the forest

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National Herbalist Day

Hail Brave Hearts

Enjoy the nutrition of the land and the many medical marvels that it reveals.  It’s a new day dawning for the Herbalist.  A day of worthy mention.  National Herbalist Day!  Wow!

The subject matter is superb.  Now that spring is here, the welcome backyard medicine cabinet is opening it’s doors.  New spring teas from fresh shoots, leaves and plants.  Lovely.  Fit for any larder, the beautiful abundance of natural goodness is in your yard.

The most obvious, killer weed, that notorious Dandelion.  Awesome!  The nutritional value of this plant is a keeper.

Plantain, St John’s Wort, Daisy and many more.   A special day for those of us, who seek natural remedies for those aches and pains.  I’ve been lucky with Nettle, Red Currant, Apple Leaf and Rose Hips, but these are just a few of the many natural wonders of the wild world.  Home made salves and soaps, fragrance and tea.  Natural healers to boost energy, to calm, to induce sleep, to improve circulation and help achy joints and achy pains.  Your garden is an Earthly delight.  Those pesky weeds, so hard to get rid of , might freshen your breath, improve your eyesight, add luster to your hair and make it shine.  The self indulgent gardener might even find a cure for what ails themselves.  There are many good gardening books which will help to plant an herbalist garden.

But are natural remedies important?  They are, if you want them to be.  Do they actually provide cures?  Yes, they do.

To quote Chris Dalziel at Jobillee Farm.  who has a  book Growing Abundance, the Garden You Harvest in a Week.

Monday is National Herbalist Day!  It’s a day to acknowledge the herbs that keep us well, help our gardens grow better, make our food taste better, and give us abundance.  Its also a day to recognize the herbal mentors in our life.

Who taught you about using herbs in the kitchen, the garden, and the apothecary?  Did you learn from a mother, a grand parent, a neighbor? Are you self-taught from books and the internet? Did you take a class? Or are you just beginning to learn about herbs as an adult?

Learn about Plantago major — Plantain

I love teaching children about herbs.  My 2 year old granddaughter knows to look for plantain (Plantago major) if she gets a bee sting or a mosquito bite.  “Plantain” comes from an old French word meaning “sole of the foot”.  It grows in compacted areas, where the footprint of humans or animals have compacted the soil.  Its a healing plant for the soil as much as it is a healing plant for us.

Often plantain is the first herb that people learn to use.  It can be an “a-ha” moment, when you hand them a leaf and tell them to put it on the “ouch”.  Relief is fast.

I’ve had the privilege of introducing plantain to tough motorcyclists, stung on the hand while riding, hikers, farmers, beekeepers, wee toddlers, and grumpy teens, mowing a lawn. Plantain is just one of the many gifts that God gives us to nourish and heal us.
In The Forest
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In The Forest

Hail Brave hearts

Ah, the forest.  The adventure is sweet.  It captures us as environmentalists, athletes, artists and nature seekers.  Fabulous forest, for beauty, for shelter, for warmth.  The myriad of species that inhabit these lands.  The wild lands.  The massive tracts of lands for trees, vegetation, wildlife and us.  The forest holds its secrets, prime fishing holes, a hidden lake, vast meadows of wildflowers, a campsite, a trail, a precious sought after climb, the view.  This is a wonderland to us.  So much to see, so many trails to follow, so much room to explore.  Our hearts sing.  The day is long, the journey rewarding, the wilds lands treat us to so much earthly pleasure in Gods wonderful, always outstanding, creation.  The joy is magnificent.  So much simple pleasure, so much to learn and so much knowledge to share.

The ever changing forest, from spring beauty, to awesome autumn, from warm summers evenings, to cold winter trekking.  The forest brings us a continual challenge of skills and expertise.  Paddle the pristine lakes, kayak the whitewater, drift in quiet solitude of the still waters.  Listen to the sound of the great wild as it echoes across the land.  This is the forest, with all of the wonders that it holds.  All across the surface of the forest there is  a secret hiding, to be found only by  those who know what to look for.  The experts who have the knowledge of herbal remedies.  Here in these trees lies the medicine cabinet of the  land.

