"Time To Wake Up..."

 

 

Maybe the first time I heard this on Outward Bound, I was tired and a bit grouchy, but now years later these words echo out with so many more memories and meanings...
Our Outward Bound leaders said it only a few times to us, then expected us to do so for one another. Responsibility and owning the moments were a big part of the lessons back then. These same Outward Bound mentors said this too when it was now time to concentrate, to really focus, and to be vigilant as we climbed and crossed over those high mountains. They quietly stated this as well when we struggled with our attitudes & beliefs about the adversities we were facing, and how they inspired us to forever find more within than we ever first realized...
Those many other Mountain & Sea Kayak Guides who I am also very grateful for, said this too in so many ways, as they shared and mentored those essential skills and elemental perceptions for being safe and sure of ourselves out there.
"Time to wake up...".
An informed, centered, quietly yet lively expression for learning.
These words have also taken on such meaning, as a mantra from my teachers who gently taught us about meditation. Then invited and challenged me in particular to practice this while I was actually out wandering the wild places.
We each awaken in our own ways out there don't we my Friends. As when below the stars, or gazing up too towards the rainbows following us. We eventually see what we did not before, amidst all the storms and up among our summits. We become more sentiently inspired and aware, like about the wild ones and their vulnerable lives.
Then everything from the crux's, the solo's, to the winds and waves, the edges and efforts, from resting under our tarps & tents - all become possibilities. Also to the canyons, mountains, coastlines, and northern lakes - which all invite us to awaken and further perceive & understand, to now distinguish and truly begin to know...
Even when I notice I've felt like my adventure day did not go as expected, usually due to health complications, then it also a time for waking up and being aware of the whole journey. Because difficulties are relative, and endurance can be more than fitness - as each and every one of the links under my 'Giving Back & Passing Forward' section courageously show us time and time again. They give name to what it means to be mindful of what is really important within it all...
"Time to wake up...", echoes out those beautifully attentive meanings.
"Take notice", quietly says the wild places. "Let ourselves see...", then invites our adventures.
Such an important yet subtle message.
When we do become even a bit more awake, and we are also no longer 'sleeping' in those ways, then we seek further edges, the challenges are so full of fun, the journeys are farther freedoms, the trails will all surely lead towards connection, and our attention can be seen in our shared smiles and epiphanies.
Time to awaken, an echo long ago from Outward Bound, now a readiness to carry on..... DSD

My appreciation again Dear Friends for sharing your images with us all.

"From Where We Started..."

"We shall not cease from exploration, and at the end of all exploring, will be to arrive where we started, and know the place for the first time...". T.S. Eliot
On Outward Bound, on these many adventures, over all these long wonderfully full years, we share in learning more regarding what the mountains, the forests, the oceans, and the canyons are all really about...
On Outward Bound, through such adventures, over these endlessly amazing seasons, we then share in the knowledge too about who we are truly becoming as we are out wandering...
For we learn so much about all of what is out there.
Then we discover as well that there is so much more within than ever first realized.
For as Henry miller wrote too: "Our destination is never a place, but rather a new way of looking at things...".
From gazing back upon where we each started .
Look at where we are now..... DSD

Dedicated to all those about to undertake their first Outward Bound course this year.

"Sharing Your Wonderful Inspiring Images..."

Thank you once more my Friends for allowing your wonderful inspiring images to be shared here!
My intention with including such images & pictures of beauty and awe, is in support of all the links on my blog under 'Giving Back & Passing Forward'. There will never be anything commercial about these musings.
I have always acknowledged that the vast majority of the images shared here were not created by me, as I am not talented in that way. Many have been suggestions provided by fellow adventurers, so I am unable at times to give specific acknowledgements unfortunately. If I can do this it will always occur as best I can right when such images are posted. I will also certainly acknowledge others work if you let me know, and then I will attribute creative efforts where they clearly belong.
It is with deep appreciation that your sharing images in this way is felt in support of those who are Adventuring For Another Reason . My whole adventure blog speaks to these initiatives.
You have such amazing pictures and metaphors within them, reflecting these links who give back and pass forward with their ongoing enduring efforts.
Please accept my sincere gratitude for your sharing and understanding in allowing for such support of them.
Thank you all so very, very much! DSD

"This Old Weathered List....."

