The Sanctity of Mud: Trekkers Spring 2014

For some people, mud is a thing to be avoided... something that will leave stains on clothing and tracks on the carpet.  It is gross, smelly, and slimy.  When they come to a muddy section of trail they do their best to skirt to the outside and walk around it or maybe, if it is too large, they deem it not worth the risk, turn around and head back from whence they came.  What lies beyond the muddy sign of things remains a mystery left unexplored.  Better to leave it for the more courageous wanderer...

Trekkers in search of good spoon carving wood.

To those of such a persuasion, consider this: what wonders will go unknown if the only path followed is the one most tidy?  What lies just beyond that soupy bit of trail cannot always be seen by staying clean.  Sometimes baptism by mud is the only way to experience the best that this world has to offer.  

Mud may not be the only obstacle.  Sometimes you have to crawl through the brush and get your hands a little dirty.

Trekkers harvesting wild leeks

Maybe it takes a little sweat and determination...

Trekkers cutting wood for spoon carving

The best fires aren't always the quickest or easiest to build...

Building a Leave No Trace fire

Sometimes you have to risk getting a little smoke in your eyes...

Cooking flapjacks over the fire, topped with our homemade syrup!

The quickest way isn't always the best way to do something.  Patience often garners the greatest results...

Boiling sausage in sap then caramelizing over the flames

Of course all of this is easier in the company of like minded individuals...

So go ahead and splash on through those puddles, and push through those brambles.  Drink up all that this amazing world has to offer...

Drinking sap strait from the tree

And dive on in... the mud is fine!