Category: Mountains
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Poem – Transition
Everything has changed since leaving the land of the midnight sun. Squishy, my thoughts have become – what was light and free before, has taken on dreams interwoven with a landscape and all the life and history inhabiting each grain of sand, each droplet, and boulder cast from the mountain top. An evolution in thoughts…
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Alaska 2013 – Climbing Matanuska Glacier
Photos from one of the climbs of Matanuska Glacier, near Glacier View, Alaska.
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Alaska 2013 – Thoughts and Random Photos
Day 1 in Anchorage, AK. It has been 6-years since I have been here, in Anchorage. Has anything changed? Here, me? Previously I had specific goals and decisions to make during my time. Reflecting back on that time, the space I was within was turbulent, fuzzy, chaotic, twisting and turning in some kind of vortex.…
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Alaska 2013 – Guiding Company
For the adventure this year, I went with Exposure Alaska. This was my second expedition with them (first was in 2007). I completed the Xxtreme Week expedition and can say this was one intense trip. I have gone with other companies for trips to Alaska and the San Juan Islands, and feel this company is…
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Alaska 2013 – Summary
I have been away for awhile, taking a break from the corporate world and losing myself in nature. Accepting that part of me that desires to challenge my mental and physical health, I spent nine days in Alaska. Seven were taking advantage of what is Alaska and dealing with what it throws at you. At…
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Feeling Alive
I have become aware that nature, being in nature, and at its whim, is when I am most alive and full of life, hope, respect, and at my most humble. I try to keep some part of it in my thoughts each day when I am most at need and far away because of daily…
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Finding Home
Is home truly where the heart is, or where the heart feels at home? The sun rises behind grey clouds infused with faint orange, drifting in the morning sky just above the distant treeline. Across the vast expanse of water, mountains rise to meet the sky, and the sky greets the mountains with tears. A…
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Glacial Perspective
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Random Thoughts
Fall has taken over Minnesota and what on average are the hottest days of the year, has become 50s and rain. A taste of early fall perhaps, and then a head-first plunge into winter, my favorite season. As I have written about before, cold weather, and in particular winter, is when awareness of ourself becomes…
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Reasons
Here I am in MN, when I was supposed to be in Ashford, WA. Mt. Rainier was to be the actual mountain, the manifestation of goals and purpose, and the journey to reach the top, and survey the landscape, looking for the next to overcome. It seems my physical being had other plans, and I…
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Mt. Rainier 2013 – Packing
With less than 3-weeks before flying to Seattle, I started to pack and review all of the required and recommended gear. Good thing as I think the harness I have is too small when taking into account the extra layers and bulk at the higher elevations. Everything from the provided list is in the photos…
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Life Lessons – Lloyd Skelton
I wrote this awhile ago, but have been thinking about the past, where I have come from, how I got here, and the help along the way. A friend of mine, who I met at an architecture form we both worked at, was last seen on June 4th, 2005. He was planning to kayak and…
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Changes
A while ago I changed the name of this blog to “Senzing Zen”. I thought it had a cool ring to it, and tried to bring some focus to my goals and purpose here. After some thought and soul searching, I feel the name is inflated and a bit egotistical. My journey of discovery is…
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Poem – Into the Wild
I stand… Atop the snow-covered mountain above the tree line the valley split and pocked by spring fed river. Miles in every direction other mountains rise to meet the cloud deck and beyond toward the sun, heaven. Into this space I have travelled following raw instinct and primal energy. Feelings deep within I do not…
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Alaska 2007 – Ice Climbing
The way up is almost perpendicular to the frozen ground. The glacier looms over me like a white predator, silent, and patiently waiting for a victim to wander into its steel jaws. Snow anchors are set at the top of the glacier. I am roped in with my harness, helmet on, goggles, and an ice…