 

 

"Fortunately, more distant summits are always being discovered... Man throws a stone - his desire - into the unknown, then throws himself in pursuit." T. Cesen
Here is this weathered list I see before me. This very old weathered list. Just some scribblings on worn paper, but a precious thing it has become...
The ideas started long ago, even before my Outward Bound experiences. Sparks of thought, notes from being inspired, longings I was yet to really even understand.
This old well worn weathered list. But still does it always engage me. Especially when a new year dawns and during the beginnings of each kind of adventure season. Every spring too does it seem to call gently, yet invitingly and persistently as well. It almost feels at times too, that this old weathered list, has been like another kind of map and compass. Always there for navigation, for setting course, to keep oneself on track.
This weathered, folded, even a bit torn old list. It has aged, evolved, and shows the wear much as we all do. From objectives, to totals, check marks, and completions. Now it is changing once again more to an endearing tally.
This long old weathered list. Seemingly, wonderfully, amazingly endless. A never completed process it is. So happy am I that this is so. For a list like this is as much an adventure journey as our actual wanderings out among the wild places...
This old, composed, weathered list. I hold it in my hand, but it really has been what has supported me. Always full of hope, inspiration and wonder, enjoyment and awe, and endless enduring forever possible moments. For as J.B. MacKinnon wrote too: "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...".
An old parchment of sorts is this listing. It has charted what was wanted from out there. Then pointed gently to so much more than was ever first realized from within ourselves here..... DSD

"Of Bearings..."

"We all have our own inner compass... The bearings are such that we can only read our own...".  Anon
An old compass, my even older weathered list, a new map, and now to follow the inspiration... DSD

"We All Start Low..."

To have those people in our lives is so profoundly special. Our mountain Mentors, wild place Guides, and heroes too - whose experience, enthusiasm, wisdom, and perceptions become such examples for possible wonders for us to reach out and up for...
Yet, just as often, I am reminded that even with all their adventure achievements and heights attained, our wild place Mentors all started their outdoor lives on the valley floor as well. They all started their climbs towards personal goals as low as we each have.
Those we admire had humble beginnings much like ours.
We aspire to be so like them, and we are in many ways, because we all began down here. We all have shared in those lower levels of inexperience, and within the challenges of being a novice as well.
We are more alike than not.
We share in so much more than we ever may first realize.
They have gone so very far, been up so amazingly high, went for such long enduring distances too. And now they knowingly look back, and wonderfully encourage us on, as we set out on our own courses and bearings...
More is being shared here than the summits of our own adventure experiences.
To keep on going together in order to attain such meaningful wild place experiences, it can be important to gently realize, that we all start low..... DSD

"This Is What They Mean....."

"It was the emptiness... The vast, quiet solitude that caught and held me.
I thought: This is what they mean by wilderness.
The word took on a new dimension...". Colin Fletcher

We all still very much miss you Colin.
Every new dawning year, I look over your many books, and am so inspired yet again. Thank you Old Friend..... DSD

"Stand Out Like Stone..."

"Life is mostly froth and bubble.
Two things stand out like stone.
Kindness in another's troubles.
Courage in your own..."  A. Lindsay

Lindsay's new years poem rings out true for us all... DSD

"In The Quieter Moments....."

