Renewal of the Spirit

(more images after text)

(more images after text)

The images presented here are from a recent two week backing trip that my wife and I took in late August and early September of 2009. We married when she graduated from college in 1964 and assumed a teaching position in Knoxville, Tennessee.  I was in engineering school at the time and we spent many hours with friends hiking in the Great Smoky Mountains. It was to become a lifetime adventure for us in the outdoors. During our 45 years we have been fortunate to travel and hike on all seven continents.  And I have been fortunate enough to climb three of the seven summits. We attribute our health and stamina to this love of adventure and the outdoors.

The freedom, inspiration and our spiritual development have been   constantly expanded and renewed as we have adventured in the outdoors away from the stress and emotional turmoil created in the life one lives today. A thrill and excitement is generated in one’s mind and body as one ventures into the unknown to see the awe-inspiring nature that can surround one when you venture away from the noise, pollution, and job pressures. The expansion of person’s spirit in visiting areas free of the everyday pressure of our life today is more than can be expressed through words. To stand on top of a mountain and view the uninterrupted scenery and experience the lack of sound other then the call of distant raptor or the wind blowing around you makes your spirit soar and the stress and problems of daily life drift away  on the wind. To sit by a stream of water high in the mountains and listen to the water rustle and bobble on its way to the sea is to be in the present of our Creator. To listen to the water that was only days ago ice from the previous winter’s snow or perhaps from an ancient glacier frees ones spirit to soar with the eagle. You take the water from the stream to renew your body, to cook with and to bathe, if you are so inclined.

My wife and I have been avid backpackers and hikers for many years with our children and grandchildren. As our children made their own way in life we often look back at the wonderful times we spent enjoying the great outdoors with them and now backpack into the mountains ourselves. Yes, we carry all of our equipment on our back: tent, sleeping bag and pad, food, cook stove and water filter. Some of our adventures have lasted for up to two weeks in remote mountain areas where we enlisted the help of porters to carry food, equipment and protection for these extended periods of hiking/climbing. These extended trips not only expand one’s knowledge of other cultures but lets one realize the great comforts and conveniences we have in our daily lives.

The visual images that I have attached I hope will inspire each of you to get out into nature and see what God had made for us to enjoy to renew our spirit and to reduce or eliminate the stress that you face each day. Enjoy, for you too can do these things. Setting Eastern Sierra Nevada Mountains ---Ansel Adams and John Muir Wilderness.

Morning Light Ltd
B. Chance