"Still Listening..."

We were not talking so much at this point way back then. A very long hike to an elusive high place that day, with much laughter and discussion about life's journeys all along the trail. We almost hadn't gone, such was the weather and the other distractions back here. But out there now, in those moments, I found myself not saying as much, but rather simply listening more attentively again...
Just simply hearing through my memories - for what our Outward Bound Leaders, those old wise Mountain Guides, and especially for that so very experienced Sea Kayak Instructor, who all seemed to be saying one clear thing: "Take time to listen", they all said in their own unique ways...
'Listen' for those so quiet voices from out over the waters and waves; for those voices of encouragement and commitment.
'Listen' for those special personal sounds among the trees and the winds; for whispers of motivations yet to be discovered.
'Listen' for your own music within the storms; as they will always share their wild secrets.
We each will surely experience our own adventure audibles, as we quietly listen in those many ways with our ears, our minds, and our spirit too. We each will truly hear personal messages as well from deep within our individual desires, dreams, and intuition.
I guess that I am very glad, just so happy that in remembering to hear their voices echo in my mind again, now I am simply listening yet once more...
Because I sense that if we stop listening so, then we might just lose our way.
We might possibly miss our wild callings, then not really hear the whispers of our adventure longings, for why we go, and why we do what we do within our wild place wanderings.
So grateful we are all still simply listening..... DSD  

"Of Listening..."

"Two voices are there; one is of the sea, one is of the mountains". Wordsworth
"We climb to hear - whispered in the wind, echoed in the stars - strains of that mysterious music". E. Bernbaum
"I heard nothing except the music that had seemed to accompany me throughout my climb". R. Messner
"On this sun-consumed rock pile, eternity is trying to speak - no, sing to me". R. Schultheis
"Listen... Listen to the songs of the mountains; the songs of the forests and the river... Then listen more closely, for you may see that it is you that has been singing". Grandfather, Mountain Elder

It always seems to be, when now adventuring and wandering, intentionally slowing my steps, I am listening more quietly and closely, for both the meanings of the words within these wonderful quotes, then too for the songs and echoes from so far out in the wild places..... DSD  

"Listenings..."

 

 

"If you lie out flat on the stones - it seems odd to try, I know, you will feel - here; that's it - the warmth of the sunlight emanating from the stones. Turn your head to the side, ear to rock, and you will hear the earth revolving on its axis and an adjustment of stones in the riverbed...".  B. Lopez

"Enlightenings....."

Now, this is not so much about storm chasing, as it reflects elemental storm questing experiences.
I especially enjoy the intense adventure of it when my intention is to both appreciate, and then to write about, what musings this whole experience sparks.
There is much immediacy, and potency, deep within the midst of a mountain or coastal storm. I haven't met anyone out there who is not both inspired, and yet also feeling a respectful awe, of the power of these darkly, then brightly clashing elements.
I am also a very careful wanderer who watches the weather patterns closely. Who is looking for safety of location as soon as any thunder voices itself, and ensures I am not by any means the tallest object around.
There are no metal hiking poles with me those days, no large single trees or boulders about. Although being close to treeline still does make sense.
The highpoints, outcrops, and overhangs, of the terrain are avoided. The lower points distinctly embraced.
My sleeping pad becomes a cushion I can crouch low upon too, as I tuck myself away when the sky and clouds deeply darken, and the winds begin to endlessly bellow.
When the lighting dims, the music begins, and the energy of it all is then so wonderfully released...
The sights and sounds are like no other.
The inherent inspiration to compose something becomes as momentous.
The blending of it all into both memories, and then words, is an amazing lasting adventure itself.
The little cobblestones I then always discover are truly a gift as well.
Seeking out those elements of thunder and lightning, then wandering, pondering, and composing musings while out there among them - is such a very enlightening experience..... DSD 

"Farther Meanings..."

"We seek an experience that adds meaning and perspective to our lives... Something that brings more meaning to everyday life... We will also find hardship, both in our wilderness excursions and in our life journeys, and if we don't open ourselves to it we cannot go far in our search for meaning... We may learn to see time, evolution, and life itself with new eyes; we may come to better know ourselves; we may place knowledge and truth in a broader perspective; we may become open to that heightened combination of awareness and aliveness called contemplation, and possibly experience a sudden flash of insight, an epiphany. All have helped me see the boulders in my river of life, and have shown me the surest route to the distant, shining sea... All are trusty guides, and true wilderness companions...". D. Backes

"Just My Pack And I....."

