"Age Is Relative..."

F. Mitchell wrote: "I believe you don't stop hiking because you grow old. You grow old because you stop hiking."

I'm just musing over these wise words, while pondering the ageless faces in the rock images above, and the flow of the 'Old Man River'...

I remember... the insightful attitude of a seventy plus year old climber who had more spirit than the twenty year old adventure athlete travelling with him...

I remember... a thirty something kayaker with more wisdom and insight than a retired wilderness guide we both know...

I recall too... that age is such a relative thing. As in what Grey Wolf said: "You may be as old as they say, but you are really as young as you do...".

A few climbing seasons ago, I was scrambling with a close friend on Mt. Indefatigable in the Kananaskis region. I was leading and had assumed with our very early start that we were the first on the route that day...

Just below the summit, and on their way down, came two other climbers, much older than I but also clearly descending after being first up... We spoke briefly, and with smiles and that enthusiasm that comes from having just summited, they told me about their last few mountains, their years of retirement, and their plans & adventures to come...

Yet again, just when I needed it, came an experience that gave me pause to muse about my own concerns over the passing years and the impacts this was having on my outdoor endeavors...

They gave me a gift that day; so much more valuable than the little painted stone I put in one of their packs as we were just about to part company...

I am so grateful to have met and shared a few moments with such ageless adventurers...

DSD

"Tom of Two-Heel Drive"

"Do not go where the path may lead; go instead where there is no path and leave a trail." Emerson (Do not attempt in short pants. Tom. M.)

And that is how Tom's Blog starts off at Two-Heel Drive, both with a quote that reflects how Tom is one of the very first Hiking Bloggers out there, and with his sense of humour in how he does this.

Tom is a Master Blogger with over 1000 posts, in over ten years of blogging. His adventure focus is hiking, especially California, and he has wandered over many trails from mountains to canyons.

His accomplishments also include a huge variety of posts, extensive links, terrific pictures, and a style that is very inviting for comments. Besides being an active outdoor person who promotes connectedness within the hiking community, Tom is a journalist.

Tom is truly a steward of valuable hiking information and experience. I have enjoyed his great site immensely. His passing forward efforts captures our spirit and enjoyment of these adventures. He also often puts a smile on my face with his humour, such as his goal in life: "Staying above ground". Tom is a fellow adventurer, who I would quite enjoy meeting out on the trail. Have a look at his exceptional blog.

DSD

(All pictures above are from Tom's Blog)

"Tribute To A Rock Carver..."

The whole of Stawamus Chief mountain in BC, Canada, is often described as the figure of an Aboriginal Chief, lying on his back and looking up... An amazing image in old granite rock...

Squamish, where the Chief and other special things may be found, is an adventurers dreamland. The Chief itself is a most pristine mountain with endless climbing opportunities...

On our latest visit up Howe Sound for some hiking and gazing over bouldering problems quite beyond my means, I placed a few Summit Stones & Adventure Muses... We have returned there a few times now to enjoy and ponder over many hiking, climbing, bouldering, mountain biking, and nearby kayaking adventures...

While there, we discovered two new adventure experiences. The first was the wonder of learning about the Peregrine Falcon, which nests high up on the majestic Grand Wall and whom often competes with climbers for safe resting near cracks and ledges. Thankfully, some routes are off limits during the Peregrine's sensitive season. What beautiful creatures they are...

The second new adventure was discovering an amazing figure carved into a huge granite boulder! It can be found by hiking in off Psyche Ledge, the old access road, and going further past the Parks sign and then following the mossy trail to the right, below the Grand Wall area itself... Found upon about a six foot high boulder is a rock carving of at least five feet, etched into the very rock. The left arm of the figure, as shown above, is reaching to the very top of the boulder. I just had to place a Summit Stone at that very spot where the left hand is gripping the upper edge...

We did not see this carving on our other visits here, when wandering through the trees and boulder fields, yet it must have been done some time ago, from the look of the rock and the growth upon it...

I so enjoyed musing over the skill and technique needed, the hours of effort required, the motivation for, the message of, and the gift this will be to those who discover this unique rock image during their own adventures...

I thought to post a tribute here as I do appreciate such anonymous artistic endeavors...

