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The quest not yet begun,
One more journey simply unstarted,
A high & wild place still to be discovered,
Discoveries just waiting to be made...
Every one of our potential adventures,
So many close companions,
The very wild places themselves,
Are always quietly, so very patiently, awaiting,
Those cherished memories yet to be created...
So many adventure moments out there,
And within each one of us as well,
Just not yet encountered,
But soon to be divined..... DSD
Dedicated to those new wonderful Adventurers of the 2013 Ascent For Alzheimer's Team.
Constellations are much more than a grouping of stars...
These subtle outlines within celestial images are full of the most ancient history and mystery too. For ages, such constellations and the stories told of them, were associated with journeys, and especially meaning. It was a wise wanderer and a knowing person, who made the constellations a part of their lives.
We often particularly associate them with navigation. Who has not gazed up at the North Star, and then discovered a new course to set out upon at times when far out in the wild places.
Stars inspire us. They gift us with a special light set against the darkest sky. They are potently full of adventure metaphors. Thus they subtly also encourage us...
When we take this a step even further though, then we create a whole new direction for ourselves. Outward Bound first invited me to do this. For years I have passed forward this engaging gift as well.
Constellations can be very personal. Selecting and giving meaning to a grouping of stars can be exceptionally inspirational. By doing so we each then navigate by such an individual constellation in truly unique ways.
To choose a constellation as a reflection of ourselves is to always be assured of journeys for beauty, enjoyment, and meanings often only told of in tales. The brightest of these stars are the ones that will always hold true for us again and again, season upon season, adventure by adventure...
Stars can represent our motives, our dreams, and desires.
Stars can mirror what we want, within our adventure goals and objectives for out there.
Stars echo too about the person we want to become, and for the close companions who share in our experiences.
When we are challenged by life's adversities, which we each surely will, our personal constellation is always there for us. Gently assisting and forever pointing the way, through the inevitable trials of life's terrain and then beyond. When we are in the midst of those times when we feel lost, we know they are there. Waiting to shine out and quietly give direction and support. There is something very comforting about having such constellations in our lives...
Creating our own personal constellation is to live among awe, like the inspired ancient mariners.
So when the sun next begins those travels towards its resting place this very evening Dear Friends, turn and look at the far distant horizon, and begin to gaze up in the approaching night sky, upon your very own personal constellation..... DSD
My appreciation for sharing your wonderful images my friends.
"A word or an image is symbolic when it implies something more than its obvious and immediate meaning. It has a wider 'unconscious' aspect that is never precisely defined or fully explained. Nor can one hope to define or explain it. As the mind explores the symbol, it is led to ideas that lie beyond the grasp of reason...". Carl Jung
An amazing noun.
An enduring verb.
A wonderous metaphor indeed..... DSD
Endless days of rain that time out, but interestingly on the far side of this, such smiles and laughter was to be found.
Many nights of cold, still - another discovery for such warmth of companionship and accomplishment.
Then came that lasting echo...
Rain, cold, whatever.
Go anyway...
Those storms we face may seem to stall our efforts. Yet they can also though, become part of our strengths and energy.
Thunder and lightning will happen too. As will the moments for embracing rainbows that occur after, just as often out there.
Those strong winds are usually first felt as barriers. But can also later many times blend in with our momentum and motivations.
We've done what we must.
We've prepared all we can.
We've trained hard for long months.
We plan and take many options for any gear we might need.
So, regardless now of whatever may placed in our path, let's go anyway...
For hidden out among the wild places, as a gift for those who persist in venturing far in these ways, are profound experiences, eternal memories, and unforgettable forever moments.
If we choose to endure, to stay the course, and go anyway..... DSD
My appreciation for sharing your enduring images with us Dear Friends.
Subtle sounds within what we all sense.
Sense within many of nature's tones.
Tones within movement and long meditations.
Such meditations among our wonderous mountains.
Mountains of contemplation, connection, and spirit.
All within just the next step..... DSD
Dedicated this season to all those amazing adventurers who are out there 'Adventuring For Another Reason...'.
An intriguing old Outward Bound saying, this musing, about there being just 'something very cleansing about sweat'...
A high level of effort, focus, and concentration are almost always required when we adventure so. This process though, is not just about attaining goals out there, yet also more mysteriously about the transmutation of energy too.
