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Messages 1 - 50 of total 50 in this topic |
Q- Ball
Mountain climber
but to scared to climb them anymore
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Topic Author's Original Post - Aug 29, 2018 - 08:17am PT
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I find myself always going places that others have not. That's what makes me whistle. I never know what I am going to encounter but find it fun looking at a blank map and heading into the woods.
Guidebooks are awesome, but most of my wanderings don't have one, haha! Think on your toes and fingers.
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WBraun
climber
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Aug 29, 2018 - 08:32am PT
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Most modern people can't do that.
They've been so brainwashed it's not possible for them .....
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limpingcrab
Trad climber
the middle of CA
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Aug 29, 2018 - 09:15am PT
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Sounds like you would like caving!
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Contractor
Boulder climber
CA
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Aug 29, 2018 - 09:28am PT
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The indigenous were there, and there's the early explorers who made contact with the indigenous, then there's the prospectors, ranchers, settlers and missionaries that killed the indigenous. Perhaps it's the ghost of the long gone indigenous that compels one to whistle.
Maybe it's re-re-discovery.
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Q- Ball
Mountain climber
but to scared to climb them anymore
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Topic Author's Reply - Aug 29, 2018 - 10:10am PT
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Contractor, I agree! But find it fun to wander mountains no recent locals have wandered. Take care all!
How about stories from you guys about the unknown?
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Jon Beck
Trad climber
Oceanside
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Aug 29, 2018 - 10:19am PT
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I concur. I got into obscurism in the Grand Canyon. The GC terrain limits the obvious routes but you can seek out and find places others rarely go without doing a major expedition.
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jogill
climber
Colorado
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Aug 29, 2018 - 10:57am PT
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"I find myself always going places that others have not"
Story of my climbing life. Never really enjoyed doing established climbs, but liked to repeat some of the easier ones I had discovered. Even with boulders it's the exploration that sustains.
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Nick Danger
Ice climber
Arvada, CO
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Aug 29, 2018 - 11:03am PT
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I just love driving across the Great Basin and seeing something on the distant horizon the says "heh dude, come on over here..."
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Mungeclimber
Trad climber
Nothing creative to say
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Aug 29, 2018 - 11:05am PT
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along the same lines, I find that looking at half blurry satellite images can be quite exciting about what 'might be there'
sometimes you win, sometimes you don't.
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fear
Ice climber
hartford, ct
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Aug 29, 2018 - 11:07am PT
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I've taken up sailing... I could see some adventures ahead with that. I wager it's good to keep learning new stuff in entirely new venues. Woods and rocks are great but there's a lot more out there, and under there...
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Hubbard
climber
San Diego
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Aug 29, 2018 - 11:50am PT
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Most of the good rocks I have found were found while looking for some other rock that I thought might be in the area. The idea is to just get out there and start snooping around. if you don't do that you won't find anything.
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AP
Trad climber
Calgary
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Aug 29, 2018 - 12:52pm PT
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Most people can't leave home without GPS, Google maps, and a detailed itinerary. I agree it is more fun if you don't know what to expect.
Life without surprises is boring.
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Q- Ball
Mountain climber
but to scared to climb them anymore
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Topic Author's Reply - Aug 29, 2018 - 01:54pm PT
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Jody,
Wow! Thanks for sharing those pictures!!! Amazing!
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stevep
Boulder climber
Salt Lake, UT
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Aug 29, 2018 - 02:23pm PT
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Completely agree. I love getting away from the crowds and exploring. And while probably there's few places in the red rock country of UT that haven't ever been explored, fortunately there's enough places where one can still go where you can get a feeling of exploring and imagine that you might be the first modern person through a canyon.
