Empty Mountain Calendar of Events
Empty Mountain Program Calendar 2025
Updated on May 20, 2025
Sunday June 15: Day of Mindfulness, 10am-1pm
Please RSVP by June 9 via email or by using our contact form
Our program will include: outdoor walking meditation, a short session of sitting meditation, a practice talk by Nicole on the Seven Roots of Wellness, and we will end our gathering by sharing lunch together. Please BYO picnic style lunch and either a cushion or outside chair to sit on. All of our time will be spent outdoors so please come dressed for the weather, with good enough shoes for walking around in the woods. We will be sure to send you directions once you RSVP. But in short, we are located 60-miles west of Missoula, which mostly involves traveling on an easy, lovely stretch of I-90.
Sunday July 20: Day of Mindfulness, 10am-1pm
Please RSVP by July 14 via email or by using our contact form
Our program will include: outdoor walking meditation, a short session of sitting meditation, a reading & sharing circle, and we will end our gathering by sharing lunch together. Please BYO picnic style lunch and either a cushion or outside chair to sit on. All of our time will be spent outdoors so please come dressed for the weather, with good enough shoes for walking around in the woods. We will be sure to send you directions once you RSVP. But in short, we are located 60-miles west of Missoula, which mostly involves traveling on an easy, lovely stretch of I-90.
August 15-17 (Fri-Sun): Camping Retreat
We’ll send more details after folks RSVP, but here are some basics that are helpful to know up front, to help you make your decision about whether to attend:
Arrival: 4:00-6:00pm on Friday August 15
Start of the retreat on Friday: 6:30pm
End of the retreat: after lunch on Sunday August 17 (around 1:00-ish)
Location: EM is situated 60-miles west of Missoula & just 3-miles from I-90 (we’ll send detailed directions to those who RSVP)
Food: We will provide breakfast on Sat & Sun mornings and dinner on Sat night; all other meals are bring your own.
Cost: $40
Program: Our retreat weekend will include: sitting meditation, walking meditation, Qigong stick exercises, sharing circles, readings, shared silent meals, morning campfires, guided deep relaxation, and a longer hike on Sunday. It will be a mix of shared silence together and some social time too.
Lodging options: As this is a camping style retreat, we kindly ask folks to BYO sleeping situation: tent, hammock, or vehicle. We have ample room for parking, so if you have a tow behind camper or RV you want to bring along, we should have no prob finding a place to park it. Need a tent? Please let us know! We have a couple on hand folks are welcome to borrow.
Off-grid & without running water: As we want folks to know what they’re signing up for, please know that here at EM we are off-grid and operate without running water. We have solar panels for electricity (translation: you can charge your phone during the retreat if you need to) and we have creative ways to dispense water (translation: we will have plenty of drinking water on hand and also water to wash hands & dishes). We have an outhouse with a composting toilet as well. We do not have cell service or wi-fi here. We do, however, have a cell phone antenna on our cabin, which operates on Verizon, so if you have Verizon as your cell carrier, you can get cell signal & 4G when you are at or very close to our cabin, but if you don’t have Verizon, you won’t get any signal here.
Please scroll down to read our policies in place regarding dogs and mind altering substances.
Want to attend only on Sunday? Please let us know. We would be glad to welcome folks to join us simply for the day on Sunday.
RSVP by August 4. As we have a minimum number of folks required in order to host events, early RSVP’s are greatly appreciated. To RSVP, please email us at: emptymountain406@gmail.com
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A Couple of Kind Requests
About Dogs. Dogs are welcome, but please do bring a leash along (just in case). Allowing dogs at program events is an EM experimental endeavor. We’re still in the trying-it-out phase. While we dearly love dogs, they can be challenging to enfold into the practice, the mix of other humans, other dogs and all of the enticing smells & critters of the forest.
About Alcohol & Drugs. Here at EM, we aim to be a safe space for folks wanting to live a sober life, which includes ourselves (Mike & Nicole). As such, we respectfully ask that alcohol and drugs not be brought on site. This includes marijuana. However, as we understand that some folks use marijuana for medical purposes, and we want to try to support our friends in this regard, our experimental policy is as follows: we respectfully ask that you not share it, and that you keep it & use it away from others.
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PAST EVENTS
Afternoon of Mindfulness: April 20, 2025 in Missoula; to listen to the talk that Nicole gave please click here.
Five Powers: 5-week online practice group, Jan-Feb 2025
Camping Retreat: Aug 16-18, 2024 (with a DOM on Aug 18)
Day of Mindfulness: June 9, 2024; to listen to the talk that Nicole gave please click here.
Community Potluck & Campfire: May 18, 2024
Four Arenas: 4-week online practice group, Jan-Feb 2024
Mindful Community Conversation: Thursday October 5, 2023 at the Open Way Mindfulness Center in Missoula. Topic: In Our Own Voice, in honor of Mental Illness Awareness Week. Facilitator: Nicole Dunn. Speakers: NAMI of Missoula (National Alliance on Mental Illness). Hosted by Empty Mountain.
EM Community Work Day: Saturday September 9, 2023
Mindful Community Conversation: Thursday September 7, 2023 at the Open Way Mindfulness Center in Missoula. Topic: Abortion. Facilitator & speaker: Nicole Dunn. Hosted by Empty Mountain.
Camping Retreat: Aug 11-13, 2023
Day of Mindfulness: July 9, 2023; to listen to the talk Nicole gave during this DOM, please click here
Day of Mindfulness: June 11, 2023
Seven Roots of Wellness: 8-week series & online practice group, Jan-Mar 2023
Education session with TransVisible Montana: September 8, 2022
Inaugural EM day of mindfulness: August 14, 2022; to listen to the talk Nicole gave during this DOM, please click here