Walk With Me: Part 2 .. Hiking, Philosophising & Wild Camping In Dartmoor National Park ... Into The Dart Valley
Into The Forest
Dart Valley nature reserve is one of our wilder and more remote sites. Paths into its interior are unmarked and contain challenging sections with steep climbs and unguarded drops. Care needs to be taken at all times of year.Source
Original pictures by @perceptualflaws
Banner Gifs courtesy of @justcallmemyth
This photo..are you kidding me??!! It looks straight out of Rivendell!! Is this a real place???!! heheheee!!
I'm smiling because of how many photos I saw of your beautiful dog, smiling that priceless smile.
I could definitely feel your sadness at having to leave that perfect paradise, I can see how you had such a profound journey in there, in more ways than one.
Hey my friend, thank you for stopping by
As I was walking through this landscape I was thinking the same thing .. the sense of magic, mystery and history is palpable. This is where I formulate many of my posts, entire ideas and concepts seemingly plucked from the air. As you can tell from the pictures my dog absolutely loves these excursions :) .. I shall have to take some pictures of my secret swimming spot .. a difficult to reach tree shaded oasis in the heart of Dartmoor's green desert. ;) Thanks again my friend.
Wow, I would love to see that swimming spot! And yes, I see your dog was having the time of her life, as usual. One day we'll see that smile behind the camera too I hope!
What a beautiful journey you shared - thanks, great photos.
Thank you for stopping by @danielhime I'm so glad my post resonated with you.
Stunning landscape.
It's how I always imagined the Trollshaws from Lord of the Rings to look like.
Cool dog, also.
Thank you @metametheus and sorry for the delay in replying but I've been offline all weekend.
Ha yes, I can appreciate what you're saying there and it really does have an otherworldly feel to it. Really glad you enjoyed my post and thank you for the kind words :)
Another lovely post pf:)
Hey, I hope this doesn't annoy you but I'd like to cover some dualistic gnostic ground in this comment.
I concede the descending spiritual worldview as presented by people like Wilber and schools of Tantra and non-duality as being possible. Factored in here will be the romantic ideas of the 19th-century naturalists and idealists like Thoreau all of whom could be correct in their cosmological views.
But the point I'd like to make as 'a gnostic dualist ascender' is this place as grand as it sometimes appears could be utterly putrid to a fully transcendent deity; in fact, this is the position I tend to assess from.
As wonderful as this visit was I'm wondering if you'd agree that if one tried to live there full time one may find the conditions extraordinarily hostile to survivall? That built into the awe is also brutality and hostility and this, of course, is the Gnostic creation myth.
I guess if I have one problem it's this: all metaphysics when talked about like this is speculative so although believers in nonduality believe they know the fact of the matter is they can't know--their religion is entirely speculative.
I guess if I have a point it's that as a gnostic dualist I don't deny Sophias presence here but that presence is surrounded by error and the malignancy of the demiurge and its archons.
Hey dude, sorry for the late reply and sorry I haven't been around very much .. but I've been non-stop with moving/work plus I've been offline all weekend. Of course no worries at all.
Funnily enough, there were a group of people (not a million miles from here) that brought a similar (though smaller) forest a few years back. They moved in without planning permission an built their houses from local wood and lived a self-sustaining lifestyle .. they had no electricity, composted their toilets (and grew food out of said compost) .. they even had their own forge where they worked metals and made their own tools .. schools would visit and be shown how they'd built a life that lived in perfect balance with nature. Unfortunately, they did it all without planning permission and after a twelve-year fight they were kicked off the land last year .. in short, yes I think it can be done but not without the hostility you allude to .. both from the elements and from society.
In a way (for me) the potential brutality and hostility of wilderness is also part of the awe .. indeed I often feel at my most alive when battling the elements and throughout the world, I've been in some pretty wild conditions.
Yes I agree it certainly could, I wonder if much of the "hell on earth" that we have is derived from a manipulation of mind and is an inversion of our natural state of being and then this inverted state feeds into a wider sphere of influence .. our very mind frame altering the way we interact and are received by the earth. In terms of my hike, I was enjoying a profoundly beautiful days walking, but someone else could have been walking through the woods in a fit of depression and never notice the beauty that surrounds them, equally someone else maybe wandering with malintent .. same forest different mind frames.
