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retreating in holiday
how
Veteran Veteran
Springs blooming/holidays looming/ I'm soon off again for some Northern coastal wilderness kayaking. Any other city slickers finding solace in the wild?
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We just went to the Stawamus Chief a couple of weeks ago - that was awesome.
@how - How north are we talking? Haida Gwaii?
My aim will be to 'sit' and be one with nature! I love listening and allowing it to teach me things that 'no man' or words could ever teach...
I wont be taking much apart from My journal - ill write few diary entries/thoughts and perhaps some poetry...
And maybe one book to read (if i have trouble sleeping) Very rare!!!
Ive done this wild camping now a few times this year and fell in love with it straight away! Its kinda my way of 'getting away from the matrix and having a little 'retreat' and abit of 'me time'
(Then i come back to the everyday mask that we have to wear - the mask of being Me, the father, the partner, the friend, the son, the brother, the worker, the etc etc etc...
Being alone with nature allows me to remove the mask and be ..... FREE for a limited time!
The Chief! That's almost a 2000 ft high cliff of granite. Lot's of studio's have included that in action flicks. Did you climb the backside?
& if so how long does it take.
I've done Haida Gwaii a number of times and it's south area is pretty unique.
No our plan is to kayak immediately North of Vancouver Island as that is some of the least inhabited coast line but since my partner has a bit of tennis elbow, this year is a bit of a test of our aging process..
My first "wildness" retreat occured when the monastery I was staying in, kicked out all the lay residents for 3 weeks to give their Guest dept (& the rest of the monks) a rest.
I spent my time in retreat at high alititude on a Northern Californian mountain. Nothing but my food, fire, a zafu & my tent. It was tranformative.
I know other zenists (by the way) that could have written the same post that you did.
No, we just hiked up to the 3rd peak and came back down via the 2nd peak. Going up to the 3rd peak is very natural, very scenic. The journey impressed me with its wilderness much more than the view at the top. It took us about 2-2.5 hours to reach the top of the 3rd peak, about the same coming down.
Your kayak trip sounds nice! All the best!
For any west coasters looking for a beautiful retreat I recommend Friendly Cove at Nootka sound. They have some rustic but clean cabins there that have a lake out the front and the ocean out back.
That sounds really cool @zenmyste!
Yes a great area.
I think I still have photos of my daughter surrounded by skeletons in a burial cave that we took refuge in during a storm off the North end of Nootka Island.
My most interesting experience with a fishing camp in Haida Gwaii (being veggies) was in Pacofi bay on the park boundary on Moresby. Some US fast food billionaire built a luxury mansion for a fishing camp that was later determined to be too close to the park boundaries and in the end could only be utilized by the owners.. We were camped a few miles away when it's caretaker trekked through the woods to us to invite us to stay over night there. He had a serious case of mansion fever from spending months at a time alone with only a semi tame mink for company.
It was a welcome but unexpected dose of luxury in the middle of a 3 week kayaking trip.
Thanks for the warning. We have years of experience kayaking in some pretty hairy sections of exposed coast which has really taught us how fragile life is out there.
My partner has just piped up that she doesn't care how dangerous it is as long as I can promise somewhere it will be warm. We have a knack for leaving our warm summery Vancouver climate to go where it's interesting but usually sunless.. I change the subject and she lets it slide again. Anything that isn't rain from above and salt water spray from below is just gravy...
Cheers
What a wonderful thread.
I am on holiday, which means I will be working harder than usual to earn a few crumbs. Just cleaning, gardening, house sitting etc. Nice residential environment. Been watching fox cubs, lesser woodpecker etc.
Cut the grass so can touch the earth with my bare tootsies. So the garden and local parks may be as close as I get but who knows . . . may catch a bus out of the city . . .
Thanks for pics guys . . . Vicarious nature retreat may be as near as I get . . .