When we are working it out high on a mountain, or far away upon an open ocean, we are more than simply moving. We are tempering our very selves, and essentially distilling our dreams as well.
In those deep dry desert canyons, we discover ways and means for purifying while canyoneering. For letting go, and moving past, any other kind of fevered distractions.
On a fifty degree slope, then getting ourselves through the crux of a climb, we are curing ourselves. pushing our bodies, mind, and spirit beyond what we had ever before thought possible.
After endless days out on our longest hike, we labour, toil, and then revel in the moisture emitting from our honed bodies and brow.
Anyone who has peeled off their neoprene after hours out riding extreme winds and waves, knows exactly what I mean too.
What amazing paradox's these adventure experiences at first seem...
One of the byproducts of our adventure rituals is sweat.
And there is something very cleansing, even extremely healing, about this product of perseverance.
We move so and remove unneeded issues. We push so and eliminate that which is not necessary. Then we discover freedom among all these elements of effort...
Such cleansing endurance is a potent passage, a means of discovering so much more within than we ever first realized.
We may not be as clean by any means as in the beginnings of our journeys, but that simply doesn't matter. We've distilled ourselves down to the important things - the truly necessary basics, of vision and dreams, fulfilled by muscle, bone, and tendon.
We have also exercised our intentions which induces real meaning, resulting in motivation and musings of significance.
There is just something pure, very cleansing, even gently healing, within such reflections upon our earned adventurous sweat..... DSD
My sincere appreciation for the inspiring images above from Paradox Sports which share more than my musings ever could.
"Everything in the world has a hidden meaning... Men, animals, trees, stars, are all a kind of hieroglyph. When you see them you may not understand them. You think they are really men, animals, trees, stars. It is only years later that you truly understand...". N. Kazantzakis
That we begin to understand at all is amazing and so wonderful... DSD
My appreciation to David Terrell for the above inspiring image called "Song Of Running White Wolf".
So still...
So very still I am.
Many tracks around right here.
And over there as well.
Listening to running water, there is a creek among these trees.
So still...
So very still I breathe.
Hoping...
To see that wild grey beauty.
A glimpse of such furred wonder.
So still...
So very still she is.
Approaching the cold waters.
Slowly, so slowly, so naturally cautiously.
I think I am not seen.
So quietly sitting here.
No movement at all, now holding my breath.
Then she slowly turns and looks.
Purposefully right towards me.
So still these movements become.
Watching each other...
I am pondering in awe and timelessness.
We seem to know one another.
To understand our calm intentions.
Such grace and beauty.
Such wild wonder...
I feel time now stand still.
In all of what we then share.
Now I remember to breathe once more.
As so gently and quietly she moves away.
Then looks back upon me.
With those brightly colored eyes.
So still, so still I am.
So forever grateful..... DSD
Dedicated to our shared Earth Day this unfolding season...
"One touch of nature makes the whole world kin...". William Shakespeare
"What do you see when you look at an animal? A kindred spirit, a creature much like you...". J. Kazez
There are very few of us adventurers who have not had desires and dreams about, and then actual experiences in sharing the wild places with, our family of wild ones out there. Our experiences become so very special when this happens, when we see them, especially when we share a moment among them, and so we hope though while elusive that this will happen again and again for us... Most of us cherish these moments almost as none other, they are so unique, so touching... DSD
Just when we don't think we can, we find our means to further go.
Just about that time when our breath seems gone, we then experience that which truly takes it away.
Around that time when the adversities appear overwhelming, we uncover moments of encouragement to keep on.
In those minutes when the storm almost overtakes us, we now turn into it and discover new strengths before unknown.
Many times when our adventure objectives feel to be beyond us, we then learn it is we ourselves who are the elusive ones.
Then we begin to understand that there is always, always, more within us then we ever before first realized...
So, just when we might have given up, we sense what depths we really, truly, have deep inside.
Then, just when the trials seem to have drained away our commitment, we learn to appreciate what real endurance is all about.
Also, among those endless winds and waves, just when we think we can't, we start to uncover the ways we can.
And, just when we need it most, our partners always show us what real support and companionship truly is.
