Category: California Naturalist

Camping Savvy Moms Part II with Julie Pearl-Slater, Courtney Brown and Michelle Silver

Camping is for Everyone Michelle, Julie and Courtney are back to share their wisdom and tips on camping with their families. From meal planning to realistic expectations to unplugging from devices to navigating the many personalities in any family, these Wonder Guides have a lot more value to offer all of us. People Want to Help You One of the most important themes to emerge from my conversation with Julie, Michelle and Courtney is that the barriers to getting outside […]

Bouldering with Whistles (I) and other Tips from Camping Savvy Moms: Courtney Brown, Julie Pearl-Slater and Michelle Silver

Courtney Brown, Julie Pearl-Slater and Michelle Silver are our Wonder Guides for Episode 7 and boy do they know how to camp!  And with kids! When Courtney moved from the ample and beautiful beaches of Orange County, California to Utah she embraced the opportunity to ‘stretch out’ and explore the mountains with her children.  All FIVE of them. When Julie left Chicago for L.A. she had no idea she’d go camping ‘overnight’ let alone take regular camping trips to Joshua […]

Wonder Outside Podcast Debut

The Wonder Outside Podcast is now available on all podcast platforms. Annabeth Gish is your Wonder Guide for Episode 1 In the Earth Day launch of the Wonder Outside Podcast, naturalist and outdoor educator, Ted Mattison, also known as Ranger Ted, talks with Annabeth Gish about how to find simple, practical and available adventures in the great outdoors. Covering a wide range of topics from New Mexico to Iowa; from hikes with kids to finding solace in the vast expanse […]

Tim Johnston is your Wonder Guide for Ep. 2 of the Wonder Outside Podcast

New York Times best-selling and award winning author, master carpenter and longtime fan of the great outdoors joins Ranger Ted for Episode 2 of the Wonder Outside Podcast. They sit down in the sunny, pre-Covid, Silverlake meadow in Los Angeles for a ranging conversation from Elk baths, Rocky Mountain inspirations and meandering Iowa rivers. Tim is a master storyteller and that’s on full display in this episode. Tim discusses how the environment of the Rocky Mountains helped him find the […]

Campfire-side Chats with Ranger Ted, Ep 01, Yosemite

In this debut episode of Campfire-side Chats Ranger Ted provides fun, useful and insightful tips. One, use old-school paper maps for learning and planing. Two, play ‘Identify that bird call.’ Three, sing-a-long with your favorite camp song. Don’t forget to bring an eclectic collection of songs for all and tape the chords to your guitar. Today’s song is Neil Diamond’s Sweet Caroline.