"A Very First Quote..."

"Climb these summits and get their good tidings. Nature's peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their freshness into you and the storms their energy, while cares will drop off like autumn leaves." J. Muir

It was an Outward Bound instructor who was first to introduce me to this special quote by Muir... It is one I have pondered, mused, and planned from over these many years... A quote that set directions for me from all points of the compass...

The terrific images above are from Tom at Yosemite Explorer... Such visual energy holds for me the feelings we have experienced many times when adventuring among such mountains, and together with Muir's quote they provide inspiration for those adventure days and experiences still waiting out there...

Did you know that the actual writing of this quote is found to contain either the word 'mountains' or the word 'summits'... While being told the first version, the latter now resonates with me as the image of 'summits' has come to mean a great deal more too than the very top of a single mountain...

Some state Muir wrote it both ways as he did with many other notes and journal entries, when he wrote and then revised his musings, at different levels, after different experiences, and over long years of ponderings...

That Outward Bound instructor was so right, and Muir's words have indeed rung so true, over these past decades of wild place journeys and within so many adventure seasons...

I often re-read this 'first quote' while looking towards the horizon... for many more of such summits, sunshine, winds and storms, are waiting... patiently waiting... to be discovered and enjoyed out there.....

DSD

Tom Lambert's Link at Yosemite Explorer:http://yosemiteexplorer.com

"An Outdoorzy Challenge For Us All..."

"Find your places of power; where you become part of the magic. Return there many times; enjoy your experiences - then give back to those places". Grey Wolf

We all tend to tally up some kind of accomplishments within our adventure endeavors... yet there is often a quiet side to these efforts... One that can be an important yet hidden goal of connectedness within the adventure community and to our wild places... These are the many initiatives adventurers make in giving back and passing forward...

One of my favorite quotes is by J. MacKinnon who wrote: "A life list is, in the end, nothing more than a tool to look back on our lives and consider how we spent our brief moments on Earth. And what if, in those final breaths, you realize - I never gave anything back."

Such efforts can take the shape of almost anything... Just as there was something that sparked our passions within our chosen adventure activity... so it is with discovering our own paths to connectedness...

The story of the 'Giving Tree' as pictured above ( by Owen) has many meanings, and much mystery... Outdoorzy's enthusiasm is letting us create another chapter here...

And with this the Crew at Outdoorzy, also pictured above, has challenged us to inspire them!

They write: "Tell us of your best experience in the outdoors serving, preserving, helping the environment, or conserving".

I find that persons who adventure out in our wild places have such enthusiasms and are amazingly positive... they are also so creative and take much initiative... I have always wondered (as in my Post Link below of 'Just One Thing') what it would be like if even just a little of this great energy was focused upon yet another exciting new journey...

As for myself, years ago when Grey Wolf said, "If you take that stone, you must give something back", I pondered the meaning of this simply profound musing, and I guess I took it to heart as it has since lead me upon a wondrous path...

My sincere thanks to Wade and Outdoorzy for allowing me to be part of the karma and fun in raising such awareness... I am looking forward to reading about all the adventurers out there and their unique 'OSPEC' endeavors...

DSD

Outdoorzy OSPEC Awards: http://blog.outdoorzy.com/2008/06/16/first-annual-ospec-awards/

"Just One Thing": http://summitstonesadventuremusings.blogspot.com/2006/12/just-one-thing.html

Previous Outdoorzy Blogroll Post: http://summitstonesadventuremusings.blogspot.com/2008/04/outdoorzy-enthusiasm.html

"How Much Do You Want This....."

Nietzsche, an accomplished philosopher, poet, and mountaineer wrote: "He who has a why can endure any how...".

Nietzsche was one of many who espoused musings on meaning and purpose in life... He was often troubled himself yet affirmed the importance of pondering such meanings, and what it is we want from our experiences, from our existence... and just as importantly what we may be prepared to do in order to attain these...

Many of us find that quotes like these help us journey closer to clarifying our own images of the adventure ideas going through our minds each season...

