What a joy it is to pitch a tent . . .

"What a joy it is to pitch a tent, our home for a night or as long as we please. The very uncertainty and the possibility of choice amid new and strange surroundings makes it a pleasure in itself, a real adventure at the close of the day . . . That decided, there is nothing to do but listen to the sounds of the night birds, talk over the adventures of the day, and rest."

Sigurd F. Olson

This past weekend I went backpacking for two nights in the Mount Zirkel Wilderness. Trekking across snowbanks, losing the trail once or twice, fording streams roaring with snowmelt, lying down and photographing meadows of wildflowers, meditating to the melody of hermit thrushes, and camping by a mountain lake with no one else around were highlights of the trip!

Photo: My tent on Rainbow Lake, Mt. Zirkel Wilderness, CO, June 20, 2015

Wilderness helps us regain serenity and equilibrium . . .

"Wilderness to the people of America is a spiritual necessity, an antidote to the high pressure of modern life, a means of regaining serenity and equilibrium. It gives them perspective and a sense of oneness with mountains, forests, or waters. Its real function will always be as a spiritual backlog in the high speed mechanical world in which we live."

Sigurd F. Olson

Photos: Cottonwood tree (with elk), Golden Banner, the Big Thompson River, and Wild Purple Flag Iris, Rocky Mountain National Park, CO, June 8, 2015

Solitude brings perspective and a sense of timelessness . . .

"I have had my share of solitude. It is beautiful to me, for it brings back perspective and the sense of timelessness. I come back to the friends I have left, stronger, better, and happier than when I went away. My perceptions and understanding of life's problems are more uncluttered after the cleansing powers of solitude."

Sigurd F. Olson

Photo: A solitary Cottonwood, The Great Sand Dunes, and the peaks of the Sangre de Cristo Range, San Luis Valley, CO, June 7, 2015

Life is a series of open horizons . . .

"Life is a series of open horizons, with one no sooner completed than another looms ahead . . . More than physical features, they are horizons of mind and spirit, and when one looks backward, we find they have blended into the whole panorama of our lives . . . What a person finally becomes . . . is a composite of all the horizons she has explored, for they have marked her and left indelible imprints on her attitude and convictions and given her life direction and meaning . . . When there are no longer any beckoning mirages ahead, a person dies. With an open horizon constantly before him, life can be an eternal challenge."

Sigurd F. Olson,
"Open Horizons"

Photo: View to the west from the rim of Crater Lake, Crater Lake National Park, OR; July 27, 2014

Wilderness is a spiritual necessity, an antidote to the high pressure of modern life.

"Wilderness to the people of America is a spiritual necessity, an antidote to the high pressure of modern life, a means of regaining serenity and equilibrium . . . It gives them perspective and a sense of oneness with mountains, forests, or waters . . . Its real function will always be as a spiritual backlog in the high speed mechanical world in which we live."

Sigurd F. Olson
 

Photos: (Top) Glacier Lily at Ripple Creek Pass, and (Bottom) Vaughn Lake; both in Flattops Wilderness, CO; June 15, 2014

If you have the power of wonder, you are forever young.

 

"If you lose the power of wonder, you grow old, no matter how old you are. If you have the power of wonder, you are forever young -- the whole world is pristine and new and exciting."

Sigurd F. Olson

Photo: Ladybug and Pasqueflowers, Hewlett Gulch, Roosevelt National Forest, CO; April 1, 2014

The primeval outdoor scene - its solitude and sense of removal - become a part of our consciousness.

 

"In looking back [on times spent outdoors], there was a growing appreciation of deeper meanings; . . . the primeval scene, its solitude and sense of removal was becoming part of my consciousness . . . Subtle influences were seeping into me as surely as water seeps into thirsty ground, penetrating every fiber of my being, coloring my every reaction."

Sigurd F. Olson

Photo: Evening light on Lumpy Ridge; Rocky Mountain National Park, CO; January 7, 2014

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Wilderness is a tonic, a panacea for nervousness and monotony.

