Archive for the ‘Power of Place’ Category
16/05/2009
From New Zealand to Utah, From Alaska to New Hampshire – Ice bergs to Honeycombs
It’s called calving, when a glacier’s edge dramatically breaks off. Many cruise ships take the tour along Alaska’s shores. From Seward and other harbors along the coast, one can sign on for a daily round-trip to get up close views.
Perito Mereno Glacier, Argentina
The dramatic Perito Mereno Glacier in Argentina’s Southern windswept Los Glaciares National Park has many visitors.and is possibly the most famous rivers of ice in the world because. It was declared a World Heritage site by UNESCO in 1981. Amanda and I stopped at Tasman Lake in New Zealand’s Mt. Cook National Park to see the floating ice bergs in the grey-green water thick with rock flower. We hiked up to the top of an old terminal moraine and saw the bergs as the sun was setting.
White Pine Lake, Utah
More than a few times, I’ve jumped into such frigid waters, after a run or back country mountain sleep, just to wake me up. While at University of Utah, when I was still learning about the mountains, I did an overnight up White Pine Canyon in the late fall and jumped into White Pine Lake near Snowbird. A few minutes later, it had a skim of ice on it. That’s chilly, but there were no icebergs or calving going on, just shivering.
Lake Tasman, Mt. Cook
The Tasman Glacier regularly claves ice bergs but the evening we were there it was calm and each iceberg gave us a show of *“petreflections” of various sizes and patterns.
When the ice goes out in Lake Sunapee, NH, the reader may be curious to know that there usually aren’t big ice bergs. Then again, I didn’t grow up on the west side of the lake, where the whole lot piles up on a windy afternoon leaving dramatic piles of ice, as if the town dump truck and just deposited its backlog for the winter. On the east side of the lake, we observe the ice gradually thinning from the spring melt, and as it thins, darkens to almost a black. It turn into “honeycomb ice” we call it, where its transformed from the meter-thick solid sheet that runs the whole lake, to fragile, loosely held together elongated splinters that fall apart when scooped up in your hand. Those of us that grew us as kids along the shore of a lake will know what I mean. Daily we watch the progression.
*Petreflections Galore
Official Ice Out day is declared when Artie Osborne can take his boat from the north tip at George’s Mills to Newbury, some 10-13 miles distant without obstruction. To my knowledge, he still makes the trip, and in the process, closes the informal town bets for the season. Go swim in an ice-berg filled lake sometime. It’s the right thing to do.
Author’s Note: Also see my earlier entry on largest iceberg breaks off of Tasman Glacier in 100 years.
*Petreflections: A term coined by Kathy Lowe. See her link above.
Tags:adventure travel, Alaska, Argentina, Arthur Osborne, Dexter R. Richards, ecospiritual psychology, Experiential Education, Georges Mills, Holistic Living, Ice Bergs, Kathy Lowe Bloch, Little Cottonwood Canyon, Los Glaciares National Park, Mountain Spirit, Mountaineering, Mt. Cook National Park, mtnspirit.org, New Hampshire, New Zealand, Newbury NH, Petroflections, Randy Richards, Sunapee NH, Sustainability, UNESCO, Utah, White Pine Canyon
Posted in Environment, Glaciology, New Zealand, Power of Place, South America, Traveling | Leave a Comment »
23/04/2009
Concord, NH, USA
“A judge has dismissed a lawsuit filed against the state of New Hampshire by the owners of Mount Sunapee Resort, who had lobbied for years to expand and develop condominiums. Judge Diane Nicolosi made her ruling late Friday, several weeks after canceling a trial between Tim and Diane Mueller and the state.” Read more via Judge dismisses Mt. Sunapee lawsuit.
“This is a major victory in our efforts to protect Mount Sunapee State Park,” said conservationist and public land advocate Tom Elliott.
Elliott is also an organizer for Friends of Mount Sunapee, a watch-guard group that steadfastly opposed the Mueller’s leasehold expansion plan.
