It's a pleasant, breezy day - rather cool for a Phoenix resident, even with long sleeves. The skiff of snow on surrounding mountains is a reminder that this isn't the lower desert.
Cody Lundin is waiting along a rather remote city road. His warm grin warms you. His nose ring and long blond braids give you a hint he's not your average guy.There's more. He is dressed in a T-shirt, knit shorts and wears no shoes. His feet are deeply callused, a sign that this is not unusual garb for him.
"If I'm walking in cholla (cactus), lots of snow or if I'm sick is the only time I wear shoes," he said.
You believe that. Having never walked barefoot in the snow or on rocks when you're ill, you can relate anyway. Having walked through cholla cactus, the greatest assassin in the desert, you know he's not so unusual.
Lundin is a survivalist. He's not one of those guys dressed in camouflage clothing and carrying a gun who believes he has to kill his way to survival. He has more of a gentle approach.
Lundin doesn't talk about his spiritual beliefs, but he definitely believes in blending with his environment. He speaks easily and directly, with a good bit of humor.
Then he takes you to his office. It's a lung-challenger. The rocks on the steep path don't seem to bother his feet. You walk up behind a nice home, then up to a yurt, a round structure made of membranelike material and a roof with a plastic skylight. Even Lundin is breathing hard.
Lundin, 29, founded the Aboriginal Living Skills School about six years ago. He dresses the way he does because it's part of his work garb. He also believes that the less he wears, the more his body changes its metabolism to adjust.
Everything is simple. He said his diet consists mostly of four cans of tuna a day, bagels and beans. That's when he's domesticated. In the wild, he can subsist on any number of plants. He also can trap and catch fish with his hands.
He can start a fire in a hurry with a yucca fire board and a seep willow drill and build shelter with whatever is available.
He teaches these skills in classes and seminars, but he also takes students from all over the country into the wilds for hands-on training. These forays last anywhere from a weekend to nine days.
It's a chance to learn the art of primitive living. But he also teaches survival, which is an entirely different matter.
"Learning the most primitive skills and living is a way of life," Lundin said. "You're at home. A survival situation is a different thing. You want to get out of it as soon as possible, or you're going to die.
Lundin can't remember when he wasn't interested in the outdoors.
"When I was in kindergarten, I found a rock that looked something like an arrowhead," he said. "I made Dad take it and grind it into shape."
He credits his mother, Sharon, who lives in nearby Chino Valley, for having the greatest influence on his passion for the outdoors. She is a member of the Yavapai County Sheriff's Department's mounted rescue posse.
Lundin's father was in the Air Force, and the family moved often.
During his high school years in Wyoming, Lundin began collecting road kills. In fact, he still has a permit to do so.
Lundin attended classes in Utah offered by the Boulder Outdoor Survival School, interned there and got additional training in Canada.
"There are 50 or 60 of us in the country who make a living doing this," he said. "We meet sometimes to swap skills."
When he began college in Prescott, Lundin really got serious about primitive living.
"I lived in the woods for a couple of years - in a brush shelter," he said. "I had pine needles for a bed and ate out of a gourd dish I grew myself. The reason I started doing it is that I needed to eat. I didn't have work."
He wanted to make a living teaching primitive living and survival but had a tough time getting started.
"I wrote to about every youth camp, but they didn't want anything to do with me," Lundin said. "Finally, an ex-girlfriend talked me into putting out a brochure. I did it, and now people are coming to it from all over the country.
"I'm still paying off school debts. I wanted to be in the woods, but I needed to eat. This (school) helps. It's awesome to be out there, but it takes a lot of energy."
As his success grows, Lundin still is sold on simplicity.
"When you don't have anything, the simplest things provide great pleasure," he said. "I like my life simple. Even when I'm rich, I want to live simply. I want to buy land and have my own place. I want it to be self-sufficient place. I probably won't live any differently than I do now."