05 Jan Alyssa Oddi
I’ve felt overwhelming joy being in wild spaces since growing up in southern California. But, my wilderness mentorship began in the Northern Cascades of Washington, the Idaho Panhandle, and the Montana Rockies. After gaining backpacking skills and my Wilderness First Responder certification, I was able to spend a season guiding sea kayaking expeditions in the San Juan Islands where I learned open water tide-charting. I then worked in the Oregon Badlands as a wilderness instructor for a program that backpacked exclusively off-trail using a map and compass. I feel so privileged to have grown in different environments and am excited to impart the knowledge I have gained through many adventures.
As an outdoor educator, my first intention is always to connect my students with the land—weaving in mythology or sharing my love of plant relations, ceremony, and skill-building. I love how skills like compass navigation, foraging, shelter building, and fire tending can reconnect us with the rhythms of earth. Orienteering feels like a form of deeply attuning to the pulse of nature and our ancestral instincts, and I am grateful to empower our community to create a dialogue with earth.
Alyssa Oddi will be sharing Map & Compass Navigation.