The Last Season

[Jimr]

You can watch Radio Silence: Disappeared for free here

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x3pyutq

[oldranger]

Beyond its literal definition (aka denotation), the word addicted has a lot of negative connotation (figurative meaning). People become addicted to crack cocaine, which is not good for them. From a literal POV, you could say that we all are addicted to oxygen, food, and water, but that's not a bad thing. If someone wants to say (s)he has become addicted to the mountains, that's all well and good, but we shouldn't assume that other people experience everything in exactly the same way we do.

Personally, the mountain experience was an integral part of my life; I craved it; I savored it. I still have amazing adventures in my dreams, but I do not spend my waking hours grieving that I can't backpack any more. There is still so much to look forward to, particularly grandchildren. With the Sportsmobile, I will be able to explore hundreds of miles of quiet trails in Canyonlands NP, and many more in Death Valley during winter and spring. My legs can still walk through the surf; I can still hold my beloved wife in my arms.

The ability to carry a heavy pack is not the only thing you lose as you age. Other.....um......how to say this.........bodily functions......slow down and eventually try to stop as well. My wife is a breast cancer survivor. Estrogen stimulates tumors, so she is on a med that shuts down estrogen production almost completely. This changes a woman's physiology as well as mindset. My own plumbing is not what it once was and those little pills cause me to have an anaphylactic reaction. We still love each other like newlyweds, however, and that is something to cherish. Our relationship has taken a lifetime of very hard work, but the dividends of that are now paying off in spades. She is my soul mate and her presence makes my life overflow.

So yea, the mountains once gave me immense joy, but they don't have to be the only aphrodisiac of life happiness. I have more, a lot more joi de vie to experience, in so many venues, before I plan to depart this place. And I plan to lay claim to every bit of it!

Well said! I think, though, that it hard for younger people to really understand what we old farts have to contend with. I think the key to happiness as we age is the willingness to adapt to our infirmities and to be well grounded in our relationships. Still looking for the helium filled pack that could litterally lift me up the trail!

[Cross Country]

Reading what Tom H wrote was like reading about me. I absolutly agree with Old Ranger too.

[maverick]

Not an addiction, but an escape into a world unclutered by humanities rigid thinking (at least some of it still is), like a religious expereince, that has not been tainted by man, still pure, which unfortunately not many people get to expereince.

[rlown]

"like a religious experience".. I'd prefer it's called a 1:1 with nature experience.. maybe its just the way I think..

[oldhikerQ]

Loved the book. A very compelling read. I've gone back and reread it once now.
Thought about the lessons to be learned, but in the end decided that they don't really apply to me as I don't spend nearly enough time with my backpack as I have plenty of other commitments (work) and hobbies to keep me occupied.

[Tom_H]

Not an addiction, but an escape into a world uncluttered by humanities rigid thinking (at least some of it still is), like a religious expereince, that has not been tainted by man, still pure, which unfortunately not many people get to expereince.

Very well said.

[Tom_H]

Oh, these vast calm measureless mountain days, inciting at once to work and rest. Days in whose light everything seems equally divine, opening a thousand windows to show us God. Never more, however weary, should one faint by the way who gains the blessings of one mountain day; whatever his fate, long life, short life, stormy or calm, he is rich forever. John Muir, June 23, 1869, My First Summer in the Sierra

[oldranger]

For me the Sierra is not a religious experience or anything that matches Muir's prose--which I have to get past to enjoy his experiences and travels. For me the Sierra which is among my earliest memories is just where I feel most comfortable. There is also a feeling of competence that I don't feel in my everyday world where things seem to whirl around me completely out of my control. Not that I can control mother nature but the sources of danger seem much more limited than in what we call civilization. I guess no matter how nasty it can get the Sierra is just my personal comfort zone.

[Jimr]

For me, when someone says it's like a religious experience, I replace the word religious with spiritual. I'm a spiritual person, but I'm not religious, so I get that. It feeds the soul and that is an individual experience. Heck, I read OR's post and hear the same thing just removed from the association with religion. The sublimity of the land, the simplicity of living for a short time with just the necessities you can carry, the freedom from daily concerns about our interactions with people, institutions, stock prices, politics, etc. It allows me to be just in the now and that's where my spirit lies.

I just got back camping on Cow Creek just up from where it flows into Dinky Creek. I spent much of the day today drinking coffee and chatting with the girl I love and enjoying the bees and butterflies and trees and hawks with no worries. It feeds my soul. Yesterday, we crossed Cow Creek twice. It was quite swift and a crotch ford each way. When Lisa got through the second ford, she said it was deep and swift, but totally manageable as long as you concentrated on what you were doing. I told her it was a good exercise in being in the now. She knows my spiritual side, so she knows exactly what I meant when I said that. Life is lived in the now. My spirit, who I really am, resides in the now and being in the Sierra makes it easy.

I'm starting to ramble, but even though I have no idea what a religious experience is beyond listening to a sermon, I get it.