Wilderness Quest in the Utah Canyonlands - Boulder Institute for Nature and the Human Spirit

April 24 – May 3, 2009

At certain times during our lives we feel a call coming from within to slow down, to remove ourselves from the busy stream of everyday life and enter into solitude, deep reflection, and openness. Many people never answer that call, perhaps because it asks us to step outside of our routines and comforts. For those few who are willing to take that step a world of new horizons and insight is revealed.

This nine-day journey into the desert wilderness of southeast Utah is dedicated to those who are ready to answer that call. Out in these remote lands lies a vast world of space and silence, slickrock canyons, mesas and ancient towers of stone. To walk alone into this world is to step into the center of your life. It is a fitting place to renew, clarify, or determine your life’s purpose and direction.

The Quest begins with setting up a group base camp. For several days we train together in deep ecology, self-generated ceremony, ecopsychology practices, and safety skills. You can expect to learn contemplative and traditional ways of being in nature, methods which evoke initiatory states of awareness. We work together to clarify your personal intentions and prepare for the dynamics of fasting, solitude and exposure.

On the morning of our fourth day in the desert you will ceremonially cross a threshold to spend three days and nights alone in a place of power that you have chosen. Most choose to fast while on their solo, consuming only water. In this sacred world and time nothing happens by accident, and you are given the chance to attune your inner life with the rhythms of nature. Who am I? Where do I go from here? Who are my people? What is my gift? These are some of the questions that may arise for you while you are alone on your Quest.

During this time the guides remain at base camp to provide physical and spiritual support as needed. Upon your return to base camp we share stories and begin a group process of gentle re-entry, providing opportunities to deepen and integrate your experience. On the final night we will share a dinner together and a night’s lodging in Moab, Utah, to help ground our return to the “civilized” world.

Logistics and Timing

The Quest begins and ends in Moab, Utah. The fee for the Quest is $600. Additional costs are your transportation, personal equipment, and food and lodging for two nights in Moab.

We meet in Moab at 7pm on the first day. This is your travel day. Your choices are: 1) drive to Moab; 2) fly, train, or bus to Grand Junction, Colorado, and rent a car for the trip to Moab (about 2 hours drive); 3) fly to Salt Lake City and take a scheduled shuttle to Moab from the airport (about 4 1/2 hours). Your return travel day is the last scheduled day. Upon registration we will send you details of these travel options.

To register, please follow the instructions found here.

One day you finally knew
what you had to do, and began,
though the voices around you
kept shouting
their bad advice –
though the whole house
begin to tremble
and you felt the old tug
at your ankles.
“Mend my life!”
each voice cried.
But you didn’t stop.
You knew what you had to do,
though the wind pried
with its stiff fingers
at the very foundations,
though their melancholy
was terrible.

It was already late
enough, and a wild night, and
the road full of fallen
branches and stones.
But little by little,
as you left their voices behind,
the stars began to burn
through the sheets of clouds,
and there was a new voice,
which you slowly
recognized as your own,
that kept you company
as you strode deeper and deeper
into the world,
determined to do
the only thing you could do,
determined to save
the only life you could save.
– Mary Oliver