The Wilderness & a kindred spirit

" Oh, these vast, calm, measureless mountain days ... in whose light everything seems divine, opening a thousand windows to show us God." John Muir

If you have read any of my previous blog posts you will notice that I have quoted John Muir on more than one occasion. The reason he appeals so greatly to me is that I can identify with his love of the wilderness and his individuality. Many of his hikes into the mountains of the Sierra Nevada ( West Coast North America) were alone, following his heart wherever it led him. I have a similar temperament, preferring to venture out unhindered and alone to explore the beautiful world that surrounds me.

I had the privilege of working for 8 summers out in Northern California at a mountain ranch ( the JH Ranch.) Staff and guests were encouraged to take part of a day, possibly a whole day and sometimes a night alone in the mountains. This was a special period of time set aside to get away from all distractions, to be completely alone out in the wild. These times were called 'solo's.'

Many people struggle being alone and with the idea of having any solo time. We had staff who would venture no further than the lower slopes of the Ranch property, ordering pizza by phone and keeping within walking distance of the restrooms and electricity. It is not everybodys cup of tea and there were real reasons to remain close to civilisation.

Their fears were not at all unfounded because 'YES' there were BEARS and MOUNTAIN LIONS and SNAKES all around us.

I do I remember a terrified call in the middle of the night reporting a mountain lion from one of our campers sleeping up at Paynes lake. There was a hike up into the mountains in the darkness to calm the frightened individual.

Over the summers there were many sightings of bears, snakes and the occasional mountain lion, but not once do I remember anyone being injured by an animal. I jumped off a horse travelling at high speed once and ended up in hospital, but that was my mistake and not the horses!

A few us camped out by the dumpsters one night just to see the black bear when it came rummaging through the garbage in the early hours of the morning. It was huge, as big and fast as a horse. When it became aware of us, head raised, nose lifted, it swept away in a storm of noise and dust. We watched it run crashing through the undergrowth.

It is very dry out in Northern Californian during the summer months. There is practically no rain which makes it easy to camp outside. I remember dehydration and so much sunshine that my head thumped with a searing headache.

Camping outside at night was generally wonderful, but for a troubled mind every little sound could morph into a potential ax wielding monster. I think it was the humans and not the animals that scared me. Northern California is the land of the wild west. Out in the woods and mountains there are larger than life personalities living basically, eating the fruit of the land in the craggy beautiful woods and mountains. I remember a massive giant of a man who rode a huge horse, roaming the mountain logging trails while drinking beer. We called him 'Mack the Knife,' not a great name to deal with our fears! However, I don't remember him ever doing anything more violent than talk to us from his lofty position upon his faithful steed.

For one of my solos I hiked miles up to a special glacial lake overlooking the sweeping valley below. The lake was still semi frozen but after a few hours of solid climbing in the scorching sunshine I was sweaty and hot. I was ready to jump in which is exactly what I did.

That night Mount Shasta lay as a solid monolithic lump of minerals and snow far away on the horizon. I watched the sun drop below the horizon, the cool of dusk, the sky lighting up with stars. That night was cold & dry, filled with the sounds of the mountains. A constant trickle of water, an owl, the call of deer. In the cool refreshing morning I lay quietly, my face slowly warmed by the rising sun rays. Later in the summer the rocks warmed and heated by a long summer of sunshine were a great place to warm up after a dip in the cold lake waters, spreading out on a warm marble slab on my stomach, looking down into a stream where salamanders and rainbow trout lingered.

Those summers were intense and wonderful. So much happened that I would need to write a full book to get it all down.

But above it all I remember the huge empty wilderness, the peace, the sun setting quietly, the stars lighting up one by one in the huge velvety expanse. A night under the stars with nothing but the sound of snow melt trickling down the rock face behind me, this was heaven for me.

These precious times hiking and exploring routes along the Pacific Crest trail will never be forgotten. But in seeking to share a little of my experience, it is John Muir's words that I will use, since he was there before me and his words are so well crafted.

" A few minutes ago every tree was excited, bowing to the roaring storm, waving, swirling, tossing their branches in glorious enthusiasm like worship. But though to the outer ear these trees are now silent, their songs never cease." John Muir, My first summer in the Sierra.

Although our times spent alone in the mountains were called 'solos', the truth is that none of us was ever alone.

We were carefully watched over, cared for and protected.

I found myself deepening an internal conversation that never ran dry.

Anyone who takes the time to tune in will discover this wonderful intimacy. A friendship beyond any natural boundaries. A never ending conversation with the One who is carefully guarding your life. He will share His beauty with you, hand out good advice, keep your heart light and carefree and take delight in your undivided attention and companionship.

I know John Muir knew this from the words he wrote. That is why I find him to be a kindred spirit.

" Accidents in the mountains are less common than in the lowlands, and these mountain mansions are decent, delightful, even divine, places to die in, compared with the doleful chambers of civilisation. Few places in this world are more dangerous than home. Fear not, therefore, to try the mountain passes. They will kill care, save you from deadly apathy, set you free, and call forth every faculty into vigorous, enthusiastic action." John Muir

" At the touch of this divine light, the mountains seemed to kindle to a rapt, religious consciousness, & stood hushed like devout worshippers waiting to be blessed." John Muir

"All of the world was before me and every day was a holiday, so it did not seem important to which one of the worlds wildernesses I first should wander." John Muir, The Yosemite.

