“All that is gold does not glitter,
Not all those who wander are lost;
The old that is strong does not wither,
Deep roots are not reached by the frost.
From the ashes a fire shall be woken,
A light from the shadows shall spring;
Renewed shall be blade that was broken,
The crownless again shall be king.”
~ J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring ~
...........so let's review. I am alone in the middle of the forest, no one knows where I am, I just stumbled over the remains of an old still, and I am in West Virginia...............this is not good. So what happened? I hate to disappoint everyone, but I was not taken hostage by gun tottin' hillbillies, nor was I considered a "legal killin". Instead, I actually used common sense and just kept on walking. (I was tired of writing the other night so I used it as a good transition..............my bad.) Eventually I pulled out the map and reviewed my path, used the land features to locate my position, and determined I was right where I should be. Within 20 minutes I was back in the cabin. It was only when I sat down that I realized just how tired I was and remembered that although I had years of experience in WNC creek hiking, I was now ten years older and no longer playing soccer. Living on an Island makes you physically strong, but my aerobic fitness sucks at the moment. Kayaking very seldom pushes my fitness level outside of an elevated heart rate. Whitewater kayaking is about finesse, not strength, and a smooth kayaker is effortless in his approach to the sport. Living on an Island doesn't allow much time or room for soccer or fitness. I just became a lot stronger............which helps.
I laid down on the couch and focused on the dead silence that existed in my life now. Was this what I was searching so hard for?..............maybe, but my head was not focused on understanding it at that time. I was still trying to figure out why Laurence Gonzales decided to use my life as a metaphor for being lost in the woods. It truly did freak me out. If you asked me today why I strayed for even one minute from my family my answer would be..................I have no idea. Seriously, I don't. I have been asking myself that same question for a long time. And if that is my answer then I must be lost.
"Bending The Map" continued to explain the relationship between being lost in the woods and being lost in life..................
"Research suggests five general stages in the process a person goes through when lost. In the first, you deny that you are disoriented and press on with growing urgency, attempting to make your mental map fit what you see. In the next stage, as you realize that you are genuinely lost, the urgency blossoms into a full-scale survival emergency. Clear thought becomes impossible and action becomes frantic, unproductive, even dangerous. In the third stage (usually following injury or exhaustion), you expend the chemicals of emotion and form a strategy for finding some place that matches the mental map. (This is a misguided strategy, for there is no such place now: you are lost.) In the fourth stage you deteriorate both rationally and emotionally, as the strategy fails to resolve the conflict. In the final stage as you run out of options and energy, you must become resigned to your plight. Like it or not, you must make a new mental map of where you are. You must become Robinson Crusoe or you will die. To survive, you must find yourself...............then it won't matter where you are."
"Bending The Map" Laurence Gonzales
.................so it took me quite a while to figure out that when he said "you must become Robinson Crusoe" he didn't actually mean, "become Robinson Crusoe.".................I'm kidding. Fact was, it did still matter where I was, so whatever I had come here to find was going to take some work.
"The best thing about the future is that it comes one day at a time.""Bending The Map" continued to explain the relationship between being lost in the woods and being lost in life..................
"Research suggests five general stages in the process a person goes through when lost. In the first, you deny that you are disoriented and press on with growing urgency, attempting to make your mental map fit what you see. In the next stage, as you realize that you are genuinely lost, the urgency blossoms into a full-scale survival emergency. Clear thought becomes impossible and action becomes frantic, unproductive, even dangerous. In the third stage (usually following injury or exhaustion), you expend the chemicals of emotion and form a strategy for finding some place that matches the mental map. (This is a misguided strategy, for there is no such place now: you are lost.) In the fourth stage you deteriorate both rationally and emotionally, as the strategy fails to resolve the conflict. In the final stage as you run out of options and energy, you must become resigned to your plight. Like it or not, you must make a new mental map of where you are. You must become Robinson Crusoe or you will die. To survive, you must find yourself...............then it won't matter where you are."
"Bending The Map" Laurence Gonzales
.................so it took me quite a while to figure out that when he said "you must become Robinson Crusoe" he didn't actually mean, "become Robinson Crusoe.".................I'm kidding. Fact was, it did still matter where I was, so whatever I had come here to find was going to take some work.