Trees sway softly is the swirling winds, birds call and animals scurry away.  Flowers nod and wave their heads and beckon us to enjoy our day.  In this fabulous forest, there’s something for us.  It’s in the trees.   Healing trees, nurturing trees, trees that hold the secret to natural remedies and cures.  There are many.  The mighty spruce, with it’s vitamin C, provides a healing tea which  is the  one that cured the early explorers of scurvy.  This is just one, there are many more.

10 Medicinal Trees That Heal Virtually Everything – Off The Grid News

The bountiful forest gives us many things.  It gives us a captivating wonderland to explore, a bountiful world of healing cures and natural wisdom.  The forest is alive with so many precious treasures.  Animal life and vegetation galore!  An array of colour and light, a pleasure to our senses and a quiet in our stressful lives.

For the gardener, a tree could hold the cure to an ailment, a remedy of homemade cleverness.  Perhaps a cup of tea could save your life.  Choose wisely oh dear ones, these same trees have cured us for centuries, save them and protect them.  The forest is more than just trees, it is yet another garden of earthly delight, filled with food, medicine and healing, health benefits.

Come to the forest, oh awesome human, where the trees give us shade, adventure, the quiet wilderness and a healthy life.

Written by Dr. Louise Hayes

September 25, 2021

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In The Forest

Hail Almighty Human

Scream, as the terror is with us.  Strike a match, ignite the fire, burn and burn and burn.  We watch in helpless  horror as the forest fire rages.  Pillars of smoke and flame that engulf the trees, lay waste to the land, destroy our hopes and kill our lives.  The shock, the death, the despair.  No more fire, we scream in fright, as one of the worst years for forest fires is now starting to pass.  It was everywhere.  The smell, the cold, the choking fumes, hundreds of kilometers away and still it affects us.  The sky is a fog, the mountains vanish, the sun is gone and the light is dim.  Properties gone, their fortunes fade, one deathly blunder and our lives are changed.  Sometimes forever, sometimes for years, the horror of fire leaves a wake filled with tears.

Fighting against it, fighting the odds, the perils of a task so immense to complete.  Save our homes, save our lives, save our destiny, try, try, try.  The screams of terror, as it all lays to waste, the burden to rebuild, to be strong in it’s face.  The plight of the people, as smoke fills the air, of all of life running, to save what it can.

As the autumn is coming,the fall colors are hear, hoping that snow will make everything clear.  The cold and the wet, the snowfall might do it, put out the fires that humans can’t manage to.  The constant struggle, the constant fear, this has been one of the worst fire records, of all years.

The forest succumbs, it takes lives with it, those too tired, too slow, too young, too old.  The toll of the fire is much more than property.  The loss of the forest, the loss of the land, the goodness and value that go hand in hand.  The life supporting forest, that we all need and love, is the doom of the wild, when it burns to dust.  Gone is the wild song, the singing, the praises, the love of joy, of living, that saves us.  When the world is quiet, there’s a sound no more, the sound of hearts beating to build and restore.  The sound of the quiet is a deafening tone, of mountains without life, where all is just stone.

http://naturecanada.ca/what-we-do/NatureVoice/endangered-species/know-our-species/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIqvzSpuW81gIVAZF-Ch060wN5EAAYAiAAEgLx__D_BwE

The quiet, too quiet, it reminds us of something.  This is the great planet, full of life and living things.  They should be talking, we should be listening, to hear a slither, a crack, a croak, or a twitter.  Here in the quiet, there isn’t any talking, no one to hear them, they run from something.  Even without fire, smoke is in the air, it’s too much for many and the quiet is result.  A world without the great wild is a world without care.  No songs to sing, from birds out there.

The elk now call, they start to rut, another life cycle, in a forest, with luck.