Of course, there is the endless wonder among the summits, the thrills of the rafting, the intensity of lowering into those deep canyons, the anticipation of beaching our kayaks on an untouched coastal island. Countless special times of exhilaration, and excitement; so crystalline and amazing in their intensity and memory. Of course, they are very much a major 'why we do what we do' in our wild place adventures...
Yet, we very much know, we feel deeply too, that when we pause in between such wonderful stimulus and our euphoric responses, when we linger among those subtle quieter moments - that we just as often touch upon other elements within our longings, and for why these experiences call out to us...
These are the softer seconds, those more gentle moments of rest and repose, like when after our summit has been achieved, and we simply sit quietly within our elation, then surprisingly find that we may have tears too upon our smiling faces...
There are those slow pleasurable peaceful times, among the eddies of a river, even as the waters continue their fast journey, where we find a stillness among all this motion, and sense something else profoundly there too...
These are the moments within the calm we feel after the adrenalin has passed, once that cliff face has been climbed, and while our muscles and mental focus are still so resonating from all the energy and excitement. We notice an unruffled peace of mind there as well, even while still on the very edge of it all...
There is a deep tranquility that we touch then too as our sea kayak begins to slow , just before we beach, at the end of a very long day of wind & big waves, and endless paddling - finally, so finally, on that secluded coastal island, so far it seems from everything else...
These are our motionless moments out there. Among whatever trails and paths we have chosen, as we realize we are free from so much, and more free to do and feel and experience and then to know so much more, even without trying so hard...
Then there is that very special silence, of the deepest undisturbed desert canyon, or after those wild summer storms, or in the middle of a truly crisp cold winter night, or after the stirred ocean settles, or atop the apex of the peak of our most elusive summit. A silence that is so compelling, so very embracing, that it quietly, softly, speaks a language of its own to our heart, our spirit, our very being...
There is also the soothing sensation when resting in our sleeping bag, within the shelter of a tent, among the gear we each have carried, knowing the modest comfort of managing this small world we each have chosen to journey in...
There are the moments after the rainstorm and thunder, after so many days out on a long distance trek, on that last bit just before the trailhead, when the breeze of a quiet wind caresses our own and our partners faces - and when we share a smile much later across the warmth of a campfire...
So many beautiful, subtle sensations of quiet moments and memory.
So many eternal seconds of soothing stillness.
Patiently, quietly, awaiting for our return.
A very happy new year to you all my Friends..... DSD

"We All Have Them Within Our Dreams..."

We all have blue mountains within our dreams, and distant endearing islands too,
Hidden wild places we very much hope to see, with so many possibilities awaiting there...
We all have blue high mountains within our dreams, and hidden islands too,
Elusive experiences we simply call adventures, our personal journeys of effort, mind, and spirit...
We all have blue stormy mountains within our dreams, and misty islands too,
Such ephemeral memories that are yet to be, true paths and trails we are each destined to share...
We all have countless blue mountains within our dreams, and endless islands too,
Always echoing from our ancient selves, while we forever seek such horizons to this very day... DSD
Composed during a long winters day adventure.
A bit tired and sore I will be later.
Yet many smiles amidst the snow storm were found.
While composing simple new years poetry we all may share.
Journeys out there are always like this.
Inherently more than only challenge and adversity.
For our wanderings always take us farther.
Then we ever first really understand.
Dedicated to your new years dreamings my Friends..... DSD

"Our New Years Odyssey..."

"Make this tale live for us in all its many bearings, O Muse...".  Homer's Odyssey
So many bearings for us to ponder,
New directions to envision so,
To dream, to muse, to wonder, then wander,
Here's to our new year adventures Dear Friends..... DSD

"Say It Is Thus..."

"Men's courses will foreshadow certain ends, to which, if persevered in, they must lead... But if the courses be departed from, the ends will change. Say it is thus with what you show me...".  Ebeneezer Scrooge, Charles Dickens, "A Christmas Carol".
Time for celebration and enjoyment,
Moments of such connection and remembrance,
Then out upon courses we all hope to set,
So renewed in our enthusiasm and commitment.
Happy holidays to you all my Friends!  DSD

"Echoes Of Our Inner Selves..."

