The practice of wilderness questing is an ancient and cross-cultural way of clearing oneself out to listen and converse with the voices of our bodies, psyches, and the more-than-human world. People chose to undertake a quest for many reasons. You may be in or approaching a major life transition, such as a change in career, or the birth of a child. You may be feeling the calling of a longing whose shape you can’t yet see. Or you may be seeking initiation into your mythic place and role in the many shifts occurring in our world.

Each adult chooses to quest for deeply personal reasons. Yet, together, the group of participants and guides will form an intimate and supportive community. This quest involves a three to four day, 4 night Solo fasting ceremony, supported by group ceremonial preparation and integration, in which you will begin the process of learning to embody what you’ve discovered on your quest. During our time together, you can expect to participate in group talking circles, one-on-one conversations with guides, solo walks on the land, expressive arts activities, ceremony, and more.

We will eat, laugh, and enjoy the wilderness together. But soul work can be hard, as is its nature. This won’t feel like a vacation. You’ll

experience discomfort and frustration, and you’ll get to experience the edges of your personal discipline. However, your reward will match your commitment. You’ll find yourself surprised, enlightened, humored and motivated.

The guides at Journeys bring many years of experience as mentors of life transition and offer exceptional skills and wisdom to support you with a balance of head and heart. They keep you emotionally and physically safe while you’re out in the wilderness, and provide the tools you need to do your work and follow your path.

Note: Adult Wilderness Quest is a basecamp-based quest experience. To layer on the “crucible of the trail" to your journey, consider Adult Mountain Quest. Please scroll down to the comparison below, then Contact Us and we can begin the conversation.

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August Quest: an adult rite of passage

Life paths frequently undergo transitions, shifts, and evolution, often taking unexpected turns. Are you the same person you were months or years ago? Change does not have to be a solitary experience. This program is designed for people to come together and share in the universal experience of change.

Why:

Rites of Passage Ceremonies facilitate our adaptation to our present lives. They provide opportunities to release what no longer serves us, embrace profound transformation, and step into the unfolding narrative of a future yet to be lived.

Who:

All bodies - All people - welcomed. The Adult Wilderness Quest is a deeply human experience, part of the generations before us, even if it wasn't in our immediate/contemporary culture. Transformation and marking change are intrinsic to the human experience.

While this program is for folks over 18 years of age, we work with all stages of the human experience to bring the curiosity of our inner child, honor the fire of being a teenager, orient to the responsibility of adulthood, and bedazzle the elder within you.

How:

We offer a supportive framework for our participants, empowering them to rise and gain clarity as they choose their personal quests. At the confluence of nature's wisdom and human culture, we respect the cycles of life and death, the balance between serious and silly, and the dance of creation, destruction, and discovery

What

Over the course of 12 days together we will spend time in connection with each other, in council, storytelling and teachings, as well as time immersed in nature in personal ceremony and solitude.

This program will have three phases. Our first four days are dedicated to preparation, participants will then embark on a personal journey, spending four days and four nights in solitude, engaging in their own self-created ceremonies amidst nature. The final phase involves reuniting with the group for four days, focused on integrating our experiences with community and closing our collective ceremony.

As rites of passage guides, we recognize that accepting this invitation takes great courage. Our community welcomes you as you are, and supports your unique process of becoming.

Program Staff

GRAE GERLACH

Guide

Gretchen (Grae) Gerlach (she/her) grew up in rural Montana on traditional Salish lands, where she was raised as much by the wilderness as by her nature loving community. With the Rocky Mountains, glacier fed rivers, ancient forests, creatures of her homeland and a horse ranching family as inspiration she declared her life purpose early on in life (6 years old); “I will work with the nature in people!”…

STERLING BROOMFIELD

Guide

Sterling Broomfield (they/them) was ushered into rites of passage guiding by their direct mentor, and a centuries-old lineage of teachers who have come together to share their knowledge about what it means to be human. They bring practical experience and 13 years as a Wilderness First Responder in the backcountry, embarking on adventures in the mountains, oceans, or rainforests…

Spring quest - Through the Feminine Lens

This quest is for female bodied, female identified, trans, and non-binary participants who long to encounter the deepest part of themselves by experiencing a soul quest through the feminine lens.  Since this is the first year of this quest we are currently not accepting male identified humans but we will consider in future years. 

Why through a feminine lens? Throughout history, the practice of questing has often mirrored the hero's journey. In this quest however, we will explore the unique facets of a heroine's journey. 

The feminine approach values process over outcome, emphasizes deep listening, receptivity, meandering paths, and fosters community interconnection through intimate support, both with fellow humans and the broader natural world. 

On this journey we will:

• Activate and nourish the web of connection to our own lineage, elders and ancestors

• Come home to the wild earth and experience the elements as alive in our own bodies

• Encounter the deepest and most mysterious part of ourselves

• Engage in practices, prayers, and play as we see, hear, and wonder

Come be with us, the land, each other with joyous noise and deep quiet! Prepare to sing, pray, bath in wild waters, wander in the bounty of the land, encounter parts of yourself known and unknown, and join in the larger community of the wide and wild world.

Program Staff

Guide

Sheryl is a local psychotherapist, ritualist and soul guide. She guides with both Rite of Passage Journeys and Longing's Arrow, a rewarding and playful enterprise she co-owns with her life partner. With over 30 years of guiding, she brings a profoundly deep intention and a vast pool of experience to draw from for this sacred work…

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