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sharperblue
Mountain climber
San Francisco, California
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Aug 29, 2018 - 04:09pm PT
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A memory that always comes to the front for me was an entirely unplanned adventure in Peru. We'd spent six seasons there so were pretty familiar with the general nature of it's northern alpine territories, but after battling our way out of the Vilcanota Range by an awful and ungodly brutal traverse, we glimpsed another range far off, glacier-capped, dark, brooding, and dramatic. Over Alpaca steaks and bottles of Peru's finest red in the Palace Hotel in Cusco days later, we pondered how best to spend the remaining budgeted ten days of our trip. Rather than head back to known summits, we ditched everything but basic glacier gear and food and arranged a ride to drop us off on a dirt road on the edge of the Great Unknown in the jack all middle of f-ing nowhere in a hailstorm, then proceeded to traverse the range over the next eight days, down valleys, over ruin-strewn meadows filled with wild horses, and across the snow fields. Not a soul, airplane overhead, or other voice all that time. Needless to say it was pure magic - no map, no phone or GPS, no idea. When we popped out the other side at the end into a tiny village, we had a classic alien landing reception. It took two more days before a mining truck gave us a lift back to civilization. A little obscure post-facto research back home in the Jill Neate listings told us that a Spanish expedition had spent a few weeks in there in the 60's, the Ayacachi Range. Plenty still out there
p.s. - sincere thanks, JohnM
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Q- Ball
Mountain climber
but to scared to climb them anymore
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Topic Author's Reply - Aug 29, 2018 - 05:22pm PT
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Dingus Milktoast,
Anyone can get to Moskitia, heck it is cheaper ticket than visiting my brother in Wyoming!
I find it interesting how many folks talk about the unknown and very few say,"hmmm let's check it out"!.... And follow through.
I always enjoy hearing stories of wild places, especially when the people telling it say, "don't go there, no one goes there". Haha, I got a plane ticket, you want to join?
Haha
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thebravecowboy
climber
The Good Places
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Aug 29, 2018 - 05:27pm PT
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so you are telling me that it pays in virginal, good* stone, to walk a bit further? because it seems like my partners are getting pretty used to the "just another bend up the way" or "just another couple hundred yards and then we can turn around" shtick. I think that they kinda like it too.
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Ghost
climber
A long way from where I started
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Aug 29, 2018 - 06:34pm PT
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I find it interesting how many folks talk about the unknown and very few say,"hmmm let's check it out"!.... And follow through.
The call of the unknown always resonated in my mind. In my younger days, I followed the call, and was blessed with the chance to be the first to visit places no one had ever visited before, and see mountains and glaciers no one had ever seen.
I always enjoy hearing stories of wild places, especially when the people telling it say, "don't go there, no one goes there".
I won't say that. I'll say just the opposite: "Go there!"
Or go to your own wild place.
Forget guidebooks. Just go.
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Q- Ball
Mountain climber
but to scared to climb them anymore
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Topic Author's Reply - Aug 29, 2018 - 06:44pm PT
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Bob, Courtney and Monte Skinner showed me the ways of the mountains. I will always be greatful of what I learned from them.
Courtney gave me an unsummited summit flag from their 1988 expedition. I got it on my wall!
I always love hearing stories from those guys, especially Courtney. Not only does his family have lakes and passes named for them Courtney has a whole mountain in Antarctica named for him.
Honored to know that family, and consider them friends. Get out in them hills!
"There are never strangers in the mountains, just friends you haven't met" Courtney Skinner.
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MH2
Boulder climber
Andy Cairns
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Aug 29, 2018 - 06:58pm PT
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I'd say something relevant about my recent climbing explorations, but then you would take away some idea about what to expect, or where it is.
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Contractor
Boulder climber
CA
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Aug 29, 2018 - 07:13pm PT
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You know there's got to be some serious brain chemistry at work when the nagging curiosity, the daydreaming and anticipation that precedes a maiden exploration becomes all consuming.The psychology and neuroscience of curiosity
Celeste Kidd and Benjamin Y. Hayden
Additional article information
SUMMARY
Curiosity is a basic element of our cognition, yet its biological function, mechanisms, and neural underpinning remain poorly understood. It is nonetheless a motivator for learning, influential in decision-making, and crucial for healthy development. One factor limiting our understanding of it is the lack of a widely agreed upon delineation of what is and is not curiosity; another factor is the dearth of standardized laboratory tasks that manipulate curiosity in the lab. Despite these barriers, recent years have seen a major growth of interest in both the neuroscience and psychology of curiosity. In this Perspective, we advocate for the importance of the field, provide a selective overview of its current state, and describe tasks that are used to study curiosity and information-seeking. We propose that, rather than worry about defining curiosity, it is more helpful to consider the motivations for information-seeking behavior and to study it in its ethological context.
