Sunday, November 27, 2011

"A Mountain No One Wanted To Climb..."



Of course it had been climbed, but it has for decades now, been a mountain none seemed to want to climb again... A lonely place, it seems up there, not a coveted nor cherished route, with chancy rock and iffy terrain, not really inviting at all. It is away from all the other high points around there, those objectives most people seek out as being of more significance. This mountain is not near any easy access; actually is a struggle to even get to see. Maybe it is a shy mountain, if you will, and has not been that engaging of us because it simply likes its' own solitude. I understand that... Many of us, peoples, wild ones, and wild places, need our quieter times, our distance from all the usual stimulation's and distractions. That doesn't at all mean this mountain has no secrets though... There are a number of routes to make one's way up there, certain twists and turns that need creative climbing, with vistas you would never guess are present. Yet they are there... The rock only seems questionable, until you move past those first bits, then it is as strong and sure as any I have been upon. But it does require that extra effort. The summit itself is truly unique, like few I have shared the winds with. It has a natural shelter up there, where the rock turns in upon itself, but still allows the sun its presence too. A warm, calm, and very secure high point it is, unusual to find in such places. This elusive mountain and I are close friends now, and a part of me is glad few journey there. As I made my way back yesterday, I began thinking of our next visit, and a smile slowly grew upon my face, looking forward to that time I will spend with my old friend..... DSD

Thank you Dear Friends, for your images of your own elusive high places...

Friday, November 25, 2011

"Of Educations..."

"It is only in adventure that some people succeed in knowing themselves...". A. Gide
Time tomorrow, for a very long trek, among the mountainous tomes out there, which still have so much to teach us... DSD

Sunday, November 20, 2011

"Turn Around..."




I very much like really early alpine starts, especially when heading out solo. There is just those many special somethings that unfold when we get going before first light and are already moving with the dawnings as our adventure day begins... This day though, I was to find out what it meant when we go too early. This was a difficult scramble route; meaning more challenges with route finding, exposure, and lots of focused hands on the rock as well. I had made quite reasonable time, but even by headlamp, had reached a point in that darkness where it was no longer safe to continue. It would have been very easy to get off route too and now this scramble would have technically become much more. So I made the decision to descend. I pondered the aspects of our 'turn around points' as I did. Those altitudes, timings, and places on long routes, where we have previously determined that a decision like this is imminent. Then when almost down in the valley, as the real first light began revealing itself, I turned around and looked back up at my route. Most of it was now illuminated by the emotional warmth of alpenglow. Then I began to wonder, looked at the time, thought about another 180, and what my energy level was... Then turned around once more - I headed back up, into such a very long day of climbing, up in the midst of the lingering alpenglow, then later among that rays of the setting sun. Another level of meaning and metaphor it seems, had been shown to me about 'we don't know if we don't go', and all by simply turning around..... DSD


My appreciation for your own 'turn around' wonderful images my friends.


Friday, November 18, 2011

"Our Adventure Efforts..."

"Whether our efforts are, or not, favored by life, let us be able to say, when we come near the great goal, I have done what I could...". L. Pasteur
Effort - A singular word with so many varied personal meanings... DSD


Sunday, November 13, 2011

"Slowly... Slowly... So Surely..."



Slowly, slowly, so surely, we adventure and make our way... So slowly, slowly, we journey. Among the wilds, seeking, endlessly asking and wondering. So surely, yet slowly, we strive to gain the strength and all the confidences we need. Slowly we then climb, taking each step, making each move, up a mountains face. Slowly we then paddle, moving through currents and waves, staying true to our course. So slowly we then trek, through both desert and valley, searching in those forever moments, among sunrise and at sunset. Slowly, slowly, so surely we then sense an awareness of hidden meanings, within realizations and connections, from among such lasting memories. Slowly, so slowly, so surely, we finally cross that terrain of our selves, creating wonderful endless horizons, for our adventurous lives. Slowly, slowly, yet truly surely..... DSD

Dedicated to every one of the links here under 'Giving Back' who slowly but surely 'Adventure For Another Reason'...

Friday, November 11, 2011

"Remember....."

"Remember... These great cathedrals of the Earth, with their gates of rock, pavements of cloud, choirs of stream and stone, altars of snow, and vaults of purple traversed by the continual stars." J. Ruskin
Our day for all to remember..... DSD

Sunday, November 06, 2011

"The Fifth Season....."





One trail, only a single small path it is, subtly leading into the trees, up from the valley floor, off deep into a northern canyon... One trail, easily accessible enough, and reasonably available for wandering during all four of our seasons. So each season I have visited there, with many reasons for heading up that little trail... Almost always on my own, in times needed for solitude, contemplation, and silence. Although with the overgrown trailhead it has, you would never really expect it to be there, as each season over the years has blanketed it so with even more foliage. It's almost as if the terrain itself wants to be elusive, and quiet, and set away from everything else... In winter the snow is deep there but navigable, the spring runoff is fast under the warming sun, summer can have a coolness too even amidst the hottest days, and fall in there is special as well with the changing colors and rustling of winds among leaves. While this little long trail recreates its' self with each season, it almost never seems really that different in other ways. Seasons may change there, but time slows too and becomes very still in those moments. Maybe that is why I wander there often, to slow my own life down, to then see, and feel, and know there are things in the wilds that have meanings deeper than the passage of a clock or calendar... That is how I was to discover, so long ago, that there is a fifth season out there too. A hidden season, a very elusive season, one only written or whispered about in those quiet special ways... This is the season that is just past winter, spring, summer, and fall. A fifth season. A part of and yet just beyond the other four. It is the time of stillness, of gentle first and last light, of a calming and a clarity. A season for emotions too that crystallize certain meanings, for remembrances of why we are both here and out there. A season that promotes quiet and contemplation. It allows understandings for whatever we each are seeking. It is especially a season of spirit. For all those ephemeral things that come and go, live and grow, change and remain familiar, as every other season does in its' own way. As adventurers, we develop an awareness of this season, the many of us who wander so, as it matters not really about the activity, time, or even the place out there, but then becomes so much more... It is a season of dawnings and sunsets within every moment, a season of meanings and memory, for all the mysteries and wonder. A fifth season it is, waiting so patiently to embrace every one of us with all its' gifts..... DSD

Appreciation as well to my fellow Adventurers for those two images of stillness and motion above.

Friday, November 04, 2011

"Adventure Tenacity..."



"It is mainly tenacity that helps you operate closer to your maximum - tenacity of purpose regardless of your talents or intelligence or a lot of other things. You can make up for almost anything if you are steadfast and keep going in a certain direction steadily for a long time." R. Robbins

Imagine the experience that was speaking out for us in this way... DSD