Step One complete: Find and purchase a chunk of suitable land. We officially purchased our training area earlier this year! Our newly acquired land in Stewart County, TN is exactly what we have been looking for. We searched for nearly two years before this land was presented to us. Ranging from select cut hilltops to incredible resources to rolling woodlands, this land has what it takes to become the official Sojourner training area.
The Outpost - Raw Land
Now that the 'easy' task of finding a training area is complete, we are breaking ground and developing the initial infrastructure. Designing the training area layout has been quite an adventure, which has consisted of more white board sessions than I want to admit and plenty of terrain walks. Certain ideas have looked great conceptually until we went out and the land told us otherwise! One thing about developing raw land is that you want to embrace its features and roll with it. This land has no shortage of amazing terrain features and Sojourner Survival Outpost is being developed with the intentional preservation of natural resources. It has been an amazing learning experience so far and we are only just beginning.
What have we accomplished to date? So far, we have removed 300+ stumps (manually). That was a rough but rewarding week. We began clearing roughly a mile and a half of trail, which will allow us to maximize the whole training area. Currently pending is the development of an 800 foot strip of gravel road along with some additional river rock pathways. Stage one of the official headquarters structure is complete with more developments planned. Our final goal for this year is to complete our first year round off-grid cabin.
All in all, it has been an incredibly busy 2022 and we are looking forward to providing unforgettable experiences for anyone willing to challenge themselves. Don't let another season pass you by without answering the call of the wild.
