moon Rise

Coming of Age for Young Women

Ages 12 - 14 | August 9-16, 2025 | Return to Youth Programs

“I can't even begin to describe how amazing this has been for me. I was able to really get to know myself and figure out what I wanted in my life. If I ever experience hard times I will be able to come back to the experience [of my solo]. It was truly life-changing. Now I have a clear picture of who I want my friends to be, how I want to act, what kind of relationship I want, and many more qualities I want to keep and let go of.” - Emily, Age 14

Program Details | Sample Itinerary | Skills Introduced | Program Staff | Other Programs

Adolescence can be a turbulent and trying time and most of our young people are launched into it with little consciousness and even less preparation.

How could it change the teenage years of a girl to have mentors, who have walked the path before her, guide her with love and wisdom into adolescence? To have her family walk beside her on that journey, honoring and celebrating her step out of childhood? To have a group of peers supporting her and sharing the journey with her? To be welcomed into young womanhood by an older generation of women who share with her the gifts and strengths and beauty of womanhood?

Coming of Age for Young Women was created to bring these vital experiences to more adolescent girls, to help them cross the bridge between childhood and youth in love and beauty. It will help them reach young womanhood with a deeper sense of themselves, their own inner and outer beauty and the gifts they bring to the world, so that they may walk through their teen years with strength and self-confidence. We will use heart-centered conversation, art, song, reflective activity and ritual to deepen girls' relationships to their inner selves, their families, their communities and to their own version of what is sacred.

This group of up to 12 middle school girls will explore what it means to step out of childhood and into young womanhood with the guidance and support of three fabulous female mentors. The group will spend a week at a moonlodge, engaging in a rite of passage experience to honor and celebrate the conscious step into young womanhood with a sweat bath ceremony, an 8-hour solo in the woods, and a ritual welcoming to womanhood. Parents and/or guardians will be involved in a formal parting and reconnection with their girls at the beginning and end of the retreat, so that each young woman may be recognized and supported by her family as she takes this important step, and so that the family may enter into the adolescent years together on a strong footing.

FAMILY PARTICIPATION

Family plays an important role in The Coming of Age Journey. Moon Rise begins with parents and guardians ceremonially sending their child off. Then, parents/guardians circle together to eat lunch and spend several hours exploring the changes they themselves must undergo as part of this process. At the conclusion of Moon Rise, parents/guardians and family gather with the greater Sacred Groves and Journeys community for a day-long Incorporation Ceremony to welcome back their youth as Young Women. We will hear their stories, and their reflections on who they now know themselves to be, and then spend time in family groups learning practices that will support the continued re-imagining of the family dynamic that will allow the new person who has returned to continue to flourish.

This journey welcomes all who identify as female, trans girls, and non-binary youth, knowing this journey is an initiation through the female lens. Please check out our welcome statement on gender identity here. Not sure which trip is right for your youth? Contact Us and we’ll help figure it out.

PROGRAM DETAILS

Ages 12 - 14

August 9-16, 2025

Sacred Groves (Bainbridge Island, WA)

$1495.00; Deposit $400.00
Financial Aid is currently available

This journey welcomes all who identify as female, trans girls, and non-binary youth, knowing this journey is an initiation through the female lens. Please check out our welcome statement on gender identity here. Not sure which trip is right for your youth? Contact Us and we’ll help figure it out.

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Participants engage in heart-centered conversation, art, song, reflective activity, ritual and an 8-hour solo in the woods.

Participants spend a week at a moonlodge, engaging in a rite of passage experience to honor and celebrate the conscious step into young womanhood.

Sample Itinerary

Day 1 | Participants and families arrive at Sacred Groves on Bainbridge Island for a gear check and send-off ceremony. Once the severance ceremony is complete, parents gather for a chat about what this rite of passage means for them and the larger family, while the participants set up their camp, play games, make dinner and prepare a fire together.

Days 2 - 3 | Time to get to know each other and find the best berry picking spots! These are the days where we focus on creating community with each other and with the land of Sacred Groves. We will identify plants, make delicious meals for each other, build fires, learn about each other’s ancestry, share songs, trade stories and play lots of games in the woods!

