Four Seasons of Storytelling
Jun 28th, 2026 - Apr 4th, 2027 | Backcountry in Bay Area | Scott Eberle
One week-long gathering in Bay Area backcountry: September 20-27, 2026
All other sessions by Zoom.
Following Your Own Life Thread
There’s a thread you follow. It goes among
things that change. But it doesn’t change.
. . . Nothing you do can stop time’s unfolding.
You don’t ever let go of the thread.
excerpt from William Stafford’s “The Way It Is”
An invitation from Scott: My latest book, The Soul’s Red Thread: Memoirs of a Guide, offers up my life stories. What are your own? And, through all the stories you might tell, what is the life thread you’ve been following?
Come join me for Four Seasons of Storytelling: an opportunity to tell your own life stories and to hear those of others. Each month, I’ll choose a theme from my book and invite you to explore this while you’re walking alone in nature. We will then circle together on Zoom for a virtual story council. In our fourth session, we will come together in person, for a whole week, in wildlands in the San Francisco Bay Area, so that we can meet each other in the flesh and drop more deeply into the work.
This is not a book club to discuss my book. This is a chance to tell your own stories.
Schedule for 2026-2027
June 28, 2026 (Zoom meeting): Orientation and Introductions
July 12 (Zoom meeting): Title and Plotline of Your Own Life Story
August 9 (Zoom meeting): Your Inheritance: A Life Story Begins Before You Are Born
September 20-27 (a week together in person): Coming of Age: Who Am I in the World?
October 25 (Zoom meeting): The Middle Passage: Connecting with Something Deeper Inside
November 22 (Zoom meeting): The Elder Passage: Contemplating Impermanence
December 13 (Zoom meeting): The Core Wound, the Core Blessing
January 24 (Zoom meeting): In the Life Lodge: Keeping Relationships Current
February 28 (Zoom meeting): Incorporation: The Hardest Phase of a Rite of Passage
April 4, 2027 (Zoom meeting): Closing Council
A special note from Scott: For this Eagle Cohort, all but one of the episodes are by Zoom. Experience has taught me that doing this sort of work remotely – with people doing day walks on their own and then bring back stories to a video call – can work superbly well. Ah, but that’s only true if a person is self-motivated and able to follow through on the walks. Ask yourself: Can I commit every month to a solo day walk, three hours or longer? Contact me if you need more information to help you decide: [email protected]
If you enroll, please do your best to participate in every meeting. If you’re going to miss a session, you can meet with Scott 1-on-1 to keep you engaged. This offer is limited to one session.
This Eagle Cohort enrolls through the School of Lost Borders. The Redwood Cohort is an in-person group, meeting in the S.F. Bay Area starting in January 2026, enrolling through EarthWays at this webpage: Four Seasons of Storytelling – EarthWays
Submit Waitlist form
This program is full; however, you may add your name to the Waitlist by clicking the Waitlist button below.
Submit enrollment form
Please fill out and submit the enrollment form and then pay the program deposit below. Before you pay the deposit, please read deposit section below, all deposits are non-refundable and non-transferable. After your enrollment form is complete, please submit all health and liability forms.
Pay program deposit
Deposits: This deposit signifies your commitment to the program and is deducted from the tuition balance. All deposits are non-refundable and non-transferable. They cover the work of the specific course you signed up for, including all communication involved as well as the fee that guides pay to the school administration for the course accounting.
Additional Deposit: Some programs require a second deposit to help us affirm commitments. Last minute cancellations make it hard to fill openings and incur a loss of income to the School and the guides.
Tuition Balance: Balance of tuition can be paid before or upon arrival. Simply deduct any deposits made from the amount you’ve chosen on the sliding scale.
Additional course details & Materials
All but one of our meetings will be on Zoom. They will start at 9:00 am California time and, while the meeting lengths will vary, most will last about three hours. Our one in-person meeting in September will be held in the San Francisco Bay Area at a beautiful and isolated park that provides welcome solitude. Please plan to arrive in the Bay Area the day before we start, as we will gather late morning on our first day, Sunday September 20th. Because of the isolated basecamp and park restrictions around vehicles, someone arriving late will need to backpack to our site, which is two miles from the nearest parking lot. Otherwise, all gear and supplies will be brought in by two trucks making only a single trip, which is all the park allows. We will finish by late morning on the last day. Similar vehicle restrictions will apply on this day. For this in-person session, you will be responsible for bringing your own food and equipment, though Scott may be able to provide some gear. Please come prepared to live self-sufficiently. You will need to bring shelter and clothing suitable for a full range of weather. A group kitchen will be provided. There is a camping fee of $100 for this gathering, which will be collected at that time. More detailed logistics will be provided prior to the in-person gathering.
You will be responsible for bringing your own food and equipment, though we can provide some gear if needed. We ask everyone to come prepared to live self-sufficiently. You will need to bring shelter and clothing suitable for a full range of inclement weather.
All participants must submit the required health questionnaire and liability form.
If you have questions about the enrollment process contact us at [email protected] or call 760-938-3333.
No reading is required. That said, Scott’s recent book The Soul's Red Thread is available through Lost Borders Press and explores the main themes of this program in detail.
When we meet in person in September, we will gather at Henry Coe State Park, a wilderness backcountry site in the South Bay area. This park is on the ancestral and contemporary lands of the Muwekma Ohlone people. In pre-colonial times, the Muwekma Ohlone people lived in more than 50 different groups spread across the southern half of the Bay Area, each group living off the bounty of the land by fishing, hunting and gathering. Their lives were changed dramatically—and often violently—when Spanish colonizers in California constructed missions whose purpose was to Chrisitanize native people and their cultures. Visit the Muwekma website – http://muwekma.org/ — to learn how these people are now revitalizing their Cochenya language, rediscovering traditional dances, and reclaiming knowledge about traditional native plants.
To learn more about our commitment to regenerative relationships please visit Cultural Relations.