Article: Courtesy of Sunapeenews.com
Editor’s Note: I’m a founding board member of Friends of Mount Sunapee, and although not as active while abroad, am warmed, not only by this decision but by the thought of how far we’ve come with with a shift in land preservation awareness in Sullivan County, NH. When we first considered raising our hands in opposition to (more…)
Tags:adventure travel, Dexter R. Richards, Early Winters, ecospiritual psychology, Experiential Education, FOMS, Friends of Mount Sunapee, Holistic Living, Land Conservation Successes, Mazama, Mountain Spirit, Mountaineering, mtnspirit.org, New Hampshire, Peru, Randy Richards, Spiritual, SPNHF, Sunapee, Sustainability, The Power of Place, Tim and Diane Mueller
Posted in Conservation, Environment, Leadership, Power of Place, Sustainable Living/Communities | Leave a Comment »
18/04/2009
Governor's Bay, Picton, NZ
Early Bird Catches the Shot
We were to catch the ferry from New Zealand’s South Island to the North island. The Ferry first weaves its way from Picton Harbor, through a long sound, before opening out into the open water between north and south islands. The passage is seen in the image at right. The crossing takes about 3.5 hours, which departed at 8am. We encamped on the Queen Charlotte Drive just west of Picton, and this early morning sunrise of the sound started our day.
Tags:adventure travel, Dexter R. Richards, ecospiritual psychology, Experiential Education, Governor's Bay, Holistic Living, Meditation, Mountain Spirit, mtnspirit.co.nz, mtnspirit.org, New Hampshire, New Zealand, Peru, Picton, Randy Richards, Solo, Spiritual, Sunapee, Sustainability, USA, Utah, wilderness yoga
Posted in New Zealand, Power of Place, Traveling | Leave a Comment »
18/04/2009
Lake Outlet Campground, Wanaka NZ
Lake Outlet Campground in Wanaka, New Zealand might look like your every-day campground in a stunning setting, tucked in amongst the low windswept trees alongside the shores of Lake Wanaka, but I assure this is no ordinary campground. Owners Glenn Tattersall and Tracy Addison happened to be at the right place at the right time a few years ago when they expressed interest in taking over the campground from landowner and operator Liam Urquhart. According to campground employee Joshua, Urquhart no longer was interested in running the campground, apparently the land developers caught word of his intentions and offered him millions for the lakefront property. ( Private lakefront property ownership doesn’t exist in New Zealand due to a national law called the Queen’s Chain that declares all land, starting from the high water line at the shore and going 40 meters (120 feet) back are public property and right of way. This also goes for rivers. The public is allowed to use this land for recreation and fishing access.)
About that time, enters Tattersall and Addison. The owner had no interest in selling to developers and with a lot of work was able to come up with a thirty-five year lease which not only provided Glenn and Tracy with a way in which to operate the campground, but put the land in protection during the next 35 year lease.
The author’s father once owned a lakefront campground near Fisher’s Bay in Sunapee New Hampshire, USA, in the mid 1960’s. The tents eventually gave way to million dollar homes in the form of a “funnel development “ called Oakledge. (The term “funnel development” is used for subdivisions which use a small amount of lake frontage to sell and support a large number of home lots away from the lakefront. This shared access allows many homeowners access to boat docks, beaches, launching ramps etc. Funnel developments were no longer allowed in the early 1970’s in New Hampshire, USA)
In the free market , it was an obvious course of events, as tents wouldn’t pay the bills as much as a subdivision. So I had personal experience of the value of what Mr. Urquhart and Tattersall and Ms. Addison had accomplished at Lake Outlet.
And Lakeside is no mere campground. Tattersall states his goals in running the operation – “We are making this operation as green as possible. Through our improvements and renovations we will be installing energy efficient appliances in the renovated green building of the main shower and kitchen complex.
Tentsite: Working with nature, not dominating it.
We are also working with the landscape rather than dominating it. Our tent and RV sites are interspersed around the existing trees and we intend to plant more trees.” He concluded, “This land is locked up in preservation for the next 35 years, and we’re proud to have had a part in that.” Of course none of this would have been possible without the stalwart vision and forward thinking of the landowner.
