"Outward Bound..."

"Attitude is one of those words that gets thrown around like it means something. It does, but not what most people think. It's not about how you look, dress, move, talk, or anything else you can work out with your bedroom mirror. Attitude is if you see somebody struggling, do you help... It's walking a moonlit forest like you belong there. It's going up against real obstacles and getting knocked around. Once. Twice. A zillion times. Then getting up. That's it. Just getting up over and over until one day, you're up all the way. And it can be anything. Sailing. Sea kayaking. Canoeing. Rock climbing. Whatever...". Outward Bound

Oh, how I've mused over the years, about these very words... As a teenager I discovered Outward Bound but was not able to attend until later. I dreamt longingly of what I would experience there and was not disappointed. My first experience set the course for many adventures to follow. This was also not to be my only Outward Bound course either. I was mentored about attitude and adventure... I learned that what we often believe is only 'out there' we actually can create 'within' as well... And there was indeed 'more within me' than I had ever thought. My first solo was with them and these too have continued to be enduring, powerful experiences... Outward Bound is an experiential adventure metaphor in motion... and has been the first such exposure that many great adventurers found for themselves in their youth. Kurt Hahn and the Outward Bound Schools have such an attitude of service and have given so much to both individuals and their communities. I am proud of my OB memories and pins... and grateful for the instructors and their guidance... It was during these experiences that I first started thinking that if I can do these things, so many others can too, and if so many of us can then.......

DSD

"Grandfather......."

The concept of 'musing' was something passed on to me by many of my mentors...

If we are only open to the possibility of allowing ourselves to listen to the mentors, guides, and elders in our lives we may see that their hindsight and experiences can become our own foresight... I believe the original 'Mentor' was the name for the advisor of young Telemachus in Homer's Odyssey.

The soapstone sculpture above is symbolic of one mentor in my life... It was found on Salt Spring Island while hiking and kayaking out in the Gulf Islands. Unfortunately I cannot recall who the artist was. There have been many guides who shared with me... and took the lead on a classic mountain where I would not have otherwise reached the summit... who challenged me in swiftwater that I was doubtful about... upon Outward Bound courses where I relearned what was within me...

T. Des Pres said that such openly shared experience resonates with, "A deeper knowledge, an elder wisdom...". This kind of knowledge then becomes literally embedded in the cells of our bodies because of the importance we give it and the trust we find there...

And this is something worth honouring...

The mountain above is named "Grandfather", whom was an elder guide in my own life... I would like to think that such a mountain could have been referred to in his honour.....

Whom do you honour as an elder, guide, or mentor in your own life...?

DSD

Campfire Musings.....

There is a piece of music I have listened to countless times that has the sounds of flames crackling, old dry wood snapping, along with rain in the background... and a steady, yet subtly increasing tempo... I can hear it in my mind right now by just closing my eyes and listening again...

Musing and reading by the flames of a campfire or an old wood stove is an experience of joy... It is an environment that promotes the opening of one's mind and the presence of possibility... In the flames dance the muses themselves... We have only to listen to their music...

D. Brower asked, "Why is it that memories of campfires are so long-lasting...".

Grandfather, a Mountain Elder, said: "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."

Painting these small stones, with a fire glowing across the room from me, has become a special time...

I have tried to portray something of the fire and the movement of the flames in these tiny Summit Stones...

Then I sit quietly back and remember...gazing at the coals, seeing the flames dance, listening to the comfort of the hiss and the crackle...finding the remains of fire's in those islands, in the northern woods, at trail sites not used in years, while pondering who was there, and what their adventures had been like...

Have you ever seen a face in these flames? Have you ever discovered meaning in the coals?

Do you ever wonder why we feel such warmth around these fires in our hearts, and not just on our hands or feet?

Just some campfire musings...

DSD

"Ordinary Adventurers......."

"We are all in some sense, mountaineers... and going to the wilderness is going home." J. Muir

"Some follow others expectations; a traveller out here awakens their own expectations."

Grey Wolf

Adventure is not just about the choice of activity, nor only about wilderness talent, or just one's outdoor skills, and is not really at all about age... I used to think that to be an adventurer it was necessary to bag summits, count climbs, record stats, accumulate kayak exploits, even tally up many epics... but that kind of collecting, while serving a purpose, doesn't always sustain us...

