Coming of Age for Girls: Setting Sun, Rising Moon

The Coming of Age for Girls trip started off with a tearful song (They are going, they are going, they are going away…) as each girl said goodbye to her family and took her first courageous step into the unknown. With three women as their mentors, the girls loaded into the van, and we were off to Sacred Groves for two days to prepare our hearts and minds for the journey ahead. The girls threaded bead necklaces, reflecting on who they are and who they want to be as young women as they worked. Our first night was marked by each girl saying YES to the journey, and receiving the gift of an animal ally to support her goals for her trip. Some of the allies with us on our trip were Dragonfly, Frog, and Hummingbird. 

Lighting the sweatlodge fire.

Our second day the elders of Sacred Groves, Tere and Therese, held a sweatlodge for us—in the lodge we swam our way through the sweat, steam, and darkness to dig deep for what it was each girl really wanted out of the trip. At night we practiced fox-walking—walking quietly on the earth—and heightening our senses. Each night as the girls scrunched down into their sleeping bags, stories and jokes and excitement filled the Moonlodge.

Hanging out at the Moonlodge

Day 3 we headed out to Dungeness Forks Campground where we were finally camping in the forest! The girls learned and practiced some of the essential skills of camp craft and backcountry survival and performed skits to teach each other Leave No Trace principles. The next day we packed our packs, and headed out onto the trail under a light drizzle.  Even in rain, the trail up to Royal Basin is beautiful. Gratitude abounded on our trip for simple things—warm tea, cover from the rain, a warm and dry sleeping bag.

Day hiking to Royal Lake

On our day hike to Royal Lake, we sat down for lunch and heard rustling in the brush nearby. We froze, looking for what was scurrying about –and who should pop out of the brush, but a juvenile long-tailed weasel! Here is a picture of one, although not the one we saw:

The moon welcomed us to 3^rd Beach on our eighth day together, and continued to glow bright even in the afternoons along the beach. We hiked along the beach and up and down rope ladders to avoid high tide zones. 

Working it out on a more gentle rope ladder

We saw a family of otters, 3 little ones and one big one make a sprint for the ocean, leaving behind perfect tracks to examine. 

The sun was setting at our backs and the moon rising ahead of us on the afternoon that we arrived at Toleak Point to setup for the girls 24-hour solos—what poetry the cosmos loaned us at the moment that childhood was setting for each girl, and their adolescence was rising!

We had a full day to prepare for the girls’ solos, and plenty of time to play in the waves and check out the tidepools. 

The evening before solos was marked with a ceremony marking the end of childhood, and early the next morning the girls were off to their solo sites, to sink into the heart of the inner journey of the trip.

The next day each girl was welcomed back to the central camp as a new person – as a youth. We sat in circle and each young woman shared her story of reflection, dealing with the logistics of maintaining a camp all on her own, what it was like to be alone at night, mustering up the courage and determination to continue the solo despite hunger pangs and physical discomfort. We celebrated their return with food, jewelry making, decorating each other with henna, and hours of relaxation on a perfectly sunny day. 

On our last full day on the beach, the group took on more leadership and organized their pack out of camp, meals, and camp setup back at Third Beach. We returned to Journeys basecamp to finish up our trip with an Elders Council where elders in the Journeys community heard the young womens’ story of their trip, a big feast, and a last campfire filled with love and appreciation for each youth. Finally, our trip ended with an excited reincorporation of these new youths back into the folds of their families.

Sunshine may be mostly gone for the next six months, but the stories that were shared in the August sun at Toleak Point—and the jokes told around the fire, the songs sung, the intentions and dreams for ourselves that we spoke aloud—are still glowing like hot coals in my memory, and will continue to kindle us and whisper reminders of who we are, and who we hope to grow into, long past the winter. 

Coming of Age for Girls 2012

We just returned home from an amazing three week trip in the Olympics with four wonderful young women and three magnificent mentors.

By day, we challenged our bodies, pushing ourselves to keep going even when we felt like we could not make it up one more switchback. By night, we pushed our hearts and minds to open, sharing our deepest selves in council.

We climbed from sea level to almost 5000 feet, all the way up to Anderson glacier, where the vista opened up in every direction, our eyes feasting upon peak after peak, up into the wide blue sky, and down into tree covered valleys.

At the top, near Anderson Glacier, we took a break for sledding in a snow bowl.

We spent a week exploring the beach, climbing beach ladders and giant rocks, watching otters and seals play in the surf, discovering crabs, starfish, and anemone in the tidepools, and relaxing in the warm sand.

After hiking almost 50 miles, singing, laughing and supporting each other the whole way, we got to rejuvenate and celebrate at magical Sacred Groves.

Here is a song the young women wrote on the Journey (First verse by Cameron Withey).

Coming of Age for Girls 2011

Your community hasn’t truly became a family until each and every person can rightfully say they crossed a small wooden bridge 20 feet above a gushing river in the pitch black night, clutching on to each other for support; and everyone can speak from their hearts without fear of judgment.

We came into Journeys as individuals we all had our talents, our memories, our strengths and weaknesses. We learned to work off and with one another. Our time here has shown us really what we can do if we push ourselves.


There’s 22 days of our Journeys adventure, and it was fun while it lasted
So many memories, and so many moments that we didn’t know how to spend it
Except for:
Singing in the car to ninja training,
or powering through those three miles (da da da)
Rolling our ankles and craving chips,
And Cici farts for an hour!
Licking peanut butter, off of all our tarps,
or caring for Jeffrey all day (not again!)
Sitting in princess chairs, crossing a bridge at night
or driving our mentors insane (GIRLS!)
As you can see there ‘aint no ponies, on pony bridge!
So come along ‘cause all us girls are gonna make it last!
Yeah come along ‘cause all us girls are gonna do it all!

Thank you to our mentors and the Journeys staff for making this journey possible.

Sincerely,
Kenzi, Tovia, Francesca, Raven, Cici, and Belly