"Only Its' Eyes....."

There is a time of day... hours before first light, when adventurers - climbers in particular; rise to set out upon the earliest alpine start... These are hours of the deepest darkness; where the intense mystery and the quiet may close in upon you in either comfort or anxiousness...

On my solo scramble that particular very early day, I was following the old saying of adding time to your day by being earlier up; rather than hoping for extra hours at the end when energy and weather are more unpredictable... I was moving on the trail before three am, amidst that crispness and cold air the mountains are known for...

It was so very pitch black; such an intense quiet, only the crunch of my boots and uphill nature of my breathing was apparent...

Then... What I saw I was not sure; not sure at all... A sense of something, a glimmer of not one but two small points of light...

Just two small points of light - and then they blinked; closed for a short second and then turned and looked more directly, very intently, upon me...

I was no longer alone on that trail, maybe never was, but whatever was now sharing the path, of it all I could see were its eyes... only its eyes...

Eyes with a light behind them; reflecting an intelligence of another kind; wisdom of another nature. I do swear they shifted color ever so slightly as they watched me watching them...

After a few moments of quiet stillness my fears and anxieties diminished, were no longer as intense, and were replaced more now by curiosity and a feeling of kinship... It was a moment of reminder; of looking back to our ancient selves and where we have all come from... I was reminded too that our four legged fellow companions are always out there, we most often simply do not see them as they view us...

In a playful way as I have often done with my own furred companions, I made myself blink in a long, slow manner, as this is what many animals do when first meeting each other, deciding neither is a threat, and are then prepared to begin to trust...

And these two bight eyes blinked back just as slowly...

It was a connection; an understanding of sorts that I sense may have passed between us then... I moved further along the trail to see what would happen next, feeling clumsy in my movements and the noise I made... This creature moved along with me, yet only the eyes could I see, and it moved in total and absolute silence... We continued to share what I believe were a few more moments where each of us was wondering about the other... and then with a wisp of what may have been grey... it was gone...

Many say or write that the eyes tell all... When I looked into those eyes I saw our wild past. It affirmed for me yet again that we are not so far from our other family out in the wild places as we may think...

I will never forget those eyes.....

DSD

(The bottom image above is thanks to Blomquist, while I have misplaced my note regarding the top image.)

"There Can Be....."

"There can be no mountain without a valley, no wave without a trough, no rainbow without a storm." Grandfather, Mountain Elder

I will be posting some of my favorite Quotes on adversity this next while along with my usual weekly musings... It is never wasted effort during times like these to ponder things in different ways to gain more useful perspectives... That is what we adventurers are very good at!
DSD

"From Such A Perspective..."

I have always believed... that we have yet to truly understand the unique, powerful, and mysterious relationship we have to those who fly overhead...

Stephen Lyman wrote:"To the Winged Ones who see the larger picture from above".

Those of our winged family who have such a view of the world have much they can teach us...

I remember...Coastal kayaking among eagles young and old passing so closely by... A ridge route scramble, where quietly above us, maybe not noticed by all, was a great flight of wonders... Being solo on Banff's 3rd highest summit; higher than any mountain is sight, where my friend for the day was a single companionable bird...

I remember... Rafting the Grand; both in the midst of serious rapids and those quiet moments of floating and contemplation, when diving among us were winged creatures of to many varieties to count... There was a Columbia Icefields summit; where that magnificent creature of the air led the way... And there, flying overhead, on just a past adventure, we were once more sharing blue sky and even a more blue ocean with another of our wild place family out there... And yet again, during this season for climbing, after just a glimpse of a passing shadow, I waited to look up because I knew what I was wondering and hoping for... and was not disappointed...

There they were; not so far above, following our route - the mist in my eyes that moment from more than the cold...

A beautiful feather fell from the sky at some point that day and had landed near the summit cairn... While I didn't get a picture, it now rests with the register along with some small painted cobblestones...

I truly do believe we share a close relationship with the 'Winged Ones' that we do not fully understand yet... Scientists can't seem to agree on if we evolved some how from them; or maybe they have evolved further from us...

It does seem though, that if we could soar high above, especially during troubling times, and view the world from such a perspective, much would be seen differently by us on this great rock we all share.....

DSD

"Adventurers Don't Give Up....."

Adventurers don't give up...

We may change course, traverse around obstacles, maybe just back off and find another starting point sometimes...

We often choose different goals, frequently modify objectives, even set our focus upon another more attainable summit...

But adventurers don't give up...

We may try a hundred times, have to then try a dozen more, only to find just a few more efforts are still needed...

We attempt to understand things differently, we discover ways to use new eyes, we even create totally unusual means to get by out there...

Still, adventurers don't give up...

We often curse the conditions and weather, maybe batter ourselves against the elements, and at times we just can't seem to get ahead of the winds...

We do our best to plan and prepare, to temper and train our body and mind, and yet sometimes still no further ground is gained...

We may give in at moments, we ease off, we let go a bit, time out in ways, we may even quit for some intense brief moments...

We learn hard lessons, and then have to frustratingly learn them over again, and sometimes even more painfully yet again...

But adventurers don't give up...

We sometimes doubt, we often question ourselves, we usually feel anxiousness, and fears, and the occasional waning of confidence...

We make mistakes, have setbacks, even royally screw up...

Even still, adventurers don't give up...

We get injured, endure endless soreness and discomforts, feel physical, emotional, and spiritual pains...