Adventure can be about being the person you want to be in a geographic place... as in what we may find in Geomancy... and that gets us closer to the essence of being an adventurer... as in what is reflected in our attitudes, desire, enthusiasms, and motivations... These things are more about energy, feelings, and emotions...

A. Hobson wrote: "The real goal. It wasn't, oddly enough, the summit of a mountain or the top of a cliff at all. That's because the goal wasn't really a place, but a feeling. It was an emotion deep inside him, and inside all of us; a sentiment we all search for, but which always seems so elusive." I believe this gets us closer to the essence of adventure regardless of the chosen activity of hiking, climbing, kayaking, canyoneering, rafting, whatever... And in this sense we are all very much alike... We are, as the Greeks write about, 'ordinarius', in that we are both middling and remarkable at one and the same time...

M. Thomsen wrote to: "There is daring in the adventure of being ordinary...".

So many think we have to be like the adventure stars out there, they miss just being out in the wilds and enjoying the stars... I've often thought, being a middling person of very ordinary wilderness skills, that... If I can enjoy such adventure; anyone can...and if anyone can; then I can enjoy even other adventures...

Anon writes; "Being an adventurer is in your state of mind which is not bound by age, performance, or place in the pack...".

It is a wonder that I've even tried so many adventure experiences, let alone kept going all these years, but from the seed of such ideas has grown over thirty years of fun and adventure out in the wildlands...

DSD

"Adventure Musing....."

"I have found power in the mysteries of thought, exaltation in the changing Muses..." Euripides

"Muse on nature with a poet's eye..." T. Campbell

When we ponder the meaning of our adventures; they become more potent for us; regardless of if we hike, climb, kayak, canyoneer, canoe...whatever...

Anon wrote: "To be in a state of wonder is to be an innocent forever..."

Consider that reflecting upon and better understanding where we have been, inherently may illuminate any chosen path before us, and the passion we create when we begin that new journey... I'm beginning to muse about this past year and also to muse about the next seasons...

DSD

Kayak Is A Verb.....

The word, the very concept of 'Kayak', is most often thought about as a noun...

But the essence of the meaning is found to me in how 'Kayak' is a being word, a verb of its own kind... To kayak is to feel the experience; to know it on so many levels...

S. Olson wrote, "Paddling along watching the skies, clouds, and horizons, there is time to mull such thoughts deeply and translate them not in one's own mind, but in the timeless background of hills and distance, the eternal and the immutable."

I remember... Northern lakes; Gulf Islands; the Broken Group; the San Juan's; and endless flowing memories that form a river in my mind.....

DSD

Some Passing Forward Thoughts.....

"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

"Profile....."

My 'Profile'...?

After being asked about this a few times in comments, I still am of the opinion that my profile is really not what this Blog is about...

I'm simply another average adventurer you might meet out on the trail, see wandering across the backcountry, maybe say hi to as we paddle towards each other, or share a few jokes at a common belay station...

Now... what seems very important... is what you perceive your 'profile' to be...

As in how you reflect on your own experiences, ponder about what things mean to you, muse again over why you are out in the wilderness and what the natural world has added to your life... Maybe, even consider what part of your 'profile', or the story of your life, might involve giving something back to that natural world of adventure...

If finding a "Summit Stone", discovering an "Adventure Muse", or reading journal entries on an older persons blog, sparks you to ponder your own 'profile' and what role you choose in your adventures, then 'my profile' is of no consequence.....

DSD

A Passing Forward Moment.....

I have just deleted what I thought was a rude comment about my approach to remaining anonymous...but it did provide pause for some pondering about those times where I have stepped out from that position...

A few summers ago, I remember...a scramble up WindTower in K-Country. This mountain is only one of many enjoyable climbs and scrambles in that beautiful area. Its views, especially of the Spray Lakes, is inspiring. The route ascends above West Wind Pass, and that day a buddy and I had seen some Prayer Flags along the route rustling in the very early morning breezes. They were set up in some trees and almost continually brushed by the winds that are funneled through the pass. There was a large group of youth who also were heading up WindTower that day. We were ahead quite a ways but could hear them with all their excitement and energy.

