Off On Another Adventure Experience.....

We're soon off on another adventure experience, and I am musing about the challenges and opportunities before me.......especially about the role the stones have come to play.....

As N. O'Connell wrote; "Stones...chart the mysterious topography of the human spirit".

This particular adventure has many moments for... contemplating the finding, gathering, choosing & collecting, cleaning & polishing, designing, painting, coating, musing over, travelling with, adventuring, placing, reflecting on, then beginning all over again the process of the Summit Stones within these experiences.......

DSD

Adventures As Vision Quests.....

Have you ever thought about your adventures as being like vision quests.......

There is often mystery and magic within such experiences.......

E. Bernbaum wrote; "The Crow, who put a particular emphasis on the positive role of suffering, ranked sites for vision quests in order of increasing altitude", and B. Doolittle said too; "Through a dream quest, the warrior has earned the spiritual protection of the animals he admires...They warn him of danger...and give him magical strength".

On my own quests near places like Hidden Lake, Rockbound and Three Isle Lakes, out among the Islands, and in the Sierra's, I've mused time and again about Grandfather, a Mountain Elder, who said: "Create your wild spirit and then be true to this...You are a Storm Rider with the soul of a Trail Dancer".

DSD

New Experiences.....

"I can only muse...as I've come to understand the word canyon. Elements of canyoneering... come to mean the place, one's knowledge of it, and the experience... more than a simplistic view of a specific activity." J. Annerino

There are always new adventures to be experienced..... For someone who struggles with change at times, and who has mostly headed up to altitude or out on the ocean in our wild lands, trying a new adventure experience on like canyoneering was challenging.....and yet was proof again of the inherent rewards within adventure experiences.....

DSD

The Clouds Cleared.....

The clouds cleared...as they always do...

And later I walked out to look upon the stars...

I waited for a moment until, as J. Muir wrote:

"Soon came perfect stillness, earth and sky were inseparably blended and spiritualized, and we could only gaze on the celestial vision in devout, silent, wondering admiration."

Another storm weathered...

DSD

Ebb and Flow.......

Our lives can certainly feel like very 'tide like' at times...

We all seem to experience the ebb and flow, and very high and low tides...

Especially when we challenge ourselves and adventure out...

If we go long enough...through the seasons, full days out, over the years...

If we go far enough...to new altitudes, across unknown waters, ever trying new adventures...

If we go often enough...and keep returning even when we doubt and question...

Anonymous wrote, "Some of my very best days...and some of my very worst days...have both been in the mountains." Grandfather, a Mountain Elder said too, "There can be no mountain without a valley, no wave without a trough, no rainbow without a storm."

The I Ching reflects that: "Success comes to those who can weather the storm."

Today feels very stormy.....

DSD

Muir.......

Life As A Rock...

I've often mused about the elemental life of a rock.....

"If you smile at a stone...that stone will smile back at you..." Anon

"In every color there's the light; In every stone sleeps a crystal." Enigma Music

"It was not any human voice...It was great and strange...It was like the

rock speaking." J. Masefield

Take a moment to muse about the next stone you find and you will see what is often hidden within..... DSD

Faces In Stone.....

Have you ever seen or imagined a face in the stone you 'see' when out on your adventures?
When you climb or hike across that granite, quartz, or limestone...do you ever wonder about the shapes that are presented to you? Sometimes we can find things out in that rock that reflect many different things...
Grandfather, a Mountain Elder said, "You will feel me beside you; see my face in the stone; hear me on the wind.", and W. Jones wrote that "Early Miwok Indians imagined rocks that grew and people who turned to stone".
There is a character to such rock and stone that is an adventure to imagine...maybe like the character we find within ourselves when adventuring. There is an art to discovering these aspects of character...and the stories we then tell about these discoveries becomes a part of our lives. La Pena, Bates, and Medley wrote about the importance of these stories and that, "Stories explain...the appearance of faces, figures, shapes, designs, and animal forms that are sometimes found at these spots." So much to 'see'.....
DSD

Beach Hiking.....

Just gazing at an image of a wilderness beach...and pondering what Deng Ming-Dao said, "The narrow ribbon between land and ocean is a perfect place to understand the mind of wisdom."
It would be impossible to tally up the many miles, and endless hours, I have hiked down sand and cobble beaches...They are another favorite place.....
And when I stumble upon some perfect stones, ones so smooth and wave polished, waiting there patiently for a finder and later an image to appear within them, and then to eventually be placed, maybe on a desert trail, or tucked into a summit register, or placed just so for another adventurer to then find themselves...
Wilderness beaches..places to ponder...sounds so soothing...where thoughts take flight on their own accord...and anything becomes possible...
DSD

"The Forest Has Eyes..."

