"Softer Adventures....."

About halfway through these many decades of wanderings, we were to share in an adventure experience that was so different... A distinct contrast to our meanderings to that point of the compass... It was not so much a pursuing of a challenging adventure goal, but more like an allowing of a wild experience to unfold. There were no heights, no distances, depths, or times to be met - but more so of just an awareness to be gathered in; not really a 'trying' but instead more of a calming. All of this was to result in a slowing down of the whole day out with some gentle beings, even what felt like a slowing of time itself... Often the challenges of adventuring can be in the extensive preparation, continual skill development, and pushing ones' fitness levels, which are quite necessary for safety and enjoyment out there. Yet in this experience our greatest hurdle was in ensuring we got linked up with the best guide we could find. We were out of our element and partnering with an experienced adventure leader would provide us the guidance we needed for interacting, and also interpreting the moments with these so peaceful giants.

Our moments that day were to be shared among the Manatees... To simply lose ourselves within their element. Manatees are 'known', but not fully understood it seems. They have such a majesty in their bearing, with their soft movements and slow measured motion through the waters. These graceful beauties hide themselves away as they graze in shallow and marshy areas. They are often over a thousand pounds in size, yet move through their element with ease, like a dancer might. We heard many sounds while slowly swimming with them as they conversed in a language all of their own. How we wished we could speak even a bit of it...

They seem to also use touch for communication, much like other intelligent species, and Manatees have unique ways of expressing things both with their faces and through their movements.

They live many years and have demonstrated the capacity for long memories, intuitiveness, and learning. No wonder they have been referred to throughout history as the 'wise ones'... I love their small but intense, knowing eyes... Yet I am so sad about the scars of interaction with us they have most often suffered through contact with propellers. We were to experience the ways in which Manatees are so very curious as they checked us out, looking over at us with what I sure were shy smiles; even bumping up against us, maybe hoping for a little scratching.

I cannot help but wonder and believe that there is so much more to be learned from softer adventures of this kind, with such graceful and gentle creatures... and also to ponder over all of that which their being here helps us understand...

I suspect there is a wisdom within the Manatee not fully understood yet. These beautiful beings are linked through folklore to water elementals of legend such as mermaids. They are a sacred animal in some areas of the world too; believed to have once walked as fellow humans - all of which now having shared moments with them I now accept to be true.....

DSD

Please visit: http://www.savethemanatee.org/

"Reflections....."

"There... Near that still water...

You will see all that can be seen,

You will know all that can be known,

You will be all that you can become.

There... Upon the still water...

Your reflection awaits..."

Grandfather, Mountain Elder

My thanks to D. Kirkland for the upper image and R. Gehman for the lower image.

"Passing It On......."

More teaching moments; another excited group of very young mountaineers... Days of assisting with new skills; many hours of learning fun techniques; supporting each through their own challenges, and lots of smiles when developing and practising these all further. There is nothing like the joy of time with new adventure spirits...

Then as with all such teachings - be they on mountains, rivers, or out upon the ocean, comes the time of testing ones newly gained skills and for putting them to trial out among the elements. The route chosen was one mixed with later season snow, upon ice, upon even older snow. There would be movement by team, with ice axe, ropes and crampons, all blending with the gained altitude, and all aware and prepared as well to arrest the self and their fellows if need be.

Some young spirits take much longer to grasp unfamiliar skills and have more need to review and polish personal technique. Others also continue to practise time and again to really make these skills their very own. I should know, as I have always been a member of those whose ordinary skillset needs extraordinary practice time.

Recognising our past selves in new adventurers is one of the many motives for giving time and dedicating efforts in this way. One youth that I chose to mentor that day was very young, but so full of interest and energy, but not yet of knowledge nor skill. While the others' goal that day may have been to get that summit and likely were already planning for more, his objective was seemingly just to grasp for the most basic technique, to get a sense of how to move over such terrain, and throughout the whole day to not let his fellows down nor hold anyone back...

Those determined but anxious looks on his face I have seen on myself so many times, like the reflections from a mountain hut mirror, after such long days out... He would fall and get up; fumble through yet still try, but keep on he did... hold anyone back he did not...

I had one of my favorite ice axes with me that day, one that has accompanied me on many a very memorable mountain. It feels like it is a part of my hand when I move it over ice and snow. It proudly bears scrapes from countless talus slopes and has such character in its age and style.

It rested beside me as I watched him remove his gear later that long day out. He was so very tired but still respectful of what needed to be done next, of others around him, and the equipment to be cleaned and stored.

We shared some water and snacks, and then it seemed the perfect moment to pass something along... Also for a few words of quiet acknowledgement of his efforts, and especially for encouragement to come back. The light he had in his eyes, and the smile he had upon his face, told me he would indeed return for another summit adventure...

Then we watched him walk away, with all his new found friends, and my old ice axe too, now held tightly in his hand.....

DSD

My thanks to K. Garrett for the above images.

"Changing Attitudes With Altitude - IBD Adventures..."