DSD

(This may spark comment on the permanent nature of such art. I do wonder if this made for any controversy when it was completed; as I have many times over my Summit Stone placements - even as my intentions reflect that these are a gift to always be carried away. I sincerely hope so as to not be intrusive in anothers adventure experience.)

"Scholars Rocks....."

"Venerable Eastern esteem for wilderness explains the popularity of 'Scholar's Rocks', single stones which have been carved into intricate, dynamic shapes by the powers of water, wind and frost. The stones - were valued for how they expressed the history and the forces of their making... If you stare at one closely enough, and for long enough, you lose your sense of scale, and the whorls, the caverns, the hills and the valleys which nature has inscribed in them can seem big enough to walk through." R. Macfarlane

Look closely... look closer...

Worlds inscribed within; reflects adventures experienced without...

Simple stone; venerable histories. Only rocks; but amazing images and meanings...

Imagine how these have been crafted so eloquently by natures' hand, and what it meant to discover them...

B. Juyi also wrote, of finding some Scholars Rocks: "Then I turned towards my two rocks asking if they would stay with me when I am old... They could not speak yet seemed to say that they would remain my faithful friends."

Interesting musings over the powers of the elements in shaping rock, stone, and most importantly... our perceptions...

DSD

"Returning To Mt. Niblock....."

Mt. Niblock is located very near Lake Louise in Banff National Park. It is the peak on the right in the picture of the double summit above...

J. Waterman wrote: "No climber, active or inactive, young or old, can help but look back to one of their earlier climbs with a sense that they had touched something beautiful and elusive, and found movement upon rock and ice as creation... In these remembrances most climbers find necessary definition for the rest of their lives."

How I've mused over the meanings within this quote when remembering the days of adventure out with Mt. Niblock. Over the years I have gone back three times; two solo trips, and one with family and friends. It re-minds me of the essential concepts of 'returnings'...

Mt. Niblock is 2976 meters or 9764 feet in height, while its sister peak to the left is Mt. Whyte, which is 2990 meters or 9810 feet. Niblock was named after John Niblock, an early traveler in this area.

My first visit was to complete a double solo summit traverse of both, and doing so in one day gave me a real sense of the nature of sustained scrambling. With an alpine start (as if there were any other kind in those early days) meeting nobody on the usually busy path up from Lake Louise, there was cool air and cobwebs letting me know I was first up. The full moon was still out, and I often have thought with such alpine starts, that I must either be some nocturnal creature or a lycanthrope... After much route finding and traversing upon loose rock, the day was to be mine alone on the summits of Mt. Niblock & Whyte, as were many during seasons where I was out solo...

That day too was one that seemed to be of 'Flow' as Csikszentmihalyi has written about, where gravity was working in reverse, and things got lighter and faster the higher I went...

My mantra was one of practicing a Mountain Guide's musing of remembering 'Posture & pace; breathing & rhythm'...

The second return to Mt. Niblock was with family and friends, where I was able to lead, and experience the mountain in yet another way... My third day upon Niblocks' rocky slopes was a further solo, where I returned again, somewhat older, definitely slower... but welcomed back as if by an old friend...

I was also to try a classic technical climbing route on Mt Whyte in later years to gain even other vistas...

I believe we all have our own special mountains and days out upon them... I imagine myself returning to Mt. Niblock once more in future seasons... But if I don't... the memories of these adventure experiences have made impressions upon me as lasting as those made upon rock by the passing of countless seasons...

DSD

"More On Storms....."

Storms.......

G. Gissing said: "For the man sound in body and serene of mind there is no such thing as bad weather; any sky has its beauty, and storms which whip the blood do but make it pulse more vigorously."

Even while almost recovered from a winter storm and an injury, I do so love musing on elemental storms... Musings like this are what contribute to whatever soundness of mind and body that we may have...

I remember... Rough seas, big waves, crashing water upon rock... Mountains after a day of rafting, in a small tent, listening to the thunder that sounded so close... The wind on a summit day that had a life of its own... An approaching storm at 10,000 feet near the continental divide... Windstorms through forests...

Then too there have been... 'Storms' of uncompleted objectives; around the intensity of relationships with adventuring partners... Storms can seem to be metaphors for the emotions and energy we experience within our adventures...

Storms arrive in many forms... Sometimes we see them approaching; other times they can be upon us so quickly... Kind of like the nature of many adventures themselves...

Do you see those clouds? Can you hear the thunder? The wind?

DSD