How much do you 'want'... whatever that want might be in your adventure planning and desires for experiences out there... Any such musings can be priceless on the path to understanding our own personal 'why'...

Sometimes we ask the same question of ourselves at a different level by inquiring about what price we are prepared to pay... in terms of effort & esteem, time & trial, discipline & sacrifice...

Then we may see more clearly why this is important for us to do; what meaning these adventures create for us...

How bad do you want this...

Can you actually see yourself on that high mountain summit... Have you visualised what the trek will be like... Will that picture on the wall signify what you wanted from your adventure... Can you feel now what the emotions will be like when out there... In your minds eye are you able to envision each step of the journey...

As an Outward Bound instructor once said to me, "It is much more effective to focus on what you do want, than to be taken off course by too much thinking about what you don't want...".

I've mused too over how it is not helpful to be so distracted by what 'seems' to be urgent, that we lose time, energy, and focus on what ends up being more truly important... Much within adventures, as in life, can be very much like that...

There can be so many other aspects that may turn out to be incidental, rather than instrumental, to your path and chosen adventure activities... We need to be careful and even protective at times of where we spend our precious energies...

Do you really want this...

Actually walking the coals of such questions can be a test of sorts... of our true selves... our real commitment... and enhance our depth of understanding about what these adventure experiences may ask of us... But what treasures we will find along the way!

Nietzsche also wrote of his own trials by trail that: "I am a wayfarer and a mountain climber... and whatever destiny and experience may now come to me, there will be wayfaring and mountain climbing in it: after all, one experiences only oneself...".

All of this is yet another internal adventure in pondering and answering for ourselves, such personal questions of how much do we each want this.....

DSD

"Outward Bound And A 'Mea Culpa' Moment..."

I remember... There was this one Instructor... from my first Outward Bound course, who was something of a wandering enigma...

It was a challenging course, with much inclement weather of cold, wind, and rain... long days out, among people who were slow to connect... We didn't make our first summit attempt either.

This Outward Bound mentor had a unique style... one of quiet confidence... a person who chose their words carefully... and often unexpectedly laughed loudly.

One comment in particular sparked a mystery that lasted throughout the course and lingers still... During a day of rock climbing, one phrase was quietly said a number of times... almost so quietly as to see if we were really listening...

One of us in the patrol was having real difficulty, then real success, with the climbing... After each experience, and the resulting group feedback, all this Instructor said was 'Mea Culpa'.....

That simple comment prompted much discussion, both then, later over meals, and at night under the stars...

That Outward Bound mentor whispered that same phrase a few dozen more times throughout our course...

What was also espoused as many times were comments about 'not telling us, but showing'... then 'not showing', but 'letting us do'... 'not explaining' but 'allowing us to experience'... 'not giving us meaning' but ensuring that the circumstances let us 'create our own'...

During each further such experience we would again hear that quiet comment as well... 'Mea Culpa'... and would also come to expect it, even while we didn't know exactly what was meant...

I have since come to understand a bit more about experiential learning within the wild places... During that course and in communications after with my course mates, we would discuss, even research, those two softly spoken words...

The popular Latin meaning typically reflects implied aspects about personal 'fault'; much other literature emphasizes the nature of individual responsibility instead of fault... Our Outward Bound Instructor's meaning was demonstrated by the many teachings passed forward to us... This was a gentler 'Mea Culpa'... one of lessons reflecting a more useful personal accountability, and not one just of blame...

Those experiential Outward Bound learnings taught us about such responsibility without criticism; about natural consequences; about creating one's own enthusiasms and motivation; and how to then personally integrate such wild place adventure experiences back within each of our everyday lives...

Over the course of my life I have mused over these two words, that simple phrase... and realise how profound it is... That Outward Bound mentor never did define what Mea Culpa meant, instead the intention was to let each of us be responsible for creating our own personal meanings, memories, images, and values to live by... I have always been grateful for that...

So on your next summit day; during your own kayak trip; or when the sun is setting on that canyon... ponder... then say it aloud... and discover a "Mea Culpa' moment for yourself...

