Silence and Serendipity

The picture above was taken on a boardwalk in a spruce bog in Algonquin Provincial Park 
the temp that day was -10 degrees F (-25F with the winchill) This story is about that day...

As you can imagine the thought of doing anything outside when it is 10 degrees below zero is a pretty daunting one. Being the thrill seeker and living embodiment of the Boy Scout Motto "Be Prepared" I was excited to get outside and hike around what is one of the crown jewels of Ontario's Park System.  I really wanted to see a moose, or a wolf or.. well, anything. As i bought the daily pass to the park I asked the park attendant where was the best place to go to see a moose. She laughed, and said that with as cold as it was there wasn't going to be anything out moving around. It was at this point the thought crossed my mind "what the hell was I doing out moving around"... Breifly it crossed my mind, because of  the cold weather  that also meant there would not be a lot of other people out, which gave me a shove in the right direction...

The boardwalk through the bog just dissapears into the trees, it like a portal to another land: quiet, still and cold. The sun was shining and there wasnt a cloud in the sky, making contrast of shadow and snow like night and day existing at the same time.

So the short walk through the spruce bog was great, the snow squeaking with every step. The trail was a 2 mile loop in which time adjusted to the temp pretty well, just keep moving and you would stay warm, so the stops were few.

After driving a few miles down the road and looking at the very detailed trail map I got at the park HQ I decided to head down a trail call Hemlock Bluff's, ( so not that being alone and bitterly cold, was bad enough lets throw some cliffs into the mix)  ** Remember kids I am proffesional idiot , so dont try this on your own**  So off to the Hemlock Bluff trail I went , bundled up in my awesome new Patagonia Jacket ( shameless gear junkie, so if I like it I'll link it so other gear junkies can check out the latest and greatest)  

At first I started hiking  The Hemlock Bluff trail I  was amazed at the absolute LACK of Hemlocks ( no, not the one Socrates, used to off himself back in the day, that is poison hemlock which is a plant in the carrot family).  It was just a bunch of aspen and maples.   It was cold and pretty flat,  but not quiet,  the forest was rich with bird calls here, Chicadees, Nuthatches, Woodpeckers and Bluejays, Ravens every now and again. Despite the cold these little birds were out cheeping and chipping around all over the place. Between the squeak of my footfalls in the snow and the birds chirping there was plenty of sound to keep my ears occupied.

As I make my way through the woods, little birds annouce my presence like a welcoming party, I would see them flitting from branch to branch in front of me always staying about ten feet in front. It was almost like a game of  tag they were playing with me always staying just out of arms reach.( Birds are WAY better at tag than I am ).  I continue on, the cold stining my face and my breath condensing and freezing on my shaggy beard. The trail moves uphill, my little playmates fly back off into the forest behind me, perhaps I was out of there home territory and they felt no need to keep an eye on me any longer.

I crest the top of the hill to this view, easily 100 feet down to the frozen lake below, needless to say I stayed near the trail. This marked the point in the hike when thing got a quieter, no birds chirping and  even the snow here didnt squeak, it was like walking through fog, the snow here seemed lighter than air and would part for my feet like walking on a low carpet of clouds. ( Think champaign powder for my skiing friends)

 I continued looking for moose and wildlife while on the ridge, however there wasn't a sound up here or any evidence that anyone or anything ,other than me had, passed this way recently.  As I wound my way down the bluff to the edge of the lake , the trail closed in and suddenly there were Hemlocks EVERYWHERE, Ah Hemlock Bluff's...I get it now!

I write about the hike , not because it was special in anyway , (in fact there are great Hemlock lined trails just as beautiful in the Red River Gorge down in Kentucky, and you dont need a passport to see them). I write about the journey because this journey took me to a destination that I didnt even know I was looking for.  Seredipity... they say its a chance occurence, or a "happy" accident.

The first noted use of "serendipity" in the English language was by Horace Walpole (1717–1792). In a letter to Horace Mann (dated 28 January 1754) he said he formed it from the Persian fairy tale The Three Princes of Serendip, whose heroes "were always making discoveries, by accidents and sagacity, of things they were not in quest of".

I didnt have any idea what i was going to find as I pushed through the snow covered branches of the hemlocks but there on the bank of a frozen lake I stopped, closed my eyes and BAM!! there is was right in front of me...ABSOLUTLY NOTHING!

Not a sound, no birds chirping, no raven calling, no wind in the trees, no planes overhead, no nothing. As I stood there, I held my breath, straining my ears to hear a single peep from a chickadee, or the wind rustling the branches of the huge hemlocks that flanked me. I heard nothing, and it was at that point I had what I would call a moment of zen, I have had a few of these moments in my life, and they are always accompanied by a physical sensation. This time was no exception, here I was standing completely still, eyes closed, breath held. The feeling was that of a warm wave crashing over me from head to toe, a slow wave of warmth started at my frozen hat and moved its way down my body through my arms and chest and down my waist to the very tips of my toes. I took a breath and it was gone, but what was left it is wake was a feeling of serenity, and peacefulness that I didnt even know I was lacking until that moment. I had stumbled upon something by accident just like the three Princes of Seredip.  I didnt even know I was supposed to be looking for it, but  thats what makes the discovery all that more amazing to me. There, on a frozen lake in Canada I had a moment that I will never forget. A moment that will take its place among the most amazing parts of my life and times. A moment where I ceased being "me" and was just a part of something greater than me

Silence and Seredipity....

Nature has the wonderous abilty to  constantly amaze me, around every corner there is something  that is beyond words and beyond definition. I am not going to get all existential here but, sometimes things as perfect as a snowflake or a flower go completely unoticed and when we take the time to slow down and open our eyes sometimes we can see things in a completely different light.

This was a small spring that wasn't frozen because the flowing water was steaming and the water vapor froze as it rises off the little stream, the ice crystals here were absolutly amazing, and so fragile that my breath blew them around like a hurricane.

The Ox River Rapids at Sunset

Well, thanks for making it this far into my first blog. I hope I can bring you more adventures both new and old in the future! Have a great day and always remember its not the destination ,but more likely the journey that makes life special. 

Much Love, Bernie 

* as you may be able to tell from this photo having your eyes closed for any length of time at -10F has risk, my eyelashes froze together and I had to pry them apart at the lakes edge, the ice in the beard was fun too