Return To What Matters
A six-day women's backpacking retreat to reset, reconnect, and explore what's next with mindfulness, wilderness, and an extraordinary community of women.
September 20 - 26, 2026 | Lake Superior, MI
AUTUMN ALCHEMY
Two-Months Together Virtually + 6-Day Backpacking Retreat
The world needs your unique way of showing up.
And you can't keep giving from empty.
You love this wild, beautiful planet and feel both the wonder of being alive and the grief of these times. With so much to hold, and in a world that rarely slows down, it can be difficult to hear your own inner knowing and discern what's truly yours to do.
The Autumn Alchemy Retreat is a chance to slow down and listen deeply.
Listen to your own knowing, to the wisdom of the earth, and to a community of women committed to creating lives that are rooted, courageous, and deeply alive.
Our time will start and end with virtual calls to set your intention and engage with practices to bring more creativity, joy, and inspiration into your work.
The retreat is the heart of the experience, with six days of backpacking along Lake Superior's coastline. During that time, you will be invited to slow down, write, reflect, move your body, and drop into a full day of noble silence with no words at all.
A space for you to finally hear yourself think and return home ready to create, lead, and serve from a fuller place.
Because the world doesn't need another exhausted human trying harder. It needs people who are deeply rooted in who they are and clear about what they're here to offer.
“I left feeling calmer, focused, and deeply supported.”
“The digital detox helped me feel calmer and more focused than I had in a long time. Being in nature by the lake, in the forest, in the stillness, and feeling safe to speak from the heart made it possible to let go and feel everything I'd been holding. It was scary as hell and deeply valuable, and exactly what I needed to move through.
~ Sam, PR Alumni
THE EXPERIENCE AT A GLANCE
LOCATION
Pictured Rocks
Munising, Michigan
DURATION
Retreat: Sept. 20th-26th, 2026
Virtual calls start Sept. 1st
GROUP SIZE
8 Participants Max
2 Guides
DIFFICULTY
Backpack 3-7 miles per day
Carrying 35-45lb pack
INVESTMENT
Payment Plans Available
$3,200
GUIDANCE
Led by a therapist, meditation teacher
& wilderness guide
Guided by Experts, Grounded in Community
Co-led by a Licensed Therapist and Healing Arts Practitioner, this is a two-month experience that pairs physical challenge with spaciousness to think, feel, and create differently.
On the trail, perspective sharpens, nervous energy settles, and ideas have room to breathe.
Much More Than Just a Backpacking Retreat
This journey doesn’t start when your boots hit the trail — it begins weeks before and continues long after, creating a container for you to actually shift how you show up in your work and life.
Clarify what you're moving toward and what you're ready to release with 3 group calls leading up to the retreat.
Anchor what emerges, with an integration call post-retreat so the clarity you found doesn't fade by Tuesday.
Videos and packing guidance so the logistics don't distract from the inner work
1:1 check-ins on the trail to help you work through what's coming up, whether that’s a creative block, fear of being seen, or learning to trust your own knowing.
“My life pivoted and I wrote a book because of this trip” ~ Erika
This experience is designed to help you bring your creativity and vision to life from a place of groundedness, not external validation.
The retreat is where the magic happens.
The calls and community are what make it stick.
INVESTMENT
$3,200
Reserve Your Spot With A $400 Deposit
Make payments along the way—on a schedule that works for you—as long as everything’s squared up 45 days before the trip
Retreat Itinerary
backpacking + mindfulness + star-filled nights
Swim in Lake Superior, rest amongst the trees, and sleep under the stars. This retreat includes evenings spent in circle engaging in meaningful reflection, and a day set aside for a guided solo experience. Together we will meditate, journal, backpack, play, and explore.
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The retreat will officially start at 1pm on the 20th at Twelvemile Beach Campground.
We'll gather for the first time in person, and through introductions, intention-setting, and practical backpacking preparation, you'll start to leave the pace of everyday life behind and prepare for the journey ahead.
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You will be invited to cross the threshold into the forest with intention.
As the miles unfold, phones are tucked away, schedules disappear, and the distractions of daily life begin to fade, the trail has a way of revealing both our strengths and our edges.
Together we'll practice meeting challenges — whether they're steep climbs, uncertainty, or uncomfortable emotions — with mindfulness, humor, and the support of the group,
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As your body settles into life on the trail and the noise of everyday life grows quieter, there's often more room to notice what no longer feels aligned.