Written by Dr. Louise Hayes

September 23, 2017

It’s Birthing Season
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It’s Birthing Season

Hail, all you Bravehearts

The spring magic is bursting, it’s flames fill the air, heady with perfume, the fragrance is everywhere.  Colours of rainbows, the infraction of light, darting licks of sprouting things, the springtime comes to life.  Brilliance of beauty, the delight of newborn lives, nesting calls of symphony, the choir of our lives.  Behold the wondrous species, they all have missions here, to fill our world with Earthly praise, to a planet we  hold most dear.  The budding trees are blooming now, the bees are hard at work, for pollen, nectar and honey is the plan of natures work.  A stork will bring the babies, a notion so absurd, the animal chain of learning pain, brings babies from the woods. It’s nests and eggs that hatch the young, it’s thickets, where they lay.  That overrated stork lost out, to the trees and forest at play.

Lovely splendor, lovely birth, the drama of the fall, has an outcome so desirable, it’s babies after all.  Little adorable ones, needing so much attention.  Stop!  Don’t miss that chance, to capture them on camera.  The wildlife are beaming, they know now what to do.  Stand by the roadside in the Parks and wave at the calamity of you know who.

An adventure for this praiseworthy day, a photo or several, or two, of babies coming to join us, in this hinterland of guess who.  Nature may be difficult, it’s predator and prey, but come into the world of babies, and it protection and play.  Lovely little ones, so cute and soft and adored, we all become their mothers, just to nurture a world to be explored.  They’re fabulous and new, they shriek at us, coo coo! We all come a running with baby food.  The spring and the parenting, the planning for next year.  Raise those babies wisely, they represent the herd!  No dowdy ones, no unmatched socks, put on your sleek new coat.  You are a representative of a genetic stock to rival any goat. Survival of the fittest is the game all parents play.  When babies are born and pride is given to a new cast of characters today.

The love and devotion of springtime happiness, is turned to a summer of responsible parenting togetherness.   Chattering with pride, they show off their newborn delight.  Just look at little elk calf there, he’s blossoming with intellectual might.

The fish eggs are hatching, the frogs sing with all their might.  A lovely day on planet Earth, fills their little lungs with a chorus of pond song, after dinner, choir serenade delight.

The sounds of the season are love and loving sounds, as the great gifted planet, spins it’s eternity  of  marvel all around.  All creation, all for good, a special aptitude, the great gifted planet, spins it all just for you.  Just for you, oh little one, just for you to share, the fabulous stretch of wisdom, greets you everywhere.   This gifted, great planet, in it’s protected, universal space, is a wealth of brilliant life form abundance, for everyone, even the human race.  Welcome and acceptance, treat it all with care, for this great, ingenious planet, can concoct new species, if it’s dared.  The life forms are brilliant, it’s beauty and adored, the planet exudes it’s wealth of creation for all of us to explore.

Rise and shine, it’s springtime, so go out and greet the day.  For all of us, are from planetary dust, just go out and play.

Written by Dr. Louise Hayes

June 11, 2017

Early Spring
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Early Spring

Hail, you brave almighty ones.

Praises, you awesome ones, praises to this great good Earth.  The warm spring days welcome us.  Come out of your houses and feel the warmth of those special sun shining rays.   The spring, with it’s special power, it’s newness, it’s creation, it’s splendor.  It is beauty that we crave and beauty surrounds us .  The joy of living, of life on the planet, of the simplicity of warm breezes, cool lakes, shelter from trees, magnificent flowers.  The joy in their hearts as the nesting birds sing, the fondness of animals as they gaze at their offspring, the brilliance of flowers as they burst from their buds.  The magic of the planet casts it’s wondrous spell and spring has captured us once more.

Glorious days of sun filled splendor, rays of shining gold sent to us from heaven.  The lights is with us for hours  now, the dark of winter is cast aside and the joy of spring fills the air.  Fragrant gardens, song filled skies, colorful meadows and deep secrets hiding in the forest.  It is the season of growth and birth.  A season of wonder and delight.  The Earth spreads the word to us, welcoming us into it’s great wonder.  It is the beauty of this great planet, that brings us so much joy. Joy and discovery.

