Journey Towards Manhood

Journey Towards Manhood

After 15 years of offering Rites of Passage programs for young women, Earth Path Education

is happy to offer its first program for young men who are in the process of exploring their

own journey towards manhood. This 4-day program is led by a team of men with deep

experience in Men’s Rites of Passage and in mentoring young men through the process of

forging deeper connections to nature, to themselves, and to their communities.

Why A Journey Towards Manhood?

In almost every traditional or indigenous culture, the transition from boyhood to manhood

was a highly intentional process, led by the elders and medicine people, and marked by

powerful ceremony.

Today, this critical tending of the threshold between childhood and manhood has largely

been lost, leaving young men struggling with questions such as “What does manhood mean

in today’s world?” and “What will mark the moment I stop being a child and start being a

man?”

This has left many young men even in their early twenties still confused and unsure of their

place in the community.

A Journey Towards Manhood invites young men to sit around the sacred fire and step deeply

into the conversation with experienced leaders of men’s rites of passage. The journey will

include ceremony, adventure, self-reflection, and a call to embrace the responsibilities of

becoming a man in an increasingly complex world.

Who Should Attend

This program is designed for young men ages 15-19 who are exploring what manhood means

in today’s context. For those interested in attending the full 10-day Young Men’s Rite of

Passage program in the future, this course serves as an excellent preparation, providing a

roadmap for properly preparing for the challenges of the full Rites of Passage into Manhood

ceremony.

Participants should be self-motivated to attend and bring a sense of adventure, exploration,

and fun with them. Young men who are 14 and show the maturity needed to engage with the

program can be admitted by completing an interview with one of the course leaders.

Dates and Times

The program runs April 9-12, 2026, from late afternoon on Thursday through Sunday

afternoon immediately after lunch

Arrival will be between 3:30-4:30 p.m. on Thursday, April 9. All participants need to arrive by

4:30, when the group will leave the parking lot at the front of the property to begin the hike

to the primitive campground.

The group will arrive back at the parking lot and be ready to depart by 1:30 p.m. on Sunday,

April 12.

Instructors

Alan Booker, Lead Instructor

Alan Booker is widely known as an engineer, permaculture expert, and consultant in

regenerative design, but fewer know that he is also a wilderness survival expert, martial arts

instructor, storyteller, and mentor who has decades of experience working with students in

their teens and early twenties. Alan has written and taught extensively on primitive skills, self-

reliance, food production and soil fertility, community food security, and navigating the

changes unfolding across the global landscape.

Location and Travel

The program will be held at the primitive campground at Sacred Mountain Waters in northern

Madison County, North Carolina, about a 45-minute drive north of Asheville. Parking is

available on site. Detailed directions will be provided in the information packet upon

registration.

Asheville Regional Airport (AVL) is the nearest commercial airport for those flying into the

area. Pickup and drop-off at the airport can be arranged if needed. Arrivals should be on

Thursday, October 23 by 2:00 p.m. and departures should be scheduled for after 4:30 p.m. on

Sunday, October 26.

Meals and Lodging

All meals will be provided starting with dinner on Thursday evening and going through lunch

on Sunday. Meals will be cooked from scratch over the fire at the campground. Ingredients

will be locally sourced and organic to the maximum extent practical.

All leaders and participants will tent camp in the primitive campground area. Participants are

encouraged to bring their own tent if they have one that can be carried by backpack on the

hike into the camp. Arrangements will be made for participants who do not own a tent to

share space.

What to Bring

Students will be sent a list of required and recommended materials when they register.Course Policies

All participants are invited to help co-create the space required for open discussion and

exploration. Any participant who is actively disruptive to this process will be asked to leave

the program immediately.

All participants under 18 years of age will need to submit a permission form signed by a

parent or legal guardian.

This program is a drug-free, alcohol-free, and tobacco-free place. Participants who take

prescription medications are asked to provide this information to the staff so any medical

conditions can be properly monitored.