Event ScheduleSaturday: Camp set-up work traders Check in by 8am
Saturday - Students begin to arrive and set camps Monday (Memorial Day) 8:00 am - Breakfast 9:00 am - Blanket fair instructor/class preview 10:00 am - Opening and Instructor Introduction 1:00 pm - Classes Start! 6:00 pm - Dinner 7pm-ish - Evening Social Activities Dusk - Memorial Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday 8 am - Breakfast 8:40am - Brief Announcements 9:00 -12 – Classes 12pm- lunch break 1-5 – Classes 6 pm – Dinner 7pm-ish – Evening Social Activities Thursday After Dinner: Highland Games! Saturday 8 am - breakfast 9:30 am – Closing Ceremonies 11am(ish) – Pack up & travel! Camp Take-down work traders work until we are done on Sunday. 
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Between the Rivers is located on the 40 acre campus of Bridges to the Past in Valley, WA. It is about an hour north of Spokane, WA. Campus is CLOSED unless an event is taking place.
The gate address for the event is: 3045 Huffman Road, Valley, WA 99181 Directions: From the North: Head south on Hwy 395, and take a right on Hwy 231 and head South to the town of Valley. Head through Valley and look for Huffman Road on your left as you pass Valley School and the ball field. Take Huffman Road about 100 yards and turn right into the south drive at Paidea High School. Proceed slowly and respectfully through the south parking lot, staying to the right until you come to the gate. Go through the gate and drive 4/10 of a mile up the gravel road and turn left into the Bridges to the Past Campus. From the South: Head north on Hwy 395 until you come to Bulldog Creek Rd. on the left. Take Bulldog Creek Rd to Hwy 231 and turn right. Drive north on Hwy 231 for a mile or so until you come to Huffman Road on the Right. Take Huffman Road about 100 yards and turn right into the south drive at Paidea High School. Proceed slowly and respectfully through the south parking lot, staying to the right until you come to the gate. Go through the gate and drive 4/10 of a mile up the gravel road and turn left into the Bridges to the Past Campus. Don't forget to look for our signs with our logo. They will lead the way. 
Future Event Dates:
BtR 2025: May 26th - 31st BtR 2026: May 25th - 30th BtR 2027: May 31st - June 5th |
Schedule of Classes
It is in our nature to want to know exactly what to expect at an extended workshop from minute to minute. This is understandable, but an ancestral skills gathering is often a loosely organized affair, and we don't always know until the last minute who is able to attend and what they will be teaching. Classes we have had in years past are listed below and are likely to be available, but expect changes from year to year, and even day to day. Chances are, on a given day at any time there will be plenty of rewarding classes to participate in and lots to do and see. Class schedules are subject to change depending on weather conditions, materials, instructor health, etc. Signing up for specific classes happens in person with that specific instructor, especially early Monday before our opening meeting. It is advisable to show up on Monday and attend the big meeting and announcements so that you will know what is offered, and sign up for your classes at that time.
An incomplete list of classes offered in past years:
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Wool Hand Spinning
Cedar Bark Baskets/Bark Crafts Foraging for Food Shelter Building Tin/copper Smithing Stone Carving (Lamps, Bowls, Adornment) Bull Roarers Atl Atl & Dart manufacture and use Open fire cooking Rosette Beading & Beadwork Drum Making NW Coast Halibut Hook carving yogurt making Goat (small livestock) care Cheese Making Crosscut Saw sharpening and use Friction Fire Making (Bow drill & Hand Drill) Rawhide Containers Knotless Netting Dream Catchers Lithic Technology Wool Felting Cordage from plant fibers Evening Campfire activities and Acoustic Music Hunky Punk - Viking Game Historical Trekking Fur Trade Life and 19th Century Camp Skills Buffalo hide tanning and rawhide |
Soft-fiber Basket weaving
Stone Pendant Carving (Serpentine/alabaster/soapstone) Arrow Making Bark-tanning Fish Skins Knife Throwing Wooden Bowl/Wooden Spoon carving Story Telling Nature Awareness Herbal Medicine Salve Making Medicinal Herb Walk/Foray Arm Knitting Fermented Beverages Burn/Burl Bowl Carving Tiny Houses Corn Husk Dolls / Corn Necklaces Locust & Birch Bark Baskets Pack Baskets Flintknapping (all levels) Firewood into Furniture (simple furniture making) Leather Tooling (arm guards and quivers) Brain Tanning / Buckskin Manufacture Circumpolar Skin-on-Frame Kayak talk Animal Processing Bread Making Watercraft Pottery Book Binding |
Just for fun: Scottish Highland Games Thursday evening
It started as a joke when I posted this photo to the Between the Rivers Gathering Facebook group, and it got the attention of Jean, our kids camp organizer who excitedly said, "Oh, can we please!?!" I said, "Sure - the kilt part, anyway, and maybe wooden swords." This grew into an evolving plan to use Thursday to introduce the kids in camp to how the ancient Scottish lived and dressed, the skills they used, what they ate and the games they played. And so now, Kids Camp has a caber toss, rock toss, and a kilt race on that afternoon. The haggis is negotiable. Then, as the post garnered more attention, adults chimed in and said, "What about us!?" Well, why not?!? Highland Games on Thursday has become a BtR tradition. If you have a kilt (or other historical Scottish clothing), bring it and plan to wear it on Thursday. Highland games for adults take place after dinner on Thursday and includes a caber toss, rock toss, and kilt race...and whatever spontaneously develops from this. (Disclaimer: this is not an official sporting event, and is just for fun, lots of it! Winners earn bragging rights only.)
It started as a joke when I posted this photo to the Between the Rivers Gathering Facebook group, and it got the attention of Jean, our kids camp organizer who excitedly said, "Oh, can we please!?!" I said, "Sure - the kilt part, anyway, and maybe wooden swords." This grew into an evolving plan to use Thursday to introduce the kids in camp to how the ancient Scottish lived and dressed, the skills they used, what they ate and the games they played. And so now, Kids Camp has a caber toss, rock toss, and a kilt race on that afternoon. The haggis is negotiable. Then, as the post garnered more attention, adults chimed in and said, "What about us!?" Well, why not?!? Highland Games on Thursday has become a BtR tradition. If you have a kilt (or other historical Scottish clothing), bring it and plan to wear it on Thursday. Highland games for adults take place after dinner on Thursday and includes a caber toss, rock toss, and kilt race...and whatever spontaneously develops from this. (Disclaimer: this is not an official sporting event, and is just for fun, lots of it! Winners earn bragging rights only.)
