"An Echo Of A Flame..."

There is a small island... among many others... off the coast of a larger island...

A very favorite place of mine to wander by sea kayak. I had never set foot upon this particular point of rocky shore until during one very, very, low spring tide. I was just barely able to land for a brief stretch... I often wonder what I may find during such moments... new vistas, unseen terrain, maybe not touched by any other... something from our past... And that was the echo that I not so much saw, as sensed that sunny day...

Among the trees, above the waters, tucked into the rocky shore... was an ancient fire ring...

How ancient I am never sure, but old enough for trees to grow tall among the placed rocks of this ring... old enough for there to be no remains at all of a flame burning, except for some blackening barely left under the rocks used there...

But still... here this was... and I wondered over it; pondered further too about who had been there, how very long ago, and with what echoes they had lived their lives with...

They would have been looking then at pretty much what I was viewing at this present moment... They stayed longer in this spot than I would, to likely eat and sleep by this warm fire. The flames would have flickered off the nearby trees with the echo of their laughter falling upon the company of the ocean... Their presence would have been reflected in many ways as they lived that day among these secluded islands...

Such echoes create images in our minds eye of what was, even at times of what could be...

I remind myself that our actions in the wild places may echo and resonate for eternities just as these fire rocks have...

I ask often of myself too... what will we pass forward to be heard generations from now, and who will sense the reverberations of our intentions and adventures of today...

What an interesting connection over time... From ages ago until these moments; from then until now... from them to each of us... in the simple echo of a flame.....
DSD

"Hiking Hidden Valleys..."

There are many hidden valleys out there... waiting... just waiting...

I am sure some hardly ever see the shadow of a human fall within them; hardly ever hear the breathing of a person among them...

Many such hidden places only the feathered and the four legged ones know about...

It was on a solo, just off the regular trail, while hand-railing a small alpine lake, that I was to enjoy the serendipity of discovering the remnants of a very old trail heading subtly north off into the trees...

It wouldn't have even been noticed if I hadn't stopped at just that spot to adjust my pack again as it often shifts about as if it has a mind of its own...

"I wonder...", are two words which have led me out both on amazing unplanned adventures and epics as well. I pondered these words again in my mind... and then just stepped out and started to follow where this musing and that trail might take me...

It was a very old trail; after an hour it only led to what seemed to be a narrowed section where two rock bands met and embraced each other... I 'wondered' again, and after some struggling with scree and scrub, made my way up and through this stony cleft... The trees beyond only thickened further, but after just a bit more persistent bushwacking, the rock dropped away... and a small hidden valley opened up...

There are times out there that brand an image within our minds as any tattoo upon the skin - so memorable, so vivid are they...

I wandered about there for hours... For such a small place there was much to explore... Trees to gaze upon, a small stream to listen to, polished rock to hold, lichen to wonder over, high cliffs on all sides to look up at, and tracks to study...

That was a very special day of wandering and wonderment... of simple exploring and enjoying... of reflecting upon summits and secrets and musings among that little hidden valley...

I have yet to return to that secret place... part of me kind of hopes no one else has discovered it since; but I am sure someone has. On those quiet reflective evenings, I wonder again if that old snow ever really melts in there, I ponder how much growth has taken place, and what flowers are out this season... I wonder too if that ages old cairn I found still exists, and I smile as I think of the little surprise I placed there...

And then I begin planning to return to that special hidden valley... There are many of them out there waiting still.....

DSD

"Keeping The Cadence..."

After visiting with Kraig at the Adventure Blog yesterday, and musing over his new gear for biking adventures, I began pondering over what we have learned about cadence...

I learned about this movement metaphor first in Outward Bound; we saw it applied by an older person so well on a long distance trek; it was taught again to me on a multi-day paddle; a friend and mountain guide also shared the potency of it on a very challenging approach and climb; and while biking the slickrock in Moab its subtle power was very apparent...

There can be found within us and out there... a zone of sorts... a way of being in cadence with our body; with the activity; and more in tune with the elements we are journying through...

Some say it can be a kind of 'flow', where the movement - as hard as it gets at times; simply becomes part of us, as much as our breathing and our heart beat. There are moments where we even transcend the effort and are almost above or apart from it as something of our internal being simply observes the ongoing exertion...

'Cadence' is a very valuable physiological, psychological, emotional, even spiritual technique...