Through guided journaling, reflection, and time in circle, you'll explore what's asking to be released. Old stories. Expectations. Habits. Ways of moving through the world that may have once served you but no longer do.
This day is about creating space for something new to emerge and preparing for the day of Noble Silence.
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This is the heart of the retreat.
For one full day we'll enter noble silence together. While words fall away, you'll continue to be fully supported by your guides and surrounded by the quiet presence of the group.
Practice listening deeply to what calls to you during our rest day. Maybe you feel pulled to go for a wander, or take a nap, or just lie by the shore listening to the sound of the water.
Without the usual pull to entertain, explain, or respond, many people discover a different kind of conversation begins, with themselves, with the landscape, and with a deeper inner knowing.
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As conversation returns, so does the opportunity to make meaning of your experience.
We'll gather around the fire to share stories, laughter, song, and the insights that have emerged throughout the week.
Together we'll reflect on what you've discovered about yourself, the strengths you've reclaimed, and the ways you want to move through the world.
This isn't about leaving the wilderness behind. It's about beginning to imagine how you'll carry its wisdom home.
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Our final miles together are often walked with lighter packs and fuller hearts.
Before leaving the trail, we'll gather one last time to reflect on the journey we've shared and honor what each person is taking home. Rather than rushing back into everyday life, we'll transition together to a nearby hotel where you can shower, rest, and enjoy a nourishing meal.
This pause matters.
Just as we crossed the threshold into the wilderness with intention, we believe it's equally important to cross back with care. Together we'll begin making meaning of your experience—sharing stories, celebrating one another, and exploring how you'll carry the wisdom, practices, and insights from the trail into your everyday life.
You'll leave not only feeling restored but with a deeper understanding of what matters most and a clearer sense of where you want to focus your energy next.
MEET YOUR GUIDES
Zoe Gillis, MFT
Zoe is a licensed therapist, meditation teacher, and wilderness guide who has spent the past 20 years helping people navigate life's biggest transitions with greater courage, clarity, and compassion. Through years of leading groups in both therapy rooms and wild places, she discovered that some of our deepest growth happens when mindfulness, nature, and community come together.
Zoe creates spaces where people can bring their whole selves—the grief, the joy, the fear, and the laughter—and allow the land, one another, and their own inner wisdom to become teachers.
Caitlin Ludlow
Caitlin is a community circle facilitator, nature connection guide and retreat curator devoted to creating brave spaces to rest, re-source and re-connect. In 2016 she answered the call to backpack 2,000 miles over 3-months on the Pacific Crest Trail which brought her alive in a way she previously did not know was possible. As someone who navigates ongoing invisible disability in the form of autoimmune illness, Caitlin is devoted to (re)learning how to trust herself & offer herself unconditional kindness & compassion. She believes deeply in the essentialness of taking time out of time — or entering the liminal realm — where all manner of things become possible. The backcountry is her favorite place to be.
INVESTMENT
$3,200
MAKE PAYMENTS OVER TIME
The earlier you register, the longer you have to pay. You can make payments over time, as long as your balance is paid in full 45 days before the trip.
WHAT’S
PROVIDED
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All backpacking meals and snacks are included. Have restrictions? No worries, we got you!
Find more about the food in the FAQ section below.
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We Take Transitions Seriously. After the retreat, having been in the backcountry for 5 days it’s nice to take some time to shower, and integrate slowly into the frontcountry.
Included in the cost is a night at a lakefront hotel in Munising, MI, giving you a day to settle in and relax before heading home.
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Zoe and Caitlin bring a blend of wilderness expertise and group facilitation to every retreat.
Both are trained in Wilderness First Response and have years of experience guiding transformational experiences and fostering meaningful group dynamics in nature.
(See bios above for more about each of them.)
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Once you arrive to Twelvemile Beach Campground in Grand Marais, Michigan, we will take care of the rest, including a shuttle to the start of our hike.
For those who will need to fly, see FAQ for more details.
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You can rent any big gear items you might need.
Sleeping Pad - $50
Tent - $50
Backpack - $75
Sleeping Bag - $125
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3 virtual group calls before our adventure begins so you can show up feeling connected and prepared.
1 group call post retreat to help you integrate the experience.
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Ask questions and deepen relationships.