My friend and I were wiling away some time near the pass after summiting and as they began their own descent. Most of their group went ahead as did the trip leaders, with three of the youth catching up at the end. At the very end hiked a young man who seemed to be having a very challenging day...

My friend set out at his own pace while I shadowed these three for a while. At a short break, where I caught up, we chatted and they asked about some of the twists and turns in the trail as they weren't too sure of themselves. We decided to pace each other down the rest of the way. Them with their energy; me the slow one at the end, with the young man. He only talked a bit, kept his head down, and just kept going...even though he seemed really tired. He didn't say much about his day when asked. At the trailhead he slowed a little more, then quietly boarded the bus with his group...

I wondered what was going through his young mind at that moment...And moments are all we have... so I impulsively decided to introduce myself to one of their trip leaders. I asked about the young man and how his summit day had gone. Their leader said he had worked very, very hard...even carrying another youth's water...but he had not made the summit of WindTower...

It seemed he was the very last in his group both up and down the mountain and it might have showed on his face as it likely was his first possible summit...

This struck me as one of those opportunities where we all have to seize a tiny moment and pass something along...So I inquired with the leader if he would mind giving the youth something when they were later talking as a group about their day. I took out a Summit Stone and the note with it from my pack and explained briefly what I usually do with them...

"Would you mind passing this on to that young man", I said, and please tell him too that, "I've been climbing over twenty years and I didn't make my first summit either...", and that, "Many times those who work the hardest, are often not among the fastest, or the ones who make the top...".

Then I carried on...

I often wonder what adventure experiences this young man is out challenging himself now with...I remember how hard he worked that day...how stoic and quiet he was about his experience...I hope that he reflects on how we all have our 'own summits'...and also hope that maybe, just maybe, he will look at that Summit Stone from his WindTower day, and then pass something of his own experiences along to someone else he sees on their own journey...

There is always such a moment.....

DSD

Summit Stones & The Adventure Muse...

Summit Stones & The Adventure Muse...
Just posting a note from my other Blog that describes my intentions...
I call these small rocks "Summit Stones". These 'Stones' and the 'Muse' are only usually placed when out on some adventure. I have on occasion sent off a few "Summit Stones" to folks who are doing things who 'give back'.
Over the years, after gathering many of these rocks on coastlines, islands, beaches, summits, trails, and around waterfalls, I decided to splash a bit of paint upon them and give them back. Actually someone said something to me that helped me decide to do so. Putting a bit of paint on them was just my way of expressing ideas around the elements. The "Adventure Muse" was put together with quotes and perspectives discovered on many kinds of journeys as well as to share some thoughts about what the "Summit Stone" elements might mean. The quotes reflect upon the nature of adventure experiences...
I hope folks simply accept these small gifts in the spirit they were made in. I have placed them countless times with a summit register, on a deserted beach, at a trailhead, on a rocky shoreline, or even on another adventurers' car windshield when I've finished a journey and wanted to share some of it, even just anonymously...
This is not some kind of marketing gimmick. The stones are as real as they feel; the words of the Muse are as real as each of us might make them...They are just an offering and people will make of them what they will...
My hope is that the spirit and meaning folks create for themselves out on adventures will be forever present, and maybe they just might give something back of their own to the wilderness that gives each of us so much...
DSD

Another Voice On Wolves.....

Bev Doolittle wrote: "To be like a wolf was not a role undertaken lightly by any Crow warrior. The special qualities of wolves - endurance, loyalty, tracking ability - made the warriors who took their power from the wolf esteemed members of the tribe. Being like a wolf meant studying the ways and habits of wolves, focusing one's energies on living the way of the wolf."
Amazing art; powerful metaphors... What an adventure in perspectives Doolittle offers us as a gift..... DSD

"Our Adventure Nature....."

