Coming of Age for Boys 2012

In the summer of 2012, our group of eight boys set out on a three-week backpacking trip through Olympic National Park. Our objective was to begin to fill the shoes of young men and step out of our childhood neediness. We began our journey as complete strangers, yet grew to become close friends. Along the way we faced many obstacles; such as strenuous hiking, learning how to work together, and getting adjusted to the new routine. We overcame these obstacles only with the help of our friendship and guides.

One of our biggest challenges was becoming mature enough for our guides to step back and let us take control of the trip. Pulled together by the great leaders in our midst, we did a good job beginning to take on the responsibilities setting and breaking camp. Breaking camp was difficult for us, and this resulted in the opportunity to do community service trash pick-ups and a lot of exasperation. Fortunately, we learned from our mistakes and improved our clean-up skills.

The physical element of the trip was yet another challenge we faced, and took a great deal of courage to surmount. We hiked a full mile (over 5000 feet!) of vertical and crossed raging rivers, babbling brooks, lush meadows of wildflowers, and flitted across vast fields of glowing snow, then we traveled to the beach and traversed b beaches and scaled sandy bluffs. To culminate this adventure we spent 24 hours of solo time on the beach while fasting and partook in a sweat lodge ritual.

This journey taught us about nature, ourselves, and being a young man in today's society.  It helped us let go of our childhood neediness and dependency, find out about our strengths and weaknesses, and use this enlightenment to step into the role of a young man and start giving back to the people who raised us and cared for us through childhood.

--written by Isaac Zinda and Rowan Gallagher