An experimental experiential embodiment sanctuary space in the UP of Michigan

Michigan

No reviews • Updated 28 days ago

Hello WWOOFers, we are the Wellfolx pack - michael, tayla, ayān (6), and amagi (2), maple and birch (4-year-old shepsky sisters), and chewy and woody (1-year-old kitty siblings). We are an interracial, queer, neurodivergent family converting a 40-acre off-grid "camp" into a seasonal sanctuary space centering liberatory politics, reskilling and rewilding, and ceremonial healing. A bit about the place - Our camp is located on the waterfalls where the Yellow Dog River meets the Bushy Creek in the Huron Mountain Range of the Northwoods, Upper Peninsula of Michigan (da "UP"), Southcentral shores of Gichigami (Lake Superior), Occupied Anishinaabek 1842 Treaty lands. The camp has been here for ~100 years, and the infrastructure - cabin, sauna, outhouse, sheds, outbuildings, machinery, well, solar, septic, etc. - reflects that history. The land itself is magical. The camp sits on a flat, open plateau in the river canyon, overlooking the river, situated under a large rocky outcropping mountaintop with views of Superior, surrounded by ravines, rugged terrain, and old-growth woods. The land abuts State land, a local Community Forest, and commercial forestry land, so there is endless public access all around. We are three miles deep on a truck trail and a mile from our nearest year-round homestead neighbors, so it's very remote, and yet only 30 minutes from Marquette, the largest town in the UP, so amenities are readily accessible. A bit about us - We are PhDs, activist-organizers, land tenders, and healers. Michael has a PhD in ecology, spirituality, and religion with research in human rewilding, as well as a master's in Outdoor Leadership, an MBA, and a background in engineering and green building design, . Tayla has a PhD in women's spirituality with research in birth as an expanded state of consciousness, a master's in somatic psychology, and a background in the performing arts. We are both educators, teaching at skills gatherings, transformational festivals, and academia-adjacent. We are healers with various trainings in yoga, expanded states, rites of passage, nature connection, ecotherapy, adventure-based counseling, and more. We are longtime direct action activists, supporting Liberatory movements from LandBack to Black Liberation to Water Protection. We are land tenders with trainings in permaculture design, TEK, deep nature connection practices, folk herbalism, and more. And we are also parents to two feral wildlings, who are lots of fun and four hand fulls! A bit about the project - The dream is for this place to be a sanctuary space and a place of rest, respite, and retreat for liberatory movement organizing, reskilling in subsistence lifeways, and ceremonial healing. In year one, we removed ungodly amounts of junk, cleaned and revitalized camp, and assessed the systems. We are currently finalizing our nonprofit status, developing our website, and beginning fund raising. In season two, we plan to begin the permaculture design process, tend the land, and repair buildings and systems. A bit about you - You are comfortable living outdoors. The seasons in the Northwoods are extreme, and so is summer! From endless bugs - ticks, mosquitos, flies, gnats, and no-see-ums - to cool rainy early summers / early falls to hot and humid mid-summers, the season is moody! You are comfortable camping, using composting toilets, using outdoor showers, sauna baths, or bathing in the river, etc. You are comfortable with limited cell service, no internet, and being far from creature comforts. You have a 4x4 high clearance vehicle (a suburu can make it, but having something with a truck frame is more comfortable and more reliable). We can provide a 18x18 vinyl military wall tent that we have lived in in past seasons for your accommodations (see photos), and also have camping tent options if you prefer a more intimate experience nearer the river or mountain. If you have your own accommodations - bus, camper van, etc. - there is also ample space for that. You are a hard worker and welcome physical labor - we don't yet have machinery such as tractors or skid steers, so we do most land tending by hand. You have a positive attitude, ample curiosity, a lack of drama, and a desire to learn. You like kids, dogs, and cats! And you are stoked to be using your free time to play in the wild woods. Folx that identify as BIPOC and/or Queer, families with little kids, those interested in learning the healing arts, and those interested in helping organize a neighborhood forest school are all encouraged to apply. Next season, we plan to get into the permaculture design process, including designing and developing our perennial food forests. Projects include: food forest prep including building hugelmounds and rotten swales, composting leaf litter and humanure, and identifying fruit and nut trees to plant; garden tending including planting annual food plots, planting medicinal herb gardens, and transplanting wild perennials; yard tending including mowing, tree limbing, and wildfire load reduction; biomass relocation including wood chipping and firewood preparation; re-opening trails along the river corridor and building a trail system around the land; repairing structures (from painting to replacing decking to demolition) and building composting toilets, outdoor showers, woodracks, etc.; prepping climbing areas and cleaning rock climbing walls;etc., etc., etc. Projects are many and vary by the day/weather/season/mood. If you like variety, this is a project for you. Happy to lean into your skills and interests as well. Carpentry skills and experience operating chainsaws and brushcutters are especially desired. We have a communal screened-in outdoor kitchen and offer a pantry of staples - grains, beans, wild rice, coffee, etc. We tend to cook some breakfasts and most dinners together. We usually grill over the open fire in the evenings. During peak summer, we harvest wild foods when possible - ramps, fiddleheads, mushrooms such as chanterelles, oysters, and black trumpets, berries galore (serviceberries, thimbleberries, blueberries....), and applies are all common depending on the season and year. We'd love to incorporate more wild meats in the coming seasons as well. We are gluten-free, our space is free of alcohol, and we can accommodate a variety of dietary needs. We also have a 10x10 buried root cellar, have been into food preservation in the past (canning, drying, etc.), and would love to begin filling the root cellar with wild harvest preservation! We are movement organizers, healers, and outdoor professionals, so our "hobbies" tend to be our lifeways. With two little kids and a big land project dream, our day-to-day lives are very full. But we work hard and play hard! We love to forage wild foods and wildcraft herbal medicines. We love outdoor recreation - paddleboarding, rock climbing, mountain biking, hiking, backcountry ski touring are all common endeavors. Endless recreation areas are nearby from the Yellow Dog Community Forest to Powell Township mountain biking trails, to Big Bay Beach on Lake Superior to the North Country Trail and on and on. We love leisure time too - hammock time, waterfall lounging, and beach bumming are all spectacular here. Come ready to play in the woods!

Learning opportunities

Vegetable farming

Fruit or nut farming

Forestry

Wild foraging

Vegetable or fruit preservation

Traditional crafts

Green Building

Food justice / sovereignty

Methods or systems

Holistic management

No-till farming

Permaculture

Regenerative agriculture

Mentoring opportunities

LGBTQ+-operated

Woman-operated

BIPOC-operated

Host type

Nonprofit / Community

Former WWOOFer

16.2 Hectares | 40 Acres

Accommodation

2 WWOOFers

Campsite

Yurt / Tipi

Children accepted

Pets not accepted

Meals

Omnivore

Length of stay

Over a month

Tayla

Member since 2024

Languages spoken: English Response rate: 0%

November 2025

Open

Planned visit

Closed

Michigan

KI Sawyer Airport

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