It has distinct usefulness at altitude when everything slows yet becomes so much more difficult. It can be applied when paddling for hours in opposing winds where getting off course or being driven back are not safe options. And on those very long days, at the end of a trek, across unknown and broken ground; this cadence of mind and body can keep us moving ; keep us carrying on, even when we may have thought we just couldn't...

Cadence can be the key in the mind moving the body; when the body says stop...

Cadence can also be used to keep the mind in neutral when certain thoughts and doubts and tired anxieties are distracting us unnecessarily... Cadence is measured movement... Intonations within the mind, body, and spirit that propels the whole forward...

Marathoners know it well; cyclists experience it intensely; adventure racers embrace it closely; long distance paddlers and trekkers practice it often...

All of us adventurers can discover its hidden benefits and secrets...

A personal cadence can be almost anything that works for your own internal rhythm... Sounds, song, sensations - whatever is mantra like and meditative for you personally...

Keep the cadence out there my fellow adventurers...

DSD

"Of Wild Places & Gratitude..."

"Just look at all that already exists in your life, all that you already have: unlimited air to breathe, ample lighting to see, music to hear, books to read, stars to dream by, trees to gaze at, floors to dance on, friends to cavort with, enemies to befriend, strangers to meet, woods to walk through, beaches to comb, rocks to scale, rains to cleanse you, rivers to float you, animals to comfort you..." M. Dooley

Being so inspired today by MickRange's above images... I made extra time to muse over simply being grateful for our wild places... and what adventures have been gifted to us out there...

And for fellow adventurers who share their wild place journeys with all of us...

DSD

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

"Seeing......."

"The whole secret of the study of nature lies in learning how to use one's eyes...". G. Sand

"We take from nature what we cannot see". T. Roethke

I often ponder over... Do we really sense the value of what has been perceived out there...

Do we truly feel and comprehend what we have experienced within the wild places...

Thus the importance of musing...

An Outward Bound Instructor shared with me years ago, that many seasons had passed before she was really able to know and understand... all of what she had 'seen' out in the wild places...

I think I am beginning to see what she meant...

DSD

My thanks to Casey at 'Modern Hiker' for his Motivation category of posts and the above pictures from his Flickr.

Modern Hiker:http://www.modernhiker.com

Casey at Flickr:http://flickr.com/photos/dropdeadsuit/

"A Second Year Waypoint..."

Interesting how the course of one's life can be seen through the journey of some simple stones...

Here is a recent Finders comment: "Wow! I said when I found my summit stone and a muse in the summit register. Wow! It took me a long time to get up here. I wondered how long this was there and how far it had come. The view from the summit looks like the painting on the rock. That got another wow! You came a long ways to put this here DSD. Thank you very much."

Dennis from Yosemite.

Dennis's comment gave me real pause this adventure season, as his words seemed full of both enthusiasm and insight...

I am just listening to a certain piece of music; pondering over the last many years of placing; musing about these two passed years of blogging; recalling those memorable moments of connecting with Finders; while learning of their adventures and how the journey of a small painted cobble has become part of their lives... I never realised when beginning with my simple intentions how this would become key to understanding my own waypoints along this long journey...

Many of these Summit Stones have come a further ways than any of my longest trails; more time and distance than any trek; higher than many climbs; and a longer course than any paddle route... What was just a piece of rock, just a stone, is no longer... Just like what we each often go through in our own lives when adventuring out there... When I look back over these many seasons, I often ponder with wonder about how did I get here, and what has or hasn't happened along the way. Then I try to look beyond, about this passing forward endeavor, towards what I think we may all wish to be, and muse over where do I want to go now and what will I need for that journey...

These are all my hopes for you as well, Dear Finders, that while wandering towards the horizon, you wonder in your mind over such musings that are important for you...

Don't you just love the mystery of it all...

As Dennis said, we have come a long way haven't we... Yet, much is left to learn about out there... so much yet to enjoy out in the wild places... so many adventures, inner and outer challenges to experience... and a long, long ways to go still...

DSD

My sincere appreciation again to Google & Blogger.com for the opportunity to become part of this online adventure community: http://summitstonesadventuremusings.blogspot.com/2007/07/google-and-blogger-thanks.html

Link to my first year waypoint: http://summitstonesadventuremusings.blogspot.com/2007/08/one-year-waypoint.html

"Outward Bound & Destiny Or Fate..."