" The world's big and I want to get a good look at it before it gets dark. " John Muir

" As long as I live, I'll hear waterfalls & birds and winds sing. I'll interpret the rocks, learn the language of flood, storm and the avalanche. I'll acquaint myself with the glaciers & wild gardens, and get as near the heart of the world as I can." John Muir

"This grand show is eternal. It is always sunrise somewhere; the dew is never all dried at once; a shower is forever falling; vapour is ever rising. Eternal sunrise, eternal sunset, eternal dawn and gloaming, on sea & continents & islands, each in its turn, as the round earth rolls." John Muir

John Muir was not born in America, he grew up in Scotland and emigrated with his family to America when he was 11 years old. He would have remained an unknown eccentric if it wasn't for the fact he recorded his adventures, writing it all down on paper, filing stories of his adventures for publication. His reputation grew as a preservationist and he was able to secure the protection of areas of wilderness such as Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. He is still relatively unknown in Scotland, but in 1984 the John Muir Trust was established to acquire wild lands in Britain.

" Fortunately around my native town of Dunbar, by the stormy North Sea, there was no lack of witness, though most of the land lay in smooth cultivation. With red-blooded playmates wild as myself, I loved to wander in the fields to hear the birds sing, and along the seashore to gaze and wonder at the shells and seaweeds, eels and crabs in the pools among the rocks when the tide was low and best of all to watch the awful storms thundering on the black headlands and craggy ruins of the old Dunbar Castle when the sea and the sky, the waves and the clouds, were mingled together as one." John Muir

His wisdom is revealed in the statement written across this poster.

" In God's wilderness lies the hope of the world - the great fresh unlighted, unredeemed wilderness. The galling harness of civilisation drops off, and wounds heal ere we are aware." John Muir

And his fear for the damaging impact humanity has had on the wild was a prophecy of far greater devastation than he could ever have imagined.

" Climb the mountains & get their good tidings. Nature's peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares will drop away from you like the leaves of Autumn." John Muir

" Another glorious day, the air as delicious to the lungs as nectar to the tongue." John Muir

I came across the photo above and it reminded me of Ruffy lake, a lake up in the mountains above the Ranch where we would take our Track 2 guests. I found one of my old journals this morning, the writing now faded in light blue ink. I wrote this little piece of prose when I was co-leading a T2 expedition to this area.

The following was written over the course of 24 hours. From arrival at the lake in the late afternoon, on into dusk with the deepening darkness spreading as a lightening storm raged far off in the distance. Those who chose to hiked further up to the highest peak, a place to wake early and watch the sun rise over Mount Shasta. It finishes with my early rising to rekindle the fire the following morning. The guests are referred to as 'my pilgrims,' a reference to the spiritual journey they were on as I led them and sent them off on their own adventures of discovery.

Ruffy Lake - T2 2003

two men of the mountains stand fly fishing in the cool of the evening

i stroke Mully their dog, perched on a rock watching the trout jump

cold mountain waters seeded in the spring, little hatchlings flung from a low flying plane.

down in Meeks meadow ... the aspens shimmer, silver discs waving in the wind, tiny fluff seeds drift in circles, up through the trees, a swirling sea of seed.

Enticing me deeper, cooler, cleaner, the lake invites,

deep waters surround me,

I swim out to a far fallen tree, climbing into the warm of the sun and dragonflies,

in the shelter of a rock Jordan sleeps.

And the moon rises, a huge hanging lantern in a starlit sky,

where electricity dances drawing sparkling white slashes across the inky night.

We sit on a warm rock, watching our pilgrims climb, a white light progressing higher and higher, slowly moving along the trail, onwards & upwards, like a big fat slow glow worm.

an orange flame crackles on the far shoreline

a human hum of conversation & guitars.

in the hushed silence of pre-dawn, alpine flowers are gathered to bring me joy,

they fall trodden underfoot, sweet fragrant petals crushed in gravel and dirt ... they live on in my mind

early morning stillness, sleepy heads buried in sleeping bags,

i rise to stir the white flaking ashes, a red glow

i blow, i blow.

Squatting beside the lake pumping water

i see my pilgrims returning,

a tiny trail of humanity beading slowly down the mountain.

In petal soft hush, all around me mountains solid

the words return & lay over and over through my mind ....

'oh, these vast, calm, measureless mountain days ...

in whose light everything seems divine,

opening a thousand windows to show us God.' ( John Muir)

I am so glad I wrote this all down. Sometimes it doesn't seem that any of it was real. But I read these words and remember those days.

" When we contemplate the whole globe as one great dewdrop, striped and dotted with continents and islands, flying through space with other stars all singing and shining together as one, the whole universe appears as an infinite storm of beauty. " John Muir -Travels in Alaska

" Our flesh and bone tabernacle seems transparent as glass to the beauty about us, as if truly an inseperable part of it, thrilling with the air and trees, streams and rocks, in the waves of the sun - part of all nature, neither old nor young, sick nor well, but immortal." John Muir

I would encourage you, if you've never slept out under the stars, do it. If you have never spent an intentional period of time alone in a beautiful place, make the space to do it.

Wake up o sleeper ...

" Every morning, arising from the death of sleep, the happy plants and all our fellow animal creatures great and small, and even the rocks, seemed to be shouting,

"Awake, awake, rejoice, rejoice, come love us and join in our song. Come ! Come ! "

John Muir - My first summer in the Sierra

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