The Ersity of Was is a primal education institution, based in the Owyhee wilderness of Southwest Idaho, offering a wide range of remedial courses for a diverse and ever-growing student base. We strongly believe there is no better teacher than experience; one of the best ways to experience your true self is to be alone with it in nature.
While easily quantifiable as a ‘hiking school’, and thought of by some as an ‘adventure church’, the classes provided on campus sagebrush sherpas aren’t so easy to define in simple terms. Somewhere between a religion and recreation time here exists to help those who seek it to find new pathways to explore the depths of themselves, and this reality.
To be absolutely clear: this is not a guide service. We are not outfitters in any fashion.
The lessons here are largely in the experience itself and you, the student, set your own course plan by choosing the paths and destinations.
The path is the classroom, and knowledge is the lightest thing you can carry, thereby course material tends to be as sparse as shade in July.
In general, if you have specific outdoor skills you are interested in learning more about – like bushcraft, gem stones, edible/medicinal plant identification, wilderness navigation, etc – focus on those topics may be included in your visit to campus when your class is scheduled. Otherwise, the pace of learning here is very much free range and as open to interpretation as the meaning of a sunrise.
We never wish to have anyone believe that our desert docents are the teachers at our institution.
The teacher is the wilderness; we are all students no matter how experienced we may think we are.
If you desire to experience a lesser frequented place of rugged beauty, and possibly entertain a perspective out of your ordinary perception, our location may satisfy your need. Feel free to contact the Ersity of Was staff via our social media page for more information and reservations.