~Abraham Lincoln~
On Wednesday I got in a solo run on the New Rivah after visiting Fayetteville and one of the outfitters about guiding. Fayetteville is a pretty cool small town, and definitely has a good small town feel with a courthouse in the center of town, some good bars, a coffee shop, and plenty of out of work raft guides, kayakers, and rivah bums to make the town look productive..............notice I used the words "look productive", not "be productive." Paddle bums are good at chillin', unless it is time to paddle.
I came to West By God to be alone, so paddling solo was an activity I planned to frequent while here. Paddling alone in West By God is a lot harder than paddling alone on The Island. Everything here is really, really BIG. The shuttle for the New is forty minutes one way, so solo paddling is not the easiest thing in the world to accomplish. My plan was simple...........drive to the put in, slide my boat into the rivah, enjoy the meditation of floating alone through The Grand Canyon of the East, then hope for the best at the takeout. As long as I didn't encounter disgruntled RVA paddlers pissed off about references to the FSW or Fat Bastard I would be fine. (even if I did encounter them, they would probably run away.......they like to play pretend too.) After two hours of big water Class III and IV and some much needed rivah solitude, I found some fellow paddlers before the last rapid willing to give me a ride back to the top. They were good people who enjoyed talking about rivah safety, so we had a pleasant ride.
On Thursday I ran a check out trip on the New Rivah early in the morning. Afterwards, I drove to a tributary of the New in a town called Ansted. The tributary was Mill Crick. Mill has a nice little stretch of Class V creekin' on in it, and the entire run is roadside and can be shuttled in about five minutes. There is a nice 20 footer in there and the run looked fun as hell, but unfortunately it was a low water trickle. Late in the afternoon I took one of those roads that you probably shouldn't go down in West By God.................I drove it all the way to the end and then a little more. I parked my car, geared up, and started walking. As expected, the trail dropped away quickly, this time tumbling toward the Class V section of The Meadow. Within 20 minutes I reached the bottom of the gorge and started hiking down rivah towards the Gauley. I wanted to be able to scout and see the rivah and this was not happening from the trail, so I cut through the woods and popped out into the open. After 30 or 40 minutes of exploring the Class V lines of The Meadow, hoping rocks, and looking for sieves (which there were plenty of to discover) I headed home. As I hiked out I strolled leisurely through the quiet, moist forest (I just wanted to use the word moist), and I took in the solitude of nature and the fading evening light dancing through the leaves. After about 8 or 9 switchbacks I came up the trail and heard rock fall coming from the woods ahead of me. The rocky line of the cliff traversed upwards until it reached the horizon line of a meadow in the evening sun. On the horizon line I could see a large silhouette moving across the scenic meadow. Initially my brain told me it was a cow, but then I did a double take, thought about the rock fall and all the noise, and realized I was looking at a bear. After years of WNC hiking and camping I have had numerous bear encounters (but not as many as Marcelle. That girl was a bear magnet). The bears in WNC are the equivalent of large dogs, maybe 200 to 300 pounds. This bear was the size of, well......, a cow. The bears in West By God are apparently like everything else hear...............BIG. But fortunately they are almost always very shy and my new friend dropped off into the woods very quickly.
I have said before that I do not believe in coincidences. Well, I also believe in symbolism. (or is it symbology.............(Boondock Saints......great movie)) Seeing a bear this early in my stay was a symbol to me. So I did some research on the friendly bear................
"...........the bear is emblematic of grounding forces and strength. This animal has been worshiped throughout time as a powerful totem, inspiring those who need it the courage to stand up against adversity. As a spirit animal in touch with the earth and the cycles of nature, it is a powerful guide to support physical and emotional healing.
The bear has several meanings that will inspire those who have this animal as totem:
“Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside in a cloud of smoke, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming "Wow! What a Ride!”
