Wilderness Guides Council

Women's Earth Spirit Circle (Year-Long Program)
2026-05-21 18:00 - 2027-04-11 17:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | WA
A year-long journey into the wilderness of your heart and soul. The Earth Spirit Circle intends to create a close circle of women, steeped in sisterhood and time outdoors, with the collective vision to be the fullest, truest expression of yourself. You will be a part of a community that gathers to create personal rites of passage in nature to return to that deep part of yourself that you long to remember. We will bring together sisterhood, nature, and spirituality. You will be supported to experience yourself as whole, interconnected and loved. You will have a place where your inner riches can safely emerge, welcomed among peers in the beauty of the natural world.
You will experience:
Building a community that will love and support you and your intentions, with monthly meetings throughout the year.
Embodied spiritual and Earth-based practices, rooted in Vajrayana Buddhism, the Diamond Heart Approach, and the School of Lost Borders.
Approaches from the fields of EcoPsychology, Somatic Psychology & Expressive Arts Therapy.
3 Nature Daylong Retreats over the course of seasons in the same location to cultivate a sustaining relationship to place.
12 Indoor/Outdoor 2 Hour Evening Meetings throughout the year to create continuity and community.
A 3 Day Nature Retreat, with solo time and fasting, where you will create your own personal rites of passage to explore your wishes and intentions for the year.
A 9 Day Wilderness Journey, with solo time and fasting, where you will be supported by the group and the practices you’ve been learning to prepare for a multi-day solo; you will participate in a fire ceremony, offering to the fire what you want to transform in your life; you will claim a life change you are ready to make, ask important life questions, and receive the nurturing and solace of the natural world.
A Sweat Lodge Ceremony to inspire and honor your commitments and prayers for your ongoing life.
A 2 Day Culmination Retreat to celebrate your growth over the course of our year together.

Summer Vision Fast - Blue Ridge Mountain
2026-06-12 09:00 - 2026-06-19 17:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | Friends Wilderness Center, West Virginia, Harpers Ferry, WV, United States
This eight-day retreat functions as a Ceremony of Becoming, allowing you to step into a more meaningful and complete version of your life with the help of nature and a small community of individuals. You are invited to leave your current life behind, severing from work, relationships, household duties, school, social media and the everyday constant flow of life. You will find yourself in a beautiful wooded space set aside for spiritual retreats and journeys, and enter into a guided ceremony where your perspectives and outlook will broaden and change. With your boundaries and walls becoming more permeable, your essential questions are allowed to come to the forefront:
What am I ready to leave behind? What am I moving into? What really is the point of it all? What do I have to offer this world? What is most essential in me that brings life and love? What do I need to let die so that a new life can be reborn?
There are 6 spots open for this summer, and we are donation based, asking participants to give what they can at an appropriate amount reflective of their life situation. LGBTQ+ community is welcomed and honored with open arms and hearts.