Very deep down, I think we all sense, that we 'hear' many things more closely out in the wild places. We often discover ourselves listening for them on our journeys, actively seeking out these messages within our quests, even surprised by their quiet unexpected whispers so many times as well. But I think as adventurers, we all truly sense them being as much a part of the experience out there as any other element.
The wild places inherently, naturally, resonate with such echoes, especially those personified reflections of our inner selves...
Our adventure experiences echo as answers to our questions, assents of that which is most important for each of us, close invitations of the way we hope things can be, and representations of the adventurers we want to become...
Echoes among echoes, resonating from within our efforts and dreams, revealing why we do what we do out there and the significance this has for our lives.
In those canyons we first heard words, but now know meanings.
On those distant coastal islands, we began to truly understand the echoes of what at first we only see.
The resounding experiences upon mountain summits provides endless vistas of perception and echoes of messages never to be forgotten.
Our northern lakes quietly, calmly, release their secrets too, as we listen for the echoes of our loons and their longings for the connections we all seek.
So, let's all take some slow precious moments this season Dear Friends, and listen a little more gently and closely out there, for those quiet but sure echoes, reflecting from our inner adventure selves too..... DSD 

"Struck By Lightning But No Storm..."

"I have had the world lie beneath my clumsy boots and have seen the red sun slip over the horizon after the dark Antarctic winter. I have been given more than my share of excitement, beauty, laughter and friendship...". Sir Edmund Hillary
When we climb on further, as we then attain such altitude, in those long moments along the way, and then finally up there among the ancient rock, maybe snow and ice, clouds and winds, of our chosen summit - we can be struck by so many things, even when no passing storm is present...
It doesn't matter at this point how hard it was, or what efforts and endurance were asked of us. We have paid the price and often see how inconsequential this is now. For we would do it all over again, because of those meanings are worth every step.
In these forever moments too other things of significance hit home as well. Those insights, those epiphanies, that awareness, which takes us beyond ourselves and the vistas before us.
Within those lasting seconds, in however we each define this, the inexpressible now becomes illuminated, the physical is now transcended.
Such philosophical time up at altitude within our adventures is indeed so very striking...
We begin to truly realize how lucky we are to have a body, a mind, the ability, will and spirit, which takes us upon such wild place experiences.
We have all felt that depth of appreciation when at such heights of emotion.
Then to remember those connections for those present with us, those who have gone before, and even those yet to come. Now we too, are of that family, whom the mountains' embrace...
There is indeed an elevating hopefulness and thankful gratitude that at times surpasses explanation up there. For suddenly, surely, completely, these heartfelt moments take us away and we stand in awe and wonder, as if struck by lightning, yet with no storm passing..... DSD

"The Giver Should Be Thankful..."

"It is written even still... that the giver should be thankful; only then is it a sharing... Somebody accepted you through your gift...".  Osho
"In becoming a giver... we establish an affinity with all creatures in the world...".  Dogen
My sincere gratitude to you all Dear Finders, and Partners In Placing , for your having allowed me to gift you with a small Summit Stone..... DSD

"The Trail Always Meets Us Where We Are At..."

This is true, regardless of wherever on our maps we begin, or whenever we finally set out on those paths. However we start, full of anticipations & excitement, possibly a touch of doubt or anxiousness, maybe even wanting to leave behind some of the distractions from back here, and surely seeking out fun & freedoms out there.
Wherever, whenever, however - the trail always meets us right exactly where we are at...
This is not only a profoundly simple metaphor we mused over back on Outward Bound, nor only some kind of symbolism we have pondered over longer years since. For whatever adventures we choose to embark upon, we each can always be assured of the endlessly hospitable invitations of the wild places. These are our very own quiet accepting callings from far away...
The consistent greetings from the wind are always there. The embracements of both sun and moon forever present. The close connections around our campfires are truly lasting. Then there are the welcoming affections from the waters, the stone itself, and from all the elements then blending together.
The reception we are given, the genuine greetings always made, are the ways wherein the wild places truly make us feel at peace and at home out there...
What initially may only seem like terrain under our boots, becomes depths of emotion and such lasting memories, reflecting the experiences of every unfolding step thereafter.
Oh, the trail does indeed always meet us just exactly where we are at, and forever gladly received do we then forever feel..... DSD

"Breathe......."

I was reminded recently by Andra about taking moments to quiet oneself, and to remember to breathe... Our breath is both means and an end, a way for centering so that we may then embrace many meanings. Here is a favorite poem my Friends, for you to breathe in and enjoy this adventure day, from Deng Ming-Dao...
"You breathe,
Frosting mountains white,
Exciting trees to verdant flame,
Dancing sparrows on your wing,
Swirling waves into long sighs,
You breathe,
And all things live...".
Remember to breathe..... DSD

"As We So Journey....."

