Spiritual Question in the Wilderness

In mid-October I backpacked into the Wheeler Peak Wilderness, to Williams Lake, a favorite of hikers.  It rained off and on all day, which made for some lovely cloud formations hanging down into the crags, licking the lake, and swirling lazily upward through the trees.

            I was the only one camped in there.  I had to dodge in and out of my tent all afternoon to keep out of the periodic rains.  But it stopped raining enough for the full moonrise.  The moon peeked through gaps in the clouds, brightening the lake and the trees at tree-line.

            After a half-hour meditation, I sat on a log beside my tent watching the clouds playing with the craggy moonlit scene.

            I had an experience, which raised an interesting question. As I allowed my attention to flow out to all around me, I had the eerie feeling that I was not opening my awareness to it all; but that I was simply allowing myself to join the awareness that was already all around me, everywhere.  The awareness was out there already.  I was just opening up to it.

            So the question remains:  Is there awareness in everything in the universe, and we just ordinarily have a snippet of it?  Or, is it, as we commonly think, our individual consciousness that we open up to the world around us?

            At the time, it brought to mind lines from an Upanishad, which makes the case that, at our core, we are one with all things:

            The Self is one.  Unmoving, it moves faster than mind.  The senses lag, but Self runs ahead.  Unmoving, it outruns pursuit.  Out of Self comes the breath that is the life of all things.

            Unmoving, it moves; is far away, yet near; within all, outside all.

            Of a certainty the man who can see all creatures in himself, himself in all creatures, knows no sorrow. 

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One Reason I backpack.

I’ve just walked my early morning mile with our dog, Tessa.  I love being out as day breaks, preferably before sun-up.  It is one of the reasons I backpack. 

Camped on a trail after a good day’s hike, I am living with the rhythm of nature –  sleep shortly after sundown to be up shortly before sunup.

The world is calm and still for a few moments at those times of day. I love that quiet time, when am fully a part of the soft breezes in the trees and distant chirping birds and the overall hush.  These are sacred moments. 

Yes, I’ve had something similar in the pre-dawn streets of mid-town Manhattan.  But the clear, clean mountain air adds a supreme touch to these times of day.

I do have the advantage to being out at those peaceful times of day, living out here at the end of the rough dirt road in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains.  Still, even this is not the same as crawling out of my sleeping bag to the chill mountain air in first light of day.

At times when I have tented in campgrounds, there is usually someone up earlier than me.  And the soft rustling of their moving about their campsite usually gives a nice, comforting touch.  However, it is a delicate balance, for thoughtless campers who talk even in low tones of voice, or are less cautious about the clanking of their pots and pans, create an annoyance which could easily be avoided with a bit of attention.

Hence, my preference is camping primitively, well away of others, and alone.  Most of my backpacking friends seem to have a similar outlook – both about being out there at these times of day, as well as camping alone.

I’ve mentioned the mountains, for I have spent most of my hiking and backpacking life in the mountains.  But, I am just as enamored of the canyons of the American Southwest – slick rock canyons of Utah as well as the wider, deeper canyons of Arizona and New Mexico.  And my favorite, of course, is the majestic Grand Canyon.  My nephew, Kenn and I have backpacked virtually all of its trails and have a secret spot where we often set up camp after just a few hours of hiking and are completely by ourselves. 

Then there is a little-known canyon, in which Kenn and I, were visited by a UFO. Honest to Pete!  I’ll write about it at another time.

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Backpacking Grand Canyon

The Grand Canyon has been my favorite place to return backpacking, year after year, since founding Backpacker magazine back in 1973.  If you've never backpacked there, it ought to be at the top of your list.

Today, I want to tell you about the most thorough and useful website about the canyon and much more about the surrounding area -- which is rich with hiking and backpacking possibilities.

You can Google Grand Canyon and find numerous sites.  But the one with the most authoritative group of backcountry users is Hit the Trail.
http://hitthetrail.com

The writers and contributors to this site are unequalled in expertise and experience in the canyon area.  Each has an incredibly interesting story about their relationship with the canyon, and there are good write-ups on most of them.

There is Denise Traver who led the first all-women backpack trek into the Canyon; Mike Bucket whose run the longest running backpacking outfitter in the Canyon; Tom Myers who was GC doctor for a number of years and author of the book on deaths in GC, Over the Edge: Death in Grand Canyon; Mike Anderson, GC archeologist and historian, and half a dozen more. Check them out.

Here's a lead into their site.

Hit the Trail: Phantom Ranch, Grand Canyon, Sedona & the Southwest  is dedicated to helping those planning a visit to Grand Canyon National Park and the southwest. Whether you plan on hiking, backpacking, taking a mule or a river trip, you’ll find information, tips and resources that will make planning your trip much easier, safer and a lot more fun!

You'll find their contributions also in my book, Backpacker & Hiker's Guide.  Check it out on Barnes and Noble or Amazon.