The earth can be a volatile and harsh place to live .. but then destruction, change and rebirth .. life/death appears to be a universal constant and so it doesn't seem to be out of step with the rest of the universe and perhaps there is a lesson (not a punishment) to be learned from that process. This answer is a little ambiguous/simplistic (deliberately so) because it's actually a pretty complex question and I know that with some of the work I have planned it's a conversation we can explore with much more detail. ;)
I guess I would describe myself as an idealistic realist .. I enjoy poetic excursions into romanticism and idealism and my long-term prognosis for humanity is one of great hope .. equally, I'm not prepared to lose myself in my idealism whilst the abuse continues, children starve and the bombs still fall .. I can't and I won't. I'm very aware that this night is poised to get far darker before we see the first glimmer of dawn .. and that we must be intellectually and spiritually prepared for what lies ahead. Thanks for stopping by @andrewmarkmusic
Again, I look forward to your upcoming posts and no quarrels or quibbles with your thoughtful response.
I hardly dare to respond as I know you always take so much effort to answer. So I keep it short. What a wonderful world! Thanks man!
Hey thank you @johano I appreciate your kind words .. once this move is over and work calms down (this is our busiest time of the year) I can get back to a semblance of normality.
Very beautiful pristine wilderness. I love it, I wish there were more places like this in the world.
Snapped this while at the summit of a local mountain. Lots of great wilderness beyond.
Hey my friend, thank you for stopping by and sorry for the late reply but I've been offline over the weekend. It was a beautiful few days and you're right these places needs to be cherished and looked after. That is a stunning picture! Hopefully, I will get the chance to return to Scotland this year and grab some pictures of the amazing mountain landscape .. I used to live up there and often return for a week long hike into the wilderness ;)
Oh wow, the forest, the trees, your insight and the connection you feel to this sacred place is very beautiful. I want to be transported to there and marvel in the wonder an beauty that surrounded you, thank you for sharing with us. For sharing the experience and the wisdom. I was looking forward to seeing this forest. The music fits perfectly as well xx
Thank you for stopping by @trucklife-family I really appreciate it and I'm so glad you enjoyed the 2nd part of my post. Writing it and choosing the pictures makes me yearn for a return trip .. I was trying to capture the sense of magic that I felt whilst wandering through this timeless landscape so I'm really pleased that it resonated with you. In discovering our connection to nature, we discover ourselves .. at one with the vibratory pulse of the earth's heartbeat. Thanks again my friend.
What an adventure I just went on from my computer chair! You never cease to amaze.
Hey @zekepickleman thank you my friend .. I'm really you enjoyed my journey. It was a profoundly beautiful few days. I returned with five posts written in my mind's eye, nature and the nature of our reality is my greatest inspiration .. now I just need to find the time to write them down :)
This is absolutely beautiful. I really love all the photos. I Miss The Greenery of English Forest and their mystic feel. I used to live in Somerset and Dorset a long time ago now it seems. I do really miss rambling and contemplating and losing myself in the woods. Thanks so much for sharing.
Thank you for stopping by and sharing your kind words @riverflows .. As the rustling leaves speak to my soul and rising sun plucks at my heartstrings, I realise that I'm never more alive than when held in the warm embrace of mother nature. I love sleeping under the stars and its a joy I revisit at every available opportunity .. as soon as I've moved house, like a magnet I'll be drawn back .. although in a way I never left. I've lived in many places and if you open your eyes the world is full of magic, but like you say there is something mystical about the british landscape that will forever call to me. Thanks again my friend.
Totally. I always felt like I was walking in this incredibly magical land when I lived there So full of spirits, both good and bad. I remember driving through the levels in the fog, and I swear I saw roman soldiers marching.
lovely !! feeling strongly the energy of nature within & without ... & this post post just heightens the feeling. thanks @perecptualflaws for your vibes and the music that makes a great ride :)
Thank you @wallpaperflower I'm really glad you enjoyed my post. It was a profoundly beautiful few days, one of those occasions where I wouldn't have wanted to be anywhere else. The best things in life may indeed be free, but on this day I felt like the richest man alive. Thanks again my friend.