Countless dreams, endless visions, like eternally polished stones,
As we so journey, very far away, we then discover home...
Hand worn wooden staff and paddle,
Ancient trails of rock and water,
Along paths of such immense beauty, enduring memories then to share...
Elusive summits, among open valleys,
Overlooking deep canyons, at first so very hidden,
Islands of wonder, wild rivers and oceans,
Seeking the whole mystery, becoming even quieter still...
We are able to discover, so much eternal wonder,
While musing and pondering, lingering and wandering,
Seeing with new eyes, within our many adventurous ways...
Finding such connections, along our shared paths,
As we so long journey,
We will surely then discover home..... DSD

Dedicated this early holiday season to all you Fellow Wanderers, who are out still 'Adventuring For Another Reason'. 

"Elemental Fog & Mist....."

The mist and fog we journey through is a special nexus of elements. Where air and moisture mix and blend, to create something so much more. We adventurer's so love the grand vistas out in the wild places, yet when they become gently misted and slowly blurred over, when the fog quietly rolls in with its surreal opaqueness, we seem to enjoy it all the better.
We each remember our own adventures, like drifting far in a sea kayak, then resting while listening for the breaking surf, as the fog rolls over both you and your vessel, blanketing everything in such soothing calm and yet building anticipations...
We recall as well, the settling thick mists and very dense fog among deep low forested valleys, where the shifting of these elements eventually hides everything - except the rock of that singularly elusive mountain we are climbing upon in those exact moments...
Finally, then standing upon your own 'island peak', set out higher than the misted sea of summits encompassing it and you. This is a truly unique adventure experience...
We remember too, the distinct stillness of those foggy northern lakes, and then the quieting of everything else, including our own heartbeat and minds, so that in the midst of such diminished views everything becomes so clear...
Simply air and moisture, then just the right temperature, all blending, melding, and mixing into a sentient element that embraces us, and then always whispers to each of us too as we wander far out there..... DSD

Our appreciation my Friends for sharing your images above.

"In The Clip Of A Carabiner..."

There are certain sounds out there that so clearly resonate with each of us. Certain things we so enjoy to hear, some we especially listen for, others we then sense as well. Like as with the sound of a friends voice and the encouragement that is always subtly there. Many others are both unique and also very special - as with the wind itself, powerful thunder, the welcoming crackle of a campfire, the crunch of a snowshoe upon a new crust, the swish of a paddle, endless movement of waves, the creak of our pack, among countless other soundings among our wild adventures.
Many seem simple, yet can carry such profound meanings of challenges, close familiarity, and symbolism of potential and promise.
In the clip of a carabiner for example, I have heard, learned, been inspired, and remember now so much...
There has been the excitement and assurance of trust & expectations. The intense feelings of anticipation within such sensations just before a climb. Within the clip of a carabiner are both beginnings and endings, among smiles and loud voices calling out to each other in excitement and then completion.
Long after an Outward Bound Instructor first clipped me in before top roping on a first rock face, to now clipping myself and others into such wonderfully joined adventures, the memories continue to unfold... Journeys meaning so much, all reflected in a seemingly simple sound. A noise like no other for those of us who climb, kayak, or cave.
Even after these long decades, I do so love that very unique sound, of the clip of a carabiner. It inspires me still. It reminds me of what is waiting out there for all of us. That simply powerfully resonating sound within the clip of a carabiner..... DSD

"Hmmm......."

