Greetings, Everybody, Colleen & Thompson Bishop here. With entheos, we welcome you to the 2023 Adult Mountain Quest! This summer we will journey together into the heart of the wilderness—both inside and out—held within an enchanting river valley coupled with depth of rootedness, an abiding subterranean horizon of networks, an utter vastness of tree-kin, mountain, waterfall—all poised with verticality, and a fierce and generative pulse of flowing water—an ecosystem that illuminates yielding and reaching, gravity and space, pulsation and flow, connection and integration. I (Colleen) am feeling into the ecosystem of the Quinault Valley, and I feel my cells expanding and condensing—a palpable perception of embodied belonging. I feel the cellular and vibratory food of this ceremony—regenerative seeds that feed an undying pulse of pure life-force that includes and extends beyond the edges and periphery of the human and more-than-human communities. I sincerely feel grateful for the opportunity for us to gather together and traverse the terrain of the unknown, and I am deeply touched by your courage to say yes to the seen and unseen thresholds at this time. Attached in this email is also your gear list for this program—which you can also find on the Program Information Page. Please access AMQ's Program Information Page (PIP)—which contains several items for you to review and complete prior to departure: Waiver, Explanation, & Acknowledgment of Risks Health Forms Equipment List Tuition Payments Dietary Information Form Please submit your completed health forms and waivers through the PIP no later than July 5, 2023. We recommend looking over the gear list and obtaining any items you might need as soon as possible. In addition, please send us a private email note about any intentions or calling that have ushered you to this quest and/or what is happening in your life right now. You can email us at info@alchemyofprana.com. We trust the ceremony will be unfolding in the coming weeks. You may experience waves of anticipation, excitement, apprehension, bliss, subtle and/or big changes may become present at this time. These waves of emotion and change are common among folks who say yes to this significant endeavor. It may be supportive to you to go for a walk with the land and inquire about the edges of this seen threshold in your life. What is this clearing? What energy is being asked of me now? What is being let go of? At what threshold are you now standing? What is this ceremony illuminating now?—and anything else! We understand that several logistical and personal questions may arise between now and the time of your departure. Please do not hesitate to reach out as they arise. We are here to support you in the best way we can in this endeavor. We will do our best to respond asap; however, if you do not hear from us within a day or two (or a week!), it is likely that we are offline and in the backcountry, and we will respond upon returning. As of June 27th, we will be guiding programs back-to-back until we meet you in July. Thus, if you do not hear from us at that time, please include ROPJ Program Director, Jakob Ledbetter, at info@riteofpassagejourneys.org. Alas, a few important details about timing and travel—please see your Program Information Page (PIP) for a copy of this letter, a gear list, and health and waiver forms. START/END TIME & LOCATION *WITH UPDATED MEETING LOCATION* START TIME We will begin our journey by meeting at 1:00 PM on July 12, 2023 at Rite of Passage Journeys Basecamp. Rite of Passage Journeys basecamp is located within the Songaia Co-housing community at 22401 39th Ave SE Bothell, WA 98021. You are responsible for coming prepared to live self-sufficiently in the backcountry for 13 days. Please arrive prepared and on time. Your backpack does not need to be fully packed before you arrive at Journeys, but please have all of your gear and food and travel arrangements prepared by that time. We will spend this first day entirely at Journeys Basecamp—preparing for our journey together (i.e., introductory councils, packing our backpacks, sorting dinner meals and bear bins, forest ethics briefing). As noted in the gear list, please provide your own lunch and snacks for this day. Dinner will be provided around 6:00 PM. COMMUNITY COUNCIL TO WITNESS YOUR SEVERANCE Once all of our bags are packed and after our shared dinner, community members and your family and/or friends are welcome to gather for a short council, followed by farewells and hugs, and an opportunity to witness each of us individually and collectively step into our threshold—the space between what once was and the not yet known. If your family and friends would like to witness you, please invite them to come to Journeys around 6:45 PM on July 12, 2023. After we have all crossed the threshold, your family and friends will be asked to depart promptly, and all of us in our cohort will camp at Journeys on the night of the 12th. On the morning of July 13, 2023, we will carpool to the Graves Creek trailhead. Some vehicles can stay parked at Journeys (max 2 vehicles), but we will likely need one extra driver with a 3-4 person vehicle from our group to volunteer to support our carpool. Please let Journeys know if you are open to volunteering to support in this way. In the next week, we will send out a group email in which you will be able to coordinate rides to and from Journeys. Please utilize the group email thread for transportation and/or gear requests or offering and for updated information. END TIME On July 24th, 2023 we will conclude our hike at our starting location (Graves Creek Trailhead), and together, we will carpool back to Journeys basecamp. We cannot predict what time we will actually get back to the trailhead as many variables are participating in this endeavor (i.e., the weather, trail conditions, energy of the group, etc). The drive to Journeys is about 4 hours. Once we reach the trailhead, we will send word to Journeys of our expected arrival via emergency satellite device. Journeys is planning to have a meal and welcoming circle ready for us. Upon your discretion, your family and friends can be invited to welcome you back. If there are any family and/or friends you would like to be contacted by Journeys to be invited to this gathering once they get word that we are at the trailhead, please email Tarek at info@riteofpassagejourneys.org, prior to departure with their name and phone number so he can contact them once we send word. Once we return to Journeys, we will be received by the community, but we will not be ready to depart all the way home just yet! We will spend a few hours eating a meal and unpacking and cleaning group gear. Once we are all complete, we will have one final farewell circle. Please plan your day accordingly. Based on previous journeys to the Enchanted Valley, it is unlikely that we will be complete early enough for any significant evening plans to be met. Please note: Thompson and I are very aware of how tender and vulnerable the return is—you are essentially returning back anew; thus, we want to shine some light on being discerning about who (if anyone) you want there to receive you. Some of the community members of Songaia and Journeys will be there to welcome us back, so if you would prefer to stay quiet and reflective and/or not engage externally, there is space for that too. TRAVEL We are aware that some of you will be traveling from a distance to participate in this journey. This is an exciting endeavor, as we also understand that it may pose more preparation. If you are flying, we recommend arriving on or before the 11th or morning of the 12th and departing on or after the 25th. Please utilize this group email thread to reach out for and coordinate any shared transportation requests or offers. We invite you to utilize this group email amongst yourselves to coordinate any ride sharing needs or offerings as well as any gear requests or offerings. We will update this email thread should anyone else join our group. You are also welcome to text or call either of us for any personal inquiries. We will be more available to respond to texts as we have very intermittent service. We look forward to our collective and solo gathering together in a few weeks! With deep love and entheos, Colleen & Thompson Bishop, lovers, allies, + co-guides for this program with ROPJ info@alchemyofprana.com 970.825.2289 (colleen cell phone) 970.704.5706 (thompson cell phone) 970.963.1366 (bishop land line) www.riteofpassagejourneys.com www.alchemyofprana.com