Tags:adventure travel, Dexter R. Richards, ecospiritual psychology, Experiential Education, Glenn Tattersall, Holistic Living, Lake Outlet Holiday Park and Campground, Meditation, Mountain Spirit, mtnspirit.co.nz, mtnspirit.org, New Hampshire, New Zealand, Peru, Randy Richards, Solo, Spiritual, Sunapee, Sustainability, Tracy Addison, USA, Utah, Wanaka, wilderness yoga
Posted in Conservation, Inspirational People, Leadership, New Zealand, Power of Place, Service, Sustainable Living/Communities | Leave a Comment »
24/03/2009
The Earth's Mantle, The Crash Site! Cool
What you’re looking, at the image on the right, is not just a rock in Newfoundland. It tells quite a story. Uplifting of an ancient sea bed some 470 million years ago unveiled the underlying mantle of the earth. As one of the only places in the world where it’s possible to see the earth’s mantle, Newfoundland is of interest to scientists and geologists like.
Although I took this picture on a mountain, it’s a snapshot of an ancient Atlantic sea bed, that was flipped up, way up, as it smashed into the North American plate. Ykes. And here I was standing at the scene of the crime, the collision of two continents!
Newfoundland is one of those out-of-the-way places.
Glenburnie-Birchy Head Shoal area, Newfoundland
You have to want to get there. You have to make a special effort. It’s not part of the eastern megalopolis- small towns, quite roads, out there. It’s like New Hampshire used to be in the ‘50’s-safe, trusting and amicable. Not wired. I was there a few years ago, on a whim. I’d just finished an Outward Bound Professional staff training in Northern Maine and decided to take a trip. I made the decision at 5PM and started driving at 5:15, headed from Old Town, Maine for New Brunswick. I had my sleeping bag, but no stove, no tent, but a toothbrush. My friend and I had a van, but no mosquito netting, which proved problematic. We picked up on old reliable Coleman stove at a second hand store, and were in business.
When Plates Collide
Newfoundland has been the scene of a geological flashpoint. There’s a roadside pullout, with a beautiful half hour walk. At the pullout are some informational plaques explaining that the location was a meeting point where the Atlantic and North American plates met millions of years ago. As I stared at the surface of the inlay, I imagined it as soft muck on the ocean floor. I felt like a geological time explorer.
(more…)
Posted in Environment, Power of Place, Traveling | 2 Comments »
18/03/2009
The View from French Ridge Hut
I recently had the opportunity to volunteer at French Ridge Hut last week. We had an unusual clear spell of almost cloudless blue skies, day after day. More times than not, the wind can howl on this ridge, making it difficult to make the journey to the privy, perched on the ridge, (so helicopters can more easily pick up the poop canisters).
Near Mt. Avalanche-Gloomy Gorge
I recently heard of one fellow who was sent to his death when the hut he was in, was blown off the mountain. I’m sure some of the readers have been on a fire lookout tower in high winds, having complete trust in the structure. Hmmm. Makes one think. Be sure to inquire or check to see if the hut you’re in has tie-down cables. French Ridge does not. I trust the architect, up to a point. It depends on how strong are the gale force winds. This is a bit tongue in cheek, or ice axe in ground.
Waterfall Rainbow, Gloomy Gorge
French Ridge and the environs is a magical place. It’s getting a lot of traffic from hikers as well as climbers. I was there later in the season, (just last week), when traffic to and from the Collin Todd Hut, and Mt. Aspiring had been halted due to the Quarterdeck section of glacier coming down from the Bonar Glacier was breaking up too badly to allow passage.
Monkeying around on the "Quarter Deck"
We decided to monkey around on the lower ramparts of the Quarterdeck anyway, for a day of walking, crevasse rescue and rope team travel practice, and a little bit of climbing in some dramatic scenery. While we were rather restricted in where we could actually go, we still had fun. The dry glacier provided some great ice climbing practice. I love glacier ice, which is a far cry from New
More playing around on some "safe" broken up bits.