DSD

"Mountain Mystery....."

"Hidden in and under the mountain, and all around it, is a mystical, linear elegance, an atmosphere, the long jewel-like ridges. There is a meaning for us, an extended journey, a project of inspiration to which our minds will be apprenticed...".

"The mountains... are an exultant image whose mirrors create the effect of endlessly receding planes. Their image is suddenly clear, then is blurred, an expression of our presence..."

"The mountain... obscures itself among other mountains, finds secrecy in its weather and moods... There is a strangeness, one of a beautiful worth. A storm breaks. We are called to its prismatic, poetic mood, a beauty that pervades every part of us... for all that is given, and that we are blessed to know, and must leave hidden." P. Ament

Many life long mountaineers, like Ament, eventually journey to a waypoint where the mystery of their adventures' becomes as important as the places themselves...

Wild places... especially mountains... seem to inherently; yet subtly... invite us to search out the mystery to be found out there within these elements..... DSD

My appreciation to Dru (top two images) and Mickrange (bottom two images) for their inspiring pictures...

Dru http://flickr.com/photos/druclimb/

Mickrange http://flickr.com/photos/mickrange/

"Just To Smile And Laugh....."

"The most wasted day of all is that on which we have not laughed." N. Chamfort

I have never laughed so heartily, and so long, as when out during an adventure... These last weeks I have needed to make real efforts to recall moments that are not just filled with sadness. During times of severe adversity and personal challenge; others have shared with me that while tears may be cleansing... laughter is inherently healing...

And when I muse closely on those moments of deep meaningful laughter, I feel that there must be something in the air out there, don't you think? Something that touches all the levels within us, particularly the gifts we have been given in our ability to experience real joy, hope & happiness, especially humour & fun...

We often feel so childlike, so playful, so full of freedom and life when wandering among the wild places... And amazingly this can be just as true right in the midst of powerful storms and swirling elements... It is just as true even in regards to severe exposure on some knife edge ridge route; also true in knowing the inherent risks usually present in adventure challenges...

And paradoxically true as well in spite of achieving what are often ephemeral rewards...

Besides... having such fun and simple moments of smiling and laughter out there reminds us not to take ourselves so seriously even when we focus so closely upon what we are doing...

I remember... the smirks with a climbing friend when we both wanted to lead, and then when we both didn't... The smiles of my partner when we each know without even saying what the other is appreciating out on the waters of a sea kayaking trip...

I remember... such sustained wild laughter during an ascent of sleet, snow, and high winds...

I remember... even the joyful tears that seem to contrast with the toothy smiles we find ourselves with when we finally reach that elusive summit...

Maybe... the real payoff... the true reward... is in these simple enjoyments out in our wild places... and in being free to return and to be able to just smile and laugh... time and time and time again.....

DSD

"Time Will Pass Anyway......."

"This time, your time, will pass by anyway. Will you simply watch it come, then go? Or will you embrace this time and direct the very flow of it?" Grey Wolf

Time is a construct that plays different roles in our lives, our age, and within adventure plans and goals... It is a means by which we often describe that which may be working for us; or that which knocks us off course...

Time has been described as the fifth element... that which overshadows all the other elements...

Adventures' are too important not to make clear our values about if the time to dream, to plan, and then to set out upon adventures is truly our time; or to let our time and ourselves be at the whim of external circumstance...

Time will indeed pass anyway... So... between now and then, what do you want to see happen in your life and your adventure experiences... Between then and now... where and who and why are these happenings important to your chosen path...

Has there ever been 'lost time', time taken from your life and your adventures that will never be gained back? Is there now a found opportunity... found time... for renewing, returning, re-energizing your adventurous self with the time now before you?

Then... when looking back upon years of adventure experiences, as I often muse over my own past three plus decades out there... we sense that our lives have been a more chosen course, even if the twists and turns of circumstance and time are always present...

The time will pass anyway.......

If we see it as the fifth element that it truly is... time is then all we really have anyway...

So seize this very day, embrace this very moment, and grasp closely this time for adventures' you have been gifted with.....