Such very old friends we are,
Good companions for quite long.
We've shared so many wild experiences,
Within endless days well out there...
We've journeyed far and wide together,
Carrying things for each other.
Me toting these old packs,
Then them carrying me as well...
No one else about this day,
Nothing more needed for our hike.
Just our own company yet once again,
As we begin the trail and the pathways up...
I so enjoy these adventures which we share,
Such moments seem simpler and then more clear.
Nothing technical to be done this time,
Only the essentials will we both carry...
I am always very happy to see again,
These old cherished well worn partners.
Much like their siblings from the past,
Who have become special for me as well...
Such very old friends we are,
Great companions for so long.
One more lovely day out there,
For just my pack and I..... DSD  

"Farther Blue Mountains..."

 

"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...". M. Clark

"Big Blue Mountain..."

 

"Big blue mountain spirit,

Away in the home made of blue clouds,

I am grateful for that way of goodness there,

That sets my heart free...".

Aboriginal Saying

"Of Remembrance And Freedom....."

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

"That Which Lifts Hope..."

"While seeking the secrets of nature I have watched the salutary effects of stillness and peace on human hearts and minds. I have seen the overpowering beauty of dawns and sunsets reach into troubled breasts and heal hurts that were thought beyond medicine and philosophy. And I have seen those burdened with grief take on the silence of the forest aisles until they could hear that still, small voice which lifts hope and faith with wordless assurance...".  S. Campbell

"Of Freedoms....."

 

"Forests are made for weary men,
That they may find their souls again,
And little leaves are hung on trees,
To whisper of old memories,
And trails with cedar shadows black,
Are placed just there to lead men back,
Beyond the pitfalls of it all,
To boyhood, peace, and happiness...".  Mary Carolyn Davies

"When you go home, tell them of us and say, for their tomorrow, we gave all of our today...".  John Maxwell

"All we have of freedom, all we use or know.
This our fathers bought for us.
Long and long ago...".  Rudyard Kipling

"Of Rememberings..."

"Remember... These great cathedrals of the Earth, with their gates of rock, pavements of cloud, choirs of stream and stone, altars of snow, and vaults of purple traversed by the continual stars." J. Ruskin

"Like Anthems....."

"Through woods and mountain passes.
The winds, like anthems, roll...".   Longfellow

"Surreal....."

I am not sure what 'time' and the other elements were doing, but my adventure day back then was unfolding in a wonderfully surreal way...
It was almost as if what we often experience deep within our dreams was playing out upon that mountain.
I noticed that the very early morning valley winds were gusting much faster than usual. The clouds far above were moving by more speedily as well. The way the warming air shifted, and the movements of a few other adventurers on that most often quiet trail, were fast in an unusual way.
Now I know that as we age and grey, that things do seem to move along quicker than we might. But this ephemeral kind of engaging deceleration was unique and very different...
It was like I had touched upon that secret pace. That hidden rhythm of movement. That was not just about a body going forwards and upwards - but was an expression of those depths of unconscious consciousness that we all have more within of, than we ever first realize.
It was so wonderfully surrealistic...
Everything around me was moving or shifting or changing so slightly more speedily. While I seemed to become even slower, distinctly more reposeful, almost anachronistic. It felt as if time's usual sense of rules no longer applied in those lengthening unfolding elemental moments.
The clouds continued to speed up. The breezes gusted further. The nearby waterfalls kept subtly shifting unusually as well. Yet my renewed slowness of movement did not hinder my pace nor my climbing. My vision, perception, breathing, and heartbeat had all found their own natural tempo.
A surreal phenomenon it was.
The elements about me speeding up.
While the elements within me had slowed to such a leisurely, energetically, wonderful place.
I think it was a brief , but forever, meaningful expression if you will. From those depths of subconscious consciousness we all have. In how we are truly meant to blend with the wild places while we wander..... DSD 

"Of Hauntings..."

It is not what some may first think about that which haunts lots of us during the long, sometimes too quiet hours... For many adventurers it is not the darkness and depth of the night that makes us shiver; nor the risks inherent within all adventures which catches our breath at times. Not even the moments of trial and anxieties, and those real tests to one's determination and endurance that shake us on occasion. Fears about the unknown aren't foreboding to such explorers as we. Worries of keeping up or about competition simply are not there anymore for us elders either. The wild places are too welcoming for such wraiths to severely bother those who wander endlessly out there.