Those same old trails change each day, a new bud, a  new animal track, viewpoints, water rushing, an early spring with so much to see.  The water entices us and we’re swimming in April.  So much goodness, so much sport and  so much fun.  It extends our lives by weeks this year, everything is early.

An escape from the bustling city to the quiet of the spring filled country, a dazzling day on a mountain bike, exertion and strenuous activity to liven the muscles and tone the body.  This great country’s past time of escaping to the beaches, the trails, the forest, the mountains, the campgrounds, the parks and the great wild.  Escape to the wonder of the natural world, the world filled with surprises and unexpected pleasures.  A roadside pull off with big horn sheep playing close by, a view of an eagle with egrets on its nest, that great  horned owl peering at us as we walk along the trail. The views of spring time meadows, of glaciers and mountain tops, of long endless grasslands and still pristine lakes.  We protect all of this.  This is ours to keep.  Our cherished escape to the great beyond, the fabulous parks , the wilderness and the joy of being.  That wholesome success of a day of play, of the unpolluted water and the clean, pure air.  Those days that take your worries away and fill your lives with that sense of wonder.   More, we want more. More of this life of athletic fun, of hikes and photos, of swimming and riding.  More of those rugged climbs to test our endurance and strength.  We want more.  More of this vast land with it’s unique species and more of the beauty of our scenic wonder.  More of the wonder of the natural world and more of the healing of this great divine. This is our awesomeness, these special, protected places, these is our secrets, that we quietly share.

We are old here, but we are still young.

written by Dr. Louise Hayes

June 11, 2016

Those Special Wolves
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Those Special Wolves

Hail Bravehearts

Howl!  Howl!  We hear your call.  The great wild sings to us in the distance.  Howl, you essential masters, call to us with all of your voices.  Call with all of your hearts, your souls and your being.  Call us into the wild, where your lives live in the bountiful beauty of the great planet.  Sing to us, the songs of your lives, stories to tell of hunts and capture, of danger and courage.  Songs of triumph, songs of sorrow, songs of fortune.  Sing, you great masters of the wild, sing the songs that we love to hear, the wild that makes us unique and proud.

Great stories, of taking the weak from the herd, of preventing overgrazing and of population control. Songs that we listen for, as we camp in the wilderness.  Do you hear it?  Listen, do you hear it?  The howl of the great wolf as he calls to his pack.  Eerie and exciting, the mystery revealed.  A great hunter, with his family, teaching and learning the life lessons of survival.

Oh essential hunter, your numbers decline.  Save us!  you call and we hear your plea. The bounty hunter slays you and murder increases.  Not us in Canada, this is not our cultural history, the fur trade wasn’t this.  The negotiated peace was cemented by the great peace of the union of a European and a Canadian aboriginal.  The tie between them was the Metis child. Not murder, not poaching, not extermination.  The balance between the hunter and the hunted was for trade and peaceful relations among the people, not for the extermination of a species.

The great wild calls us, it is a teacher to us.  So many species of plants and animals, so much natural wonder and so much sound to hear.  Varieties of rock to cling to and different soils beneath the surface.  The Earth puts those species in the places they belong.  Hail, great planet, we hear your call, as the wolf cull in British Columbia defies the sensibilities of environmentalists , and is regarded as inhumane and a disaster.  This is not Canadian culture, or our history.  This is not the fur traders, or the aboriginals. This is over hunting, over killing. We need these animals, we need wolves.

http://pacificwild.org/take-action/campaigns/save-bc-wolves  Save BC Wolves

A wolf is a beautiful thing.  A fine hunter, an adept and agile predator, with his necessary presence in reducing overpopulating species.  The small ones like rats and rabbits, or large ones like elk and deer.  They prevent  overgrazing from overpopulation, that diminishes plants and destroys ecosystems.  There must be a predator-prey balance for proper bio diversity, not just for one species, but for the entire ecosystem.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fb11TtPwBxo  lady reunites with wolves

