Wild Pilgrimage: Backpacking Journey to Esalen

With Fletcher Tucker and Mike Smith

April 24 - 26, 2026

Workshop Schedule

Friday
5:00 pm – 5:45 pm *How to Drop into Esalen*
6:30 pm – 8:00 pm (Celebratory dinner outside the Esalen lodge)
Saturday
10:00 am – 12:00 pm 3:00 pm – 5:30 pm
Sunday
10:00 am – 12:00 pm

See general schedule information including arrival, departure and meal times.

  • Sleeping Bag Space – $435.00
  • Bunk Bed Space – $615.00
  • Standard Shared Space – $805.00
  • Standard Queen Room – $1,105.00
  • Standard Room Two Beds – $1,825.00
  • Premium Queen Room – $1,675.00
  • Premium King Room – $1,807.00
  • Premium Plus King Room – $2,059.00
  • Premium Wooden Yurt – $2,059.00
  • Premium Wooden Yurt Two Beds – $2,059.00
  • Price House Suite – $2,825.00
  • Rolf Suite – $4,051.00
  • Point House – $4,051.00
  • Fritz Point House – $4,051.00
  • South Point House – $4,875.00

In the mountains east of Esalen, an enchanting, ecologically diverse, and psycho-spiritually fertile wilderness awaits. Over four nights and five days, we will engage in a contemporary form of pilgrimage, backpacking as reverent seekers through these ancestral lands of the Esselen Tribe, now known as Big Sur’s Ventana Wilderness. Our journey concludes at the coastal grounds of Esalen Institute with a weekend of reflection and integration.

Since time immemorial, people have taken time away from the demands of daily life to walk with intention on sacred trails — pursuing embodied spiritual wisdom, expansion, and community. Wilderness pilgrimage is a powerful practice for restoring connection with ourselves, the Earth, and the depths of our shared humanity.

Each day of our wild pilgrimage, we will walk with presence and curiosity to meaningfully encounter our inner and outer landscapes. As we hike and camp, we will learn foundational wilderness ethics and skills to feel at home in the wild. When night falls, we will share stories and meals by the fire and sleep beneath a blanket of stars. 

Inspired by Esalen’s co-founder Dick Price, who found healing in the Big Sur wild and the Esalen community, our intimate and intergenerational cohort will embrace mutual support – engaging relational practices from Price’s Gestalt lineage to authentically connect with ourselves and one another. 

Our pilgrimage community will include the more-than-human world: ancient redwoods, mossy boulders, surging springs, morning bird-song, and all the countless beings and aspects of Big Sur. Through guided mythopoetic, ecological, and somatic inquiry, we will cultivate kinship with the wild, awaken our senses, and expand embodied awareness of our interconnection.

May the ardor and intentionality of our trek, across 30 miles of extraordinary terrain, wash away calcified layers from our essential selves to reveal bright resilience and aliveness. At Esalen, we will turn our attention toward integration and service: how will we carry what we’ve gathered on this journey into our lives, communities, and lands back home?

Important Notes: 

  • The full experience takes place over seven days, from Monday, April 20th to Sunday, April 26, 2026.
  • Experience with backpacking or Esalen/Gestalt is not required.
  • This is a partner program with Wildtender, a non-profit organization working at the intersection of wilderness and wisdom traditions. Prior to registering with Esalen, you will need to register and pay tuition fees through Wildtender for the wilderness portion of the program. Scholarship funds are potentially available. For more details and to register, visit wildtender.com/esalen2026

About the Leaders

Fletcher Tucker

Fletcher Tucker is a co-founder of Wildtender, an organization based in Big Sur that cultivates kinship with the natural world, and explores earth-based wisdom traditions. Fletcher is also a writer, multidisciplinary artist and musician whose work engages deeply with place. Email Me www.wildtender.com

Learn more about Fletcher Tucker

Mike Smith

Mike is a Soto Zen Buddhist priest in the lineage of Suzuki Roshi. He lived in the Ventana Wilderness as a monk at the Tassajara Zen Mountain Monastery and served as the Director of San Francisco Zen Center’s City Center temple. He is a devout backpacker and has co-guided Wildtender pilgrimages since 2024.

Learn more about Mike Smith

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