Keywords: Curiosity, information-seeking, learning, Goldilocks effect, uncertainty
BACKGROUND
Curiosity is such a basic component of our natures that we are nearly oblivious to its pervasiveness in our lives. Consider, though, how much of our time we spend seeking and consuming information, whether listening to the news or music, browsing the internet, reading books or magazines, watching TV, movies, and sports, or otherwise engaging in activities not directly related to eating, reproduction, and basic survival. Our insatiable demand for information drives a much of the global economy and, on a micro-scale, motivates learning and drives patterns of foraging in animals. Its diminution is a symptom of depression, and its overexpression contributes to distractibility, a symptom of disorders such as attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. Curiosity is thought of as the noblest of human drives, and is just as often as it is denigrated as dangerous (as in the expression “curiosity killed the cat”). And despite its link with the most abstract human thoughts, some rudimentary forms of it can be observed even in the humble worm C. elegans.
Despite its pervasiveness, we lack even the most basic integrative theory of the basis, mechanisms, and purpose of curiosity. Nonetheless, as a psychological phenomenon, curiosity—and the desire for information more broadly—has attracted the interest of the biggest names in the history of psychology (e.g., James, 1913; Pavlov, 1927; Skinner, 1938). Despite this interest, only recently have psychologists and neuroscientists begun widespread and coordinated efforts to unlock its mysteries (e.g., Gottlieb et al., 2013; Gruber, Gelman & Ranganath, 2014; Kang et al., 2009). The present Perspective aims summarize this recent research, motivate new interested in the problem, and to tentatively propose a framework for future studies of the neuroscience and psychology of curiosity. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4635443/
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MH2
Boulder climber
Andy Cairns
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Aug 29, 2018 - 07:28pm PT
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I'm curious about what c. elegans is curious about. And dubious about calling it curiosity.
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Contractor
Boulder climber
CA
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Aug 29, 2018 - 08:33pm PT
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Orientation and exploratory behavior runs deep in our species.
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i'm gumby dammit
Sport climber
da ow
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Aug 29, 2018 - 09:53pm PT
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I like Google and I love exploring. Driving from Aspen to Salt Lake City on a mountain collective trip I looked south and saw the snow covered La Sals. Turned south to Moab and found a route up into the mountains with my phone. From the trailhead where I was able to sleep in my car I took off with no mountains in sight. i was able to get up high just using the obvious road trail and once I saw all the mountains around me I was able to navigate to the one without any tracks with my phone. I could have easily made it there in a much longer time but my phone got my the quickest route with the least elevation changes through dense forest.
The point is, I like wandering into the mountains with no destination, but with the tools to make the best of my day as well. And then things work out like this
la sals- went to check out tomasaki, but ended up on mount mellenthin
elks, just wandering back to see what the bells were all about. ended up on landry
wandering near anthony lakes
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Q- Ball
Mountain climber
but to scared to climb them anymore
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Topic Author's Reply - Aug 30, 2018 - 06:01am PT
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Great stories everyone!
I was for a long timed obsessed which the Altai mountains (Russia/Mongolia). I bugged some folks long enough that they let me join a snow leopard research project in the Altai Republic. After a few weeks the leaders decided I was half sane and wasn't trying to kill myself. They cut me loose to wander solo wherever I wanted. And wander I did!
Then summer ended, back to school, haha!
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mouse from merced
Trad climber
The finger of fate, my friends, is fickle.
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Aug 30, 2018 - 07:06am PT
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Perfect Day Patagonia - Tierra del Fuego
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IpCW_InOzFc
Had I the freedom to do so as a younger man (which I never did experience nor earn, such a pity) I'd have loved to cruise the archipelago along Chile's coast, but in a more independent manner than these guided creatures with their comforts--catered meals, coffee-on-demand, etc.--in this video.
I enjoyed the footage (when she shut up) and the area looks FANTASTIC for cross-country travel, as I never liked trails if I didn't have to follow them. But I'm older now, creakin' along, and that kind of travel is long behind me now...I'm just not able to move fast enough, and that sucks, but I like "the armchair" as it's better than not having my curiosity fed to be able to view these glimpses of distant lands of all elevations.
The planet is such a large place, so diversified, that it boggles one. N'est-ce pas?
