"Unnamed....."

There are so many high points out there, pieces and sections of meandering summits, less majestic peaks, that are not often visited - ones that on most maps are simply unnamed...

I am drawn to these summits. They seem to call to me...

It may be because that they are not the usual objectives. This may reflect my affinity with going out solo as many times as I head out with others. It could be that they are hidden high point treasures that just might never have had a tread set upon them. As I sit here on this Unnamed summit, and journal the initial scribblings for this post, the passages of clouds and light and dark flow over me and the mountains surrounding this unspectacular point. There is a blue within dark blue in the vista before me. It is this lighting that brings to mind again one of my favorite quotes by M. Clark, "The acid test of a true adventurer, if presented with certain anonymity, is whether each of us would still have made the journey beyond the last blue mountain".
As I muse further during the eternity of these moments, I think too how soon I shall also visit an unnamed small island on a distant ocean chart for another adventure... They too are such special common places...
When such ponderings raise their awareness in my mind I never believe it to be simple coincidence. It strikes me that in this quote I may discover yet another answer to why unnamed places and anonymous wanderings are of such interest and always hold such meanings...
They have no name, their unassuming, anonymous presence simply is. There are few pictures of such mountains ( or islands ), no summit register is present, nor even a cairn raised. Climbing and paddling to unnamed elementals like this can never be about ego, for other than the safety of telling where we are going and when we will return, no one even knows of each of our journeys. Why you are there is only between you and the mountain, you and the island, you and that wild place...
I do so love sharing a day with the Unnamed ones.....
DSD

"A Story About An Old Paddle..."

I'm going to share with you a story of a very old paddle found on a distant secluded island...

That small campsite out there was tucked closely away among even older trees, with only the smallest cobbled beach upon which to first land and later launch again from. It is an older paddle that I found, an all wooden paddle, that was placed in such a way that surely it could not have been just forgotten there. Such beautiful wood, even while nicked and rubbed raw with use in the places one would expect. What was unusual, special though, was when picking it up one could feel, even know - certain sensations...

This was a paddle that had a life of its' own, a paddle that came alive in your hand, that would be there with you and for you among the biggest waves and through the strongest currents. A paddle that was as familiar as any very good adventurous friend, whose vibrant nature could be felt when close by. It did indeed come alive when it touched the water, indescribably so, but with a reality of renewed energy and enthusiasm. Whatever spirit that paddle held deep within it was shared with you once it was picked up and made ready for the waters.

Now this is a tale that I know first hand as I held that paddle then too, for a very long time, learned of the life it contained within, and the way it would possess any who shared fluid timeless moments on the waters with it. It so wanted to be used, to move with and against the water elements. Its' source may have been unknown but it was still so very familiar. An essence of something so powerful, ephemeral, yet very real. Where had it originated, I have often wondered... With no markings of the usual mass produced type, yet clearly made by caring hands. Who could craft such flexibility, strength, beauty, and longevity all in one I've pondered. There was truly an energy there too...

When braced in just the right way one could feel those gentle vibrations transmitting from some source, through this wooden elemental, to our human hands. Many stories are born from legends like these which are then shared out around campfires on islands of our northern lakes...

And at this moment, the flicker and reflection of the flames are gleaming back at me, from upon that paddle, as it rests just over there...

Waiting.......  DSD

"Wilderness Heals....."

For many who wander and especially for those tend to long linger out among the wild places, the concepts around experiences of healings of sorts almost always seem to emerge...

Be it from the unique contrasts to the many distractions back here, from the exercise itself, within the mysteriously curative elements out there, or the companionship and connections - among so many other restorative experiences... There is truly a wonderful healing mixing in of all that is physical, psychological, social, and of the spirit too within our journeys out there...

Adventures present for us such amazing opportunities to re-energize ourselves, while being a potent remedy for much of what might distress us. I have often wondered too, is such mending of oneself also from the wild fun, the fulfilling freedoms, the challenges, the boundless new ways of seeing and feeling, the catharsis of adventures, or maybe too the development of amazing skills and the subsequent self-esteem. It seems that all of these elements almost always combine themselves into a synergy of healing and individual energy, where paths taken among the wild places echo of the soundness of mind, body, and spirit we all inherently seek...

This last season we have been following along on so many wonderful adventurous quests, that give back and pass forward to others, in very unique ways of instilling such vigorous vitality. One of these that strikes a resounding cord and often reflects the musings I write about here, from within their purposeful and restorative intentions, is the Wilderness Heals endeavour. Which is serendipitously undertaken as a support for the Elizabeth Stone House.

The accounts of their wanderings, and the amazing experiences of their participants, mused on within their site linked below reflect so very much about healings... Their focus is on the powerfully therapeutic relationship to the natural world we can have, the healing elements of the wilderness experience itself, and the essential lasting connections made among those who wander out there...

The steps that the Wilderness Heals Adventurers take, and the high points they reach for, are not just of geography, but of the heart and the spirit too...

Through their journeys, they find among their adventures the ways and means to discover what is healthy and very 'right' within a person, and not just what may not be working in their lives. What an elusive but a life changing distinctly important tenet...

Please have a visit with them, share in, and support the wonderful journeys of the participants of Wilderness Heals...

DSD

The above images are also found at the Wilderness Heals site of:

http://wildernessheals.elizabethstone.org/

"It Shifted....."

I actually am not sure how many times we have climbed and scrambled this amazing Tower which overlooks Moraine Lake in Banff. But I do know we have enjoyed sharing the rock there in all four of the seasons. I particularly was enchanted during a winter climb with the mountains and valleys before us painted as beautifully as any classic black and white work of art. The views across up to Larch Valley, over Consolation Lakes, gazing over at the Ten Peaks, at the majesty of Mt. Temple, and across that wonderful expanse of Moraine Lake itself are unparalleled...

The one technical climb where we traced our route upon the Tower Of Babel's rock face was an exceptional day out. One of blue upon blue sky, no whisper of any wind, and crisp cool air where the echoes of climbing calls seemed to carry forever...

The route was full of the cracks, loose rock, and large blocks of stone common to our northern Rockies. This Tower though seems to hold its stone longer than many mountains... Some of the blocks are so very loose, yet so huge... I was seconding a section that has imprinted a moment in my mind, one where while moving upward I placed my hand deep into a crack, only to find that something very big moved a bit... "It shifted", were the two words I said out loud in surprise as I froze in place...

I just couldn't believe something that large could be moved, by what seemed to be a subtle placement of something as small as my hand and a bit of pressure. But shifted it had, as likely I had braced and pulled more out than down. Every second can be recalled of how we then backed off, traversed across slowly, and moved past that immense block of rock. My partner kept the lead and only smiled at me as I kept mumbling, 'It Shifted', in renewed surprise again and again...

Adventures are experienced within the moment, while the lessons from them, we often become more aware of later... I replayed the movements and placements over and over to see what might be grasped and learned from this. There was lots to ponder as we sat amongst the many huge cairns built by successive climbers atop this Tower of Babel... Like that rock, our perspectives may shift greatly at times too out there... All part of what keeps us aware, focused, having great experiences and fun within those moments of amazingly cautious enjoyment in the wild places...

I still wonder today about how that huge block of stone shifted.....

DSD