By Program Type

A powerful and meaningful coming of age ceremony for young people age 16-22.   To read more about our youth programs, click here.

Location:  The group will meet near Lee Vining, CA, then travel into the high desert mountains near Mono Lake to set up a base camp.  There will be three days of exploration and preparation time, three days of solo, and three days to incorporate the teachings of the quest before returning home. 

Tuition:  $1245, includes all back country food and camping fees.
Scholarship support available, see our Registration Information page for more information.
Non-refundable deposit required to register: $250
Parental permission is required for participants under age 18.

Staff:  Alison DeLong received her Master of Arts in Eco-psychology, a field of psychology that acknowledges one's relationship with nature as an integral component to well-being. During her studies she apprenticed with Anne Stine of Wilderness Rites and began leading quests in 2002. A native of Yosemite National Park, Alison has spent the past 14 years sharing with youth, adult and family groups the challenge, healing and joy evoked by the wilderness. She brings a passionate and joyous approach to wilderness rites of passage, weaving in diverse strands of her professional history in environmental education, communication, psychology, yoga and massage therapy. Alison is especially passionate in assisting teens and their families to succeed in healthy transitions to adulthood.
          Damien McAnany has a passion for bringing healing both to people and to the land. He received his M.S. in Environmental Education from the Audubon Expedition Institute, a traveling, experiential program in transformative education, and has completed an intensive training program with Rites of Passage. Damien has been leading people on mountaineering and backpacking trips since 2000, with Outward Bound and Rites of Passage. His gifts include a strong Buddhist meditation practice, an ecstasy for wild places, and a love for helping young people discover their life path.

This is an open enrollment program, meaning young people from any school or geographic region can register individually.  Maximum enrollment is 10 youth.