Mountain Spirit Journeys

Light.  Freedom.  Inspiration.

These are some of the benefits of following one’s path.  The costs include letting go of attachments that hold us back, disappointing people who want us to be something else, letting go of what others think of us, facing our fear of the unknown and coping with confusion when it comes.  These costs are a natural part of becoming a mature human being.

We are beholden to no one.  However, we benefit everyone when we follow our soul’s path.  Our true obligation is to our hearts purpose.  We are most effective at helping others when our hearts are full.  We are beholden to everyone.

How do we find our soul’s path?  It seems that our paths are a work in progress.   Listen to your heart, it does not lie.  Pay attention to that which brings you feelings of well being.  Pray and connect with that which is divine.  Start small as one thing leads to the next.  Have courage.  Seek community that supports your highest potential.  Know that when a person reaches out with a pure heart, the rest of creation responds by reaching back.  Together a fulfilled purpose is manifested.

When you realize that you’ve gotten stuck somewhere, be easy with yourself.  Step forward on your path again and no matter how big or small, let go of that which is holding you back.

Smile!  Your heart and soul thanks you.  Sing through your words, your body language, your smile and your eyes.  Sing with your hair as the wind plays with you.  Let your heart be a channel for divine energy.  Carry that energy with you and give freely.

Do your laundry, do the maintenance on your things and pay your bills.  Your soul needs these vehicles to reach its potential.

Many people need a lot of time and space to unfold.  This winter’s trip has provided that for me.  I left Maine on my motorcycle on Dec 21 and have ridden down through Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Columbia, Ecuador and Peru.

The joy of wandering like this is in the rich experiences of meeting new people and places.  Waving to people and getting a full variety of responses is fun.  Feeling the wind, sun and rain on my skin is a real-time interaction with the earth.

When I can’t understand someone because my Spanish is limited, it does not seem to matter as our hearts and eyes are sharing the most important information.  I can usually tell what they are meaning by listening with all my senses.

There are of course, many challenges with journeying like this.  Coping with the anger and ill feelings of peoples and places can be difficult when feeling vulnerable in a foreign land.   There has been much physical discomfort:  the heat, the cold, rain, dirty hotel rooms, diarrhea, upset stomach and more.  Emotional challenges have been there too.  Confusion, homesickness, restlessness, and unfamiliarity have presented their challenges.

I’ve had time to listen to my heart and look back at my life.  Is all well?  Where do I want to head next?  What parts need to be let go of?  Am I being true to myself?  Am I being useful to those that I would help?  What new things do I want to do.  Are my relationships healthy?

I have gotten the answers to many of those questions and been given answers to questions I didn’t know I had.  I’ve been guided by spirit and been given many gifts and challenges.  I’ve been kept safe too, which I’m grateful for.

I woke up a few minutes before midnight and couldn’t sleep. The wind had calmed to a stillness that seemed to amplify the full moon’s power. The desert landscape was lit up in the glowing pale light. A reflection of a reflection. This light is twice removed from its source as I see it glowing on the earth.

I walked for a while. I stood still and the sound of the river became louder as if it wanted me to visit it…so I did. I found some saplings that may one day grow into the large cotton wood trees. As I stood in a clearing surrounded by bushes and saplings, sky and moon, I listened to their voices.

The power of a place can be so healing. I hope to share this power with more people who might benefit from it. When I spend much time in these places of natural beauty and character, I become more. More connected, more alive, more myself.

May we all be blessed with a relationship with a place that nurtures and fills us. Happy New Year and Blessings to ALL.

Tonight I watched the sunset while I was laying on a ledge and surrounded by family. The grass tickled my face and said hi. As the wind picked up, it rubbed deeper and made me laugh and smile.  The sun was split into fragments by the stalks.  Laying, talking, laughing and cuddling with the grass.  Such beautiful connections we can have with the earth!

I stood facing the ocean and asked for guidance and protection on my upcoming journey.  Asking for permission to enter onto her waters, I told her how vulnerable I would be in my kayak and that I was completely surrendering to her.  My heart songs reverberated deep in my chest and spread out across the deep and choppy water.  The prayers and the songs were accepted by the spirit of the ocean and I was offered the most beautiful rainbow of my life as a sign.  We were connected…the ocean and I and every paddle stroke and every exchange of breath would be in partnership with her.

This is the ancient human way of communicating with the elements and the spirits of nature.  It is a language born in our hearts.  To communicate with the earth is to return to the home of our ancestors, and to open a door to a humble and connected world view.  It is the birthright of every living being to communicate intimately with creation.

This solo kayak trip was a circumnavigation of Vinalhaven Island that is at the mouth of Penobscot Bay.  To get to Vinalhaven Island from Owl’s Head, (Rockland, Maine), requires a 6 mile crossing of Western Penobscot Bay.  This crossing has a large fetch of water that is exposed to the open ocean and all her winds and tides.   It is an act of faith in the ocean and one’s self to commit to such a crossing alone.