"The Forest Has Eyes..." This one work above by Bev Doolitte, and other artists, are honorable ways of art depicting life. The forest does have eyes... and they are always there watching us. To see what we are like, what we will do in our adventures, and how we will act in that precious environment.
If only we allow ourselves to 'see'...
"The sides of the dead fir are charred, its upper surface is smooth, bleached to a uniform grey, and as inviting to an artist as a chalkboard. He takes a piece of charcoal in hand and sketches a woman's face, not in bold outline, but subtly, with shadings and blurred features, so that an unsuspecting hiker coming upon it later might wonder if Mother Nature hadn't drawn the image herself." M. Mardon
"I am never alone in this wild forest, this forest of elders, this forest of eyes..." R. Nelson
Sometimes we don't know what is there until we 'see' it. Once having 'seen', we can never not now be aware. Like the artists above ask of us; the face you may discover on a "Summit Stone"; or the ancient carving of a face on a long dead tree in the Broken Group Islands we found; look more closely..... DSD

Summit Stones by DSD...

Both this Blog and my other Blog 'Summit Stones & Adventure Musings by DSD' have opportunities for you to post comments. I have recently enabled 'Comment Moderation' as there were some unrelated comments that needed to be referred elsewhere. Please make any comments you would like on either of these Blogs on your adventures, being a 'Finder' of a Summit Stone, or your favorite adventure quote. I will ensure these are posted as soon as possible. DSD

"Every Day A Mystery....."

"May every day hold a mystery...
May every night display some wonder...
May every trail become an adventure!"
Old Scottish Saying.

"Something hidden. Go and find it. Go and look behind the ranges... Something lost behind the ranges. Lost and waiting for you. Go!" R. Kipling

"These are Things..."

"Rough were the mountain stones, and the path very narrow...
At dawn I left the mountain and, alone, lost my way;
In and out , up and down, while a heavy mist
made brook and mountain green and purple, brightening everything.
I am passing pines and oaks which ten men could not girdle,
I am treading pebbles barefoot
in swift-running water,
Its ripples purify my ear
while a soft wind blows my garments...
These are things...which,
in themselves, make life happy..." Han Yu
Enjoy your day...DSD

A Jeffrey Pine Thought...

"The Big Tree is Nature's forest masterpiece and so far as I know, the greatest of living things".
J. Muir
It would have been such an experience to have watched Ansel Adams take this picture of the Jeffrey Pine that was at that time alive on the top of Sentinel Dome in Yosemite. Adams work is an inspiration to artists and outdoor folk who all appreciate what he was able to see with his eyes and capture with his imagination.
This same Pine is no longer alive and as we saw the other day actually has some carvings on it made by some unaware persons. Is that really how we want to be in the wilderness?
The Pine had, and still has, a character that Muir reflects upon in his quote...
I wonder if we could accept a lesson from such presence.....
DSD

At The End Of The Rainbow...

What is at the end of the rainbow.....

"Let us not lose sight of the reason for the journey, or miss a chance to see a rainbow on the way." (G. Gaither). What is at the end of the rainbow could be described as our own reasons, our own motivation...There is real gold in understanding the value of this...

What is at the end of the rainbow.....

"You...whose day this is, make it beautiful. Get out you rainbow colors that it may be beautiful." (Nekoosa Indian Poem). What is at the end of the rainbow could be seen as our own perspectives, our own expectations, our very outlook and the way that this colors our world...

What is at the end of the rainbow.....

"Walk on a rainbow trail; walk on a trail of song...". (R. Motherwell). There are many trails, countless paths that lead to rainbows of our own making. The 'rainbow trail' has also been described as the 'path of gifts'.

What is at the end of the rainbow.....

"Some hope, some dreams to cling to...Some rainbow in the sky, some melody to sing to...Some service that is high." (H. Du Autermont). Service and giving back presents us with rainbows within rainbows... DSD

There is something.....

"There is something so elementally attractive about a river stone, or a rock outlined against the sky." Deng Ming-Dao
"You will find more in the woods than books. Trees and stones will teach you that which you can never learn from masters." St. Bernard
"You will feel me beside you; see my face in the stone; hear me on the wind." Grandfather, Mountain Elder
DSD

Fire & Flames...

"The symbol for what drives you, for the source that moves you, in many cultures - is fire. Your energy, your power, your enthusiasms are all fire and flames. Read the coals and discover what you need." Grey Wolf

Pictures and quotes like these have provided real inspiration and hours of musing for me. The one in the center is not my picture but was taken by a lively group of kayakers in the Broken Group Islands. (I wonder if they found that Stone...) The other two are not pictures, but paintings, completed by Stephen Lyman. We first discovered his work over twenty years ago and I have looked to it for inspiration many times, especially in trying to capture the visions of fire and flames he had. It was with much sadness we learned of Stephens' passing in what I recall was a mountaineering accident. His work is indeed a legacy...

"A 'mountain campfire'...as I painted, I could feel the excitement and meaning that this image would generate. It flowed out so smoothly and effortlessly, as if it were meant to be." S. Lyman

How do you create your own fire and flames? Who do you share the reading of the coals with?

DSD