After a scramble experience on my second Outward Bound course, we found ourselves sitting among and on top of some very large rocks later in the day... Our Instructors invited us to each take turns sharing something personal of the days events and adventures. They asked us to describe these moments as if we were going through them again; with an emphasis on our senses, our thoughts, the very perceptions of each moment...

There were many views of that simple day; many different perceptions of the same experience; the angles of which we may not have seen before... Each person had such a unique perspective of the climb itself, the rockfall that surprised us, the effort if took, the support given, the doubts and fears that were unsaid but still shared...

What was most interesting was a common theme that developed about the outcome of the day, and the events that were all linked together... It seemed to be a theme reflecting ideas about fate and of destiny...

Fate is often described in the sense of things being predetermined in our lives... that we have little true influence upon the course of things... Some see destiny in this way too, but more others believe destiny is more accurately found in the sense of our own choices; in what we did with what has happened; in how we each choose to respond to such external circumstances...

Our discussions seemed to mirror our beliefs that we were creating our own destiny that day in the wild places... on that high mountain summit... even with all the adversity that faced us...

These may sound to be seemingly simple concepts, yet such can have very profound impacts upon the course of our lives and our adventures... That day Outward Bound gifted us not just with an adventure summit or impassioned discussion out there, but with truly meaningful tenets to then apply to our day to day living... These were powerful experiences for such young persons...

These learnings were all about understanding our own choices; personal control for what we can; and taking real action to influence the course of our own lives in the best ways possible...

These have real impacts upon our adventure outlook and how we handle the inherent challenges of these activities. The distinct benefit though is the lasting and sustained effects upon the whole rest of our lives...

Who would have thought that a single day scrambling... among the barren rocks of an unnamed peak... would inspire such ponderings...

DSD

"Mysterious Mountain Music..."

There exists a small valley quite a hike above Moraine Lake in Banff... Larch Valley is named because of the trees that change through the seasons, and the brilliant colors they share with us as if painted by a master... Just below Sentinel Pass; which is one of the very highest in our northern Rockies, there are a few very small mountain tarns called the Minnestimma lakes...

This tiny high alpine valley is embraced by three unique elusive mountains; the summits of Eiffel Peak, Mt. Pinnacle, and Mt. Temple, which all overlook this wanderers paradise...

We have shared climbs upon each of these high places and have returned again and again to Mt. Temple in particular. We have also journeyed to renew ourselves in Larch Valley too many times to tally...

On one challenging summit day, we encountered a mystery... one that I had never experienced before out there... We were on our own with no fellow adventurers about at that moment, and just resting at Sentinel Pass... Then it began...

It became very, very quiet... then we thought we heard some notes... of music...

They began so softly we questioned if we had actually heard anything, but these were no illusions at altitude... They continued to build until we could clearly hear the beautiful playing of a flute... While I am used to the natural elements combining out there to form symphonies of sound I love to hear so much, we were unexpectedly and beautifully serenaded in those moments with what was to follow... The music crafted by that Flutist was eerily haunting, yet so very captivating and inspiring... The crispness of the playing in the high mountain air was amazing and you could almost breath in each of the individual notes... At a high point of this magical experience, the waters of that small tarn shimmered as if the musical notes had been thrown like jewels across its surface, and a shiver of sorts went up my spine...

It was simply so very beautiful... there was nothing out of place in this alpine valley music, as if the sounds were at home there as any of the other elements about us; as much a part of everything as the rocks & lichen, the wolves & the waters, and the wispy clouds above our heads...

'Who does this?' I asked myself, maybe like another adventurer indirectly asks of my endeavors when surprised by discovering a Summit Stone in a cairn up there... The friend who was venturing with me that day often speaks of epiphanies and the enjoyment of the moment, and that was what was unfolding in sound and soul and vista before us... I can only imagine too, a climbing group higher up on the Mt. Temple scramble route or a pair of technical climbers on Mt. Pinnacle... and what their experience must have been like having these resonating sounds formed so beautifully in this natural amphitheatre... The sensations and feelings that mysterious music like this creates in us, maybe would bring them to pause for some very unique moments within their adventures...