Predators are not a bad thing, they are an essential part of the great wild.  Listen to the great planet as it sings to you.  The wonderful mystery of integrated life forms, sharing a space especially adapted to them.  Spaces of rock and granite, of wind and rain, of sand and sun, coral and sea, forest and dale.  Spaces of uniqueness with unusual creatures to inhabit these landscapes.  No coincidences, just planned environments with creatures, plants, water and rock, all fascinating and wonderful. A journey for our senses, our minds and bodies.  A journey of life, of discovery, of adventure.  Fresh and wholesome, protect it all.  A magnificent species, a majestic great wild, adventure in, for the joy of their being, it is  into their home, that we roam.

written by Dr. Louise Hayes

February 22, 2016

 

To Have it All
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To Have it All

Hail you Almighty human!  Praises and praises!

The great good Earth sings in it’s glory.  The majesty of all of it’s creation, the birth of the living being, the living planet, the living soul.  Hail to the dawning of the new day, the new season, the new life that begins today.  The planet unveils yet another of it’s awesome wonders, the birth of the great wild, in all of its wild and wonderful ways.  The shy, but glorious wildflower, the dainty and tiny new born deer, the rushing of the spring waters as the snow fades and melts into rivers.  The passing of the snow of winter, leading to the blessing of the greening of spring.

Hail to the almighty planet, as we praise the warm and comforting springtime, with its  promise of fresh lakes to swim in, recreation for our bodies, hiking and biking for sport, athletes galore.  Out of the cramped confines of weight rooms, pools, gyms and recreation facilities, come the swarms of diligent humanity.  Running, biking, swimming, playing, the great outdoors calls to us, with the demand of the insistent call to opportunity.  Come!  Don’t miss this fabulous day.  Play outdoors in the beauty and the serenity of the great land.  Behold the wonders of the planet.  The divine forest to clean our air, the fragrant flowers to capture our attention.  The pristine, clear lakes to dive into and to play upon.  Water!  Clean and pure.  To drink, to play in, to exercise in, to cool our bodies on these hot days.  Water, straight from the master plan of the planet.

Lucky are we, to be the living, to be the life force that propels the world to a destiny at the beck and call of a human called mankind.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sjia7BsP4Bw  Canada’s Tar Sands – the most destructive projectanadian on Earth?

So here is the other side, the side outside the mapped, protected area of national parks.  The area of controversy and somewhat alarm as the excavation for industry takes it’s toll on the area of northern Alberta.

We glory in the divine of the great planet, as the Earth welcomes us with each new day.  Calling us to rise from our slumber and to enjoy the discovery that is presented to us.  Something new, for each day is something new.  People with wildlife, people marveling at  the great wild.

Yet the controversy continues and grows.  The plunder of the north of the province, demands the attention of all of us.  Environmental destruction, disease and illness, a growing concern of wasteland and destruction.

As Canadians, do we actually need this?  Do we need the multi-million gallons of oil that the tar sands produces? Do we need the loss of the great land, the great wild, our way of life, to swim and play and to enjoy the bountiful beauty of the great Canadian  outdoors?  Do we need to loose it all for something that we really don’t consume ourselves?  How much of this oil is for us?  Not enough to matter to us.  Not enough for the destruction, for the plunder, for the immense waste of our land, for the loss of life of our people, for the environmental damage and the illness that comes with it.  Not enough for the pollution, for the habitat loss to the wild and to us.  Not enough for the continuing damage, for loosing the fishing hole, the lakes to canoe on, our tent site and our camping spot, the shy deer and the roaming bear and the endless forest that provides our air to breathe.

Do we need this?  Do we need to throw it all away for someone else?  We are the voyageur, the coureur de bois, the adventurer who came to climb a mountain, canoe a river, homestead on the prairie.  We are the people of this great North.  To the wise and the diligent, we call to you.  Protect us, almighty ones.

written be Dr. Louise Hayes

June 5, 2015

The Awakening
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The Awakening

Good day all of you Brilliant ones!