Men's Wilderness Renewal
2026-07-16 09:00 - 2026-07-21 15:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | Olympic Mountains, WA, WA, United States
A six day wilderness renewal for men centered around a 3 day solo fast.
⟢ Limited to 10 participants. Approximately 5 miles of moderate hiking to basecamp. In and out via the Upper Dungeness Trailhead.
⟢ Participants are responsible for breakfast, lunch/snacks for the full 6 days (except for the days you choose to fast) All dinners are provided and we will all share in preparation/clean up. Dietary needs and food preferences will be accounted for.
⟢ Preparation & integration calls both virtual and in person TBD
⟢ Cost is a sliding scale between 600-1000$
What do we mean by renewal?
In these days of constant exposure to screens and the pressure of modernity it’s easy to forget the rhythm of the seasons and our bodies’ innate wisdom and the life-giving connection with the earth. To renew is to slow down, to empty, to begin again. When we do this, there is a natural unwinding. To renew our awareness is to remember what truly matters in our lives, and to re-attunement. It is our hope that we may all return to our lives after this time with our cups a little more filled so we can be of greater service in whatever ways we can.
What do we mean by solo?
After 3 days together everyone is invited to find a solo site of their choosing in the vicinity of the main camp (within a 1/4 mile or so) to spend 2 nights and 3 days on solo.
“To walk to a wild place, to sit down, and listen”: words from Martin Shaw’s recent “Liturgies of the Wild” that articulates that to which a wilderness renewal (solo) invites us. Perhaps personal ritual and introspection come more naturally in these conditions? We will ask men to reflect on their intentions for this time prior to embarking and we will have calls (possibly one in person) so we can begin to prepare for this and connect with each other.
This will be with the support of two trained guides and therapists (Nico Kladis and Larry Sol). Additionally, this experience will be held by a circle of men and the the beauty of the wild world where your dreams, joys, grief and whatever wisdom and gifts become visible will be held. This will take place in the Olympic Mountains outside of Port Townsend WA.
Nico Kladis MA, is a facilitator, wilderness guide and mental health therapist. His life’s work has arisen out of the paradox of heartbreak and beauty; joy and suffering. Nico’s lineage comes primarily from mixed European and Mediterranean ancestry and is committed to growing his awareness of his ancestors’ acts of harm and humanity. Collaboration in service to wholeness is one way he is learning to repair. His approach is culturally humble and relational as well as somatically based, integrating a framework of belonging rooted in the living world including our non-human-kin. He offers land based gatherings and retreats for individuals and groups as well as for men. Nico lives in Port Townsend, WA (s’Klallam/Chimakum land). Read more about Nico here.
Larry Sol holds master’s degrees in both Environmental Education and Counseling Psychology and is a Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist, Somatic Experiencing Practitioner, and a former director of peer-mediation programs. His background includes 10 years as an Outward Bound instructor, with courses in the boundary waters, Florida Everglades, the mountains of Montana, Washington and California. He has trained and studied with Francis Weller and the School of Lost Borders and brings inspiration and perspectives from these experiences as well as his experience of being a father and a husband.
Please reach out with any questions or inquiries: Nico 360.301.0684 or Larry 707.672.2475
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International Vision Quest | Findhorn Scotland
2026-08-25 15:00 - 2026-09-06 10:00 (Europe/London) | Findhorn, Scotland, IV36 3AE, United Kingdom
Late summer Werner Pilz and Natasha Lythgoe will return to Findhorn to guide a quest on behalf of the Eschwege Institut one of the leading guide training institutes in Europe.
You can read about our programme at either of these links:
https://eschwege-institut.de/programm/seminare/visionssuche-in-findhorn-schottland-5/
https://www.theartofrewilding.com/events/vision-quest-scotland-uk-2026
If you are interested in eco-somatics we may be a good fit for you. Here is an excerpt from my website about Embodied Animacy.
The principle of animism is a way of perceiving and engaging with a living and animate earth, including all the seen and unseen beings that inhabit it. This alive connection emerges not through abstract thinking but through direct experience – rooted in our direct sensory experience – and a cultivation of reciprocal relationship. This is a participatory way of being, where humans are just one among many expressive participants in the dynamic, interconnected fabric of life.
Animism is a deeply, relational way of being in the world, encouraging us to remember that we are not separate from the natural world, but are woven into the fabric of life itself.
Gene Gendlin’s Focusing method, though often seen as a contemporary approach to self-awareness with its origins in psychotherapy and philosophy, carries a similar invitation. On a very simple level Focusing is a somatic practice, where we turn our attention inward, tuning into the subtle, unspoken language of our bodies. It is through this body-based listening that we find clarity and healing, accessing wisdom beyond the reach of the mind alone.
At first glance, these two paths might seem worlds apart—one rooted in ancient spiritual traditions, the other in contemporary therapeutic practice. However, a closer look reveals their shared essence: both call us to a profound, deeper listening to life unfolding within and around us.
Since 2019, I’ve focused on creating practices that foster embodied relational reciprocity, drawing on the Focusing method and nature connection. I integrate aspects of this work into the preparation stage for all our vision quests.

Women’s Fast
2026-09-17 - 2026-09-26 | WA
Ten day adult fast ceremony in the tradition of the School of Lost Borders.
This is a ceremony of living and dying, of death and rebirth, and so of authentic growth. It gives you the time, space and strong container to dig deep, and to die to what no longer serves you so that you may hear your soul’s genius, echoed in the clear mirror of Nature.
This contemporary rites of passage ceremony is for the purpose of:
• marking a new life phase or transition; dying to what was and being reborn to what is to come
• re-membering your connection to Self, the Source, and others
• uncovering vital aspects of your soul’s genius
• your empowerment for action in the world
If you hear a call, we’d love to see you there!

Women's Labyrinth Canyon River Journey - Fall 2026
2026-09-25 - 2026-10-02 | Labyrinth Canyon, Utah, UT, United States
We travel by canoe—
through a living canyon,
immersed in the deep ancestral rhythms of the land.
Over days on the river, we slow our pace to match the water. We listen. We rest. We remember what it feels like to be in our bodies, in community, and in right relationship with the land. With nature as our guide, mornings open softly. Days unfold with intention. Evenings are held by firelight, shared meals, and story telling.
This journey is for women who are longing for deep connection.
You don’t need to be an expert paddler.
You don’t need to arrive with answers.
Just a willingness to show up, be carried,
and let the river and canyon hold you.
If you’re ready to step out of your everyday life and into something ancient, grounding, and alive—
the river is waiting. You are welcome here- just as you are.

Rite of Passage - 10-day Vision Fast (Oct 16-25, Spain)
2026-10-16 15:00 - 2026-10-25 12:00 (Europe/Madrid) | Pyrenees, Spain, Barcelona, Spain
We are amidst a collective unraveling and rite of passage. A betwixt and between time that is both deeply unsettling and full of possibility. Our lives are shifting, the climate is changing, antiquated systems and structures are breaking down. You yourself may be going through a life change: a new
job, aging parents, kids leaving the home…
This is a moment ripe for change.
What is this time asking of you? What is next for you? What is your individual and collective responsibility to tend to our communities, cultures, and planet? How can your personal and professional leadership be rooted in wholeness and integrity? Significant life transitions invite our hearts, minds and bodies to open to new ways of being. What is no longer serving you? What needs to be let go? What seeds do you want to plant for the future?
This 10-day program, including a 3-day/3-night Vision Fast, is offered by TrailHaven in collaboration with guides from the School of Lost Borders, and is designed to explore what’s next in your life, and to celebrate your commitment to yourself, your dreams, your communities and the wider world.
Are you ready to cross the threshold?