Then, once again too, just when we think we've experienced all we can out there, our wild place adventures gently remind us yet again, of awe and wonder, and we begin anew..... DSD
Dedicated this unfolding spring, too all those who keep going, as they 'Adventure For Another Reason'.
From the very moment I saw it, in those minutes right when I gathered it up, that stone had a wonderful story to tell...
It is truly a beautiful rock, one whose form gives you a sense of its' ancient history. No way would it have been right there in that wild place; no way would it have been as shaped and as polished so finely - unless its motions over the millenia, among all those boulders, from within a nearby glacier, had taken it on its' own timeless journey.
From the very moment I turned it over and over in my hand, I was beginning to envision what this stone's essence would express. You could sense from its' shape, from the lines upon and within it, from the small chips, even the tinier cracks, and especially from the smoothness over most of its' surface- what its' temperament, strength, and vigour was sharing.
Here, in my hand, was truly a spirit stone...
One whose character had endured all the elements had placed upon it.
A stone's spirit is an essential thing, one I try to look so closely for and understand. Some have travelled so very far. Many have such unique virtue in the way they have survived the forces over so long that have attempted to break them. We adventurer's can identify dearly with these meanings.
Right from the moment I gathered it up I felt I knew what this stone wanted to reveal. I sensed I knew where it wanted to be later placed. So right from where I found it as well, I gathered up small particles of every other element, to be 'mixed in' within the bright paints to be layered upon it...
Now, in your hand, you may have this very stone.
When I gathered it up I hoped you would find it. I hope too you sense the essence there, those wonderful intrinsic components that made it, the virtue reflecting where it has been, the meanings of the elements in the paints, and the symbolism hopefully it also represents from within your own adventures...
Like Ceremony Stones and Scholar Rocks , your Summit Stone has a spirit all of its' own, always calling to your longings..... DSD
My appreciation for sharing your spirited images here as well my Friends.
"The world belongs to the enthusiastic...". R. Emerson
"None are so old as those who have outlived enthusiasm...". H. Thoreau
Amazing energy, spirit, motivation, and commitment, all drawn from that well of deep enthusiasm..... DSD
Trails can be trials, altitude inherently holds adversity, paddling comes with winds and waves, climbing always has its challenges...
We train, we prepare, and we carry all we think that we need in our backpacks: The essentials, the rough weather clothes, that extra piece of gear that just may be required.
Then a much bigger storm hits, then our internal resources are tested further too, and just when we often least may expect to see and feel it within ourselves, out of our pack then comes - character...
You with the adventure personality know what I mean. You wanderers have felt that collective quality of latent tenacity. That distinctive something that is both seemingly insubstantial, and yet very truly substantial at the same time.
Like those extra layers of fleece, or that additional piece of gear, your character, your nature, is always there waiting to be utilized, practiced with, and applied.
When those real storms hit, then out of your pack it comes forth. More than only a tendency to carry on. Rather it is your own intrinsic unique style of going even that much further. Because we each individually choose to go farther.
Then we will enjoy it even more as we embrace our adventure challenges in this distinctive way.
Character is a deeper element of endurance and commitment. Not often recognized, but do we ever know it when we see and feel it.
Like a polished piece of old worn reliable gear, it is always, always, there waiting for us, and the more use it has, the better it becomes..... DSD
For Barbara...
It doesn't seem to matter how many mountains have now been climbed.
There are still countless wonderful mysteries to ponder up on such a peak as this.
How is it...
How is it, that a place where there is little living up so high, can be so full of these potent moments for our lives.
How is it, that a barren place like this, can provide these peaks of feelings & emotions for us all.
How is it, I wonder still, that in the midst of those brief moments, so many lasting eternities of experience & memories may be found.
How is it...
How is it, that such intense companionship and fellowship, may be attained among places known for silence and solitude.
How is it, I ask too, that this mysterious mixing in of the elements out there, then brings out those elusive elements we all have within us - and then blends them into such personal transformations.
As I lay up here writing this by headlamp, gazing up from bivi sack & sleeping bag, upon countless constellations above, I continue with such musings, knowing that now falling asleep with these wonderful ponderings on my mind - is simply enough..... DSD
Dedicated this day to those who are 'Adventuring For Another Reason' this wonderful season.
Thank you my Friends for sharing your amazing images above.
