"And Ascend Into The Sky..."

 

"I wish for my ice axes. I wish for my crampons. Then I might swing a tempered pick hard into the crystal blue sky above me and fracture it, splinter the frozen air with kicks of my front points, pull myself up, one small step at a time, above the mountain, and ascend into the sky...".  J. Auld

"It's Only Called A Stone..."

 

"It's only called a stone because it would be a reliable truth... Look for the eternal truth amid the flowing change of all things. Like a stone in the river...".  J. Auld

"Passing Forward Musings..."

"There is a wonderful mythical law of nature that the three things we crave the most in life - happiness, freedom, and peace of mind - are always attained by giving them to someone else."

P. March

In a comment posted here by Traxx... a mention was made of passing an 'Adventure Muse' forward to someone else... which gave me pause to ponder again how people are receiving this endeavor...

I did indeed invite finders of a 'Summit Stone' and an 'Adventure Muse' to pass something along to another they might see on their own journey, if they enjoyed these gifts themselves...

To hear that folks are doing just that resonates greatly...

The one picture above shares another experience of this. It is of a 'Summit Stone' tucked into the wood on the large board sign atop Kilimanjaro; the roof of Africa. While I have been to Africa, I did not climb that peak. This 'Summit Stone' was carried there by MR & SR, who having more than one 'Summit Stone', decided to pass another forward... They then posted this picture and left the stone in the summit register for another soul to discover...

As F. Burnett wrote; "Nature has made you a giver...your hands are born open, so is your heart." And if finding a 'Summit Stone' or musing over the quotes in the 'Muse' puts a smile on your face, invites a bit of mystery to your life, even adds a touch of wonder to your adventure experiences..... then just maybe you too will discover a wonderful paradox... that what we give away, often returns to us in many other forms, and often with greater inherent values within it... (And is that not really a hidden gift that we surprise ourselves with...)

Passing things forward, like experience, hope, simple gestures, a few minutes of time, a moment of consideration, or even a little bit of our efforts and energy... gathers a strength of its own like a wave travelling across the face of an ocean. As O. Mandino said: "Happiness is a perfume you cannot pour on others without getting a few drops on yourself."

And as I have said in my intentions, doing so anonymously, is a special experience as well..... DSD

 

"Both Tangible And Mythical..."

"The place where the tangible and the mythical become the same...".  E. Abbey
Our places...
Those wild places. Where what we can touch, and that which may only be sensed, all exist together.
Our places...
Those truly wild places. Where the known, and the unknown, blend and become one and the very same.
Our places...
Those elemental places. Where we adventure out there, to find the selves that we are, and then to discover who we may yet become.
Our most special shared places..... DSD

Dedicated to those wonderful adventurers and wanderers of the 2014 Ascent For Alzheimer's Team .

"Then Further Under Those Rocks..."

 

"The river... runs over rocks from the basement of time. On some of the rocks are timeless raindrops. Under the rocks are words...". N. Maclean

"Sports Under A Rock..."

 

"It meant going deeper into places in yourself that had to be found and conquered... Turning the mirror inside out and backward. It's sports under a rock. And the rock must be turned over to find it is inside each of us... All I know was that I was moving forward, and where I ended up was a question that would have to answer itself...". K. Johnson

"There Is Something..."

"There is something so elementally attractive about a river stone, or a rock outlined against the sky...". Deng Ming-Dao

"That Which May Be Worth Knowing..."

 

"Who has not spread out a map on the table and felt its promise of places to go and things to do and see... Maps embody a perspective of that which is known, and a perception of that which may be worth knowing." J. Wilford

"Old Maps Are Old Friends..."

“Give me a map to look at, and I am content. Give me a map of country I know, and I am comforted: I live my travels over again, step by step, I recall the journeys I have made; half-forgotten incidents spring vividly to mind, and again I can suffer and rejoice at experiences which are once more made very real. Old maps are old friends, understood only by the man with whom they have travelled the miles. Nobody could read my maps as I do. Lend a book to a friend and he can enjoy it and miss nothing of its story: lend him a map, and he cannot even begin to read the tale it has to tell. For maps are personal things which books are not. The appeal of an old map is to the memory; an old map spread across my knees closes my eyes. The older, the more tattered it is, the greater my affection for it. I recall our adventures together in storm and sunshine; an occasion, perhaps, when it slipped from my pocket and I searched my tracks anxiously, as for a lost companion, until it was found; an occasion, perhaps, when the mist was thick and instinct and the map urged different ways, and I followed the map and came to a safe ground again. Ah yes, maps are grand companions.”
AW Wainwright

"Old Slings And Ropes..."

