"A Second Year Waypoint..."

Interesting how the course of one's life can be seen through the journey of some simple stones...

Here is a recent Finders comment: "Wow! I said when I found my summit stone and a muse in the summit register. Wow! It took me a long time to get up here. I wondered how long this was there and how far it had come. The view from the summit looks like the painting on the rock. That got another wow! You came a long ways to put this here DSD. Thank you very much."

Dennis from Yosemite.

Dennis's comment gave me real pause this adventure season, as his words seemed full of both enthusiasm and insight...

I am just listening to a certain piece of music; pondering over the last many years of placing; musing about these two passed years of blogging; recalling those memorable moments of connecting with Finders; while learning of their adventures and how the journey of a small painted cobble has become part of their lives... I never realised when beginning with my simple intentions how this would become key to understanding my own waypoints along this long journey...

Many of these Summit Stones have come a further ways than any of my longest trails; more time and distance than any trek; higher than many climbs; and a longer course than any paddle route... What was just a piece of rock, just a stone, is no longer... Just like what we each often go through in our own lives when adventuring out there... When I look back over these many seasons, I often ponder with wonder about how did I get here, and what has or hasn't happened along the way. Then I try to look beyond, about this passing forward endeavor, towards what I think we may all wish to be, and muse over where do I want to go now and what will I need for that journey...

These are all my hopes for you as well, Dear Finders, that while wandering towards the horizon, you wonder in your mind over such musings that are important for you...

Don't you just love the mystery of it all...

As Dennis said, we have come a long way haven't we... Yet, much is left to learn about out there... so much yet to enjoy out in the wild places... so many adventures, inner and outer challenges to experience... and a long, long ways to go still...

DSD

My sincere appreciation again to Google & Blogger.com for the opportunity to become part of this online adventure community: http://summitstonesadventuremusings.blogspot.com/2007/07/google-and-blogger-thanks.html

Link to my first year waypoint: http://summitstonesadventuremusings.blogspot.com/2007/08/one-year-waypoint.html

"Outward Bound & Destiny Or Fate..."

After a scramble experience on my second Outward Bound course, we found ourselves sitting among and on top of some very large rocks later in the day... Our Instructors invited us to each take turns sharing something personal of the days events and adventures. They asked us to describe these moments as if we were going through them again; with an emphasis on our senses, our thoughts, the very perceptions of each moment...

There were many views of that simple day; many different perceptions of the same experience; the angles of which we may not have seen before... Each person had such a unique perspective of the climb itself, the rockfall that surprised us, the effort if took, the support given, the doubts and fears that were unsaid but still shared...

What was most interesting was a common theme that developed about the outcome of the day, and the events that were all linked together... It seemed to be a theme reflecting ideas about fate and of destiny...

Fate is often described in the sense of things being predetermined in our lives... that we have little true influence upon the course of things... Some see destiny in this way too, but more others believe destiny is more accurately found in the sense of our own choices; in what we did with what has happened; in how we each choose to respond to such external circumstances...

Our discussions seemed to mirror our beliefs that we were creating our own destiny that day in the wild places... on that high mountain summit... even with all the adversity that faced us...

These may sound to be seemingly simple concepts, yet such can have very profound impacts upon the course of our lives and our adventures... That day Outward Bound gifted us not just with an adventure summit or impassioned discussion out there, but with truly meaningful tenets to then apply to our day to day living... These were powerful experiences for such young persons...

These learnings were all about understanding our own choices; personal control for what we can; and taking real action to influence the course of our own lives in the best ways possible...

These have real impacts upon our adventure outlook and how we handle the inherent challenges of these activities. The distinct benefit though is the lasting and sustained effects upon the whole rest of our lives...

Who would have thought that a single day scrambling... among the barren rocks of an unnamed peak... would inspire such ponderings...

DSD

"Mysterious Mountain Music..."

There exists a small valley quite a hike above Moraine Lake in Banff... Larch Valley is named because of the trees that change through the seasons, and the brilliant colors they share with us as if painted by a master... Just below Sentinel Pass; which is one of the very highest in our northern Rockies, there are a few very small mountain tarns called the Minnestimma lakes...

This tiny high alpine valley is embraced by three unique elusive mountains; the summits of Eiffel Peak, Mt. Pinnacle, and Mt. Temple, which all overlook this wanderers paradise...

We have shared climbs upon each of these high places and have returned again and again to Mt. Temple in particular. We have also journeyed to renew ourselves in Larch Valley too many times to tally...

On one challenging summit day, we encountered a mystery... one that I had never experienced before out there... We were on our own with no fellow adventurers about at that moment, and just resting at Sentinel Pass... Then it began...

It became very, very quiet... then we thought we heard some notes... of music...

They began so softly we questioned if we had actually heard anything, but these were no illusions at altitude... They continued to build until we could clearly hear the beautiful playing of a flute... While I am used to the natural elements combining out there to form symphonies of sound I love to hear so much, we were unexpectedly and beautifully serenaded in those moments with what was to follow... The music crafted by that Flutist was eerily haunting, yet so very captivating and inspiring... The crispness of the playing in the high mountain air was amazing and you could almost breath in each of the individual notes... At a high point of this magical experience, the waters of that small tarn shimmered as if the musical notes had been thrown like jewels across its surface, and a shiver of sorts went up my spine...