To Kinhin - To go straight.
An Eastern concept, reflecting being on a course of philosophy and meditation.
To be within our Kinhin is to be immersed in a meditative meditation while moving; often as a walking meditative state. Other motion can be embraced though as well.
The Kinhin process is linked to our breathing, part of each step, yet found between our steps too... The Kinhin experience is an awareness of body, joined in movement. The gentle focus upon position of our head, shoulders, hands, the transfer of weight, our balance & center, all step by measured step...
This is contemplative motion.
A single step, then another, each step, by step, within a further step...
Our mind, core, legs, feet, and then the earth, all joined, blending, while looking down, yet ahead as well. Feeling like yet another kind of ephemeral trail dancing.
Being within Kinhin requires only a gentle focus of sorts at first. But the goaless goal is simply to do it, be it, without over thinking, thus creating the eventual meditative movement within each moment.
If our mind wanders, or the vistas attract us, or a conversation engages us, then we eventually just return to the meditations, the movement, the motion...
We adventurers are usually quite mindful about all the kinds of terrain within our perceptions out there, as it is important often for safety, and also fun to do so.
Yet the Kinhin quieting is another level to our awareness out within the wild places. As we hike, drift in our kayak, in the midst of our climbing, all blending elemental rhythms of self, earth, air, waters, and the energy all about and within us... DSD
"Serenity does not cancel hope or adventure, work, or love... It flows through the landscape... quiet and strong, clear and gentle. Refreshing all we do or dream...".
Patrick Brown
Serenity, contentment, peace... What gifts we discover as we far adventure... DSD
Way back when, in the midst of a beginner's uncertainty, among some of those natural initial doubts, our Outward Bound Instructor quietly said: "You may surprise yourself...".
In later years, on a technical route I was sure was way beyond my skill set, an older Mountain Guide mentor rightly said too: "You're going to surprise yourself...".
Well, after so many long years, and even longer adventure seasons, I have come to accept the meaningful wisdom and distinct truth in those quietly supportive & encouraging comments.
We never really know, if we don't go. We never truly see, if we don't push past. We never really realize, if we don't test it all out.
As adventurers we seek the unexpected, have trekked for the unknown, and are excited by the unusual. As wanderers we have also sought out the surreal, quested for the mysteries, looking to be captured by the many endless wonders out there.
So why does it surprise us when we find as many similarly elusive elements within - deep inside our hearts, minds, and spirit...
Contrary to what we first assume, a significant 180 degrees to our expectations, we just may surprise ourselves time and again as we adventure further and higher, as we wander farther and then discover there was always more within than we ever first realized...
What gifts that Outward Bound Instructor and that older Mountain guide passed forward to me, that I still find myself remembering again today. I will very likely surprise myself yet once more. As you will surely do as well Dear Friends, out upon your very next journey..... DSD
"It was in the sublime depths of this stony domain that ancient canyon dwellers, explorers, surveyors, and river runners helped define the modern concept of canyoneering. And it was from this canyon realm that I gleaned lessons and perspectives...". J. Annerino
Gazing, always gazing, forward towards further, forever moments, out among those endless canyons... DSD
There are always subtle choices to be made when adventuring out there... In the ways and means we each choose for our own paths. Especially knowing all the while we will need to forsake soreness.
We press past our perceived physical limitations so many times.
When mountaineering, hiking, and paddling, we deny the discomforts and refuse to give in to whatever pain is often present.
Being tired and sore is a price of admission we have each committed to pay, as we break away from whatever soreness used to mean to us. When preparing and training, we already know that it not just about pain & gain, but respectfully, purposefully, guiding ourselves past those prior points of reference.
As many have mused before, and as I have always held closely to, we would rather be worn out than not have gone, and soreness simply tells us we are chipping away at the rust of it all...
While forsaking such soreness, we do not withdraw our enthusiasm, nor renounce our intentions - we simply refuse to allow such fatigue and physical discomfort to make us abandon our chosen adventure objectives. We will not desert our goals for wandering out there.
We have broken away from more commonly held notions, because we know in our hearts that the toll & price of the pain of regret is much higher than the costs of our efforts. For if we relinquish what is truly important to us, if we give up on what is distinctly meaningful for each of us - then we have forsaken so much more than soreness..... DSD
Dedicated to all those who keep going, putting one foot in front of the other...