"The great mass of recreation-minded Americans see in the wilderness not an opportunity for exploitation or for the furtherance of knowledge, but rather as an opportunity to satisfy a vital spiritual deficiency within themselves.  They are the ones who head into the wilderness regions because they must.  Wilderness to them is a tonic, a panacea for nervousness and monotony.  They go to it . . . as a sick person might go to the physician.  These people know that wilderness to them is a necessity if they are to keep their balance."

Sigurd F. Olson  

Photo: Subalpine Fire and mountains; Mt. Rainier National Park, WA; July 29, 2013

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Wholeness is being in tune with all things.

 

 "To explain wholeness, one must go back to the very depths of being, for it is involved with all that has gone before - man's entire evolution and the imprint of millennia on his consciousness.  It is harmony and oneness, the antithesis of fragmentation, emptiness, and frustration . . . It is being in tune with waters and rocks, with vistas and horizons, with constellations and the infinity of time and space."

Sigurd F. Olson   

Photo: Subalpine Fir trees at sunset; Rocky Mountain National Park, CO; December 14, 2013

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Spirituality has its origin in the ancient concept of far horizons, beauty and silence.

"There is a close correlation between the vast realm of religious belief or the concept of a Deity and the spiritual values of wilderness . . . , visions that actually had their origin in the ancient concept of far horizons, beauty, and silence."

Sigurd F. Olson  

Photo: A lone Ponderosa Pine stands beneath Stone's Peak; Moraine Park, Rocky Mountain National Park, CO; December 13, 2013

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Life is filled with simple joys.

"Joys come from simple and natural things, mists over meadows, sunlight on leaves, the path of the moon over water.  Even rain and wind and stormy clouds bring joy, just as knowing animals and flowers and where they live.  Such things are where you find them, and belong to the aware and alive."

Sigurd F. Olson

Surrounded by such simple joys, we have a tendency in our society to become addicted to a consumer mentality.  Our culture habitually acts as though happiness comes mainly from the things we buy.  Why do you suppose that is?

Photo: Snow Buttercups, Montgomery Pass, Medicine Bow Mountains, CO; June 27, 2013

Unless we can contribute something from our experience ofwilderness solitude, derive some solace or peace to share with others, then the real purpose is defeated.

"Wilderness can be appreciated only by contrast, and solitude understood only when we have been without it.  We cannot separate ourselves from society, comradeship, sharing, and love.  Unless we can contribute something from wilderness experience, derive some solace or peace to share with others, then the real purpose is defeated . . . I have had my share of solitude and know whereof I speak.  It is beautiful to me, for it brings back perspective and the sense of timelessness.  I come back to the friends I have left, stronger, better, and happier than when I went away . . . [M]y perceptions and understanding of life's problems [are] more uncluttered after the cleansing powers of solitude."

Sigurd F. Olson
"Reflections from the North Country"

Photo: A single Subalpine Fir stands silhouetted against a radiant sunset sky; Rocky Mountain National Park, CO; November 17, 2012

It is the intangible values of the land people need.

"Intangible values are hard to define, explain, or measure . . . We do know they stir the emotions, influence happiness, and thereby make life worth living.  They are involved with the good life, but sometimes I wonder if we know what the good life really is.  They are so important that without them it loses its meaning.  We talk about the intangible values of environmental protection and know we cannot embark on  any effort or program of conservation without them.  Back of all concrete problems, the intangibles are the ultimate key.  They give substance to the practical, provide reasons for everything we do, and are so involved and integrated with conservation efforts it is impossible to separate them . . . It is the intangible values of the land people need.  The conservation of waters, forests, mountains and wildlife are far more than saving terrain. It is the conservation of the HUMAN SPIRIT which is the goal, and that is what is meant by the good life, one with the opportunity to find peace and quiet somewhere beyond where they happen to live."

Sigurd F. Olson,
"Reflections from the North Country"

Photo: A misty day on the Arthur's Rock Trail really put me in touch with the intangibles!  Lory State Park, CO; November 10, 2012

The only way to possess beauty is to create a work of art from it.