NOT INCLUDED:
Any unexpected expenses or trip interruptions
Flights
*Trip Insurance
What Others Are Saying
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— STACY —
“Wild Minds impressed in every way! I gained a deeper sense of security in myself and my spirituality. Focusing on my purpose, my intentions, and my relationship to the natural world…it all fell into place. There’s a quiet confidence I hadn’t previously possessed. I’m not exaggerating when I say it was transformative. Thank you Wild Minds for inspiring us to forge such a brilliant bond and holding the space so well.”
Pictured Rocks Alumni
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— SAM —
“This was a trip of a lifetime for me. I loved meeting all the women who were in our group. We supported each other and had such a blast. It was incredible how beautiful the scenery was. Being out in nature was awesome and much needed. Zoe and Caitlin are incredibly wise and know exactly what to do and know how to support you through the whole journey - they have your back.”
Pictured Rocks Alumi
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— SHAWN —
“If you are open to the experience, you will discover who you are meant to be. It’s about grounding yourself in nature, being embraced by a community of like-minded, strong women who are also seeking to be the best version of themself. This experience was more than I could have expected!”
Pictured Rocks Alumni
PRESENCE
Timeless Practices For Modern Lives
MINDFULNESS
Your attention is one of your most precious resources. Each morning, we'll gather beside Lake Superior to practice paying attention on purpose. Through mindfulness, you'll strengthen your ability to notice your thoughts without being carried away by them, creating more space to respond with intention instead of habit.
THE POWER OF SILENCE
At the center of this retreat is a full day of Noble Silence. Imagine not having to make conversation, explain yourself, or show up for anyone else. You simply get to be. Listen to the ocean, the wind, your own breath. In the quiet, what’s been drowned out by noise finally has room to surface. It’s one of the most powerful practices we share, and one you’ll carry with you long after the retreat.
COLLECTIVE WISDOM
Transformation doesn’t stick when it’s held alone. Through reflection and shared visioning, you’ll be supported by a circle of women who truly see you. You’ll leave with concrete insights, encouragement and accountability from peers who are as invested in your brilliance as you are, ensuring your vision follows you home, ready to be lived out.
LAND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
Dear Fellow Wild Ones,
As we embark on retreat, we will be hiking, camping and communing on the ancestral lands of the Ojibwe peoples alongside Gichigami or the “Great Sea”. This area is now known as the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore along the coast of Lake Superior.
It is important to us that we acknowledge and bring our heart-full attention to the history of the peoples who have stewarded this land for millenia before colonialism disrupted the lifeways of their Earth-based cultures. The ancestors of these peoples are still here despite genocidal attempts and they are working to reclaim so much of what was nearly eradicated — language, rituals, ceremonial rites, medicine ways, etc.
Understanding the history of the lands and watersheds we will traverse and be nourished by is something we are working to incorporate more of into the retreats offered as we believe it is important.
We go out with the intention to be in right relationship with all of our other-than-human and unseen kin. This means engaging with practices and conversations that uplift and center reciprocity in addition to our interdependence and interconnection. We seek to remember that we are nature experiencing nature. We are not separate from the beauty and suffering we witness around us.
In honor of this trip and these lands, Wild Minds makes a financial contribution to Miigwech Inc. — a local 501(c)3 founded and led by Aniishinaabe Kwe that supports the tribal cultural reclamation efforts here in Michigan — as one gesture of reciprocity and solidarity.
We are open to any thoughts or suggestions around this topic.
In solidarity,
Zoe + Caitlin
FAQ
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Our starting location is Twelvemile Beach Campground in Grand Marais, Michigan.
For those who will need to fly in, here are some airports to consider with the respective distance from our meet-up point. We are happy to help arrange transportation whether it be a shuttle or carpool, although this is not included in the cost of the trip.
77 miles to Sawyer International Airport (MQT / KSAW / SAW)
100 miles to Delta County Airport (ESC / KESC)
119 miles to Chippewa County International Airport (CIU / KCIU)
123 miles to Sault Ste. Marie Airport (YAM / CYAM)
143 miles to Pellston Regional Airport of Emmet County (PLN / KPLN)
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We'll begin our journey together at 12 Mile Campground on the shores of Lake Superior, where we'll gather as a group, organize gear, and spend our first night camping before heading into the backcountry the following morning.
Once on the trail, we'll camp at designated backcountry campsites along the shoreline, carrying everything we need for the week. Each campsite offers beautiful views, access to the lake, and time to slow down, rest, and connect around the fire.
