"Of Hauntings..."

It is not what some may first think about that which haunts lots of us during the long, sometimes too quiet hours... For many adventurers it is not the darkness and depth of the night that makes us shiver; nor the risks inherent within all adventures which catches our breath at times. Not even the moments of trial and anxieties, and those real tests to one's determination and endurance that shake us on occasion. Fears about the unknown aren't foreboding to such explorers as we. Worries of keeping up or about competition simply are not there anymore for us elders either. The wild places are too welcoming for such wraiths to severely bother those who wander endlessly out there.

What really haunts many of us in those exposed contemplative moments; what truly may keep us up at night sometimes, are not so much these ghostly worries, but more so those ponderings and wonderings of what could have been...

We all have them. Those wishes for what might have been, for what we did not do... Maybe sadness or deep disappointment for dreams not put in motion; and even at times possibly for the loss of the desire to go...

What may in reality haunt many adventurers in those long, quite hours are more the shades of lost moments, unused opportunities, when we may have been distracted by something other than what could have been truly meaningful moments out among the wild places. These are the spirits that may really haunt us if we do not exercise them..... DSD 

"Nothing More Need Saying....."

"It is only in the intentional silence of vigil and meditation, or in the quiet places of nature, that we encounter the song of the universe. Like the wind... this song echoes along the pathways of the cosmic web; it includes the celestial spinning of the planets, as well as the hum of insects and the dancing song of the grass; it includes the song of all the ancestors and spirits as well as the beating of our own hearts...". C. Mathews

That endless valley, the late time of day, the end of an amazing scramble upon quite an elusive mountain...
Back then, all of this unfolding nexus of experience and emotion, got me to pondering, as I rested by the trailside on my way out.
We all surely share in such moments, I was musing, when so thankfully tired and fulfilled, from a long day out in the wild and high places.
I look up and around. Gaze down towards each end of this valley. As I try to compose in my mind, what all is now being reflected within me.
Then with a flood of memories and feelings. With last light shining on all of the summits surrounding me that I have been up upon. Only a few certain clear words come to mind, as my eyes glisten over:
Gratitude...
Wonder...
Appreciation...
Awe...
Reverence...
Nothing more needs saying.
As each of you Dear Friends also know, as we all then wander home, with the quiet setting of the sun..... DSD

Dedicated this adventure day to all of the wonderful wanderers who are linked under my "Giving Back & Passing Forward" section. Please take a few moments to have a look over their amazing sites that reflect their even more engaging efforts.

"To See..."

 

"To sit on rocks, to muse...
To slowly trace the forest's shady scene...
To climb the trackless mountain...
To hold converse with nature's charms,
And to see her stores untolled...".  Lord Byron

"Of Fullness..."

"Mountains are to the rest of the body of the earth, what muscular action is to the body of man. The muscles and tendons of its anatomy are, in the mountain, brought out with force and energy, full of expression, passion, and strength...".  J. Ruskin

"She Knew It Was Me....."

Way back then, I was just finishing a very challenging endeavour, by finally wandering back into the parking area, mid-morning on my last day out...
There was only one other person there. A much younger, energetic, and determined woman who clearly looked like she was just starting out.
I couldn't help but notice the contrasts between us... The same route chosen to adventure upon, yet real differences between us, of finishing & beginning, of older & younger, of tired & energetic, one a bit more experienced, one a novice of sorts, one who wanders and meanders, one who was moving with focused intention, one quite worn by time, and one so full of youth. Even one stooped in bearing, and one standing tall with anticipations.
But, as is the way with most of us adventurers, such contrasts and differences only seem to add to the spice and the great 'mixing in' of connections we usually experience out there.
Having just completed what she was now starting out upon, there were a lot of questions for me, and excited energy about the journey yet ahead. I could see from her fairly new gear, again in contrast to my worn old stuff, and in the way I looked and felt - so dusty and tired; that we were viewing our adventure's from very different waypoints.
Yet in chatting about what was done, and what was yet to be, we shared in that wonderful wild place synergy. That real fun of exchanging information and ideas. Each then gaining as much from the other through sharing energy and perspectives. Even if only within those brief moments.
From contrasts to connections, such is the way within our wild place adventures...
As I drove slowly away, and as I waved with my window down, we each had such great expansive smiles on our faces.
An ending...
A beginning...
Maybe all one and the same...
When she reached down in that moment to pick up her pack and start out, I saw her find the Summit Stone & Adventure Muse, I had placed right there. She looked up in surprise, as I waved again and was on my way.
I'm not sure, my Dear Friends, but I think she knew it was from me..... DSD 

"Something....."

