Wilderness Therapy: Multi-Day Treks
The Call to Adventure: Separation, Initiation, and Homecoming
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Traveling to high peaks, the map we follow is not only the topographical one that leads to the summit. We are guided, also, by the three-phase process of initiation—separation, initiation, homecoming—used for centuries by people seeking personal growth.
Deepening and Preparation
Meeting at the Gertrude Creek retreat house in North Fork we take the late afternoon and evening to settle into ourselves, take leave of our outer concerns and orient ourselves to the our inner focus for our time in the backcountry. Working with a Native American medicine wheel helps connect our inner quest to the earth, it's four directions, four elements, and the animals and plants we find in the Sierras. This deepens our clarity and relationship with the natural world. We'll also prepare our bodies and packs. This includes reviewing group agreements about safety and confidentiality; checking for necessary gear and preparing our backpacks; dividing up food to be carried for group meals; and a delicious and nutritious dinner, dessert and breakfast to give us a jumpstart on the fuel we'll need for our first day of hiking. Separation and Ordeal Beginning our backcountry travel marks our separation from who we have been. We sever our connection, temporarily, from the world we know to enter what Joseph Campbell called the “zone unknown”—where the ego can set aside its usual way of being and fall increasingly under the influence of the deep self. With this conscious intention in mind, we hike with full packs (about 30 lbs.). For many backcountry travelers the weight of the pack, the steepness of the trail, and thin mountain air, create some degree of suffering. In this climate we begin to cultivate a new relationship to our wounds: we carry them consciously so that our injuries may speak to us about their experience and the healing needed to transform pain and limitation into new meaning and expanded possibilities. Whether your trip is one night or more, we gather for dinner in the evenings to touch into what the day brought us. Rituals of release and gratitude for the gifts received from the wilderness mark our time in nature and the transformations it has brought. Homecoming Before we return to our front-country lives, it's time for the ego, which has been altered by its journey into the unknown out there, to begin living from a new inner place. We revisit our experience for the purpose of applying what we have learned about ourselves to the task of returning to our life. We look, in particular, at how we ground and strengthen the transformation we’ve experienced in our relationship with ourselves and with others in daily life. |
Where Do You Want to Go?
We personalize your backcountry experience based on your goals, fitness level, and time-frame. We can take you to remote alpine lakes, peaks or passes. When Do You Want to Go?
Trips are a minimum of 3 nights. Arrival by 3 pm the first day for Deepening and Preparation. The following day begins your trek to include at least 2 nights in the backcountry. Mid to late afternoon departure back to the front-country on the last day. Schedule a time and the number of days that work for you. Tuition
$145 per night (includes food). $175 per night (includes gear and food) Small groups (limited to 6) First person $145 and each additional person $115 (includes food). Add $30 per person for gear. Couples $195 per night (includes food). Add $30 per person for gear. |
To schedule or find out more contact:
Dennis at 559.614.0010 or email retreats@soulandearth.com
Dennis at 559.614.0010 or email retreats@soulandearth.com
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