What really haunts many of us in those exposed contemplative moments; what truly may keep us up at night sometimes, are not so much these ghostly worries, but more so those ponderings and wonderings of what could have been...

We all have them. Those wishes for what might have been, for what we did not do... Maybe sadness or deep disappointment for dreams not put in motion; and even at times possibly for the loss of the desire to go...

What may in reality haunt many adventurers in those long, quite hours are more the shades of lost moments, unused opportunities, when we may have been distracted by something other than what could have been truly meaningful moments out among the wild places. These are the spirits that may really haunt us if we do not exercise them..... DSD 

"Nothing More Need Saying....."

"It is only in the intentional silence of vigil and meditation, or in the quiet places of nature, that we encounter the song of the universe. Like the wind... this song echoes along the pathways of the cosmic web; it includes the celestial spinning of the planets, as well as the hum of insects and the dancing song of the grass; it includes the song of all the ancestors and spirits as well as the beating of our own hearts...". C. Mathews

That endless valley, the late time of day, the end of an amazing scramble upon quite an elusive mountain...
Back then, all of this unfolding nexus of experience and emotion, got me to pondering, as I rested by the trailside on my way out.
We all surely share in such moments, I was musing, when so thankfully tired and fulfilled, from a long day out in the wild and high places.
I look up and around. Gaze down towards each end of this valley. As I try to compose in my mind, what all is now being reflected within me.
Then with a flood of memories and feelings. With last light shining on all of the summits surrounding me that I have been up upon. Only a few certain clear words come to mind, as my eyes glisten over:
Gratitude...
Wonder...
Appreciation...
Awe...
Reverence...
Nothing more needs saying.
As each of you Dear Friends also know, as we all then wander home, with the quiet setting of the sun..... DSD

Dedicated this adventure day to all of the wonderful wanderers who are linked under my "Giving Back & Passing Forward" section. Please take a few moments to have a look over their amazing sites that reflect their even more engaging efforts.

"To See..."

 

"To sit on rocks, to muse...
To slowly trace the forest's shady scene...
To climb the trackless mountain...
To hold converse with nature's charms,
And to see her stores untolled...".  Lord Byron

"Of Fullness..."

"Mountains are to the rest of the body of the earth, what muscular action is to the body of man. The muscles and tendons of its anatomy are, in the mountain, brought out with force and energy, full of expression, passion, and strength...".  J. Ruskin

"She Knew It Was Me....."

Way back then, I was just finishing a very challenging endeavour, by finally wandering back into the parking area, mid-morning on my last day out...
There was only one other person there. A much younger, energetic, and determined woman who clearly looked like she was just starting out.
I couldn't help but notice the contrasts between us... The same route chosen to adventure upon, yet real differences between us, of finishing & beginning, of older & younger, of tired & energetic, one a bit more experienced, one a novice of sorts, one who wanders and meanders, one who was moving with focused intention, one quite worn by time, and one so full of youth. Even one stooped in bearing, and one standing tall with anticipations.
But, as is the way with most of us adventurers, such contrasts and differences only seem to add to the spice and the great 'mixing in' of connections we usually experience out there.
Having just completed what she was now starting out upon, there were a lot of questions for me, and excited energy about the journey yet ahead. I could see from her fairly new gear, again in contrast to my worn old stuff, and in the way I looked and felt - so dusty and tired; that we were viewing our adventure's from very different waypoints.
Yet in chatting about what was done, and what was yet to be, we shared in that wonderful wild place synergy. That real fun of exchanging information and ideas. Each then gaining as much from the other through sharing energy and perspectives. Even if only within those brief moments.
From contrasts to connections, such is the way within our wild place adventures...
As I drove slowly away, and as I waved with my window down, we each had such great expansive smiles on our faces.
An ending...
A beginning...
Maybe all one and the same...
When she reached down in that moment to pick up her pack and start out, I saw her find the Summit Stone & Adventure Muse, I had placed right there. She looked up in surprise, as I waved again and was on my way.
I'm not sure, my Dear Friends, but I think she knew it was from me..... DSD 

"Something....."

 

"Something of our personality has gone into every mountain on which we have spent our strength and on which our thoughts have rested, and something of its personality has come into ours and has its effect on everything that has come within our influence...".  R.L.G. Irving