As I approached the final jut of land before the crossing, two eagles flew in front of me and spiraled together.  They rose and rose until they were faint specs in the grey sky and then disappeared from view altogether.  This eagle dance was heartening encouragement, so I began the crossing.  The outgoing tide, combined with an incoming breeze created two foot seas that were fairly steep.

When the seas began to rise even more, I again sang to the ocean.  It was a song of gratitude and a spirit song of my soul.  Within seconds of beginning my song, a seal arrived and looked at me with its dark, shiny and opaque eyes.  I don’t believe it had ever been sung to before, and it swam with me for quite some time.  It was very nice to have the company.  At the same time, the ocean calmed and allowed me safe passage to Vinalhaven Island.

Later, while exploring the shore line of the wilderness campsite that I stayed at, I found an image in the granite that took my breath away.  It was an image of a woman’s body with a falcon’s head.  The image was made up of dark stone that stood out in contrast to the lighter colored granite surrounding it.  My new friend in the rock and I sat for a long time and watched the sunset on the rocky Maine coast.

This is the precious way life can be for us.  The Earth offers us gifts of connection, listening, encouragement, nurturing, nourishment, vision, guidance, love and meaning.  We are a vital part of creation.

Take the time to listen and interact with nature and you will be tremendously blessed.

The cloudy days of the fall season make the leaf color stand out in deeper shades. This time of the season stirs some deep sense of excitement that sometimes has me jumping around the yard :0 It’s great to be alive

I’ve had a busy week re-entering into my life here on Tibetts Mountain.  My time alone on the Allagash was magical.  I left the group off at their car midway down the Allagash Wilderness Waterway.  I had a tail wind for the remainder of the day…which was awesome.  I stood up to use my body as a sail.  I came to really enjoy standing while paddling.  By the end I was standing through the rapids.  I found that I could see and avoid the rocks much easier this way.  The river was fairly easy the rest of the trip with class I and some easy class II.  I was never really challenged by the white water on this these sections.

The first day I paddled through Long Lake and then lined the canoe around an old dam ( Long Lake dam).  It looks runnable and some people make it through, but there are metal spikes in the water which have been known to shred boats.  I opted to line it.

Then I continued down river to Round Pond.  Before entering Round Pond, I saw an American Elm on the left.  What a beautiful tree this was, and how lucky we are to have this lone survivor with us after the death of most of its species.  Just after entering Round Pond, the wind picked up and whipped the lake into 2 foot seas in a matter of minutes.  I’ve never seen a lake grow chop and seas so fast.  The wind pushed me straight to the Squirrel Cove in minutes, though it was a little scary in the big water.  I got there around 2:30 or 3 PM.

Squirrel Cove and Round Pond were very beautiful with lots of cedar trees.  I saw an eagle sitting on a tree.  I found a tree that was overhanging the water, and I sat on it for a long time and watched the heavy waves roll in to the shore.

The second day started paddling by 6:30.  I had a heavy head wind for much of this day, which whipped up white caps on the river.  I found that the wind would turn the boat quickly and I had to fight hard to keep the boat from wind cocking.  Despite the head wind, the current kept me moving along.

I paddled to Michaud Farms ranger station and signed in.  Then I paddled to The Allagash Falls for the Portage.  Carrying the canoe over the portage was painful and I had to stop three times and rest my shoulders.  The main problem was the pain from the yoke digging into my neck/shoulders.  Allagash Falls were beautiful.  The Falls were very loud and were dropping a lot of water.    It was hard to imagine the log drivers of old, picking apart log jams that occurred in these falls.

I paddled to the Big Brook East  and was there around 2 or 2:30 pm.   I chose the East campsite so that I’d have plenty of sun during the evening.  I wanted to stay here because I could get to town relatively early the next day and drive home.  There is a nice stream on Big Brook East and I used my Steripen UV light to purify some water. It was very yummy.  I hung out in the sun and read the Gil Gilpatrick Allagash History book during the evening.

That night I heard some splashing sounds that were repeated every so often.  I surmised that it was a moose that was feeding.  Every so often it would shake off and I could hear its heavy fur flapping.  Then I fell asleep and dreamed of the moose…I kept it away from my hammock with a cantaloupe that I waved at it.

The next morning I was on the river at 5:30.  There was fog on the river and it was cold.  I found that my hands and feet got cold, though the rest of me was dry.  The fog made the small rips challenging to paddle through.   It took 3 hours to get to town and the take out.  I was at the car by 8:30.  I had a meal at a Diner, loaded the vehicle and was on my way.  I left by 10 am and was home by 6:30.

I didn’t want to leave and when I got home, I couldn’t stop thinking of the waterway and wanting to be up there on it.  Joan and I talked about buying some land and building a camp up there.  I think that it would be nice to have a place to start and end trips.  We’ll see!

So I’m pretty settled in now and I’m planning next the 2010 trips to the North Maine Woods.  I’m planning a trip to the St. John River.  It has more white water and is a little longer than the Allagash.  The whitewater is mostly class I and II and there are a two class III rapids.  This river saves the hardest water for last which is good for building up experience before running the class III.  Of course I’m also planning another Allagash trip.

Blessings,  Jamal Lee-Elkin