It is in our very nature to be adventurous... Anonymous wrote: "People whose seek adventure are true poets of living..." and another Anon said, "Adventuring is a means to express one's inner self...".
A friend recently made an observation that these musings on adventures didn't have much content in them about what might be considered the 'technical' side of adventure activities. True... And I guess that is my intent. There are a great many sources for such information from the extensive websites and many guidebooks that provide details on those aspects of adventure; and I am no expert in these either.
There would seem to be many levels to adventure though...
There is as much to muse about as to the 'Why' of our wild play as there is to the 'How'...
'Why' we ever tried these things in the first place, why we might have kept going, and what we reflect on about the journey after many years are musings of equal worth.
Have you read between the lines of those many outdoor adventure narratives? There are too many to tally; although I keep trying to read them all. Those who write about their exceptional adventure experiences give us a sense of what is harder to put into words...what may lay hidden out in the wild world...things like freedom, joy, challenges, fellowship, even accepted adversities. Such intense experiences help us mold our motives, assist in sharpening our enthusiasm, show us how to meet our needs.. and that is all part of what keeps us wanting to go back... I have experienced this myself regardless of the activity being it climbing, hiking, kayaking, caving, canyoneering, whatever.....
As in the exceptional artistic works of the Jim Warren pictures above, we can see how the nature of adventure is reflected within Nature herself... The essence of the natural worlds out there in the rain forests, deserts, on the tundra, or the bare rock hold within them all the elements of both Mother Nature and our Adventure Nature... Warren's art seems to speak to the many levels and meanings of both these essence's.
And as Hobson wrote about the value of this awareness, "The adventure attitude, particularly as used in the metaphors of the mountain or the sea...can be applied to our daily lives."
We are meant to explore, to seek out the unknown, to find ourselves by journeying beyond the self...and adventure is a subtle but powerful means to these ends. We all have our own mountains to climb; our own summits to achieve. How will you arrange the elements in your life? What will your next 'Adventure Summit' be? DSD

"Allow Mystery..."

"Allow mystery, which is to say to yourself, 'There could be more, there could be things we don't understand'..." B. Lopez
I once was able to watch a grey wolf at play when out on an adventure. This animal was a mystery in motion to me. At that time I knew so little about them, and yet found myself so very impressed by its grace of movement and its playful behavior. When it finally looked over in my direction and met my gaze, there was a moment there, where I wondered who was really watching who... DSD
"The Bella Coola Indians believed that someone tried to change all the animals into men but succeeded in making human only the eyes of the wolf." B. Lopez
"If you could be an animal, what animal would you be? Answering that question creates a powerful personal metaphor." Grey Wolf
Adventures are inherently full of mystery....Isn't that one of the many things that may draw us to what is adventuresome...? I think I would like to be a wolf even for a day.....DSD

Summit Stones by DSD

This Blog and the 'Summit-Stones' Blog, both have comment opportunities for you. I have recently enabled 'Comment Moderation' as there were some unrelated comments made that needed to be referred elsewhere. Your specific comments about your own adventures, adventure quotes , or being a 'Finder' of a Summit Stone are most welcome here. I will post them for you as soon as I can. DSD

The Journey...

The Journey.....

