2025 Ranger Recap
Rangers of the Wilds had an incredible year in 2025.
It's hard at times to pick a favorite memory. We have so many documented here that I'll guide you through, but for me, some of the best moments are the ones no one captured.
I will forever cherish the memory of the Rangers huddled under a tarp in the rain, merrily eating chili when our first camping trip got caught in a downpour. Or when we were all trying to stay cool in the heat of a Kentucky summer while demonstrating to the public at the Festival of the Children of Odin. Those are the moments that truly bond us together in this fellowship we're building.
To start off the year, we came together to celebrate the life and works of J.R.R. Tolkien. This included a weekend trip to a cabin, where we ate like hobbits and streamed all 4 movies, extended editions of course. We laughed, we ate, we hiked, and we even got to play with fire, thanks to the supervised help of our friends at Sage Fire. You can see highlights from this event here.
As we are Rangers, the majority of our year is spent ranging. We love to hike and travel to new places! Another one of those amazing trips took us to Cooks Forest State park in Pennsylvania. We caught up with old friends, celebrated a few birthdays, and hiked this beautiful park. If you run into any of us, ask about the polar plunge we took in the icy cold mountain water! You can see some of the highlights here in our gallery.
And be sure to check out our adventures to Charleston Falls, pictured above. And Hocking Hills.
When we aren't ranging, we're usually camping. This is a great time to share stories, a meal around the campfire, and work on our bushcraft skills. This year, we focused a lot on primitive fire starting, which many of our members are now experts on! These events give us a unique opportunity to slow down and really live the life of a Ranger.
As I mentioned, we often have events where we get to interact with the public. The Festival of the Children of Odin kicked off our year with a primitive camp display. There we cooked our meals and stayed cool from the heat. We also had interactive games for the public to learn knife and axe throwing, archery, and even learn hand to hand combat from one of our HEMA trained members.
The Rangers also made there way over to Five Star Comic Con where we answered questions and held a panel where we discussed bushcraft/survival skills, the weapons we train with, and other fun facts about our guild.
One of our groups favorite events was getting the Rangers together to go horseback riding. We spent the weekend camping at Alum Creek State Park and headed over to the wonderful folks at Marmon Valley Farm to hit the trails. We were able to capture a few of those memories here.
To end out the year, we once again attended the Waynesville Literay Adventures to help guide questers to finding lost treasure. You can see more highlights from this event in our gallery.
An honorable mention goes to Dragonhold and Fayhaven LARP, which many of the Rangers attended. While these are not offical guild events, they are a fun way for us to spend time together and practice some of the weapons training we do. More than anything, these are weekends of fellowship, where we lose track of time and make even more friends to share in our adventures with. You can see some of the highlights in our gallery here for Dragonhold and Fayhaven Day 1 and Day 2.
As Rangers of the Wilds looks ahead to 2026, we’re full of hope and ready to go on our next great adventure. Make sure to follow along on our socials to see all our adventures and sign up for our newsletter below.
Video credit goes to Mike Heffron.