"Hiking is a conversation with the earth... Heading out doors eventually leads you within...". Kathy & Craig Copeland
What is our own 'Adventure Quid Pro Quo' we sometimes wonder...
What are we willing to give up to get. What is our equation of 'this for that', our own 'what for what', our exchanges of effort, of transactions reflecting value or worth.
This seems to be a key theme many times out there: the worth of these experiences for each of us adventurers; the meanings within it all...
Are the efforts worth it? Is all that training a price we are prepared to pay? Is the endurance & sweat and the endless preparation going to be exchanged for an object of value to us? All of that study, practice, need for coordinating ourselves & others - is all of that equity going to transition into something worth its' weight in...
The time especially might be a crucial measurement in our accounting, as is the possibility of injury, setbacks, and risk.
Are these worth it all?
Is the Quid Pro Quo of these fundamental elements going to match the meaning, the importance, the significance of the journey for us?
Absolutely my Friends.
For we most certainly always create an internal value, a dearness, a lasting utility, and a goodness - reflecting the virtues of our adventures and the essential meanings they hold out for us.
There will never be a more equitable Quid Pro Quo..... DSD
Dedicated to all those who are Adventuring For Another Reason this early wandering season.
A long ways back, after often finding myself the last one up, I slowly began learning of the wonderful moments to be discovered in also being the last one off, or the last one down, even the last one to launch depending on the kind of adventure day.
Here was the experience, the natural lessons, when learning to linger out there...
Like within those special minutes when we put off the departure of our sea kayaks from finally leaving those secluded distant coastal islands.
Many of us also want to drag out those cherished moments upon an elusive summit, as so much has been given to get us up there.
The protracted time in a desert canyon becomes precious beyond words too, so we stay as long as we can amidst the eternities present there.
It all seems so natural. We can't wait to get out there, and are also then reluctant to come back. Kind of as I find myself moving even more slowly at the end of an adventure day, not only because of my age and an earned tiredness, but much more so as I don't want to leave that wild place just yet...
I want to grasp, and embrace more closely, all the lingering perceptions and emotions that have been gifted to us on our journeys.
For such determined, disciplined, and goal oriented adventurers that we all can be at times - there is such a positive tardiness we can also practice too. We are so wonderfully, naturally, paradoxical at times aren't we my Friends..... DSD
Thank you once more for sharing your timeless images my Friends.
Dedicated this adventure day to all those who are Adventuring For Another Reason this season.
When not out wandering this winter, and also for a special occasion this upcoming March, I have been continuing with this forever changing, always evolving process of 'Mixing In' as I paint these little Summit Stones.
For years now, and ever since the beginning, this unfolding process of ancient artistry keeps me focused, amazed, and so very intrigued as well. Within each adventure experience I find myself not only gathering up a few selected touchstones, but now as often especially chosen elements from far out there. Then into these small nalgene containers & bottles they rest.
This is not really a well known style of artistry, yet still a timeless tradition, that only some artists seem to blend in with their kind of painting. It has its' own unusual discipline, and with the over 200 colors of paints I am able to apply in this style of Naive Artistry , the results are simply wonderful.
Certain elements like small drops of glacier melt, or from ocean waves, often pure rain from storms, even tears of the deepest desert moisture, from snow & ice too, and the northern lakes, mountain streams & tarns I so enjoy - all mix in really well with these bright colors before painting.
Other elements like crystals of desert & coastal island sands, finely crumbled leaves & pine needles, tiny particles of ash & charcoal from campfires, or bits of shell too - need to be gently prepared, then slowly mixed in during different stages and with each layer of paint.
There is such a Mystery & Magic to this ever evolving process...
Later, when the right time and image presents itself on the face of these revealing Summit Stones, the very tiniest strand of a wild ones fur, like that from a Bear's rub tree, a Grey Wolf tuft I excitedly discovered, of from near a Beaver's dam - can be snipped so small, then deliberately and gently mixed in within the swirls of newly placed paint.
Later too, often when almost finished painting, and when the right time and symbolism presents itself, I have mixed in the very smallest section of a Loon's, a Raven's, or other bird's feather.
