Anonymity & The Last Blue Mountain.....

I had to also post this quote and images here as I have on my other closed blog...

They are so meaningful...

"The acid test of a true adventurer, if presented with certain anonymity, is whether each of us would still have made the journey beyond the last blue mountain."

I find myself beginning another year of giving back, of anonymously placing these small 'Summit Stones', and now Blogging, while re-minding myself that this is not about me... Rather it is about you, the reader of these musings, and the finder of these gifts... Where such a gesture may just be a touchstone to spark adventure musings of your own... And if you enjoy these, just maybe you will pass forward a little experience of yours too...

Giving back, with no expectation, where the act is the reward itself, reflects on the essence of what can be discovered within adventure experiences.....

DSD

Throwing A Stone.....

"Fortunately, more distant summits are always being discovered... Man throws a stone - his desire - into the unknown, then throws himself in pursuit." T. Cesen

This is yet another of my very favorite quotes. It's a simple, yet profound musing, about what type of 'stone throwing' inspires each of us...

Like this early year Blogging, a developing of new outdoor interests, gaining momentum on our ideas and planning... which all reflect a genesis and movement towards new adventure objectives and wilderness goals not tried before. There are endless opportunities out there to kayak, hike, climb, canyoneer, or whatever...

And as I was told years ago, 'By journeying towards a goal; we give birth to children of our soul...'.

Just day dreaming about a skipping a few stones.....

DSD

"Simple Hiking....."

It seems that today has a bit of serendipity in it, as just after posting yesterday on 'Hiking' musings - I find myself today wandering through my early morning reading and meditations and the first is called "Simple Hiking"...

These musings are by Deng Ming-Dao, whom I have often read, quoted in the 'Adventure Muse', and consider posting on here. He writes: "There are times when simple hiking is literally the best activity. When one walks in the woods or climbs mountains, there is a wonderful unity of body, mind, and spirit. Hiking strengthens the legs, increases stamina, invigorates the blood, and soothes the mind... One is freed to observe nature's lessons... Erosion. Gnarled roots...The high spiral of hawks. Just budding bare branches. Gray rock, cracked, shattered, and worn. A fallen tree. A lone cloud. The laughter of plum branches. Even a little circle of rocks beside the trail - who put them there, or did any hand arrange them, and no matter which, what are the secrets of that circle? There are a thousand meanings in every view...".

Such words resonate with me...

I especially like the reference to rocks, placing, and secrets...

I have been reading and musing over these words for years. Maybe someday I will grasp more of the depth of meaning and experience they seem to reflect...

For today, I think the path to follow is to keep it simple and simply enjoy...

DSD

Hiking...Hiking...Hiking...

I've often began adventure planning by musing on hiking...

I page back through my C. Fletcher books, especially my early 1980's edition of the "Complete Walker". It's kind of falling apart now, and I do see the ironic reflection of myself considering yet another recent injury... Fletcher's books are full of notations, where I was trying to remember the rumination he was making and the quotation I was hoping to remember...

Like one of my very favorite ones: "You will discover as the years pass that hiking becomes a beautiful, warm, round pumpkin that sits up on a shelf, always ready to be taken down... It wouldn't be the same round and personal pumpkin, of course, if you hadn't grown it yourself... And its always sitting up there on the shelf - that big, beautiful pumpkin - just waiting for you to wave the wand and turn it into something more magical."

The adventure of hiking is one of my first enthusiasms. There have been those that took me through the Canadian Rockies, across coastlines and deserted beaches, among the Colorado mountains, meandering within deep canyons, more recently above the High Sierras, and those towards the many summits I've then climbed...

What has seemed to be a simple act of walking within our wild lands, has had a profound effect upon my life and so many others I know while soloing, being with family & friends, even leading challenging groups...

What often reminds me of these experiences, interestingly, is not just the pictures, but the checking out of gear... Especially the boots, the packs, and now over the last years the staffs and hiking poles I now use...

Lately I've been visiting and appreciating great Hiking Blogs like 'Two-Heel Drive', who have such a unique means of passing forward ideas, images, and experiences...

I have probably placed more 'Summit Stones' while out on long hikes and at hiking trailheads than on any other type of adventure. Even a short day out hiking has never been lost time... And as Muir wrote: "I only went out for a walk and finally concluded to stay out till sundown, for going out, I found, was really going in...".

I recall too, within my current frustrations that, it was the Romans who would muse and say: "Solvitur Ambulando", which I believe means 'the solution comes through walking'...

I am so looking forward to the enjoyment of another season of growing more pumpkins.....

DSD

"Spirit Animals....."

When musing about adventure inspirations, for many reasons I often find myself thinking of connections to various animals...

Grey Wolf said, "If you could be an animal, what animal would you be? Answering that question creates a powerful personal metaphor." I believe that we are much closer to the meaning of this than many would expect... We are indeed linked... and in so many ways...

Have you ever watched an animal at play or their energy when they run or fly, or even the gaze of a wolf or grizzly...? They help us 'see' that our experiences out there are not just physical, mental, or even emotional; but can be very full of spirit as well... Sometimes we are allowed a glimpse, a glimmer, of energy and enthusiasms that are difficult to describe...

There are many kinds of spirit within the wild lands, like those felt around ancient trees, or near ageless rock, but it has often been the spirit of animals who I sense have shared something of their enthusiasms with me...

In my over a hundred summits, there were too many to count where I had the fellowship of an animal to share the climbing experience with. Many were highlands birds, others were rams and mountain sheep, so many were the small four legged furries who talk so much in their chitters and whistles... Then there have been the crows and ravens, who seemingly were laughing at my ordinary outdoor mistakes and trials; but who I eventually learned to chuckle along with as I felt they were trying to teach me to not take it all so seriously... All have shared something of their spirit with me , and all have become part of what I've needed for adventure inspirations...

What often gets us going, or carries us through, challenging adventures can be said to be found within the 'spirit'... Aboriginals in many cultures believe that upon birth, or later through certain quests, that the spirit of an animal may enter and become one with an individual. Powerful meanings can be found too in the Animal Totem's that exist out there, and also within the metaphors that these then represent...

R. Ridgeway wrote that in one such experience he found that, "It wasn't until I returned to my own world that I figured it out. In that shaft of light in the jungle, I'd watched the Yanomami transform into a wild animal. For the first time in my life... I had seen who I used to be...".

Grandfather, a Mountain Elder said about the spirit, the energies, we create for ourselves out on such adventures, that, "I see in you... A wolf who now walks as a man...".

I'm inclined to believe that he is very right about us...

DSD