DSD

"Carrying On....."

"Somewhere along the line you ask yourself, 'What am I doing here?' It is then that you must think back and remember that it was the right thing to do at the start. Therefore, the right thing to do is to carry on and finish whatever it is you've started." J. Hughes

Oh how I've pondered, and the moments I've spent musing, about the struggles that have occurred at home and out in the wild places... With carrying on... before, during, and after... through the trials, the high summits & low valleys, of many adventure and life experiences...

Hughes adventure writing and this quote in particular doesn't simply ring true for me; it hits home... especially this very spring...

Adventures, like much of life... are hardly ever a straight course from trail head to summit and return...

The essence of them, the elements within them; like the obstacles, setbacks, complications, and unexpected hurdles - both internal and external, can do as much damage over time as a dull knife if we are not careful... They can wear away at the substance of what we seek about adventures... the nature of their value for us and how they may contribute to our lives...

Yet, if I really try, purposefully focus, truly remember in my minds eye the reasons for, the 'why' of, and the genesis behind... where a particular adventure experience began... or a trial of life ends... I can still find a few coals of motivation and enthusiasm there...

With some gentle but firm efforts they can be brought back to life and provide us with a renewed energy and purpose...

Keep going dear Finders... keep carrying on... and I will too.......

DSD

"Thoughts......."

"Each of us is on a climb of a different sort, facing our own mountains, struggling to cross our own rough seas." Anon

"The bamboo, which gives way, survives a storm, while brittle oak may be uprooted... In the adversity of life's storms, we should bend, but we need not break." Deng Ming-Dao

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

"You can spend your energy trying to calm the storm; or you can let the storm rage, and calm yourself." Anon

"When it seems too hard, ask yourself: Compared to what?" Mountain Guide

Just some thoughts; just over a week later.......

DSD

Sincere thanks again to Vida for some images at this time:

http://flickr.com/photos/seawallrunner/

"Our Little One...Our Tiny One......."

Our little one... our tiny one... our furry girl... is gone.......

We are among the many adventurers who choose to share their lives and dreams with a small animal... Little four pawed wonders who journey these trails with us...

She was so special, and so strong...

Years ago there was that lump; three years back that serious abscess; and then last year a diagnosis that wasn't going to go away...

We had such a good winter taking care of her. Even though she was ill, her old self was still present and we were able to share a few more seasons of so precious moments...

She taught us about connection with creatures of this earth... about trusting bonds that develop ever so slowly between humans and animals... about the spirit within our small companions that is truly there... we only have to open ourselves to it...

They wander these elements with us... They look up with love as she did with her blue upon blue eyes... They share so willingly in the fun and challenge of life's many adventures...

That time will come, as it did for her, as it will for all of us, where we will set out upon a different path and then adventure no more... Thus the importance of musing and remembering and cherishing each moment...

The last month has been so hard, has been so deep a valley... so dark a forest...

Yet we remember and remind ourselves, that this trial was only a small fraction of the last decade and a half of beautiful days and nights together...

It is hard to see the computer keyboard through the mist of tears in my eyes as I write these words, but I know there is another side to this valley of anguish... It is out there... the trail will be one of a very deep sadness...

We have done everything that can be done, both day and night, but it was her time...

We will never, ever, forget the gifts that she has given us...

The ashes that remain will travel and adventure with us to coastlines she could never go to... to a mountain summit she would never see...

She may be gone in that most physical sense, but the countless memories and the essence of her so special spirit will always be with us...

We are so very grateful to have shared much of this life with her...

Our furry girl...

Our little one.....

Our tiny one.......

DSD

A Parable On This Day For The Earth: "The Wise Woman's Stone..."

"A wise woman who was travelling in the mountains found a precious stone in a stream... The next day she met another traveler who was hungry, and the wise woman opened her bag to share her food. The hungry traveler saw the precious stone and asked the woman to give it to him... She did so without hesitation... The traveler left, rejoicing in his good fortune. He knew the stone was worth enough to give him security for a lifetime... But a few days later he came back to return the stone to the wise woman... 'I've been thinking', he said, 'I know how valuable the stone is, but I give it back in the hope that you can give me something even more precious... Give me what you have within you that enabled you to give me the stone'...". Anon

A parable of meaning within the context of the gift of a simple stone...