Here is today, a day of awesome splendor.  A day when the world shows off it’s beauty and thrives in the warmth of brilliant sunshine.  Here is today, a day for you.

The Earth is warm and sends it’s healing power to you.  A healthy life of intelligent pursuits, carrying you forward towards your goals.

The rejuvination of  springtime, when all of the world awakens to the early morning sunshine and the warm, streaming sunshine pulls you from your restful slumber, into the dawning of the new day.  Warm and inviting, the world awakens and the call of the wild sings to the planet.  Songs of joy, of cheerful living, songs of love to nest and nurture, songs of gathering to keep themselves together.  Sing for the joy of being, of happy pleasure, of grateful life.  The dark cloak of nighttime vanishes with the dawn and today the Earth reveals yet another of its wonders.  Another new flower pulls up its showy head and waves to the world, and nods in graceful elegance.  I have bloomed.  Here I am!  It is me!  I have bloomed.  And with this showy, colorful, fragrant blossom,  we are saved.  Saved from extinction, saved from being a mark in history, saved from devastating loss.  Here I am!  It is me!  We are saved.

Again and again, the showy blooms rise to meet this glorious day.  Again and again their colorful attire sparkles the landscape with dots of beauty.  Reds, yellows, blue and white, the showy dainties cast their spell on the landscape and fill it with the colors of the rainbow.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HwI2u23LRx4&spfreload=10  secret garden, first day of spring, by Andreea Petchu

Hail to the great planet,calls these precious  dainties of life.  Brilliant and bold they rise to the morning sun and wave and dance to the playful tunes of warm breezes.   The life that fills the planet with color, scent and beauty.  Flowers in a spring meadow, surprising with their brilliance.  Cold resistant and sturdy these fragile, adaptive plants fill the forest, the meadow, the plains, the mountain with an array of color, variety, design and interest that cheer the soul of horticulturalists, botanist and curious amatures.  The world swells with the awakening of spring and the wonderful plant life that we fortunately find.

A tiny, brilliant dot of a violet, tucked away along a path, blue clematis, paintbrush, strawberry and primrose, the competition for finery is unmatched in these species.  Lovely day and lovely findings.  The wild has awakened with the dawn of this day and splashes its paintbrush of color all across its land.

Lucky for us, this day, as we stroll along a mountain path and breathe the clean, pure air of mountain sunshine and rejoice.  Today the world shows off her glorious inventions and the variety and beauty of her landscapes saves us once more.  A day of simple, grand design as the planet entices us from our beds and our secure homes.  Come into my garden, calls the great, good Earth and smile at the day that welcomes you.

written by Dr. Louise Hayes

June 4, 2015

Dream of Peace
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Dream of Peace

Good Day, you Awesome Human!