 

"Something of our personality has gone into every mountain on which we have spent our strength and on which our thoughts have rested, and something of its personality has come into ours and has its effect on everything that has come within our influence...".  R.L.G. Irving

"The Mountain And I....."

"Flocks of birds have flown high and away.
A solitary drift of cloud, too, has gone wandering on.
And I stand alone with this mountain peak, towering beyond.
We never grow tired of each other, the mountain and I...".  Li Po

"Glistenings....."

 

That brief, unfolding, play of light at first.
Then, maybe a gentle sparkle of sunbeams as well.
There is an adventure alchemy to be found out there, within all of the glistening wonders of our long journeys...
There is the shine off the leaves, which are fully reaching out in the spring, as we begin to hike our first trails. Then the breezes make them shiver and then gleam in that ephemeral light too.
Wet grass does this as well, as do the spider webs woven in the air across our trails. Being the first one down that path, means seeing the glimmer of refracted light reflected off of those silken strands.
There are the amazing gems of light from the mixing of the desert sun, upon waters unexpectedly discovered deep within those inviting canyons.
The gleamings of our shared rivers, which shine out when rafting or kayaking them at the very moment of a days sunrise.
I especially enjoy the flashes of magical light through the ocean waves, at those times of day where the sea and the setting sun embrace one another.
I also so appreciate quartz rock, and other such stone, found up high upon a mountain ridge, which emits its' own very special glistenings.
As adventurers we all love the forever glittering stars, peppered way above us, around the shine of a full seasonal moon.
Then, when, blended with our efforts, all of these ornamental elements, will always transform into such enlightened bright memories.
Just look across that glacier your next time out, at the reflections in the sunglasses of your companions too, then also the smiles and tears of joy upon that elusive summit - to discover your own forever glistenings as well my Dear Friends..... DSD

"As With Truth And Dreams..."

"A climber ascends, descends, and traverses... References are lost. Yet the strangeness somehow is a match of the climbers inner existence. The mountain is the color of places the climber knows, and doesn't know, and finds sacred, and can't quite get to, as with truth and with dreams...".  P. Ament

"During Any Climb..."

 

"During any climb we all have to fight those demons lurking on the mountain itself and those inside our minds...".   C. Bonington

"A New Edge..."

"Though the days were few, they seemed to last longer than he had ever known. Time took on a new meaning. Each day, each hour even, was experienced with a new intensity. They really lived, and this gave life a new edge that made his previous existence seem as though he had spent it half asleep...".    Anon

"Drums In The Distance..."

I think they have always been there.
Possibly even from before my Outward Bound experiences those many years ago.
These 'drums in the distance'...
Drumming has always been a very moving music for me to listen closely to. Those endless varied beats reflect our pulse it seems, the rhythms our pacing, and its' engagement our excitement.
So when I dream, ponder, and muse; then especially as I train, plan, and prepare - I often hear them building. These resounding drums in the distance.
The farther we go, the more clear they begin to feel.
The higher we climb, the more they resonate so strongly.
The longer distance we cover, the more distinct this music evolves.
The harder the experience we endure, the more pronounced the moving memories become.
I know I am not the only one who has sensed them..
There are many others who nod their heads, and slowly smile, when we quietly discuss hearing such music amidst our shared inspirations.
These drums in the distance echo off the highest mountains, within those endless ocean waves, from across the tallest desert towers and deepest canyon walls, even from beyond the farthest northern lakes.
These distant drums particularly resound from the long awaited anticipations, the real excitements, the epiphanies & wonders, and the unfolding awe we experience when beginning, and then enjoying, our journeys far out there.
The pulsing is really an inner music we know. The beat reverberating from our own hearts and songs.
But they are always there.
Never really silent.
Those slowly building, powerfully resonating, rhythmically feeling, forever echoing - our drums in the distance..... DSD

"Your Wild Spirit..."

 

"Create your wild spirit and then be true to this... You are a Storm Rider with the soul of a Trail Dancer...". Grandfather, Mountain Elder

"Returning..."

"Our dreams are like a fire at a campsite. We can go off and do other things, but in coming back to the fire, we return to the center, to the warmth, to the energy...". Grandfather, Mountain Elder