There is real magic, a spirit of alchemy in being able to turn adversity into adventure, in changing barriers into opportunities and some hardy adventurers of IBD Adventures are now underway doing just that with a climb on Mt. Kilimanjaro.

Their slogan of "Changing attitudes with altitude", is a wonderfully simple, powerful concept which truly says it all - one we could all embrace in our own wandering ways...

There are some in my own family who themselves have severe IBS and a close colleague who also has Crohn's disease. Raising awareness and support for these serious disorders is what IBD Adventures is all about.

Such endeavors help us all reframe what is and is not a barrier in our lives. They support a better understanding of what can be done notwithstanding the personal terrain we each face. This kind of spirit and effort especially focus a certain inspirational light on all that is really possible. We all face adversity... Some though, are climbing such mountains almost every moment of their lives...

Time to look up those words again: Challenge & Character.

We'll likely find the names of the IBD Adventure Climb Leader, Rob Hill, and Clinton Shard the youngest on this Team, as well as all the rest of their adventurous group.

Please visit their link below to read more as they make their way in a journey of giving back and passing forward.

"Changing attitudes with altitude"... Don't you just love that...

DSD

Link to IBD Adventures for information & donations: http://www.ibdadventures.com/
For more information on Mt. Kilimanjaro, visit Kraig Becker's Links under his own adventures:http://theadventureblog.blogspot.com/
(My thanks to D.Poole for the lower image above)

"Interesting How....."

"It is not because things are difficult that we do not dare... It is because we do not dare that they are difficult...". Seneca

Interesting at times how a cliff or mountain may present as such a test for us - until after we have embraced and climbed them. Then they become more truly the fun challenges that we now remember fondly...
Curious how some rapids may look to be such a trial - until after we have run them , then we laugh and talk so excitedly in the afterglow of those moments...
Funny how the unknown out there and the darkness of those nights may be so foreboding - until we keep going and then see what was on the other side of such mists, and our confidence grows yet again...
So interesting it is.....
DSD

My thanks to McCormack for the above images.

"A Very Different Kind Of Summit Moment..."

It was not a major route, yet still a summit we have scrambled to many times over, called Mt. Fairview, for very good reasons. We again enjoyed being embraced on all sides by mountains and memories from seasons past... This summit has much space for the many who share it on any sunny summer day; even space to spread apart as many do for those quiet moments up there...

After some shared joy, food, and water, I wandered forward on the exposed ridge to a spot where I often sit and muse and share warmth with the rocks. Out at that point though, I could see another adventurer who had reached this high point before us... He had his face resting on his hands, arms resting upon his knees, as he sat looking towards the west... Not wanting to disturb I almost turned away, but he noticed me, then smiled, and waved me over...

His smile has a sad sense to it though and I could see his eyes also glistened with a moisture as mine often do as well up here. It seemed he was just ending a quiet moment and was readying himself to head back down... "Just visiting", he said... A way I often describe my journeys as well...

And then we shared a very different kind of summit moment... He began telling me his story by saying this day he had returned to again visit this special place, as some years ago a small amount of ashes had been given over to the winds there... A few ashes of another whom he had shared much of his life with...

This had been one of their very first of many wild place adventures, journeys to high places, and distant lands, that were to become so much a part of their joined path...

Yet as with many of our shared trails, it had come to an unexpected close... A so difficult ending he had struggled hard with and remains so very difficult for him to accept he said. Yet by his returning to some of their summits, this seemed to help him come to understand the loss, what had happened, and is now a part of the process of remembering and cherishing all of what they did have together...

It was no surprise that with two strangers meeting we still shared this kind of moment together. I have found that adventurers often inherently connect in such ways. I was so very humbled in listening to the story of their lives together, of their love, the high points, and the depths of his loss... I hope I sensed the value of the meanings given to me within their story, ones I hope I never forget... The remainder of the brief time up there had us each listening to the quiet sound of the wind, and I couldn't, nor didn't want to stop my own tears that came and went...

I later watched him head off and descend the mountain by himself... but he was not alone by any means.....

DSD

"Let's Get The Word Out..."

Stewart Green, of one of my favorite Adventure sites, About.com Climbing, is encouraging us to get the word out about our fellow climber Layton Kor who is in real need... Due to serious health concerns he is now facing later in life, Layton is in a very exposed position.

*Please read Stewart's Article and the links there as included below.*

Layton is one of us... Part of our adventure community...

So let's get the word out; share this with all the wanderers you know; post about it on your own blog; pass it forward so we can give a little back for Layton. Because, as Stewart writes, and as I truly believe we all share in, "Our climbing fraternity is generous, respectful, and always willing to lend a belay to a fellow climber in need"...

DSD

Stewart's Article:http://climbing.about.com/b/2009/08/31/new-website-to-help-iconic-american-climber-layton-kor.htm#comments

And:http://laytonkorclimbing.com/

Top Image: Layton on the Salathe Wall from Climbing Magazine July 1978

Bottom image:Layton doing in camp what we all hope to do later in our own years.....