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Outdoor & Adventure

Alone in the Woods, Waiting for a Vision (and Watching for Bears)

What a Vision Quest in Montana taught me about fear, ego, and culture.

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Photo by Michael Anfang on Unsplash

It’s mid-October in the Rocky Mountains of western Montana. I’m alone, staring out at a black sea of Ponderosa Pines — full of things that could kill me, like bears, wolves, and mountain lions.

I’m on a Vision Quest and I am scared shitless.

For the next three days and nights, I’ll sit right here. No food. No fire. No phone. No bear spray. No tent. Just enough water and warm clothes to survive, but not enough to feel good about it.

That’s the idea: strip everything away, hollow yourself out, and hope a Vision shows up. What it is, when it comes, how I’ll see it, I don’t know. What I do know is this: it’s a lot more fun to say you’re going on a Vision Quest than to be on a Vision Quest.

I came here looking for answers. Instead, I got fear, frustration, a few strange signs, more questions, and a vision it took me years to unpack.

Why I Decided to Go on a Vision Quest

I was looking for something. A challenge. A change. I’d decided to leave my home base in Missoula, Montana, and travel for…

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Matt Gangloff
Matt Gangloff

Written by Matt Gangloff

Follow on Medium for stories about wild places, stupid challenges, and misguided things I do to feel alive. Find my professional work here: mattgangloff.com

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