Thursday, October 25, 2007

"Summit Stone Controversy......."




Adventurers... are most certainly individuals... Everything we do and think out there has a very relative nature to it... With this in mind, I have always been aware that each person will view the journey of these Summit Stones in their own way...
After a close friend pointed out discussions on the "West Coast Paddler" and the "Paddling.Net" forums, I wanted to acknowledge the controversial comments, the empassioned debate, and the insightful musings of their members...
If only one person has now said they would not appreciate finding something like a Summit Stone... then I am sure there are others who have also had the same thoughts. This is not something I would want to be disrespectful of.....
I was introduced, decades ago, to a 100 year old Mountaineer's tradition of Summit registers, where notes and mementos are left and taken away. Canadian Climbers also have a long history of giving others small tokens to remember their adventures in altitude by. Worldly hikers, have an even older history of building cairns, placing stone and wood guides, for others to find and enjoy. More recently, Geocaching, has become an internationally accepted outdoor sport that even Public Parks are allowing now. The Geocachers I know are some of the most environmentally aware people I've met. While the Summit Stones are not meant as geocaches in any way, these adventure sports give some context here for items respectfully placed and meant to be taken away...
Yet, even understanding such history and adventures in context... there may be some who view such activities as intrusive to their own wilderness travels... Summit Stones may be seen as an uninvited presence... And to these persons I do apologize.....
Yet I sincerely hope... that the medium or the method applied here... does not cloud the messages... Simple thoughts about... giving back in its many forms... passing forward in its endless possibilities... keeping on regardless of obstacles and adversities... about inspiration, mystery, motivation, and how these metaphors within our adventures make our daily lives more rich and vibrant...
This is also one of the reasons for placing a Summit Stone within an Adventure Muse... The Muse is about pondering our motivation for being out there... because in our motives we find meaning... and it is in our nature to protect what is meaningful to each of us...
I do believe though, there is a difference between the graffiti and garbage we have all seen out there that may permanently mar wild areas, and a small stone that is very thoughtfully placed, and meant to be carried away with the 'Finders' themselves... a simple re-minder of precious moments...
There are many who enjoy adventure activities who may be very aware of the vulnerability of our wild lands and seas... and just as many who may not be... The reality of it is that powerful forces exist which are real threats to the natural world... Sometimes, actions such as mine, or even efforts of whole nature based organizations, often do not seem to be enough.....
As I wrote in my post of "Just One Thing", these small pebbles are really only symbolic of what we each could possibly do in giving back to our wild lands - be it maintenance of a trail, cleaning up a beach or campsite, supporting wilderness and animal rights groups, spending time educating youth about nature, even prompting debates and sharing of our own perspectives on conservation awareness... among so many other useful efforts...
I realize we all have a personal level of appreciating nature... and respect each of us may be passionate about conservation and 'leaving no trace'... I hope I understand the difference between true wild country... and a parking lot at a trail head; a summit register; or even an established camp on part of a trail where human trace has long been present...
I appreciate such musings on these forum venues, as that discussion itself, and the many who then read and consider their own position, all has very positive value...
The natural world needs no enhancement... but is it a negative thing to attempt to invite enhancement in human perspectives about nature.....
Nature's beauty has its own perfection... human perspectives can always be developed further.....
I believe... giving back and passing forward is about more than being neutral... Wild places will not remain that way unless we take some kind of steps... even small ones. We cannot simply stand and observe and hope the innocence of nature will be left alone... That is not how the real world works.....
While it is not my intention to be intrusive ( and it may be amusingly ironic, considering my interest in Geology, that an 'intrusion' is a body of rock forced between strata) sometimes we may have to commit to an act... then hope for understanding... let go of the outcome... and simply ask for forgiveness if others see things differently...
As for the actual placement of these small Summit Stones, over ninety-nine percent of them have only been placed with a summit register, at an established trail head or campsite, or at times upon the windshield of another adventurers vehicle... These are places where traces of our passing are already clearly there.....
Maybe we are all hopeful of reaching that same protected horizon... but are just on different paths on how to get there...
People will indeed make what they will of these small rocks; and more significantly, individuals will create their own meaning for the experience... That is the way... and the nature of things.....
DSD
Link: "Just One Thing"

Tuesday, October 16, 2007

"Eco Blogging Awareness..."




The 15th of October has been pronounced as 'Blog Action Day'...
This gives all Bloggers a common forum for raising awareness through an Eco-Blogging post...
I strongly support this as the most important, key theme, of these small Summit Stones is about 'giving back' and 'passing forward' as this relates to our natural world and wild places...
Historically... 'Eco'... has meant 'household', 'oeco', in Latin... and 'house' or 'home', 'oikos', in Greek...
Currently... 'Eco'... is defined more about living things and their relationship to the environment... I particularly relate to the perspective of our environment as a home for us all and especially in believing that this is a 'relationship' between each of us and our natural world...
For my post, I am reflecting today on one of my favorite quotes, by Stephen Lyman, where he wrote:
"To the Four Legged Ones, who know wilderness as home and teach us how to live there; To the Winged Ones who see the larger picture from above... To the Plant People, who live the bloom of life constantly; to miraculous Water, who keeps life flowing... To the Stone People, who ground life with ancient wisdom and mountains of beauty; to the Earth, who holds and nurtures us all."
I wanted to also Link here to my past post of "Just One Thing" http://summitstonesadventuremusings.blogspot.com/2006/12/just-one-thing.html
which speaks to this day and for ongoing efforts to sustain our relationship to our wild lands...
DSD



Friday, October 05, 2007

"Hidden Northern Canyons..."




Here again... I find myself musing this season... about how you just never know what you might find out there... if you don't go.....
Our wild lands are very mush still full of hidden secrets and undiscovered places; simply waiting for us to undertake the adventure...
A recent hiking & climbing trip to our backyard of the Canadian Rocky Mountains, proved this, once more, to me...
Having visited there, over so many years, it is easy to drift into some familiarity about this terrain. It is just as easy to stand on Banff Avenue, or near Lake Louise, even in Canmore, and look out at every summit in view, with a memory of when they were last climbed, or last hiked around, and maybe even get a bit complacent about it all...
It is just as easy to assume... that few wonders are left, little remains to be discovered, especially after summitting or completing routes numerable times...
Such assumptions, or complacency's, maybe even a bit of 'hubris'....... wear away at the enthusiasm and motivation to explore just a bit further... to travel a few more unknown trails...
The prompting of a friend was the genesis for taking a step beyond what I thought I knew...
One of these little known secrets, is that even deep within our craggy, northern, Rocky Mountains... are hidden canyons that you might think belong in the southern deserts, with their narrow passageways, high cliff walls, even ancient pictographs...
I have come to love canyons as much as mountains... They often hold very unique plant and wildlife... And they have brilliant stones found deep within them, that have been polished for millenia by the water rushing through with every spring runoff...
We hiked deep into three canyons this visit; ones that cut well into the mountain ranges; with just enough climbing and creek crossings to make it feel like southern canyoneering...
I remember... endless beds of rocks; of all shapes and sizes... cliffs so high so the top could not be seen... lush green plant life fed by cold streams... water cascading from ledge to ledge... and the eyes of an animal in the late day darkness as we slowly made out way back...
Once again... we wouldn't have known... if we hadn't gone.....
DSD