There stands a huge boulder right by the largest tarn and the small stream where this gifted Flutist was playing. I had only just placed a Summit Stone there a very short time before... It wasn't busy then but would be as more hikers and scramblers ascended later in the day. We were early up and they were just after us, so I hoped it was that mountain musician who found my gift in that cairn. I like to muse that we passed forward to each other something created by each of us that day...

Like the flow in certain moments of climbing and the experience of those few special days of effortless paddling, I wished it wouldn't stop... The wanting echo of the last note off the cliff walls was riveting... That mysterious mountain music is still imprinted upon my memory; a beautiful branding, as artistic as any other... When I often return to this Valley of Larches surrounded by so familiar summits... I listen closely for, and most times still so clearly hear... That mysterious mountain music...

DSD

"Castle Mountain Majesty..."

It was after our first ice climbing course decades ago that the majesty of Castle Mountain captured my muse... There it quietly stood during that deep winter day in the Bow Valley; a regal mountain not just of one summit but two; each distinct in their own Rockies way...

The scrambling and climbing routes are many and varied upon this castle of mountains...

I remember... Our group scramble during an extremely hot mid summers' day... An early season technical ascent in snow and ice up the usual descent route, with the later day fun of such high rappels...

I remember... The Eisenhower/Castle climb across the Dragons Back, and up all that very loose jagged rock... Helena Ridge scrambling, and the ridge walk from that summit as it circles above the hidden lake in behind Castle Mountain...

I recall memorably as well, the many visits to this Rockbound lake... such a favorite quiet point upon the map...

The Castle Mountain trailhead and summits have been very special moments too for placing these painted cobbles over the years...

The actual summits of our Castle are not the only coveted terrain there. Many adventurers quest to Rockbound lake itself with its' still waters surrounded as it is by dramatic cliffs...

There is a small peninsula near the back side of this stone bound lake. Some have built cairns there and on the routes to and from this hidden spot. During one of the placings over my own adventures I was surprised myself to discover a bit of treasure... Each Summit Stone & Adventure Muse is encased in two or three ziploc bags in order to better weather the elements. A Finder had found this at the largest cairn, and after accepting what I had placed, they then put their own offering in return in the same ziplocs....

Here is what C.R. wrote: "Thank you DSD for this wonderful gift. I hope you come back again and find my note with my appreciation."

I did C.R. - and thank you so very much.

There is truly a majesty to this Mountain and its surrounding terrain...

Castle Mountain overlooks Bow Valley with all its vulnerable wild places... The analogy of protection and preservation is not lost on us... Its also a mountain that guards its secrets well... as it should be... Only letting them be known to those who adventure among the castellated summits there...

DSD

"And Kept Going....."

There are moments of inspiration... that can resonate powerfully and touch us so deeply... we will never forget them.....

M. Bane, while watching the Marine Corp Marathon, writes:

"I had stationed myself at a beautiful tree-shaded spot about 20 miles into the 26.2 mile run, next to a series of steps. I was watching the runners go by when one of the last wheelchair athletes reached my spot. He was older than most of the wheelchair racers - my age, Vietnam age - and he was absolutely exhausted. Since the wheelchairs couldn't make the steps, there was a ten-foot ramp next to the stairs. The racer started up the ramp, and his arms failed. Five more times he tried the ramp, muscles bulging, his face bright red from the exertion, and five times he failed. The crowd, myself included, had gotten quiet. Other runners and the young Marines lining the course shouted encouragement, but the man in the wheelchair was in his own world. On the seventh try, his face was blank, his eyes focused on a universe that was ten feet long. He didn't see the Marine behind him, openly crying. He didn't hear the other runners' shouts or feel those of us in the crowd. He just went up the ramp, an agonizing inch at a time. And when he finally reached the top, he just smiled, waved, and kept going."

Such moments of inspiration, when strung together, become like the polished stones of our own precious jewelry, that we carry forward with us into a lifetime of such potent shared experiences...

Where will you discover your source of inspiration and determination today Dear Finders...

My sincere appreciation to Bane and this inspiring athlete for this moment.....

DSD

"A Very First Quote..."

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

DSD

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

"An Outdoorzy Challenge For Us All..."

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

DSD

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

How bad do you want this...

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

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

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

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

Do you really want this...

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

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

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

DSD

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

DSD

"Mountain Mystery....."

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

DSD

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

DSD