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kpinwalla2
Social climber
WA
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Aug 30, 2018 - 07:59am PT
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As I see it, there are only two sorts of places (not counting the ocean floor) on Earth where you stand a pretty good chance of being the first human to have been there - very steep terrain (cliffs, mountainsides), and caves. I was once an active caver, primarily motivated by that sense of "going where no one has gone before" and for a while now that's been my primary attraction for doing new routes. For me, it's vastly more satisfying to establish one new route (regardless of grade, quality, etc.) than to climb 20 routes that have been done many times. I've talked to many, many climbers over the years about their motivations, and "exploration" or "path-finding" seems to be relatively uncommon. I think it must be genetic.
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Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
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Aug 30, 2018 - 08:48am PT
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Sailed hitherto uncharted waters off California yesterday. OK, not literally but our trip yesterday was the first ever to see four species of Boobys in one day! OK, so it wasn’t exactly the voyage of HMS Endeavor but I’ll take it. 🤓
But I am planning a sailing trip to Novaya Zemlya, Spitsbergen, and Scoresby Sund, Greenland. Will that get me into da club?
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Jan
Mountain climber
Colorado & Nepal
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Aug 30, 2018 - 08:54am PT
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There are other ways to explore unknown territory. One of them is to be the first woman to go someplace or do something, or the first western person. This is still possible in many remote regions.
One curious thing about exploration, is that there is a certain percentage of people who are the first into an area (in Nepal because politically it was closed to foreigners until 1952 ) who then want to keep everyone else out. It was ok for them to interrupt the pristine isolation of places and peoples, but they then decide no one else is worthy.
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Fritz
Social climber
Choss Creek, ID
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Aug 30, 2018 - 11:51am PT
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If you are currently in the position of reading about other's exploration & adventures, here's another good place to get lots of free adventure fixes.
Adventure Journal
A great website for reading about adventurers, known and unknown.
https://www.adventure-journal.com/categ ... al-badass/
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Q- Ball
Mountain climber
but to scared to climb them anymore
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Topic Author's Reply - Aug 30, 2018 - 12:34pm PT
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I wonder if it is ambition, curiosity, or genetic? Or all the above?
My father at age 18 bought a small sailboat then drove to national geographic's headquarters and asked them if they wanted to buy his photographs because he was planning on sailing round the world. They said yup!
He spent three years visiting the remotest specks of land at sea. He says the hardest thing was after getting a good fix on coordinates that he had crossed his previous position was which way to turn the wheel!
Luckily he turned north and not back to Panama, so here I am! Haha
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Fossil climber
Trad climber
Atlin, B. C.
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Aug 30, 2018 - 06:13pm PT
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That "path less travelled" attitude turns out to be satisfying in life in general.
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Spider Savage
Mountain climber
The shaggy fringe of Los Angeles
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Aug 31, 2018 - 09:22am PT
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Q, I'm with you.
I would rather scramble, bushwhack and get the shite scared out of me on some choss pile than do a nice safe acceptable guide book route.
Kids today have safety hammered into them. Growing up in the 60's we were free-range kids.
Funny to see the local LA area climbing facebook group. Often people make a big deal out of "climbing outdoors." HA HA HA HA HA HA
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Q- Ball
Mountain climber
but to scared to climb them anymore
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Topic Author's Reply - Sep 18, 2018 - 10:02am PT
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I got a buddy bugging me to take him into the jungle next spring. I may make it my last jungle foray. Maybe hang up my boots and enjoy a relaxing vacation for once.
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Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
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Sep 18, 2018 - 10:29am PT
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I’d take you up on such an offer if I wasn’t so soft now. The jungle fascinates me but it ain’t my turf and I don’t like hot and humid. Am planning on a birding trip to Costa Rica but that will be way soft. Do want to see some snakes but I have an irrational fear of brushing against an Eyelash Viper hanging in some trailside bush. Saw a Youtube vid just yesterday where some dude went out with a crazy Kraut herp guy and they found a Bushmaster in under an hour! I suspect the herp guy kind of knew it was around there but the point is that I was amazed at how mellow the Bushie was. Not at all aggressive. Do you consider Terciopelos more aggressive?
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Toker Villain
Big Wall climber
Toquerville, Utah
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Sep 18, 2018 - 01:18pm PT
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Fer de Lance kills the most people, but that's because it likes agricultural fields.
I had a science teacher in HS that explored the Amazon and was a member of the Explorer's Club.
Years later I gave a slide show there. My mom questioned me why the EC. I reminded her of the number of summits that I was first to visit.