On our final day, we'll return to a nearby hotel where you'll have time to shower, rest, and enjoy a comfortable bed before heading home. We believe this gentle transition is an important part of the experience, giving you space to integrate the week before stepping back into everyday life.
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After you put down your $400 deposit to reserve your spot, you will be given the option to pay the rest in full prior to the trip or set up a payment plan.
If you choose the payment plan it is an additional 4 payments of $700 (if you sign up by July 1st). After that the payments go up $775.
Payment plans must be started by Aug. 15th.
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In September, the average daily high temp is in the 60’s and and daily low temp is in the 40’s; with an average of 6 days of rain.
As we know, weather is subject to change so we will ensure we are prepared for all conditions!
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This is one of our mild to moderately challenging trips.
What does this mean?
This trip is challenging but totally doable if you are able to normally hike about 8 miles.
Four of our six days on the trail we will pack up camp and hike between 3-5 miles a day, with weight and minimal elevation change. We will have one rest day.
Leading up to the trip it is a good idea to go on some longer hikes (5-10 miles) with a weighted backpack to get your body ready for the trail. We will offer suggestions for how to train if you don’t live somewhere you can easily access hiking.
If you have any questions or concerns, book an interest call here, and we can talk it through together.
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We provide backpacking meals that are lightweight and easy to cook in a group.
Once the group is formed we will work together to pick meals that are within different peoples food requirements.
Have restrictions? No worries. We can work with you to accommodate gluten free , vegan, or any other adjustments you might need to feel good on the trail.
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The following backpacking gear is available for rent. Make sure to have your requests in by the deadline.
Backpacking Gear
backpack
tent
sleeping bag
sleeping pad
The rest will be your personal gear which you will be responsible for. We will share a packing list that will include things like hiking clothing, a hydration pack, and warm jacket. The most important thing will be making sure you have footwear that is broken in.
Hiking Shoes/Boots
One of the biggest medical issues that shows up while backpacking is blisters.
This can be reduced by breaking your shoes/boots in early and going for hikes with weight before the trip.
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The great outdoors! Don’t worry though, we will teach you everything you need to know in order to have a 5-star bathroom experience.
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There will not be service where we are going.
Part of this experience is going completely offline. During our group calls we will talk about the value in going offline and ways to prepare for the trip and integrate back to cell service and email after the trip.
For safety we will have a gps tracking device which we will send and receive messages on in case of an emergency. Included in your welcome packet is information about safety and communication.
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The group calls are a really important part of this experience.
In your welcome e-mail will be a link to fill out your availability so we can try and find a time that works best for everyone.
On these calls you will get a chance to
Connect with your fellow participants
Practice mindfulness and self-compassion techniques that you will use during our trip
Plan how you would like to prepare mentally and physically
Ask questions about packing and gear
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This is a substance-free trip. There is a focus and emphasis on deepening your relationship with yourself and the land. It is also an opportunity to expand your capacity to be with the ups and downs without turning to substances.
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This trip is for those over the age of 18. There is no age limit on who can come on this trip.
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If you cancel within 45 days of the retreat (by August 5th, 2026), you may receive a full refund minus the $400 deposit.
After August 5th, Wild Minds will be unable to fill your reserved space. Therefore, we cannot make exceptions for personal emergencies.
For this reason, we strongly recommend you consider purchasing a travel insurance plan.
Please see next question about travel insurance.
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We strongly recommend you protect your adventure retreat by purchasing a short-term traveler's insurance policy which covers baggage loss, accidents, and trip cancellation. Wild Minds accepts no responsibility for lost, damaged or delayed property.
Trip cancellation insurance can reimburse you for any nonrefundable air and land expenses should you have to cancel your space due to family illness. It may also cover any emergency evacuation expenses should you become ill during the trip. Although every effort is made to ensure a safe trip, you should realize that in the event of illness or injury evacuation can be expensive. Please check your medical coverage to ensure it is adequate.
You have the option to purchase travel insurance for your retreat directly through WeTravel at checkout for your convenience.
If you prefer to arrange your own coverage, there are many independent travel insurance companies available to choose from.
We recommend purchasing travel insurance when you purchase your air fair, but no later than a week before the trip. Purchasing early enough will provide you with a waiver of pre-existing conditions. Insurance acquired typically does not provide protection for pre-existing conditions.
Have more questions?