Hampshire’s Frankenstein Cliff’s. I’ve just read a piece on climbing on the Fox Glacier that has me interested in doing some glacial ice there.
Kea in Flight
At the hut and just above, Keas, which are amazing Alpine parrots, seemed our constant companions. I figuring out when they would take off, and got some snaps of them in flight. One, at the hut, the other with Mt. Avalanche in the background just above the hut. They are very personable and curious creatures, if not troublesome. When we arrived at the hut on Day 1, the door to the was open, and the keas had made themselves at home, leaving the place a mess.
Kea, Amanda, Mt Avalanche
Just across from the Hut, on the ramparts of Rob Roy, is an impressive waterfall. It’s interesting and beautiful because the water comes piling down and hits a flat plateau, shooting the water out into space, like a jet stream. Then when the sun is hitting the wall just right, a rainbow is formed.
Tags:adventure travel, Alpine Parrot, Brenda Dowst, Dexter R. Richards, ecospiritual psychology, Experiential Education, French Ridge, Glacier Travel, Gloomy Gorge, Holistic Living, Ice Climbing, Kea, Mountain Spirit, Mountaineering, Mt. Aspiring, mtnspirit.org, New Hampshire, New Zealand, Quarter Deck, Randy Richards, Spiritual, Sunapee, Sustainability
Posted in Climb/Ski/Mntneering, Environment, Glaciology, MSI News, New Zealand, Power of Place, Traveling | Leave a Comment »
24/02/2009
Looking W on Island in the Sky, Utah
Although I was graduated from the University of Utah, and spent as much time in Utah, as in any other state, I had never been to CanyonlandsNational Park. I recently had the opportunity to kill some time while in Salt Lake waiting for a car repair, and decided to spend a few days and nights in the desert near Moab. My first stop was the Island in Sky. I spent a day exploring the plateau, taking pics, and scrambling among the sandstone outcrops. I miss the Utah desert, although New Zealand is hard to beat.
Navajo Sandstone: Canyonlands, Utah
As an aside, I was driving here in New Zealand from Christchurch to Wanaka, and passed through canyon that reminds me of American Fork Canyon in Utah. Anyway, after a couple of days on the Island, I did some work in Moab on MSI’s portable office, (the laptop) then moved on to the Needles area in the southern portion of the park. Here one can day hike or spend the night in the backcountry, and even drive around the park, although the latter is not high on my list. Along those lines, read Edward Abbey’s The Monkeywrench Gang, or Desert Solitaire on brilliant views about America’s relationship to wilderness. Oddly, I’m not sure his books have made it here downunder. I’ll keep you posted.
Island in the Sky, Image:Steve Mulligan/USPS
The Utah desert has a power all its own. So, if you’ve not been I suggest you get there before you die. Put it on your bucket list. For more information on the MSI’s Utah Solo and Wilderness programs, please contact us. The US Park Service has some great resources for Canyonlands
Tags:adventure travel, Bob Stremba, Brenda Dowst, Canyonlands, Cindy Heath, Craig Cimmons, Dexter R. Richards, ecospiritual psychology, Edward Abbey, Experiential Education, Holistic Living, Mountain Spirit, Mountaineering, mtnspirit.org, New Hampshire, Peru, Power of Place, Randy Richards, Solo, Spiritual, Sunapee, Sustainability, Utah, Vision Quests, Wilderness Programs
Posted in Environment, Inner Work, Power of Place, Spiritual, Traveling | Leave a Comment »
11/02/2009
Machu Picchu
MSI is excited to be working further with Guillermo Seminario and Chimu Inka this summer. For anyone interested in joining us, a small group, (limited to 6-7) will be going to Cusco, Machu Picchu and Lake Titicaca with Guillermo and Chimu Inka as our hosts. MSI has been running programs to Peru since 1998, (R Richards had been mountain guiding before that in Peru), and we are excited to be working with who we consider our dear family members Guillermo, Wachi and and Mario.