Like the Wise Woman... Our Mother Earth gives to us all each moment of each hour of each day... It is then up to us to then ask, and learn, and become, someone who then gives back and passes forward also...

Have a special Earth Day today.......

DSD

Special thanks to Vida Morkunas for the above images: http://www.flickr.com/photos/seawallrunner/

"Outdoorzy Enthusiasm..."

Wade, Emile, Lynn and the whole 'Outdoorzy Crew' have said to us: "If you've ever been called 'Outdoorzy', welcome home"... I just love that invitation...

All the elements of our wild places and fun to be enjoyed out there are represented on this lively adventure activity site - kayaking, canoeing, rafting, hiking, climbing, sky diving, parasailing, mountaineering, geocaching, running, mountain biking, adventure travel; among many others as well. There are also extensive forums, useful gear reviews, adventure links, and trip reports about all of these; even an engaging outdoors blog!

Wade himself as a co-founder of the site with Emile, and Lynn as the lead developer, are web entrepreneurs and outdoors enthusiasts. Wade for example includes in his accomplishments climbing Kilimanjaro, hiking the Inca Trail, and plans for trekking in the Himalaya's. Emile & Lynn are said to love hiking, mountain biking, and much more...

Enthusiasm is the key theme of 'Outdoorzy', for our wild places and all manner of adventure fun out there. They want to help us all attain: "The goal of connecting outdoor enthusiasts online and providing tools to help prepare for and improve their outdoor experience".

With such a goal and already over a thousand eager members, Outdoorzy is giving back a great deal to us all...

Accept that invitation, and join the fun over there...

DSD

Outdoorzy Link: http://www.outdoorzy.com

"A Tribute To Stephen Lyman....."

It was on a multi day sea kayaking trip in the San Juan Islands, during a rest day, that we first set our eyes upon a Stephen Lyman work of art...

It was displayed in a small shop, and it needed no light to illuminate it, as it seemed to glow from within... This was his 'Mountain Campfire' creation...

That was decades ago and we have still not lost our appreciation for Stephen's wildlands muse, and his artistic and creative genius...

We all lost Stephen though, on April 16th 1996, in a high mountain accident.....

He was a truly talented artist... one who inspires me still in my own naive way...

I can only imagine now much he is missed by so many...

The 'Greenwich Workshop' says of him, "Stephen Lyman was an explorer who specialized in painting the most elusive moments in nature", and that "Through Lyman's art, you can travel into a wilderness very few have experienced. You can share the sensation of being in the true outdoors - exploring, discovering, studying and enjoying the all-encompassing beauty of nature"...

Stephen himself said, "All my paintings have their origins in my experience and perception of beauty in the wilderness"...

I hope you too, dear friends, have been gifted with the wild place opportunity to experience what Stephen has portrayed through his artistic adventures...

Today, April 16, is a day to remember Stephen and respect all of what he has passed forward to us.......

DSD

"Finding Kananaskis....."

Kananaskis... was established in 1977. A few years after my first beginnings in the wild places...

In 1858, the explorer J. Palliser named a pass there Kananaskis; and since then the surrounding mountains, lakes, river and the areas out to the foothills, are now known as Kananskis Country...

It is indeed a small magic kingdom... and when there you do sense you are in the presence of something royal and very meaningful...

This special wild place embraces many rugged peaks; a pass higher than at the Columbia Icefields; beautiful rolling foothills; even canyons; and an amazing white water river... I believe Kananaskis means 'a meeting of the waters'. It is one of my earliest, most favorite areas for adventures and for placing these small Summit Stones...

I remember... Ridge walks and summits like the Fortress, the Fist, Indefatigable, the Windtower, among so many others...

I remember... River kayaking and rafting on so powerful whitewater through rocks and mist...