It was simply so very beautiful... there was nothing out of place in this alpine valley music, as if the sounds were at home there as any of the other elements about us; as much a part of everything as the rocks & lichen, the wolves & the waters, and the wispy clouds above our heads...

'Who does this?' I asked myself, maybe like another adventurer indirectly asks of my endeavors when surprised by discovering a Summit Stone in a cairn up there... The friend who was venturing with me that day often speaks of epiphanies and the enjoyment of the moment, and that was what was unfolding in sound and soul and vista before us... I can only imagine too, a climbing group higher up on the Mt. Temple scramble route or a pair of technical climbers on Mt. Pinnacle... and what their experience must have been like having these resonating sounds formed so beautifully in this natural amphitheatre... The sensations and feelings that mysterious music like this creates in us, maybe would bring them to pause for some very unique moments within their adventures...

There stands a huge boulder right by the largest tarn and the small stream where this gifted Flutist was playing. I had only just placed a Summit Stone there a very short time before... It wasn't busy then but would be as more hikers and scramblers ascended later in the day. We were early up and they were just after us, so I hoped it was that mountain musician who found my gift in that cairn. I like to muse that we passed forward to each other something created by each of us that day...

Like the flow in certain moments of climbing and the experience of those few special days of effortless paddling, I wished it wouldn't stop... The wanting echo of the last note off the cliff walls was riveting... That mysterious mountain music is still imprinted upon my memory; a beautiful branding, as artistic as any other... When I often return to this Valley of Larches surrounded by so familiar summits... I listen closely for, and most times still so clearly hear... That mysterious mountain music...

DSD

"Castle Mountain Majesty..."

It was after our first ice climbing course decades ago that the majesty of Castle Mountain captured my muse... There it quietly stood during that deep winter day in the Bow Valley; a regal mountain not just of one summit but two; each distinct in their own Rockies way...

The scrambling and climbing routes are many and varied upon this castle of mountains...

I remember... Our group scramble during an extremely hot mid summers' day... An early season technical ascent in snow and ice up the usual descent route, with the later day fun of such high rappels...

I remember... The Eisenhower/Castle climb across the Dragons Back, and up all that very loose jagged rock... Helena Ridge scrambling, and the ridge walk from that summit as it circles above the hidden lake in behind Castle Mountain...

I recall memorably as well, the many visits to this Rockbound lake... such a favorite quiet point upon the map...

The Castle Mountain trailhead and summits have been very special moments too for placing these painted cobbles over the years...

The actual summits of our Castle are not the only coveted terrain there. Many adventurers quest to Rockbound lake itself with its' still waters surrounded as it is by dramatic cliffs...

There is a small peninsula near the back side of this stone bound lake. Some have built cairns there and on the routes to and from this hidden spot. During one of the placings over my own adventures I was surprised myself to discover a bit of treasure... Each Summit Stone & Adventure Muse is encased in two or three ziploc bags in order to better weather the elements. A Finder had found this at the largest cairn, and after accepting what I had placed, they then put their own offering in return in the same ziplocs....

Here is what C.R. wrote: "Thank you DSD for this wonderful gift. I hope you come back again and find my note with my appreciation."

I did C.R. - and thank you so very much.

There is truly a majesty to this Mountain and its surrounding terrain...

Castle Mountain overlooks Bow Valley with all its vulnerable wild places... The analogy of protection and preservation is not lost on us... Its also a mountain that guards its secrets well... as it should be... Only letting them be known to those who adventure among the castellated summits there...

DSD

"And Kept Going....."

There are moments of inspiration... that can resonate powerfully and touch us so deeply... we will never forget them.....

M. Bane, while watching the Marine Corp Marathon, writes:

"I had stationed myself at a beautiful tree-shaded spot about 20 miles into the 26.2 mile run, next to a series of steps. I was watching the runners go by when one of the last wheelchair athletes reached my spot. He was older than most of the wheelchair racers - my age, Vietnam age - and he was absolutely exhausted. Since the wheelchairs couldn't make the steps, there was a ten-foot ramp next to the stairs. The racer started up the ramp, and his arms failed. Five more times he tried the ramp, muscles bulging, his face bright red from the exertion, and five times he failed. The crowd, myself included, had gotten quiet. Other runners and the young Marines lining the course shouted encouragement, but the man in the wheelchair was in his own world. On the seventh try, his face was blank, his eyes focused on a universe that was ten feet long. He didn't see the Marine behind him, openly crying. He didn't hear the other runners' shouts or feel those of us in the crowd. He just went up the ramp, an agonizing inch at a time. And when he finally reached the top, he just smiled, waved, and kept going."

Such moments of inspiration, when strung together, become like the polished stones of our own precious jewelry, that we carry forward with us into a lifetime of such potent shared experiences...

Where will you discover your source of inspiration and determination today Dear Finders...

My sincere appreciation to Bane and this inspiring athlete for this moment.....

DSD