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Q- Ball
Mountain climber
but to scared to climb them anymore
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Topic Author's Reply - Sep 18, 2018 - 04:41pm PT
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Reilly,
Bushmasters are not known from Honduras, so I have no knowledge on them vs bothrops asper aka fer de lance. I can show you some jungle birds and make the trip civilized haha :)
I have always wanted to see an eyelash viper, no dice yet!
Hugh or Q
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ecdh
climber
the east
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Sep 18, 2018 - 05:40pm PT
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isnt the point of climbing so you can climb new terrain? otherwise its like learning to read but never writing your own stuff.
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thebravecowboy
climber
The Good Places
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Sep 18, 2018 - 07:37pm PT
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even when not the first, the traces of the first tickle the mind.
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Delhi Dog
climber
Good Question...
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Sep 18, 2018 - 08:01pm PT
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isnt the point of climbing so you can climb new terrain? otherwise its like learning to read but never writing your own stuff.
Well, we can't all be writers and actually I've read a lot more interesting stories than I have written. However, I get your point.
Me, I've had itchy feet since my folks moved me and my brothers from bumfeck Colorado to bumfeck Peru to live.
I still seem to be wandering and exploring new places ever since.
For me though I'm a big fan of getting to know a place deeply which is why I tend to spend years exploring a country when I can. And I'm drawn to those regions of the world in which the physical geographic (jungles, deserts, high mountains, ) or the cultural geography is different than my home base of the Sierra in Ca.
While "new terrain" where "no one has been" is an exciting possibility for many I would argue that exploration can happen anytime one is exposed to a new or different situations than they are familiar with. If its a first or new for you than exploration is happening. Its just a matter of degree.
my 2⍧
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MH2
Boulder climber
Andy Cairns
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Sep 18, 2018 - 08:32pm PT
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Here be dragons.
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Q- Ball
Mountain climber
but to scared to climb them anymore
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Topic Author's Reply - Dec 7, 2018 - 08:30pm PT
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Been wrangling logistics, but got an expedition nearly planned! Time will tell if it all works out. Honduras and untraveled valleys! Viva HN!
Edit: got a some great friends who have traveled this area. Only four "white guys" have ever been there. Should be an adventure considering the Indians don't know the territory. I do!
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Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
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Ooooh! Sounds like Bushmaster and Eyelash Viper heaven! Envious.
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Q- Ball
Mountain climber
but to scared to climb them anymore
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Topic Author's Reply - Mar 15, 2019 - 05:29pm PT
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Just crawled out of the jungle. Found some really neat stuff up some unnamed rivers/valleys. I will try and write a tr at some point.
For now... No one died and the fer de lance were lousy at accurate strikes! Cool caves full of crazy artifacts... Named the rivers "swimming river 1" and "swimming River 2"...... Also a wild 200-300 ft limestone wall...
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donini
Trad climber
Ouray, Colorado
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Mar 15, 2019 - 08:06pm PT
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Sounds cool...I’m with you on the passion to go somewhere were no one has gone before.
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Ghost
climber
A long way from where I started
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Mar 15, 2019 - 08:43pm PT
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I will try and write a tr at some point.
That point had better be soon, or we will unleash some accurate fer de lances on you!
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ClimbingOn
Trad climber
NY
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Mar 15, 2019 - 08:58pm PT
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I'm really looking forward to your TR. This type of adventure is right in my wheelhouse.
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skywalker1
Trad climber
co
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Mar 15, 2019 - 09:02pm PT
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We always used the term "Star Trekking it". Which usually meant 3-D bushwacking, going left where others went right. We got "lost" for some time in a cloud forest in Costa Rica looking for all kinds of things and saw some far out stuff. I understand.
Cheers!
S...
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Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
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Mar 15, 2019 - 09:45pm PT
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Q, no Eyelash Vipers? 😟
FYI, studies have shown that Eyelash Vipers, while not aggressive,
improve their striking accuracy as they age!
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Q- Ball
Mountain climber
but to scared to climb them anymore
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Topic Author's Reply - Mar 17, 2019 - 09:10am PT
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Reilly, no eyelash viper!!! After all my times wandering around in the woods I have now admitted to myself I am destined to never see one, or the elusive tapir.
Haha, Jaguars, rare birds, and many undescribed critters, and a tapir that ran into my hammock while sleeping. So I guess I can claim to have touched a tapir but still haven't seen one :)!!!
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