I came to West By God to be alone, so paddling solo was an activity I planned to frequent while here. Paddling alone in West By God is a lot harder than paddling alone on The Island. Everything here is really, really BIG. The shuttle for the New is forty minutes one way, so solo paddling is not the easiest thing in the world to accomplish. My plan was simple...........drive to the put in, slide my boat into the rivah, enjoy the meditation of floating alone through The Grand Canyon of the East, then hope for the best at the takeout. As long as I didn't encounter disgruntled RVA paddlers pissed off about references to the FSW or Fat Bastard I would be fine. (even if I did encounter them, they would probably run away.......they like to play pretend too.) After two hours of big water Class III and IV and some much needed rivah solitude, I found some fellow paddlers before the last rapid willing to give me a ride back to the top. They were good people who enjoyed talking about rivah safety, so we had a pleasant ride.
On Thursday I ran a check out trip on the New Rivah early in the morning. Afterwards, I drove to a tributary of the New in a town called Ansted. The tributary was Mill Crick. Mill has a nice little stretch of Class V creekin' on in it, and the entire run is roadside and can be shuttled in about five minutes. There is a nice 20 footer in there and the run looked fun as hell, but unfortunately it was a low water trickle. Late in the afternoon I took one of those roads that you probably shouldn't go down in West By God.................I drove it all the way to the end and then a little more. I parked my car, geared up, and started walking. As expected, the trail dropped away quickly, this time tumbling toward the Class V section of The Meadow. Within 20 minutes I reached the bottom of the gorge and started hiking down rivah towards the Gauley. I wanted to be able to scout and see the rivah and this was not happening from the trail, so I cut through the woods and popped out into the open. After 30 or 40 minutes of exploring the Class V lines of The Meadow, hoping rocks, and looking for sieves (which there were plenty of to discover) I headed home. As I hiked out I strolled leisurely through the quiet, moist forest (I just wanted to use the word moist), and I took in the solitude of nature and the fading evening light dancing through the leaves. After about 8 or 9 switchbacks I came up the trail and heard rock fall coming from the woods ahead of me. The rocky line of the cliff traversed upwards until it reached the horizon line of a meadow in the evening sun. On the horizon line I could see a large silhouette moving across the scenic meadow. Initially my brain told me it was a cow, but then I did a double take, thought about the rock fall and all the noise, and realized I was looking at a bear. After years of WNC hiking and camping I have had numerous bear encounters (but not as many as Marcelle. That girl was a bear magnet). The bears in WNC are the equivalent of large dogs, maybe 200 to 300 pounds. This bear was the size of, well......, a cow. The bears in West By God are apparently like everything else hear...............BIG. But fortunately they are almost always very shy and my new friend dropped off into the woods very quickly.
I have said before that I do not believe in coincidences. Well, I also believe in symbolism. (or is it symbology.............(Boondock Saints......great movie)) Seeing a bear this early in my stay was a symbol to me. So I did some research on the friendly bear................
"...........the bear is emblematic of grounding forces and strength. This animal has been worshiped throughout time as a powerful totem, inspiring those who need it the courage to stand up against adversity. As a spirit animal in touch with the earth and the cycles of nature, it is a powerful guide to support physical and emotional healing.
The bear has several meanings that will inspire those who have this animal as totem:
- The primary meaning of the bear spirit animals strength and confidence
- Standing against adversity; taking action and leadership
- The spirit of the bear indicates its time for healing or using healing abilities to help self or others
- The bear medicine emphasizes the importance of solitude, quiet time, rest
- The spirit of the bear provides strong grounding forces"
Don't worry............I do not plan on turning this writing into a "spiritual journey" about life. But the meanings of animals originate from Native American tradition, and in my opinion the Native Americans knew how to live. They kayaked, lived in teepee's, lived off the land, believed in community, could hunt, fish, garden, and rock climb, and they were always smokin' some good shit. What's not to love about that life!
On Thursday I also found out that a crew of paddlers were coming to West Virginia and I needed to break out Pink and get ready for some paddling. After a first week that included some solo boating, Mental Mapping, moonshine stills, waterfall climbing, bear sightings, and lots of time for reflection, I was ready to paddle........and it just so happens that my favorite stretch of whitewater just happens to be the Lower Gauley. Between the scenery and the perfect balance of whitewater and nature, it is a rivah that is rivaled by very few...............and I was living in it. Looks like this ride is going to keep going just a bit longer.
~Hunter S. Thompson~
See ya on the rivah.................most likely paddling alone. PEACE