I remember... Extended pristine hiking along the Continental Divide route...

I remember... Exploration of the Highwood and the hidden valleys there...

I remember... Endless wild back country, many with trails, some with none... Canyons too; even touching old ice of an ageless glacier...

Finding Kananaskis... has deep meaning in finding one's spirit out there and to discover oneself among the wild places... And that is its true gift to us...

I recall reading of the Visions Quests of others gone before me... and my own to Three Isle Lake in the quiet season...

Kananaskis 'Finders' of Summit Stones have been many including the Link here to the "Two Jonathans", and that of Traxx whose images are above, and who writes himself...

"Memories are stored in the mind but shaped by the heart... The day I found this Summit Stone I was 'on patrol' in the back country. I had a few hours left on my shift so I rolled down the road to Spurling Creek. I found two Summit Stones that day. The Stones were in little ziploc bags that I initially mistook for garbage left near the trail. It didn't take me long to realize how wrong I was - The Stone I currently hold was discovered early in the hike and, I'll admit, I hiked all the way to the pass that day reading the Muse... I sat in the sun (and wind!) at the pass, enjoyed the view, ate the last of my food for the day and finished the Adventure Muse (twice that afternoon)... Having often mused on the topic of adventures myself - familiar with many of the contributors to the Muse and learned of others thru the Muse... Continue to muse my days away - just in the process of becoming a (temporary/permanent?!?) fixture out in the mountains of Kananaskis. I do treasure the find - I think this little gift is an interesting way to communicate - a one way conversation of sorts... One of the things I like about the Muse is that it reaches every finder at their own levels of understanding and it is something one can return to at a later date and continue to find new meaning and new levels of meaning there. These days the Summit Stone is an integral part of a small shrine that is accumulating out of my work in Kananaskis and the Adventure Muse is on my bedside table. I'll think I'll hold on to them a while longer until I find a safe spot to pass them on (I think that they may not be as easy for the next person to find)"...

Traxx is one of those adventurous souls who has taken on the additional responsibility of caring for such wild places...

So many adventure experiences are still patiently waiting for us to wander and muse over while discovering ourselves as we find Kananaskis.......

DSD

Traxx Flickr Link: http://flickr.com/photos/jeremymcivor/1009028546/in/set-72157594300892168/

"High Mountain Musing..."

"The state of being active within life activates the fundamental questions of life...

But when I am up on a mountain, I rarely question what I am doing or why I am there. The climbing, the concentration, the struggle... those are the answers - because those are the basic purposes of life. In effect, I become my own answer." R. Messner

The nature of musing on such questions and answers seems to be a theme we all share as mountaineers...

Messner is one who offers unique perspectives for us to ponder.....

I found myself reflecting on this very quote, as I was enjoying and gazing upon the images of MickRange on Flickr...

DSD

MickRange's Link: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mickrange/

"There Are Many Different Kinds Of Mountains In One's Life..."

Some think that Tunnel Mountain at our Banff, Canada town site, really doesn't deserve to be called a 'mountain'...

It certainly shouldn't be seen as any kind of summit either, many serious climbers would say...

Quite a few summers ago... during a very early morning training session, I was to learn to see this summit of sorts very differently...

It had misted during the night. One of those fine rains that touches everything, but was not heavy enough so the moisture up in the trees all falls to the ground.

It was quiet and it was very early... with just enough first light to see the well used trail up to the top of Tunnel Mountain... I made good time slowly jogging up and was now walking quietly and quickly down when I met two other early starters...

This patient father was making his way with his young daughter up along the easy grade of this mountain trail... We spoke briefly, and I could see it was going to take a long time for them to reach their goal...

"We are going all the way, aren't we," the father said to his daughter, who looked up with that innocent friendliness that many challenged persons have... "It will be her first mountain", dad said so proudly...

Then they carried on... the father guiding... the daughter walking back and forth... often distracted by the many sights, noises, and wonderments we mostly overlook on a typical well used trail...

I have no doubt they made their summit that day on Tunnel Mountain...