"On an autumn excursion, Sigurd Olson witnessed a stirring sunset from the shore of a river . . . [I]t was all too much beauty for him to capture.  [H]e wrote the next day:

'It was almost more than I could bear.  It hurt me.  I wanted to run away and sob.  It hurts me today.  Why should it - it should make me happy.  Is it because I am over sensitive or that I realize that I can never attain or hold such beauty?  But I must if I am not to go insane.  I must capture some of that somehow - create something durable.' "

David Backes, "A Wilderness Within: The Life of Sigurd F. Olson," p. 96

Photo: Sunset at Vedauwoo Recreation Area, with Mt. Meeker and Long's Peak looming in the distance; November 3, 2012.  Olson DID capture some of the spirit and beauty of the North Country in his amazing writings!

Simplicity in all things is the secret of the wilderness and one of its most valuable lessons.

"Simplicity in all things is the secret of the wilderness and one of its most valuable lessons . . . Simplicity goes into the matter of thoughts and objectives . . . When in the wilds, we must not carry our problems with us or the joy is lost.  Never indulge in arguments or bitter recriminations; never criticize, but be of good cheer . . . 'It is not wise to ask too many questions, nor should you yield to the itch for making comments about the journey, a habit which may be cultivated to an excess.  Silence is a safe and discreet plenishing' . . . Keep your thoughts simple; do not be argumentative or meddlesome.  Do not hate, condemn, or criticize; an expedition is too short for that, as is life.  Learn to live simply and all will go well."

Sigurd F. Olson

Photo: Rock and aspen trees; Gem Lake Trail, Rocky Mountain National Park, CO; October 5, 2012.  The surreal quality of this photo was created in part by the dim lighting of a misty day, and by the lightly falling snow.  The quote within the quote is from Fr. LeJeune, a Jesuit who traveled in the North Country.

When people become bored, it is because they have lost touch with an infinite world of beauty and mystery available through the senses within the natural world.

"One of the saddest remarks anyone can make is that he is bored, just killing time, with nothing to get excited about, nothing to warrant enthusiasm.  When I sense such reactions, I wonder what has happened to sights and sounds, to the senses of smell and touch, to the realization of an infinite world of beauty and mystery.  Part of the answer is humanity has removed itself so completely from the natural scene, which used to give comfort and pleasure, our reactions have atrophied through lack of use."

Sigurd F. Olson

Photo: Aspen leaf lodged in a Lady Fern on a misty day; Gem Lake Trail, Rocky Mountain National Park, CO; October 5, 2012

Beauty has a strange power of giving peace and joy.

"Beauty has a strange power of giving peace and joy."

Sigurd F. Olson

Photo: Raindrops on a wild plum; Lory State Park, CO; September 12, 2012

There can never be an end to wonder and awareness.

"The longer I contemplate this world of living things and look at the earth itself, the more I am convinced there can never be an end to wonder and awareness, and that one of the real tragedies of life is to waste time when there is so much to see and learn."

Sigurd F. Olson
"Reflections from the North Country"

Photo: Raindrops on shriveled wild plums, Lory State Park, CO; September 12, 2012

Even in the midst of city-life stresses, we can become aware of the backdrop of silence out of which all things arise.

"We cannot all live in the wilderness, or even close to it, but we can, no matter where we spend our lives, remember the BACKGROUND which shaped this sense of the eternal rhythm, remember that days, no matter how frenzied their pace, can be calm and unhurried.  Knowing we can be calm and unhurried we can refuse to be caught in the so-called rat race and the tension which kills Godlike leisure. Though conscious of the roar around us, we can find peace if we remember we all came from a common mold and primeval background."

Sigurd F. Olson

Photo: First snow flurry on a leaf; Rocky Mountain National Park, CO; October 5, 2012

Beauty brings us a lift of spirit and an afterglow of serenity and content.

"In a lifetime of seeing beauty in the wilderness, I always feel a lift of spirit and an afterglow of serenity and content. I also know one must take time and wait for the glimpses of beauty that always come, and one must see each as though it were his last chance."

Sigurd F. Olson

Photo: Shriveled wild plums, Lory State Park, CO; October 6, 2012