Contemplation and Quiet

National Trust property
Cornwall, England

There are some things that can only be known experientially. Of all the spiritual rituals and practices I know of, nothing will lead us to that place of nakedness and vulnerability more than solitude and silence, where our ego identity falls away, our explanations and inner narratives don’t mean anything, and our superiority doesn’t matter and we have to sit there in our naked “who-ness.”

When we take the time to ponder Creation and all it affords, Nature provides an experience for our relationship with the greater universe that can come alive in us.  I believe that an invitation for contemplation and quiet opens the door to that bond.  

(Adapted from Richard Rohr, Center for Action and Contemplation)

Gratitude

Animas Valley, La Plata County, CO

I was out on a training ride today on my current bike “Tramp” and I snapped this photo. I like to name my bikes. This particular bike is special, as they all are I suppose but this one is extra special because it was found in a dumpster.  The guys at Lemonade Bicycles (local non-profit trying to build and give or sell usable bicycles) breathed some new life into it and I gave them $123.00 for the parts and labor they put into it to get it in running order. The crank is bent and maybe I will replace it someday but it gets me around for now and I like the idea of riding it. From the other photos, you may have noticed a Brooks saddle and a handlebar bag set up. These did not come with the bike, I added them.

Anyway, I love the more wild places and seeing them from a bicycle is all the more profound. There is something about arriving on foot or by bike that makes the trip really, really worth it. In the end I believe it is what will save the planet. But that’s a whole other discussion. Here is another shot from the saddle:

I get to do this stuff. I have worked very hard to create a life that makes experiencing the world in this way very easy. I know most of the planet is not as graced. I don’t want to say “lucky” as I’m not sure it was fortune that gt me here. No, it was something else…God maybe….

And speaking of God, here is a photo of my next destination:

This is a shot of the Pine River as seen from hanging off one of our local climbing crags. I was there climbing the other day with some friends. Yep, this is my life but I'll save the climbing stories for another day or blog perhaps.

Thanks for reading this...

Thoughts for new Guides

I ask you to consider these thoughts:

Of the many things that I have done in my life to earn a few bucks, working as a guide in both therapeutic and non-therapeutic wilderness programs has been the most rewarding. Currently I work for a company from Durango, Colorado called Open Sky Wilderness Therapy. I was very fortunate recently to be a trainer for a group of new, incoming guides for our burgeoning summer season. Here is a journal entry from that week:

5/28/2012

Haycamp Mesa, La Plata County, Colorado

My concerns for remaining "wild places" are many.

Wilderness therapists, outdoor educators and practitioners of eco-psychology consider and believe that extended periods of time in the company of tall trees, wind and animals is healthy and rejuvenating for mind, body and soul….And I also believe this to be true. It is great and it is healing to bring our souls back into wilder places.

But we are not “of” the land anymore in the way that our ancestors once were. We have compartmentalized “nature” as something that exists outside and apart from ourselves.

When we come to visit these quiet, less civilized places with more than 3 or 4 people, we are as unlikely to remember our roots as we are when walking down a concrete sidewalk…We bring with us our “civilized western culture” complete with our egos, our desires and our aversions. We don’t leave them at home as maybe we could. Instead we play them out with each other and knowingly or unknowingly often against each other.

Quite simply when we are walking through the woods we are as lost in our own constructed realities as we are when we perpetuate these realities in the cities. We talk….We talk about ourselves, our relationships, our hopes, children, our stuff, rent, and mortgages, cars our adventures, baseball statistics and football scores….

How many of us are externalizing our awareness? All of us, unless we coma alone are not doing anything new out here. We are just doing what we always do someplace else.

There is good reason not to simply repeat what we do at home when we get out here. I suggest that you do something new. Listen, watch and wait for the seeming nothing of evolution to unfold before your senses.

Put your feet down gently for where there is earth there is life; carry your voices softly for where there is a stirring in the air there is music; drink with exuberance but put nothing back in the source for where there is water there is frailty.

We are no longer of this place but you are invited in to walk as a cherished guest and someday maybe find your way home….

So I ask you again to consider the question: What is wilderness?

  

Experimenting with new gear designs...

In my quest to travel light, I am going to try a bike-packing approach. To those that may not be familiar with bike-packing it's a light-weight set up used primarily by single track tourists. Since my actual touring bike is in London and I'm in Colorado, I'm using the bicycle that was rescued from the dumpster.  I have since added a Brooks saddle to see if that is really worth all the hoopla (the jury is still out on that one, "they" say it needs to be broken in). I'll give it time and then decide.

Of course by putting a Brooks on this bike, I've just added one more rather heavy piece of equipment to this bike set up.

Here is the bag I am experimenting with. This particular item is a front handlebar bag.  I would like to try this instead of a front rack.  The location of the bag being so high up on the bike may affect the overall feel of the front end. As I discovered by putting an Old Man Mountain platform on the front of the Salsa Fargo, with more than about 4 or 5 pounds there is quite a bit of shimmy in the front end. If I go back to a front rack on the Salsa, I would replace the platform with a set of low riders for bags.
These are made by a local guy here in Durango, Colorado. 

I would like to experiment with some local rides just packing the kind of gear I will be taking to Europe. I will be giving a report on my experience with this bag. According to the blog, there is an accessory bag that will fit onto the harness. This could be useful for a camera or something small that I want to be accessible quickly. Right now, I've got rain gear and some warm layers for cooler evenings.

http://www.bedrockbags.com/