Recently, Jeff Clark of the wonderful hiking adventure site Meanderthals commented on my post "The Metaphor Within 'Mixing In'..." , and said musingly, "D, "mixing in" is one of my favorite things about the summit stones. The mystery enables the mind to wander just as our feet do. With each little rub on a stone, there is wonder; wonder about that little tiny bump, wonder about its derivation, wonder about its history. I have found myself more than once sitting on a craggy summit, rolling a summit stone in my hand, and simply saying, "hmmm."
I am very grateful for Jeff's insights and intuition about this endeavour and the meanings within it. His comment about the 'mystery' in particular echo with the 'why' behind it all... For that is exactly what I always hope for, that 'Hmmm...' moment. Where it just might spark someone to ponder why someone does this kind of thing, why they might be inspired to pass a little rock forward so. Then maybe, just maybe, another fellow wanderer might then give back something in their own way, on a journey of their own making.
As I first learned on Outward Bound so many years ago, there is always 'more within' than we ever first realize.
Maybe, within such a 'Hmmm...' moment, a fellow adventurer will discover this...
DSD

My gratitude to Jeff for passing forward some smiles, and for both his image of his Summit Stones and the comment above.

"There Is Truly More Within....."

Each and every step will surely have its meanings.
All of our adventures, trails, and routes, eventually themselves become clear paths.
Such wild place experiences are as much about moments, as they are about objectives.
These long journeys, our forever navigation's, and distant wanderings, are more really about memories.
For then, as we will always discover too, there is truly more within than we ever, ever, first realize..... DSD

Dedicated to all our fellow Alumni who so enjoyed their Outward Bound courses these past seasons.

"Ours & Kolby's Adventurous Mapping Endeavours..."

Today I am thinking of Kolby who shared this wonderful quote with us all:
“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
Now Kolby has before him an opportunity for a grand adventure and the really fun part of this is that we can support him on his way.
Please have a look my Friends, as we all do so love our maps. Understanding topography develops as integral for our skills out there, while cartography then becomes a part of our person while wandering. We journey so very far to survey and experience as much as we can. Kolby takes us with him when he goes too...
We travel on such varied terrain, initially unknown, then it becomes as well understood & familiar as the other elements themselves.The further we go, the longer we adventure among the wild places, the more we realize - the many, many, kinds of maps we both use and also compose and draw ourselves upon... Just like Kolby does in his artistry.
We realize that what is represented by these individual impressions are as important to our navigations as any other part of a map might be. These are the images of us exploring, the symbols of our new perceptions, the outlines from our actions, then the representations of our memories. Even when we find limitations, we know what to do; for as with that point on the edge of any map, we know to push further, as other territory is always a possibility...
These then become all our our very personal maps, that we ourselves have created.
As adventurers, we do so love our maps, the ancient ones, the new crisp ones, and especially the descriptive very important personal ones.
This is what is unfolding for our friend Kolby, so let's all support him in pointing the way..... DSD

"The Metaphor Within 'Mixing In'....."

Thank you all very much my Friends, for this seasons comments and many email, about how you have enjoyed the Mystery & Magic of what has been subtly Mixed In upon each and every one of your Summit Stones. They truly then are touchstones, for as many of you have said, it has added a little character, a bit of mystery, even sparked a few musings, for all of what & why we each do what we do out among the wild places...
Such mystery becomes personal magic then as this has always been about passing forward smiles. Then if this endeavour, and the placing of these touchstones, invites a bit of awareness too, then it's all good.
I need to say as well, that it was my adventure experiences on Outward Bound courses where we first learned the subtle, yet potent metaphor reflecting, "There is more within than we ever first realize"... My naive style of art and especially the mixing in of so many elements, is a reflection of this powerful symbolic Outward Bound metaphor.
Such 'mixing in' is also an ancient style of artistry, much older than even Scholars Rocks .
Another kind of legacy that we each pass forward to one another, as well all make our way on the paths out there..... DSD

"Passing Forward Echoes....."

Having mused these many years here, there are times when I've included phrases a number of occasions over. One in particular many of you have commented about echoes with the words, and the metaphors reflecting: "Further, farther, onward, upward, and inward as well".
I describe such phrases as echoes, as they are not really mine, but potent words, within powerful memories from out on Outward Bound courses. Every time, each moment, one of our Leaders shared such an encouragement, it resonated and resounded greatly with all of us. They often only used a few simple words, then began inviting and allowing for us to find our own meanings for them amidst our experiences out there.
"A little longer", they would say, "A bit further", they said, and then too, "A touch farther", "Onwards", and "Upwards".
Then so quietly, "Inwards" too, they would gently invite us to gaze...
The passing forward of such echoes, are gifts given many, many, times over..... DSD

"What The Mountains See In You..."