Splendid day. Warm and snowy. The birds are singing gaily from their roosts. The elk lie in the meadows, relatively calm, after a long autumn of elk battles and rutting. The peaceful does with wombs full of the promise of another successful spring of calving. The big horn sheep, also resting, caring for the silent burden of their soon to be offspring.
The great wild! The drama of the wild as it plays out its role, in the never ending cycle of creation. Born to this place, the wild entices us, with its riches of spectacular views, muscle strengthening climbs, varieties of lifeforms and the gift of providing us with natural wonder to explore.
A peek into this place, of grand beauty and grand design, which fills out hearts and souls with wonder. Oh mighty planet, to give us this gift, from a highway, cut through the mountains. Those of us who have time, will exert ourselves more and climb to a pinnacle on a well traveled trail, for a look at what lies on the other side. A steep bit of climbing, a scramble, an effort, but where it takes us is to the grand view of the wild. A view of what lies on the other side of that mountain range. More forests and rivers, cascading waterfalls, animal tracks, mountains and valleys to explore. We are the hungry. We thirst for more and more. Show us your splendor, oh great planet earth, as we strive to reach your mountain tops and intrude into the land of your wildlife, to photograph those elusive species, and brag.
The world turns for us, on these snow covered days, as we strap on snowshoes and venture out to play. A daunting world of snow and ice, but for us to trudge through, a winter’s delight. Animal tracks. There’s plenty of life in this snow covered domain, but no one shows their faces today. Instead, it’s us, joining the tracks in the snow, plodding and chatting and breaking trail. These small few hours of exertion, to remind us of by gone days and years of exploration, as the well traveled adventurer set off to discover this new land. Tracks of snowshoes in the forests, tracks along the winding creek. An easy day of healthful activity, to fill our lungs with pure, clean air, to strengthen our bodies and refresh our minds.
The luck of an easy day of refreshing activity. The joy of adventure into the quiet winters solitude. A brush with nature as she plays out her part. The wild calls us and the wild whispers. Save us, oh mighty ones. Don’t plunder here. Spare us from the weapons of mass destruction and a world of madness and we will give you the peace of a quiet winter’s day, with snow on the mountains and the crisp, crunchy snow beneath your feet.
Let this stand of the earth be your playground, oh great ones, and may you forever venture into the wild and breathe.
written by Dr. Louise Hayes
January 19, 2015

A Great Escape
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A Great Escape

Good Day Bravehearts

The splendid great wild, with its remote and awesome places. Here, in a world class national park, a UNESCO world heritage site, we live and play and hike to our hearts content. The world of opportunity knocks and we respond with enthusiasm, for the endless adventure in hiking the great wild.
This week, we travel into a remote and little known mountain pass, high up in the alpine. where the curiosity of remote, wild adventure takes us. Ever cautious, we prepare for all weather, rain suites, first aid kits, water ,sunscreen, food, insect repellent, hat, gloves, binoculars and cameras, maps and gps.   It can be cold in the alpine, with changeable weather and here it can be blistering hot, or freezing rain, sometimes turning to hail or snow. We all pack bear spray.
It’s been a good year for bears. Many sightings of females with two and three cubs and the powerful grizzly bear has made her presence well known, with frequent sightings and photo chances of her and her healthy offspring. The alpine is a favorite place of the grizzly and we don’t want to startle one, so our group is large and loud. It’s better to be safe, with large numbers, so the resident predator hears us coming.

The climb is steep and the footing is uneven.  We spent three hours hiking to this remote place, high up into the alpine for a view of the glaciers on another mountain range.  The intermittent showers cooled us and the climb was not as difficult as it sometimes is.

http://www.pc.gc.ca/eng/pn-np/ab/jasper/index.aspx  Jasper National Park

Our fathers fought for this great land.  A magnificent mountain range in a far off place.  They fought for  freedom, for prosperity, for a better world and here, in a remote and little known mountain pass, we enjoy and praise the brilliance of that choice.  To protect the land, to save it for future generations, relatively untouched, preserved and intact.  A home for the wild and an escape for us.

We are early in this years adventure.  The spring was late and the wild flowers are not yet as showy as they will be.  But also, we have left the great bear behind us, to forage in the valleys until the alpine will give them a meal.  They will be here soon.

Today, the pass is for us, with only the calls of the birds and the rushing water, the insects and the wind.

The far off glacier is the head waters of our rivers and the source of our daily water supply.   Protected high up in a mountain top, the glacier lies in its own protected domain.  Remote enough, that it is rarely visited and high enough that is remains intact.  The grand great wild, providing fresh drinking water for us and the planet.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AF05-slHnNk  Fukushima

These rare, protected places, great mountain ranges like the Rocky Mountain National Parks are home to the awesome wild, the glaciers and the beautiful flowers. The power of the earth lies in these special protected places, where only the fortunate few can roam.  Our drinking water, our air supply, our dark sky,  our much needed connection to the natural world.

Here is where we live and play and praise the foresight of brilliant people who saved this land for us to enjoy.

written by Dr. Louise Hayes