"Allow Mystery..."

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

Summit Stones by DSD

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

The Journey...

The Journey.....

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

Another Fun Musing Out there...

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

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

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

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

DSD

Favorite Places...Favorite Stones...

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

DSD

Linking to other DSD BLogs...

Please link to and enjoy all three of these Blogs.

This Blog has a pop up box for sharing about your own adventures, and if you wish, about discovering a Summit Stone and a Muse.

My third Blog just titled 'Summit-Stones',

has full access for you if you might choose to share your favorite adventure quote.

Thanks much and enjoy!

DSD

Giving Back...

"If not you; then who...

If not now; then when..."

I don't recall exactly when I heard these words or from whom they are attributed to, but they have stayed with me. Another quote that has invited an adventure of another kind into my life.

We all come up with ideas and goals and such. Then we typically make one of those 'lists'... I have made my share of many of these. M. Bane wrote: "The List...will take on a life of its own...will change everything it touches, take me places I'd only imagined. It will allow me to reach out and touch...something. Something desirable; something mythical...". But as JP MacKinnon also 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".

Both of these authors are also adventurers whom I've read and even quoted in the Muse. I've also reflected long on what they might be inviting us to think about...

The 'list' always has room, even for a small act of giving back. Examples of the acts themselves can be too numerous to count like sharing a story or a bit of experience, leading a group of novices, putting some effort into a project other than our own, or as was said to me: "If you take that stone, you must give something back". I guess I took that very literally...

DSD

A Long Ways Back...

So how far back do these Stones and this experience go? A long ways it seems...
I've been heading out on one small adventure or another for over thirty years now.
Collecting and then more recently placing these Stones has always seemed to be a part of this.
I was trying to think about how to date them, but almost all have already been placed out there, so I thought more about what was done, where I've gone, and what gear was used.
But here are a couple of trys without posting a bunch of travel stuff. The pictures here include some shots of gear collected a while back and are posed with some recent stones. Some of you might remember the company 'Early Winters' out of Seattle. The wooden flashlight and the candle lantern above were both purchased from Early Winters in about '85 and were carried on a kayak trip through the San Juan Islands. Lots of Stones collected out there. This was already about ten years into these wanderings. That candle lantern was also carried in the mid to late '80's on a long dog sledding trip, a hike to Grey Owl's cabin, rafting down a few Class 4 rivers, and on my first Outward Bound trip. Even more stones were collected and a few placed back during those years. It probably was that Outward Bound experience and the focus on service and stewardship that helped me get my bearings on where this was leading me.

The small journals in the other pictures, I've used for many years now and got them from the Mountaineers. Those of you who remember these can see they are a bit dated too and have been carried on each kind of adventure while collecting and placing. They became even more useful as the new millennium arrived as it was about then that the Summit Stone muse struck me. I enjoy journaling and then reflecting back on what has been experienced.
The Muse has also been through a few revisions during these later years although I should say that I'm not that original when it comes to the Muse. Early Winters had produced a little red covered book called "An Outdoor Muse" over twenty years back. It was in a small blue stuff sack that also held other little books on the stars, fishing, outdoor cooking, etc. The idea for my own Muse really came from this. Unfortunately Early Winters went out of business about 1986 I recall.
These kinds of things have helped me keep a frame of reference for this whole journey and when things unfolded. The last five years have been busy ones in discovering new adventures, unique places to collect and then place the Stones, and developing different perspectives.
I guess what is more interesting than how long I've been doing this is the fact that these Stones themselves have been 'pounded by storms, washed by waves, and polished by the wind' longer than we have been around. Kind of puts our efforts into perspective...
DSD

A Comment & Caveat...

Just a brief comment and caveat...
There is nothing commercial about my intentions or this experience. This is not any kind of marketing gimmick nor would these ever be for sale.
I have visited some sites where others seem to be trying to make this into something it is not.
Other sites have had to delete comments by their members because of a concern that this might be a hoax of some sort or some kind of spam.
People will indeed make what they will of this experience, but my intention reflects that of a gesture, a simple gift - nothing more.
If you see anything like this please comment here and I will try and follow up on it.
I am grateful for your support in trying to be true to the intent of this experience...
DSD

Musings Out There...

Some pictures from out there about Summit Stones found as far back as 2001.
These are from the ClubTread.com website, and what a great site it is. These people really know how to 'give back' through the service they provide on their site.
Lots of musing about these stones and what they have meant to their finders...
DSD

Some Beginning Musings...By DSD

A friend asked me recently why I started these Blogs on the Summit Stones. It was a timely question as I have been struggling a bit with this. Collecting, painting, and placing these Stones has been part of my journey for many years now. It seemed very important to me to do so anonymously as the experience was not about me, but instead much more about giving something back. I hold to what M. Clark wrote that: "The acid test of a true adventurer, if presented with certain anonymity, is whether each of us would still have made the journey beyond the last blue mountain".
For over thirty years I have had endless opportunities to enjoy many adventures in the outdoors. They have given to me more than I could ever give back. This all started small with a few painted stones selected from the many I've collected over the years. These were put out while climbing, scrambling, hiking, paddling, and wandering. It just kind of developed a life of its own over the years...
I have wondered on many occasions though what fellow adventurers experienced when finding one of these little stones. I hoped it contributed something to their enjoyment of the wilderness. As each season went by I wrote up different notes to go with the Stones. Maybe I was trying to understand myself where this was going...
It just seems that there is so much mystery and magic out there. But do we take a moment or two to ponder what meanings and wonderment we have created for ourselves in our adventures. And what about times when we have those other experiences out there that challenge us and the very reasons we went in the first place. Not every day on a trail is a good one. Not every climb feels like an accomplishment...
Augustine said, "People travel to wonder at the height of mountains, at the huge waves of the seas, at the long course of the rivers, at the vast compass of the ocean, at the circular motion of the stars, and yet they pass by themselves without wondering".
It occurred to me that the essence of our wandering adventures is to be found in creating our own motivations. Recreating these motivations again and again keep the flame of our outdoor passions alive for each of us. To do this we each need to ponder, to muse, about what meaning this has for our own journeys. And that's where it has kind of taken me. Maybe discovering one of these Summit Stones, and just maybe reflecting on the quotes in the Muse, will give one of you a moment like this...
And that is enough for me... I'll stay 'anonumous' as the Greeks said: Nameless; faceless.
I'll allow myself a bit of inquiry in writing these blogs. And enjoyment if you choose to share your experiences with each other about finding a Summit Stone...or even if you want to post your own favorite adventure quotes here for others to appreciate.
Thanks for sharing a moment with me,
DSD

Summit Stones & Adventure Musings...

As my other Blog has no area for comment here is one for musings on adventures...
My Blog "Summit Stones by DSD", has three posts on: The Stones themselves, the "Adventure Muse", and pictures of a very few of the Summit Stones being placed during 2006.