Another Spiritual Practice in the Woods

There was a time I was caught in a rain storm in the Adirondack Mountains of New York.  I pitched a tarp to get out of the rain to eat lunch.  The rain was coming down so hard by the time I finished eating that I decided to stay put for the night.

            Wiling away the afternoon beneath the tarp thoughts of Descartes came to mind, especially his observation: “I cannot doubt that I am.”  It raised this question “Who am I?” and I sought an answer.

            With so much time on my hands that afternoon and no one to talk to, gave me a perfect excuse to ruminate about my restless reasoning.

            So I wondered, would I be me if I were to lose a part of my body like a finger or toe or even a hand or foot.  Of course I would.  What about losing an arm or leg or both, or even all four?  Certainly I would be me.  Though highly crippled I’d still be the person I am now.

            As simple as it sounds, I would still be me if I lost any part of the body.  I’d still be me without eyes, ears, nose, tongue.  And probably so if I lost all of them.

            The tragic case of Terry Sciavo came to mind.  She had lost consciousness and remained in a vegetative coma for many years.  Her life was sustained by artificial means. 

            Was she still there?  We presume she was for the issue of removing the life-support tubes was debated across the nation.  The argument that they would be taking her life if they removed the artificial devices that kept her alive was based entirely upon the assumption that Terry Sciavo was still in that wretched body, despite its vegetative state.

            This brought up a new question: Am I my mind?  Where was Terry Sciavo during all those comatose years?  Perhaps my mind is not synonymous with consciousness, for Terry Sciavo was certainly not conscious during that comatose period.

            The same question comes up when I wonder where is my mind when I sleep?  Both mind and consciousness do not seem to be there when I sleep—at least not in the same way as when I am up and around.

            We’ve got terms today like the subconscious mind and the unconscious to deal with such states as sleep and comas.  And they’ve now found ways of classifying types of subconsciousness.  These categories, though are barely distinguishable from descriptions of life itself.

            All my ruminating brought back childhood questions: Aren’t we pretty much like the light in a light bulb that scatters about into space when we flick off the light switch?

            While this reasoning did not tell me much about who I am, it told me much about what I am not.

       I am currently writing a book about my spirituality in the wilderness.  And it will be published on Smashwords with my others.  Meantime, there is one that I will publish on June 1st that has a good bit of spirituality in it. It is Fleeing a Fearsome Father.  And it can be sampled now at any ebook retailer or at Smashwords.

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/528639

Domineering Parent?

I had a friend who was a writer.  He had enormous anxieties whenever he even thought about sitting down at the keyboard, and eventually gave up writing for another occupation.  His problem was that he the only child of parents, both of whom were Pulitzer Prize winners.  Any wonder he got writer's cramp?  Not that his parents even realized the impossible standard they were setting for Harold simply by being who they were.  Still, tough to aim at the sky when beginning to learn how to

I had a father who set too high a standard for me. I had to find another way of life than he expected of me.  I know a lot of men and women who've gone through similar experiences.  Any wonder I'd write a novel about someone like us?

Fleeing a Fearsome Father is due to be published June 1st.  It can now be sampled free.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/fleeing-a-fearsome-father/id978158428?mt=11

https://store.kobobooks.com/search?Query=fleeing+a+fearsome+father

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/fleeing-a-fearsome-father?store=ebook&keyword=fleeing+a+fearsome+father

Hiking, Backpacking and Mountaineering in the Sierras

I visited a site today which is an amazing mountain climbing experience.  

Through vivid photos it illustrates not just the joy of climbing these peaks, but illustrates various techniques of these sports, like training, conditioning, rope knots  and climbing safety measures on rock and snow.  

There is even an exciting video of an actual four-and-a-half mile glissade down one peak.

One discussion that particularly caught my attention was about the wilderness of the mind.

Dave French's site is mostly about climbs of Sierra peaks. I especially loved his detailed section on climbing Mt. Rainier in Washington's Cascades. It was one of my earliest climbs. When I climbed Rainier, Muir Camp was totally covered with snow.  Nice to see what it really looks like sans snow in Dave's photo.

His site is worth a peek. http://www.timberlinetrails.net  It'll whet the appetite!

One Man's Flight from His Father's Shadow

As of today my new novel, Fleeing a Fearsome Father, has been scheduled for publication on June 1.
It is a literary novel about an only son of a shipping tycoon. Malcolm Barrett desperately struggles to find a career from out of his father's shadow. Malcolm lives adventures in Malaysian jungles, rodeo bronc riding, pirating and eventually a career in art.  As a 1990s New Mexican artist he tries to paint "The Edge of Chaos."  What he discovers changes his life ever after.
This literary novel involves a sophisticated examination of philosophy and spirituality.  What man among us, in trying to free himself of his father's dominance, has not come through with profound wisdom?

Pre order the novel at $2.99.  After publication the price will be $4.99.
www.smashwords.com/books/search?query=fleeing+a+fearsome+father