So many adventure voyages to remember...so many more to head out on...
G. Leonard wrote: "If the traveler is fortunate - that is if the path is complex and profound enough - the destination is two miles further away for every mile he or she travels."
When musing about the meanings within this quote, I've often felt real gratitude for the many journeys afforded me. Those adventures that await us out there are priceless; we only have to look up and set out...
I remember...the summits of snow-capped mountains and the forests cradling them; the calm on the beaches of islands and the tracks found there in the sand; the trails of Colorado and the people that shared them; the lighting on the red rocks of the desert and the emotions that emerged; the fetch of the waves across a wind swept ocean channel; the high mountain passes along the continental divide...
So many memories; journeys within journeys...
"Collect experiences, not things, for that is what will truly nourish you." Grey Wolf
Words that sound simple, but can hold profound meaning.
The value of such meaning I cannot estimate as there have been so many other times that I almost gave these adventures up, just about quite, doubted if to return...
Therein resides the reasons for musing; about the nature of the adventures we all live and the character of the wanderers we all are. If we choose to do this sometimes what seems like endings are really new beginnings; and the journeys then continue.
Adventures are talked about as hardy things but they have a fragile side to them...
"If you try too hard, adventures themselves become like Zen Koans - puzzles which slip away the more you try to solve them. Like water that slips through your fingers the harder you attempt to grasp it." Anon
They are still worth the careful efforts! If we consider that we never really know if this will be our last trail, our final trip, doing something we most times feel very passionate about. Often it does turn out to be our last journey to a place, only we didn't know it at the time.
"And then there are the places that we have visited, the places we swore we would return to: bays of untouched beaches, abandoned villages with their ceremonial poles, the jagged cut of untouched rocky coastlines. All told, a true paddler's paradise, inviting us back and compelling us onward." G. Rasmussen
Adventure journeys are indeed long and winding roads that we often can not see the end of. That would seem to be yet another hidden gift though. When we are not so focused on the last of the traveling, we then get to enjoy more of what we discover along the way. Easier said than done when the pack weighs forty pounds and the cold rain lasts for a week, but nonetheless holds grains of truth. H. Miller said: "Our destination is never a place, but rather a new way of looking at things", and Anon wrote: "In our travels we don't describe the world we see, rather, we see the world we describe." Sometimes it seems to be more about perception than places, but the contrasts of those places can also have their effects on growing new perceptions.
Many times it is about the people who share these adventure journeys with us; maybe even like sharing the journey of writing this blog with you as you then read it. A blog seems to be much like using a journal, I can follow my ramblings wherever they might lead and try to understand it all as I pass through that new country.
In the end, it doesn't seem to matter what kind of adventure we choose, only that we journey in a genuine way. There are so many kinds of 'summits' and so many 'adventure ways'. When we push our own limits at a level, and in an activity, that is right for each of us, with a focus on safety and especially fun; we journey along paths of freedom, happiness, beauty, and truth.
I hope you have and share many years of wandering; and may the spirit you create for yourself and others along the way of your adventure journeys be forever present...
DSD

Another Fun Musing Out there...

"The wilderness holds answers to more questions than we yet know how to ask." N. Newhall

Here is another Summit Stone picture post saved from out there. It was mused about a ways back on some message board. Unfortunately it now seems to be deleted and was probably considered to be some kind of spam. (Please see my 'comment & caveat' of an earlier post) I recall that this Stone may have been discovered in Arches National Park, and would have been placed while out hiking and canyoneering, or could be one that was likely placed on or near Mt Edith in Banff National Park during a climb of the south peak.

After collecting, washing, polishing, 'musing about', painting, and finally placing - it is a wonder to me how I can often recall where Stones were collected and then later hidden. All part of the fun...

My impression of the 'Finders' when they post about their discovery is that they really enjoy sharing about their experience, what it might have meant to them, and have lots of fun describing their own adventure they were out on that day. It seems very unfortunate then, when their wishes are not respected in sharing, if their posts are later deleted. If this might be your Stone, or if you had some other post taken away, put whatever comment you want here about the adventure you had that day...

DSD

Favorite Places...Favorite Stones...

I've always believed in Geomancy: the mysteriousness of the Elements...and I've certainly felt the reality of Geopiety: special favorite places in the world where we each seem to belong...

How about you? Hasn't it felt just 'right' when you've touched that granite rock, turned a corner on that trail and saw.....or landed with a muted crunch on that sandy and rocky beach.....

What about one of those nights when you got up for a moment and gazed up at stars to numerous to count...or discovered again that mountain lake that you've seen so many times before and yet find yourself now really beginning to sense what is there...

Then there are the sounds.....falling asleep to the wind in the trees...the distant thunder that both intrigues and yet scares us...the many cords of the rain, how it starts, grows in cadence, then fades away...and the ocean - which has too many sounds too note, and yet whose music we never seem to tire of...How can there not be a Geomancy; how can we not find some Geopiety?

The picture above is of a special place I used to gaze at from a distance. It now holds many mysteries that were out there for me to discover; about the islands and about myself...It feels right to be there...

I remember... fog in the morning, cold breezes across the water, wind through the trees, the smile of my partner paddling beside me, landing on small beaches of shells and sand, finding a face carved into a long dead tree, waves that challenged my skill level...and so much else. How can there not be a Geomancy; a Geopiety... A place like that gives us so much...

So it also feels right to then give something back; picking up some garbage, helping on an island trail restoration, and quietly placing a few favorite stones season after season...

Maybe others who found these; created some of their own Geomancy.....Maybe they will also give something back to that place...

DSD