On Outward Bound the exercises were always gentle challenges, far journeys within moments of experiences, with many levels of metaphors and meanings to be found.
One exercise experience we were invited to long ponder, and then write about in our journals as well, began as it often did, as a seemingly simple question...
We had finally descended after a challenging day up high, over such bare rock, among strong winds, darkening clouds, and the many unknowns novices perceive from out there.
Maybe it was our later discussion about those very unknowns that sparked this exercise. For all our Outward Bound Instructor then said, when later we were all resting, sorting gear, and recovering was, "I wonder, if you all see in one another, and if you each see in yourselves, what the mountain saw in every single one of you today...".
I have always very much loved, and been so drawn to, such engaging metaphors and mystery. To think that the mountain itself was paying as close attention to us, as we were to it, intrigued us greatly. To ponder that this very high wild place, that peak of stone, could be a sentient kind of thing, which was watching us very closely that adventure day was a wonderously inviting concept.
Yet, maybe, just maybe, that Outward Bound Leader knew more than what was only being said. Because I have come to believe and accept, that there is a subtle truth, more reality than we just see, to this engaging musing. The mountains do indeed often sense, they also seem to know, that we truly do have so very much more within us than we may ever have first expected.
So, my Dear Friends, in those moments, what might you think your next elusive summit will observe, and then surely draw forth from you as well, that you may initially not known by yourself..... DSD

"Of Remembrance And Freedom......."

"A mountaineer is one who seeks the freedom of the hills, full wilderness citizenship, with all its privileges and rewards, its responsibilities and demands." 
The Mountaineers
The freedom of the hills we all love and know,
Echoes with many brave voices now long gone,
So let us pause wherever we are on our shared trails,
To listen quietly in remembrance.......

"Our Adventuring Vision..."

"We climb upon our vision of ourselves...".   O. Marden
To dream, to envision, then to wander.
Has there ever been as many opportunities for adventure..... DSD

"Timelessness......."

During countless adventure experiences have I mused about the nature of timelessness out within our wanderings...
Under many millions of stars have I then gazed up, dreamed about such journeys that we share in, and envisioned how we each then discover more within than ever first realized, thanks to Outward Bound.
Then this last season I reflected too upon...
Those hundreds of thousands of storms which have surely polished these kinds of stones which I seek for you my Friends, with that weather's powerful energy, and all those winds, snow, and rain.
About the tens of thousands of individual steps we take out there, where each and every one is a joy, while moving ourselves further among the wild places.
Also in how easily a thousand thoughts have been formed and focused up high, like the plans & preparation I make for an adventure such as on that day. Those ponderings within the excited enthusiasm and anticipations we all have, that take each of us so much further.
I reflect too over a hundred days and nights on other trips gone by, bringing me finally to be at this very high place on the map. About the many valleys and trails, hikes and climbs over the years, which can now be seen as actual directions eventually leading right there.
I muse as well on a dozen mountains here, embraced by such beautiful vistas, all where many climbs have taken place - such wonderous times upon those so special peaks.
Then to this, a single summit, upon this unique high point, now composing a few simple words, while having gathered up some small touchstones for you Dear Finders. Then as I descend with the sunset, a million stars will begin to shyly shine far away on the horizon once more. All enlightening this journey to here and now. These are the forever moments that unfold within our adventures Dear Friends.
Those truly endless memories that we so enjoy, smiling about them time & time again, and always then sharing them in our stories with one another..... DSD
Dedicated this adventure season to those who Adventure For Another Reason whom I think about every time out there.
My appreciation for sharing your timeless images as well my Friends.

"To Sleep, To Dream..."

"As you sit on the hillside,
Or lie prone under the trees of the forest,
Or sprawl wet-legged by a mountain stream,
The great door,
That does not look like a door,
Opens...".  
S. Graham
To sleep, to dream, to wander, then to muse...
What wonderful perspectives are gifted to us then... DSD