Our Guides
We are an interconnected circle of guides who share a deep respect for the land, human nature, ceremony, and each other. We extend this same respect and caring to each person who feels the call to join us in ceremony. We take the role of guide seriously. We are not gurus or healers; we are skilled midwives in supporting the natural transitions and initiations of living and dying. Our teachers are the land, the ceremony itself, and each person bold enough to step across the threshold into the unknown and into their true nature.
FOUNDER
Meredith Little (she/her) and her husband Steven Foster co-founded Rites of Passage Inc. in 1976 and The School of Lost Borders in 1981, pioneering new methods and dynamics of modern pan-cultural passage rites in the wilderness and creating innovative practices of “field eco-therapy.” She has dedicated her life…
Read MoreCORE GUIDES
Angelo Joseph Lazenka (he/him) began guiding vision fast in 1984 and often says that the work grew him up and now he is asking it to grow him down into the rich territory of elderhood. He began working as a guide with the School in 1993 and from 2003…
Read More
Betsy Perluss, Ph.D. (she/they), lover of landscape, story, and myth, grew up as a semi-feral child on Pimu (Catalina Island), where she was ignited with a passion for wild and unbounded places. She stumbled upon the School of Lost Borders in 1998 and since has been involved as…
Read More
Emerald North, visionary, painter, sculptor, gardener and poet, brings years of vital and vibrant experience to the School of Lost Borders. She teaches from the depth of a full and rich life with humor, vision, and love. Emerald values the personal relationships that are forged through ceremony and…
Read More
John Davis (he/him) has been leading nature-based rites of passage and related programs since 1984. Over the years, his work in this area has taken various forms, including vision fasts for youth and adults, designing and directing a graduate program in ecopsychology that included wilderness intensives, writing both popular…
Read More
Larry Hobbs (he/him) has served in many ways. From a field biologist studying whales and dolphins, to a psychotherapist working with individual and family systems, to a teacher and naturalist leading wildlife trips worldwide, Larry came to Lost Borders to train and to guide vision fasts. Although still…
Read More
Nancy Jane (she/her) is an educator, wilderness guide, and councilfacilitator. She began her study of wilderness rites of passage in 1981 andhas been following this calling ever since. Nancy leads youth and adultvision fasts, has pioneered wilderness rites of passage in school settings,and currently also guides quests for Naropa…
Read More
Pedro McMillan (he/him) is a queer elder with more than 20 years of experience with rites of passage work. A father, grandfather and environmentalist since childhood, he became an early eco-entrepreneur, founding and running a green business for 26 years before leaving to focus on rites of passage work.…
Read More
Petra Lentz-Snow (she/her) is certified naturopath and first generation immigrant from Germany who came to the Western United States in her twenties, following a deep call and a faint breadcrumb trail to what would become her life work. She has been guiding vision fasts and wilderness rites of passage programs…
Read More
“Roo” Ruth Wharton (they/them), deeply rooted in earth, body, ceremony and a long lineage of guides from the School of Lost Borders, Roo offers an abundance of love and fierce insight to those Roo guides and mentors. Beginning to guide wilderness rites of passage at the age of…
Read More
Scot Deily LCSW, SEP (he/him) is an adoring husband, father and ceremonialist with an ear to the ground listening for what it means to be human in increasingly inhumane times. Scot brings care-filled levity to his commitment of creating safe havens for all peoples to courageously commune with mountains…
Read More
Scott Eberle (he/him) is an educator, counselor, and wilderness guide. A former hospice physician for over thirty years, Scott recently shifted his professional energies toward a private practice where he offers rites of passage counseling and mentoring. This 1-on-1 work is well-integrated with the wilderness programs that he co-guides.…
Read More
Silvia Talavera (she/her) Inspired by the wild places without borders Silvia guides from a full life experience that is filled with the sacred, profane and the wild graced with humor and curiosity. A wilderness guide since 1993 and a seasoned hospice nurse and a Reiki practitioner. Silvia continues…
Read More
Will Scott (he/him) is a life-long lover of the natural world and a dedicated student of the human-nature relationship. He has worked as a guide with Youth and Adult programs at Lost Borders since 2007, and has been a trainer with School since 2016. Will’s lineage comes primarily out…
Read MoreSCHOOL GUIDES
Bettina Straub (she/her) is a creative and rooted rites of passage guide. She brings earth ceremony, body awareness, and mindfulness to her work. Her intuitive approach is enriched by years of experience creating safe and empowering spaces for collective exploration and awakening. She is a trained mental health counselor…
Read More
Cynthia Eisho Morrow (she/her) has been a wilderness guide with EarthWays LLC, a Bay Area collective, since 2006 and with the School of Lost Borders since 2011. Her father’s family lived in the Owens Valley, and so she grew up joyfully exploring the vast territory of the Eastern…