Days 4 - 7 | Now that we know a bit about who we are on this journey with, it is time to dive deep and challenge ourselves! We will use art, song, poetry, ceremony and movement to prepare us for a Wisdom Lodge, an 8-hour solo, and a Maiden Ceremony. Participants will have one-on-one time with Program Mentors to address concerns and explore hopes for this exciting and courageous part of their journey. Our days will still be filled with fun games, tide-pooling and lounging in the warm summer sun. A community of women, including elders Tere and Therese of Sacred Groves will make these experiences special and full memories that will last a lifetime.

*Day 8 | This final day is all about integrating everything we’ve learned and experienced. The trick to wonderful summer experiences is learning how to make it a part of the rest of our lives. How do we carry sisterhood, community practices, creativity, nature exploration and our unique gifts with us into busy teenage lives? We will answer these questions together and with our families.

Skills Introduced

Moon Rise Staff

Our guide teams for 2025 will be announced ASAP. We typically have guide teams assembled by Spring. You can learn about last year’s guides below and learn more about the rest of our guide teams from prior years on our Staff & Board Page

Guides for Moon Rise august 2024

Elle Obrien

Program Coordinator

Elle often says that she was raised by the Atlantic ocean, a relationship that profoundly shaped her. This sense of belonging with the more-than-human world, and the connection to her own wildness that it fosters, guides Elle through life. Inspired by nature's healing potential, Elle studied nature-based therapy, trauma psychology, and gender at Quest University Canada while working as an outdoor guide. Continuing her journey on the Big Island of Hawai’i, she spent nearly two years at a nature-based therapy program leading rites of passages for youth and young adults. Deeply moved by the transformative power of these spaces to connect youth to the heart and depth of who they are, Elle sought out her own rite of passage in the form of a vision fast through the School of Lost Borders (SOLB). This life-changing experience confirmed her dedication to bring more of this work into the world. In an age of fast-paced technological, environmental, and social changes, Elle believes that the resurgence of intentional nature-based initiatory experiences are a potent medicine for supporting healing in the world. She is passionate about helping individuals, particularly youth, reconnect with their innate sense of belonging while also fostering new forms of sustainable and life-affirming culture. Elle dreams of a future where every community has trusted and respected 'community tenders' who serve locally as mentors, healers, and circle holders, supporting comprehensive and intergenerational mentorship programs. Since 2022, Elle has been supporting vision fasts and training programs with SOLB, and she joined Rite of Passage Journeys in 2023. When not getting fired up about rites of passage, Elle can be found on epic rock climbing adventures, narrating her day-to-day activities through song, or savoring warm mugs of cacao. She also loves cold water river dips, learning about local edible plants, and doing martial arts in the forest.

Erica Mellon

Program Guide

Born and raised in Boulder, Colorado, where nature and the mountains have always held profound importance, Erica Mellon (She/Her) is driven by a deep desire to guide transformative experiences for youth in the healing spaces of nature. Erica is also an artist and filmmaker and is deeply passionate about using the power of story as a catalyst to help us create a more beautiful world. Her self-guided interdisciplinary education at Quest University Canada was guided by the question, “How Can Stories Reconcile?” She is on a mission to discover not only how the stories we tell collectively can help restore our relationships with each other and our human and non-human relatives, but how the stories we tell ourselves can help us heal and live up to our full potential. With extensive experience in youth development, Erica's journey has been marked by diverse roles. At Creative Visions in Los Angeles, she deepened her understanding of mentorship and creative expression, guiding high school students through a 10-month impactful documentary filmmaking lab. Later, with Open Roads, Erica facilitated transformative outdoor trips for underrepresented youth, blending creative arts such as filmmaking and creative writing with nature immersion. Erica’s journey, including global travel and a self-directed rite of passage trek through the Himalayas, has reinforced her commitment to integrating intentional ceremony into her work. Erica is also an Empowered Heart Method facilitator, trained in holding compassionate trauma-informed spaces for emotional exploration and healing. Erica is also passionate about regenerative agriculture and healing ourselves through healing the land - and is an integral part of a beautiful community garden project in Boulder Colorado. She spends her free time community building, creating art, and playing music with her friends.