knowledge like a sponge. He keeps his Wilderness First Responder Certificate up to date and continues to educate himself in the ancestral arts.

Today when Erik is not teaching he spends his time taking care of his daughter and wandering Utah’s marvelous landscape. His favorite skills are tracking, bird language, basketry and flint knapping. Erik’s passion for reconnecting people to nature has grown strong enough to build Making Tracks Earth Education.

Mark & Artimas Bayless

Artemis is an artist, art educator, clairvoyant healer and a lover of trees, rivers, birds and sky. Artemis has practiced and taught visual art for many years and enjoys sharing her love of drawing and painting in nature, far away from traditional classrooms. She has practiced intuitive healing techniques for over 15 years and is an accomplished clairvoyant with many hard-won skills and knowledge gems to share in that field. Artemis will be teaching Nature Drawing from Observation, Basic Grounding and Protection Techniques for Working With Energy, and holding private healing sessions.

Mark is a product of the West.  He grew up in San Diego
where he fostered a great love for the ocean and all things in nature.
Hiking in the hills east of San Diego and the desert further to the east
honed his great appreciation for the desert southwest which has continued
to this day.  

Several years ago, Mark became a member of the Primitive Skills community
through his involvement with the Anasazi Foundation and his association with
the people there.  Becoming a member of this ‘tribe’ changed and transformed his life. 

 Mark is an artist/sculptor (markkempbayless.com) and an environmental consultant.  He lives with his wife, Artemis, their son, Abe and their wonder dog, Taika in the foothills of west Cave Creek, Arizona.  Hiking on the trails just off their property is an ongoing activity with the family.

 At Rabbit Stick, Winter Count and at the Elements gatherings, Mark has taught stone pendant making, soapstone carving, petroglyph pecking and pictograph painting (grinding stones into powder on a metate with a mano, processing the powder into paint, making paint brushes from yucca, then painting on thin sandstone).

At Fire to Fire, Mark will be teaching stone pendant making, soapstone carving and knife throwing (yep, throwing sharp pointy things through the air and sticking them into a target).

Ty Hardy

Ty has been attending primitive skills gatherings since he was 10 years old. His first Project was an atlatl which he still owns and loves to throw. Ty is a kid at heart and Fire to fire 2020 will be his 7th tweens camp. He is the reigning Banana tag champ and looks forward to encouraging the tweens to learn skills and have fun!

Brennon Miller

Brennon has always had an adventurous spirit, a love of learning, and a love of the outdoors. He has studied primitive living skills for 15+ years. He loves learning from, and teaching new skills to others. Brennon has been involved teaching youth groups outdoor survival skills in many different capacities. Learning to not only to survive but to thrive and enjoy the outdoors is one of his favorite passions in life!

Paul Wright

Paul Wright has been an avid outdoorsman all his life.  Spending most of his life in Southeast Idaho and Bear Lake County he gained an appreciation for all things in Nature and a close relationship to Native American Traditions.

He has experienced much in life, as an avid hunter and outdoorsman.  He was a hunting guide and worked in taxidermy for several years.

Due in his interest in History and Culture he was the President of the Upper Snake River Valley historical society and served on the board for 5 years.

His interest in the art of Flint Knapping began when he met Dave Wescott and started attending the Rabbit Stick gatherings in 1995.  Since then he has honed his skills and freely shared his experience with those around him.  His work can be found all over the west in stores and homes.

He has an affinity for working with Stones, as he would say “I like to play with Rocks” and has produces some beautiful work with Fire Opals from the mine in Spencer, Idaho.  He has developed the skill of wire wrapping stones and jewelry, as well as setting his stones in silver and gold for rings, earrings, pendants, etc.

His magnetic personality and jovial persona draw others to him in a very natural way. He has the “gift of gab” as some would say, and is a great person to get to know around a fire.  He and his brother Scott open their camp to anyone to join in an evening of conversation and music as part of connecting to each other, and inviting others to join.  He is affectionately know as “Pauli Lama” because of his clear way of seeing and expressing himself.

Jake Smith

My name is Jake Smith. The first job I ever had was helping my father run survival programs for local kids who were in high school. I have been in love with the wilderness ever since. I worked every summer in the deserts of Southern Utah. I then served a mission for my church for two years on the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico. I learned to speak Spanish and Mayan and learned many primitive skills from those people. I came home and began working for The Journey, a company that uses work, wilderness and therapy to change young teenagers lives. I became the Field Director for the outdoor component of the programs and then we started The Journey Wilderness program. I eventually became the Executive Director and helped train many staff and worked with many clients. I earned my degree in emergency management from Utah Valley University. I am a Wilderness EMT and love teaching Wilderness First Responder classes. I am a member of a Utah search and rescue team, but my ultimate pride and joy is my family. I have four amazing kids and a wife who supports and loves me. I have a passion for learning and teaching primitive and living history skills. I feel the better a person is trained the safer they are.

Michael Baird

Michael is a primitive skills instructor for California Survival school, a wilderness emt, and a backpacking guide for various therapy programs in the southwest. He has a passion for people and hanging out in the desert in his big hat.