On the classic elusive routes they are often found...
Bits and pieces, lengths and sections of them, on the more remote high places where they can still be discovered...
Most of a material not seen out there now, but yet of very enduring fibers. Even while so aged and clearly not as secure as they were in their youth, they still stand ready, even if only as an encouraging sentinel to adventure experiences past.
Such rope and slings have a memory the technicians tell us, in being now unusable due to time, weathering, and many unknown stresses. We know though, that these braids have lasting memories for other elemental ephemeral things too...
They are wise, these old ropes and slings. They have seen and learned much. They are elders of their kind, both well worn and even better aged through long use and earned experience. Some, who while being weathered, are still strong enough to continue to brave the elements up so high, season upon sunrise, sunset, and then even further seasons. Something respectful to be said about that kind of endurance...
I enjoy testing their grip when they show themselves, yet never now would only trust their strength. They always remind us to do just that. Kind of like we often sense as well out there with other strands of connections, of beliefs, also perceived limitations, and in discovering routes and anchor points to more within each of us then we ever first realized...
Old, wise, and weathered ropes and slings - cords of experience that blend with past adventures, and also to those yet to come..... DSD

"Sunrise, Sunset, And Solitude..."

Skoki in Banff is an area for me that is synonymous with solo adventures and long quiet solitude...
It takes a bit more to get way back in there from near Lake Louise. But with every every hour and day doing so, this journey takes us further and farther.
That adventure day I wanted to watch the sunrise yet again over little cherished Hidden Lake as I have so many times in the past. I also hoped to gaze upon the sunset across the valley over the top of the Louise Group of mountains, that gift such meaning for those of us who wander here.
The scrambling that day of those two summits back in Skoki was like visiting old friends. The solitude of these very long unfolding hours for climbing was just what was needed.
Time away, freedom to simply wander afar, moving among giants, only a gentle wind, the rustle of shifting rock and water, and the endless moments among the elements out there in our shared Skoki.
To begin before sunrise, to end with the sun just set, to be companionable within the solitude.
Such a wonderful, quiet adventure..... DSD 

"Where Do We Go From Here..."

 

Inquiries within ponderings, dreamings among visions, questions asked yet often not needing answers - what wonderful musings wander through our mind out in the wild places...
Many times, certain questions, particular wordings, take on deep depths of meanings over the seasons for each of us.
"Where do we go from here", was the seemingly simple inquiry made by a fellow student on my first Outward Bound course.
It became one of those very fun, intriguing, and memorable things that we often discover, recall, then repeat a thousand times when adventuring. We asked it of ourselves, our Instructors, of the mountains, rivers & valleys, and even of the elements themselves when the winds picked up their pace and a storm began to brew.
We asked it of each other at the end of our course, with smiles, tears, and hugs of encouragement.
I even sensed that our Outward Bound Leaders, when asking this, often also meant it to reflect 'who we wanted to be as adventurers' as we each began upon that life course as well...
In later years, I would find myself asking it aloud, in the very same moment the Mountain Guide I was with, was also saying it on a very challenging climb.
It has been said with frustration when bushwacking and during navigational complications that pushed us so far off course.
Within the maze of some distant coastal islands, during a totally fogged in day, we asked it many times.
Deep in that cave and within those canyons too, we have whispered it to one another as well.
This question has been excitedly posed for me many times, when I am leading some novice adventurers out on their first scrambles.
It is a rhetorical comment I find myself saying quietly too, at the end of the day, upon returning to our trailhead, after a particularly rewarding adventure experience.
Many moments, just in the asking of this question itself - we found all the answers we needed, all the encouragement and inspiration, and that sense of direction as adventurers' we all seem to seek.
So Dear Friends, today I wonder once more, where do we go from here..... DSD

"Finding More..."

C. Houston wrote: "In this confusing and frenetic world we need to pause now and then for a moment to ask why are we here, where are we going, and what are we achieving. Humans do the bravest, wisest, and most foolish things, often not knowing why". He says the intention of such writing and musing is to: "At least it may prompt some people to look again at what drives them, look beyond today and tomorrow, and perhaps find in mountains more than climbing".
Such wise musings...

"Farther Memorable Whisperings..."

 

Quietly resounding, powerfully yet softly, through the tall trees, touching our faces... Quietly rewarding, of momentum and energy, brushed by the elements, painting each landscape... Quietly telling, gently whispering, of both warmth and our memories, always so giving... Unseen yet present, quietly recalling, of emotions and connections, gentle breezes of remembrance... DSD

Dedicated to Alan Arnette and his Seven Summits Climb for Alzheimer's -"Memories Are Everything".

"Memories As Gifts..."

 

"Memories are perhaps the best gifts of all...". G. Gaither

"Of Memories..."

"From my deepest and oldest memories, I was always fascinated with mountains. They had a magical quality about them and climbing was part of that... In climbing, you can have a very intense, sometimes spiritual, highly emotional adventure and you can turn around and have another one. That kind of thing keeps a lot of people going back...". W. Read