It would have been a long one going up, and even longer coming down... As challenging as any I have been out on... I sense they may have appreciated it more too than many other climbers out that same day, on any of the surrounding, much higher, more rugged Rocky Mountain peaks...

We all have our own mountains to climb, and our own summits to reach...

And yes, that little rocky point in Banff, is indeed a Mountain as that challenged young person and her dad taught me that day.......

DSD

"Dawning Of The North..."

The Aurora Borealis, also known by many as the 'Dawning of the North', is one of many mysterious wonders of our wild places...

Aboriginal Peoples have believed these swirling apparitions to be travelling spirits... drifting across the winter sky... Spirits who entice us with their beauty and their tales, while drawing us further and further north... They are said to inspire us to watch endlessly as their stories unfold...

While silent, you would swear on occasion that a crackling of sorts can be heard on the most quiet of nights out there during this dawning of the northlands...

Some say the breaking of the spring and this contrast of cold and sun brings out the most vivid of these swirling images... The darkest nights seem best for these dancing lights and perceiving their intense colors...

When I stand quietly out here and turn my eyes to the sky in the dark... I remember...

These mystical lights while deep winter camping among our frozen northern lakes; when snowshoeing in the calm of a cold late night; while dog sledding down a snow bound valley; and when seeing images of animals, like birds, wolves, and bears, dancing with one another across the fabric of an old canvass tent as I stayed up almost all night... for no other reason than because I could... so I could muse for hours while feeding and watching that small stove fire...

Our more scientific colleagues would describe these phenomenon as the collision of moving electrons, molecules, atoms, and other particles in the coldest winter air...

Still others believe that further elements are in play among these visions of mysterious colors, movement, and perception... And that is what I believe too, in this dawning of our north.....

DSD

"There Is More Within You....."

Five seemingly simple words.......

But as with many adventure truths, and wild place paradoxes, such apparently simple concepts have endless depths of meaning within them...

As I look in the mirror after an especially challenging training period, on course to a goal I have not tried to repeat in over fifteen years; and after a season of setbacks, distractions & doubts - I am beginning to see these words yet again through another set of eyes...

I reflect back upon the first time an Outward Bound Instructor said this to me on my very first rock climb; then said it again, as I went back to do the same climb... blindfolded...

This saying was also stated before my very first solo; and during the first few steps of the long run back to camp... I watched as this simple mantra was repeated for so many other Outward Bound students; and then observed their joy and exhilaration in finding their own truth of it...

Since then these same words have resonated with me time and time again...

I have listened for their echo in valleys before some of my most difficult climbs... They have been whispered to me over and over again on solo's, during long distance treks, when sea kayaking out among the greater ocean waves, through the forests and old trees while still moving long after sunset, and among the beats of my heart while it sounded so loudly up at altitude... These words keep calling their meaning out.....

This mantra has returned in my mind too at just those moments when I seemed to feel there was little left to draw upon... And then I sensed them being shared with me again...

There was one mountain in particular, where after two unsuccessful summit attempts, and with more than a thousand feet to go on the third try, that Outward Bound Instructors' voice was there just when the impetus was most needed...

There IS more within you...

There is MORE within you...

There is more WITHIN you...

There is more within YOU.....

Each time the emphasis became more focused, more personal... On that day, when finally upon that elusive summit, that Outward Bound mentors creed was proven true yet again...

There is indeed more within each of us... We only need to hear with our third ear; listen more closely... Really see the meanings hidden there... And embrace that truth as it supports us...

There is much about adventures that inherently arrange those challenging elements before us, that we each need to push limits outward somewhat farther; and grow inwards a bit deeper...

These 'simple' words have been such a gift... A present I have mused much over, and often write about here. They have reverberated through adventure tests and trials not just of avocation, but of vocation, of family, of issues both worried and very real...

So when you gaze at yourself in that mirror dear friends... in that compass before a long trek, in the reflection on that lake before a distance paddle, in the crystals of snow and ice during first light of your next climb...

Know the truth of there being more to be found within you as well.......

DSD