We have to earn our way through tiring efforts, we shed tears and sweat, we go out as a group only to find conflict at times, we share with partners and may then go our separate ways, we head out solo and also might feel very lonely...

We complain, we grump, maybe even whine...

At times we lose our inspiration, certain moments undermine our level of enthusiasm, our dedication may even lessen when the distractions increase...

We get tired, we struggle, lose our way, get way off course, we fall, we flail, even mumble that we might have had enough...

But still again, adventurers don't give up...

We know... that if we go out long enough, and far enough, and high enough... we all will experience such trials many times over...

Then, when the years have passed and we ponder the lives out there we have lived, even with the inherent endless challenges...

We will still smile, and remember, and muse about how we have never truly, ever, given up...

We know in our hearts too that the wild places will never give up on us...

Then we'll turn once more into the wind and begin yet again because adventurers don't give up.....

DSD

"Of Wild Place Strongholds..."

"Somewhere among pines at sunset, or alone in a cool quiet of morning, perhaps with a friend on sunlit rock, or in some near illumination on a mountain... are strongholds of our lives...".

P. Ament

Of confidence and internal strengths...

Of bonds, of closeness, and fellowship...

The elements of these within us...

We often discover and share among the elements about us...

Our wild place refuge; our wild lands strongholds...

DSD
My appreciation to Mike Warren for the above images:http://flickr.com/photos/mike-warren/

"Wild Place Refuge....."

Oh, what a fall it has been... of diversions and distractions... and the winds of change are blowing so hard right now...

There will always be times of personal angst, political challenge, worldly unrest, unknown markets, and even those just of constant unexpected stress...

Yet a promise of the wild places is that the natural wonders out there are just as enduring, the elements we need to blend with will always remain, the refuge we may need to seek forever present and giving to us... Wild places offer us moments of retreat, time for us to rest and shelter when our way of being in the world needs some small protections...

So my friends, might we all take a few moments... to watch the flight of a beautiful bird, walk among old forest or young new trees, time to sit and listen by the river, some brief contemplation while looking up at the mountains or out upon the ocean before us, a simple bike out into the desert, even a short paddle among quiet islands...

The opportunity for refuge among the wild places will always outnumber any of those competing influences that may seem to close in upon us at times...

While a time out of sorts or escaping from the 'important' things it may seem, this is more truly about our regrouping, centering ourselves once again, allowing it all to settle as nature does after a storm, and in letting the high winds and rough waters of troubled perceptions calm themselves - all so we can then return from our wild place refuge more focused, now seeing more clearly, and thus so much better able to then choose our responses to the demands made upon us back here...

Seek out your wild place refuge.....

DSD

"Wild Resilience..."

There is a great wealth of wisdom literature around about the ways and means people keep going when the going gets extreme and severe. Most reflects upon how and why and with what motives they draw their strength from - even long after most of us might have expected to have given up... Much of this writing defines principles of behaviour and describes strategies by which severe challenges may be met and overcome...
Yet what I find of most interest is that a great many of the examples used and the case studies applied involve those who would see themselves as adventurers...
The unique hidden gemstone in this literature is that we, ourselves as adventurers, are very often the 'subjects of study'. Be it climbers, trekkers, soloists, survivalists, kayakers, adventure racers, mountain bikers - all of us at one time have become the prime case example in such studies... The research typically looks at why we do it, how we bounce back, how it is we keep going, and going, and going; and also inquires about the paradox of us actually making experiences harder for the 'fun of it' out there...
This wild resilience we adventurers have is both puzzle and paradox to those who study us. Yet we know... don't we... the secrets of what is to be found out there... and within each of us as well...
Such examination and the wisdom literature that comes of it would seem to be of real and distinct value to all of us wild place wanderers who muse and ponder through tough times... but also clearly for anyone hoping to better understand human resilience in general...
We are an interesting wild bunch aren't we Dear Finders.....
DSD

"Seeking Our Shackletons..."

Years upon years ago, I discovered and then read whatever I could find on Sir Ernest Shackleton and the journey of his ship, the 'Endurance'... It was one of my very first experiences with adventure literature, and what a powerful impression it made upon me...

That voyage through challenging terrain, time, severe trial, and especially of spirit exists as one of the most inspiring stories out there... I recall the wonder, amazement, and the tears upon my face as I finished those books...

It was not an ending for me, but a distinct beginning. This had sparked an interest that still remains today about the source of real inspiration, true wonderment, about human endurance, and the power of spirit and motivation; particularly within adventures...

From that waypoint until now, even decades later, I continue to seek out these 'Shackletons'...

For me, and many I know, 'Shackletons' are true examples of intense experience, epic tales of trials, clear moments of intention and motivation, and journeys that are inherently full of inspirations... These 'Shackletons' have had immense value and practical utility for myself and those I know closely; especially in overcoming the epics within our own lives... And very much so when storms, setbacks, and mistakes cast us off course ... There will always be such trials that test our intentions and commitment, unexpected situations that attempt to break down our hopes and dreams. While these are as natural as lightning, sleet, high winds and waves - ever present too out there are each of our own 'Shackletons'... Those things that truly inspire us, that continue to ignite and sustain our internal passions and flames...

If we just open our eyes to see what we are viewing, and make the choice to turn into the wind, just as Sir Ernest did time and time and time again... we will endure.....

DSD
This Link is to the amazing descendants of Sir Ernest Shackletons' band of explorers, who will follow in their ancestors footsteps from the end of October 2008 until well into 2009: http://www.shackletoncentenary.org/