Amantani Island, Summit View
We will visit with locals, do a small service project, stay in the Sacred Valley, venture to Machu Picchu and Lake Titicaca. There will be a base for a few days in Ollantaytambo where we will head to Willoc to study weaving in action. This area is known for it’s traditional weaves with mainly vegetable dyes. Of course, Guillermo and his band members will provide a strong musical influence, not only by performing, but sharing with us their history and love of traditional Andean folklore music.
There is still space available, airline prices are at an all time low to Lima and Cusco, so we hope you’ll consider joining us. For more information see MSI’s website at www.mtnspirit.org or contact Randy Richards at 603-763-2668 or by email at randy@mtnspirit.org .
Tags:adventure travel, Andean Folklore Music, Bob Stremba, Brenda Dowst, Chimu Inka, Cindy Heath, Craig Cimmons, Cusco, Dexter R. Richards, ecospiritual psychology, Experiential Education, Guillermo Seminario, Holistic Living, Lake Titicaca, Machu Picchu, Mountain Spirit, Mountaineering, mtnspirit.org, New Hampshire, Peru, Randy Richards, Spiritual, Sunapee, Sustainability
Posted in Holistic Living, Leadership, Mountain People, MSI News, Peru, Power of Place, South America, Spiritual, Traveling | 1 Comment »
11/02/2009
Stacked stones, Fantail Falls, NZ
Fantail Falls is at the trailhead for Mt. Brewster at the Haast Pass road on New Zealand’s South Island. Taking off from the parking lot, the trail has a short bypass to the falls. After a few days at the Mt. Brewster area, I decided to drop my pack off at the car, and come back to the falls. Not only was I treated to the falls on the far side of the river, but also to the piles of rocks left by strangers. I doubt one person or family did them all. Whoever stacked these rocks spaced them peacefully and artfully in front of the falls. The next rain will most likely send them toppling when the river rises. In searching on the internet for a particular name of stacked rocks done in a meditative aire, I stumbled across an interesting article on the subject.
Update: Since I wrote this piece, I’ve driven to the south island’s west coast and back, and noticed these stone piles at a few inspirational locations, the beaches on the Tasman Sea, and inland, near Mt. Cook.
Tags:adventure travel, Balancing Rocks, Bob Stremba, Brenda Dowst, Cindy Heath, Craig Cimmons, Dexter R. Richards, ecospiritual psychology, Experiential Education, Holistic Living, Meditation, Mountain Spirit, Mountaineering, Mt. Brewster, mtnspirit.org, New Hampshire, New Zealand, Peru, Randy Richards, Spiritual, Stacked Stones, Sunapee, Sustainability
Posted in Inner Work, New Zealand, Power of Place, Spiritual | Leave a Comment »
11/02/2009
Family heading back from Aspiring Hut
Recently, during a New Zealand national holiday, the Aspiring Hut saw a full house last Saturday night. There were climbers, trekkers, and people of all ages. Some were making the Aspiring Hut their destination, others were headed further for Cascade Saddle, French Ridge or Mt. Aspiring’s summit.
One family was the most unique there that night. A young couple was there with there 11 month old baby. I was amazed to see the baby stroller in the hut. It seemed so out of place. Upon quering the couple, they said they had been ill advised about the stoller, and shouldn’t have brought it. (There is a good portion of the trail where it can be used however, not enough to warrant carrying it as much as they did).
The hike to Aspiring Hut, NZ
Congratulations to these two for coming into the mountains with their new baby. They, and others here in New Zealand, show us that the backcountry is a place for the young and the young at heart. The next day, an elderly hiking group from Dunedin, numbering 40 or more, with an average age of 60, hiked to the hut for the day. Well done.
Tags:adventure travel, Aspiring Hut, Bob Stremba, Brenda Dowst, Cindy Heath, Craig Cimmons, Dexter R. Richards, ecospiritual psychology, Experiential Education, Holistic Living, Mountain Spirit, Mountaineering, Mt. Aspiring National Park, mtnspirit.org, New Hampshire, New Zealand, Peru, Randy Richards, Spiritual, Sunapee, Sustainability
Posted in Health, Holistic Living, Mountain People, New Zealand, Power of Place | Leave a Comment »
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