This summer we gather in the Sierra  — backpacking through high country forests, sleeping under granite peaks and stars, walking the kind of terrain that is medicine for the soul.

The trip draws from the five elemental domains of Enliven. And at the heart of the trip, each person spends 24 hours in solo fast — a ceremonial time alone on the land, without food, in intentional solitude to release what you no longer need to carry and step into what is being born within you.

This is wilderness retreat that takes the inner work seriously. Light enough to laugh in, deep enough to cross real ground.

Space // Awareness — sitting practice each morning, contemplative inquiry, dharma threads woven through the days.

Earth // Embodiment — qigong and gentle movement on rest days. Slow walking on the land. Time at creeks and meadows.

Water // Relation — partner sentence stems for inquiry. Council circles to set intention before solo, to return after, to share what's been moving. Group practice for honest contact.

Fire // Threshold — a 24-hour solo fast on the land. Council before to prepare. Story council after to receive what was found. The Four Shields life map as a frame for the inquiry.

Air // Play — embodied games, simple contact play, song around the fire, the aliveness that keeps deep work from becoming heavy.

These weave together across the trip — not as a fixed schedule but as a living container shaped to what the group, the land, and the moment ask for.

The trails we walk in northern Yosemite cross the ancestral lands of the Ahwahneechee, Southern Sierra Miwuk, and Mono Lake Paiute peoples — used for trade, harvest, ceremony, and travel for thousands of years.

Our journey covers ~20.9 miles total over five days, beginning at Yosemite Creek trailhead and ending at Tenaya Lake.
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Day 1 | Thursday, July 23 | Meet at Yosemite Creek trailhead off of Tioga Road. Cover orientation, gear check, and group practice. Begin our backpacking journey south through the high country forests toward our first camp. Evening council to set intention for the days ahead.
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Estimated mileage: ~5.5
Estimated elevation: +315'/-800'

Day 2 | Friday, July 24 | Morning meditation and movement. Big hiking day. Continue east through the heart of the wilderness, climbing toward Indian Rock and the high country views. Practice with the land along the way — silent observation, sentence stem inquiry on the trail, time at creeks. Arrive at solo base camp in the afternoon. Evening council, intention setting, and preparation for the solo. Each person shares the threshold question they carry.
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Estimated mileage: ~7.7
Estimated elevation: +1,804'/-800'

Day 3 | Saturday, July 25 | Solo fast begins at sunrise. Each participant departs base camp for their chosen spot on the land, remaining in solo intention through the day and the night — without food, without companions, in ceremonial time. Spencer holds base camp throughout.

Estimated mileage: 0 (stationary for solo)

Day 4 | Sunday, July 26 | Solo fast concludes at sunrise. Each participant returns to base camp through the morning. Story council to receive what was found. Shared meal. In the afternoon, we walk a shorter segment to our final camp, integrating as we move through the country. Evening council.

Estimated mileage: ~3.1
Estimated elevation: +1,522'/-200'

Day 5 | Monday, July 27 | Final morning practice. Walk out the last segment through forest and granite to Tenaya Lake, where the journey closes.

Estimated mileage: ~4.6
Estimated elevation: +531'/-500'