Read More
Gretchen (Grae) Gerlach (she/her) grew up in rural Montana, where she was raised as much by the wilderness as by her nature loving parents. With the Rocky Mountains, glacier fed rivers, ancient forests, creatures of her homeland and a horse ranching community as inspiration she declared her life…
Read More
Kelly McClelland (she/her) brings realness and an open heart to her work as a bi-lingual Rite of Passage guide, Wilderness Psychotherapist, Designer, and Strategist. Infusing earth-connection with business and technology, she walks the edge of what it means to live in modern society with a deep thirst for ceremony…
Read More
Since answering the call to guiding in 2011, Kim (she/they) has wandered deserts, mountains, rainforests, and the physical and psychic landscapes in between, with humans of all ages. This work began with wilderness therapy, and expanded into rites of passage, with the two often being intertwined on the…
Read More
Nick LaHaise (he/him) is a rite of passage guide, teacher, artist, and professional chef. He was called to rites of passage as a teenager, seeking to understand what it means to be a fully alive and initiated adult. He spent over a decade immersing himself in various rites of passage ceremonies and…
Read More
Sam DeBoskey (he/him) is a farmer, carpenter, rites-of-passage guide, and community organizer/organizee living in Denver, Colorado. He currently manages an urban farm in his home city and is passionate about the power of food and food growing to bring people together. Sam is a life-long student of the…
Read MoreGUEST GUIDES
Cary Gaunt, Ph.D. (she/her), a lover of earth and spirit, has dedicated her life to listening deeply for, and serving, their call.
Read More
Cate Burnett (she/her) has a deep and soulful connection to wild places and all those who live there. She is a naturalist, wildlife tracker and wilderness guide, having spent over 25 years leading expeditions in the Pacific North West and Hawaii. Her devotion to honoring the ‘wild and untamed’…
Read More
Colleen Bishop a doctoral student of Integral and Transpersonal Psychology with an emphasis in Somatic Psychology at CIIS and a graduate alumni of Naropa University—with an MA in Transpersonal Ecopsychology. She serves as co-director for Alchemy of Prana—a nature-based nonprofit operating foundation fostering the liberation of deep consciousness…
Read More
Collin Brown (he/him) is a seeker, healer, teacher, guide who has delved deeply into the mysteries of eros, love, death, and embodiment. His path has taught him to value and trust the wisdom and insight that come from experiential learning whether it’s in a classroom or out in the…
Read More
Cori Wright works as a primary therapist at a wilderness therapy company and is a Somatic Experiencing practitioner. Cori moved every couple of years growing up and became fascinated with how different humans were in every place that she lived. Cori began working with adolescents and facilitating Rites of Passage 15 years ago.
Read More
Katie Teague is an award winning documentary filmmaker, timelapse photographer and somatic-based philosophical life coach. She’s an eclectic mystic philosopher with a Masters degree in Depth Psychology. Katie has followed the jagged arc of a destiny path that eventually led her to fasting with the School of Lost…
Read More
Ken Crocker (he/him) has been concerned about and addressing climate change for 20 years through serving as a board member for the GeosInstitute.org, including 18 years as the board chair. The Geos Institute helps communities nationwide build resilience in the face of climate change using a holistic approach…
Read More
Logan (he/him) is passionate about holding space and witnessing others in their journey, inviting playfulness and curiosity to council. Nature has consistently served as his container for growth in unique and special ways, and he is excited to invite others into the experience as well. Since 2014, he…
Read More
Paul Browde M.D. (he/him/his) is a psychiatrist, a storyteller, and a relationship guide. He has been in practice for more than thirty years. He has trained in Hypnotherapy, Internal Family Systems, and in Psychedelic Assisted Psychotherapy Paul has been profoundly affected by wilderness work and is excited to bring this exploration to groups…
Read More
Scott Davidson (he/him) is a wilderness rite of passage guide, wildlife tracker and cultural repairman who has given his life to community stewardship for more than 20 years. A son of North Sea ancestors and born on Ohlone homelands, he now stewards the sanctuary of Three Creeks in…
Read More
Deeply touched by the ecological struggles of Earth in human hands, tbird (thompson) bishop, has spent the last decade immersed in graduate studies focused ecopsychology and somatics, while also reweaving his life with rites of passage. tbird is deeply grateful for the profound educational opportunities, mentorships, and experiences from…
Read More
Yamin is first and foremost, an apprentice to Mother Nature with a Master’s degree in Chinese medicine and a BA in Social Communication. She uses this knowledge, coupled with her intuition and your wisdom, to partner up with you in the creation of safe spaces to understand and meet your own healing potential.
Read More