Then too, the powder from bark of a tree or driftwood, alpine flowers dried by endless winds, and the ancient dust from so many summits themselves are blended in.
In recent years I have sought out high ridgelines, and other such exposed areas, where at times the remnants of a lightning strike may be found. A little scrape of that rock provides yet another truly unique element for the paints' layers and thickness.
This little Summit Stone endeavour has always been about giving back & passing forward. Hopefully too it invites a few smiles from Finders of them, and Partners In Placing as well. Raising a little awareness along the way for all of the amazing Fellow Adventurers here, who Adventure For Another Reason is key to this journey. If my little renditions of Naive Artistry and 'Mixing In' within the images of the sky, mountains, forests, waters, campfires, flowers, beaches, and rocks of your discovered touchstone have invited these kinds of gratefulness - it's all good...
As another approach or technique is developed, a further element included, the more involved the process becomes. Which means I complete fewer Summit Stones each year. But as well, with each new element that is discovered, each new paint to be tried, this process changes yet again in ways I usually never expected. This affirms for me yet once more, how there is always more within than we ever first realize. An Outward Bound Metaphor that continues to echo out for us all...
Thus, hopefully, symbolically, all of the elements we each love are reflected upon and come alive among the slowly applied layers and swirls within every one of these little Summit Stones.
Then, like the stones in the image above, hopefully too they provide some moments where a Partner In Placing and an eventual Finder are gifted with a Hmmm Moment , like Jeff wrote so eloquently about.
A continually changing, always evolving process, much like the forever unfolding moments within our adventures as well, that I am so happy to share with all of you Dear Friends..... DSD
What an interesting construct we have invented in the concept of time, especially when it reflects moments from far out there...
For those who journey the wild places, we mark such passings in so many intriguing ways. Time to get there, when to return, available time to wander, time up, down, across, then over. Time to rest and get up. Time as safety, a personal best time, the pace of it all, even being present among the moments...
We watch the sun, the shadows, the traverse of the moon phases, the seasons, winds, freezings & meltings, our energy, then our aging too...
Sometimes things seem to speed up, other times many things slow down nicely as well, or do they, or do we...
On occasion, halfway through an adventure experience, when the battery of my watch is done with all its work, I have often been concerned. Then many times I simply let go of that sense of having to be on time.
Rather, as on a past Outward Bound course, when we turned all of our watches in, it becomes more about intentionally losing oneself within each and every moment, and becoming a part of the natural passage of things.
Then the moments are marked in very different ways. Like when our Outward Bound Leader said, "No watch, no worries". Now we get closer to the elements, and maybe even with the rest of our wild family out there, and we develop a more evolved natural sense of this thing we refer to as time.
Then, my Dear Friends, then, we have the time of our lives..... DSD
Remember, the last time you heard an eagle's voice. Those who have also heard the longing calls of a loon out over a northern lake know how moving this is as well. We who have listened intently to the haunting music grey wolves create in our forests and mountains, have felt so much within those meaningful moments too. When sea kayaking out near grey whales, or nearby orca's, these momentous experiences become unforgettable memories.
Who has stumbled upon the tracks of a wild animal, like a mountain ram, or those of a grizzly bear out among the high peaks, and has not known the wonder, the tingling, the impelling attention such a discovery invites within us all...
When we ponder the distinct significance of these moments, as we muse over the importance and symbolism within these lasting connections, we then discover such amazing meanings ...
We are all seeking so many things out there. Something reflecting our personal purpose, our individual insights, our own unique motives, These are enduring perceptions that affirm what is most moving for each of us.
It truly can be those ephemeral connections with the wild ones, our wild animal friends, that present exactly that kind of wonderful possibility.
Then, when we share something of our intentions and commitments with them in turn, we begin to understand our most inner selves as well..... DSD
"Any glimpse into the life of an animal quickens our own and makes it so much the larger and better in every way...". John Muir
Just pondering some quotes and gifted images from other adventurers, while I am 'Mixing In' some fine strands and bits of the wild ones fur discovered out wandering these many last seasons. They are often the last elements mixed in with my paints upon these little Summit Stones. I always hope they add to the character of each and feel they tell a story all of their own too. Muir's musing really says it all doesn't it my Friends..... DSD
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.
"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.
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
"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
"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
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
"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
"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
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
