Melanie Sawyer is a outdoor skills instructor, historical forager, fisherman and hunter and also a participant of the premier survival show created by the History Channel, ALONE. She lives off-the-grid in a remote area of Essex County, NY between Moriah and North Hudson.

Born in the Cotswolds, England, Sawyer moved to the USA in ‘98 and now calls New York’s Adirondack State Park her home, fishing, hunting, living off-grid with solar power, a drilled well, and wood-burning heat at 3000ft elevation.

“Life off the grid is hard work but I wouldn’t change it for the world—living in the mountains in nature is where I belong,” she says.

For as long as she can remember, Sawyer has been fascinated by outdoor skills, foraging, wilderness survival and history. This passion led her to create living history programs & survival classes taught at local schools, colleges, museums and Adirondack lodges.

She has taught or spoken at locations such as the Adirondack Experience, The Wild Center, Fort William Henry Museum, Crown Point, Fort Klock, Adirondack Folk School as well as many schools, scout groups, B.O.W and organizations such as Fibonacci Foundation and Back Country Hunters and Anglers

In 2022, she launched WILD FOODS to help others identify and learn about the edible plants, rhizomes, berries, nuts, lichens, mushrooms and cambium that sustained their ancestors for centuries. Along side that are her Wilderness teas which sell all over the world and the Wildfire Survival outdoor school that is based out of NY State.

Sawyer put her traditional Adirondack knowledge to the ultimate test during 43 days in the Canadian Arctic on History Channel’s Alone Season 10, outlasting most contestants.