Wild Pilgrimage: Backpacking Journey to Esalen

With Fletcher Tucker and Emily Linders

May 3 - 5, 2024

Workshop Schedule Friday
7:15 pm – 8:00 pm *How to Drop into Esalen*
7:00 pm – 8:00 pm (Celebratory dinner outside the Esalen lodge)
Saturday
2:00 pm – 6:00 pm

  • Sleeping Bag Space – $430.00
  • Bunk Bed Space – $610.00
  • Standard Shared Space – $790.00
  • Standard Queen Room – $1,090.00
  • Standard Room Two Beds – $1,810.00
  • Premium Queen Room – $1,570.00
  • Premium King Room – $1,690.00
  • Premium Plus King Room – $1,930.00
  • Premium Wooden Yurt – $1,930.00
  • Premium Wooden Yurt Two Beds – $1,930.00
  • Rolf Suite – $3,790.00
  • Point House – $3,790.00
  • Fritz Point House – $3,790.00
  • South Point House – $4,690.00

Embark on an intentional wilderness journey through the sublime and seldom-traveled backcountry of Big Sur, concluding at the coastal grounds of the Esalen Institute. Among the fleeting gifts of Spring – free-flowing creeks, boundless wildflower fields and vibrant wildlife – immerse in the wild with an intimate cohort (up to twelve participants), practice awareness and community, and learn fundamental skills to feel at home on the earth. 

Over the course of five nights and full days on the trail, we will embody a contemporary form of pilgrimage, traveling as reverent guests through this sacred wilderness (historic Esselen tribal territory). We will rise with the sun, carry only what we need, wander with presence and curiosity, and gather meaning from our inner and outer landscapes. Much of our time on the trail will be spent in spacious, contemplative, and challenging hiking. As the sun sets behind the mountains, 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 and transformation wandering the Big Sur wild, we will engage Gestalt practices from the Esalen lineage – including group check-ins to help us connect with ourselves, each other, and the land. As we hike and camp, we will engage with what the landscape reveals, encounter philosophies and poetry of the wild, and learn foundational wilderness and backpacking skills.

After our trek, we will arrive at Esalen for a weekend of rejuvenation and integration of our wilderness time. Through the ardor and intentionality of our trek, may we shed some of what no longer serves us, and connect deeply with the sacred, living world.

Highlights of our Wild Pilgrimage include:

  • Four nights and five days of backpacking in the Big Sur backcountry, in the contemplative spirit of pilgrimage
  • Foundational backpacking and wilderness skills
  • Natural history, philosophy, and nature connection practices 
  • Gestalt practices from the Esalen lineage
  • Weekend of integration at Esalen

Important Note: This is a partner program with Wildtender, an organization working at the intersection of wilderness and wisdom traditions. Visit wildtender.com/esalen2024 for more details and to apply. Please note the full experience takes place over seven days, from Monday, April 29th to Sunday, May 5th. Prior to registering with Esalen you must have registered and paid tuition fees through Wildtender for the wilderness portion of the program.

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

Emily Linders

For the past decade, Emily has managed to spend nearly every summer in the California wilderness as a trail worker and backcountry cook in Yosemite, and a monk at the Tassajara Zen Mountain Center. Emily brings ten years of formal meditation practice, wilderness-based youth development work, hospice work and Buddhist chaplaincy to her work as […]

Learn more about Emily Linders

Categories : , , , ,