A Wild Adventure

This past week I attend A Wild Adventure - Men's Fly fishing Retreat at Smiling Moose Lodge in Cameron Montana. This was one of my post-sabbatical experiences. This experiences is designed by Jan Janura and Ken Tada (husband of Joni Erickson Tada) as an experience for men to really discover themselves. Its an amazing experiencing combining a place of tremendous beauty - The Madison Valley; a group of 12 guys who are willing to open up to each other; use of John Eldridge's book: Wild at Heart - Discovering the secret of a man's soul; 

Every morning I had devotions on my porch watching the moon go down

Smiling Moose Lodge 

View of the Continental Divide from the deck of the Lodge

 We spent our first two days fishing in the morning on the Madison River with guides in a drift boat or drift raft. Everyone caught fish - some bigger than others - and had a great time. Many in our group had never fly fished before and did very well

 We enjoyed amazingly delicious meals from our chef Jason who explained every salad, main course and desert. Noone went hungry here.

 Around the campfire at night we talked together and each day 3 men shared their life stories. Part of this retreat is for men to be able to be real with each other, not pretending or hiding. We had some good discussions on different aspects of the book, spent time practicing listening to God, and did some reflection on our own true selves.

 The second morning we again fished the Madison switching sections from the day before.

On a rise above the Madison River

Dennis and our guide Mike in the drift boat. 

They can't all be big !

The second two days we fished lakes that are on Smiling Moose Ranch and Rainbow Lake Ranch. These fish were larger and you had to wade out on a mucky lake bottom to get them. But we did.

Rainbow Lake Rainbow Trout

 The last day we had a context for the largest trout. Just as we were pulling off of Moose Lake to return to the Lodge Rick hooked up with this beauty. It was 25" long but the winner was a 26" trout although this one was definitely heavier.

Rich and our guide Dan with 25" Rainbow

 Sometimes we told our stories inside, sometimes on the front deck and sometimes around the fire. Trust built as we got to know each other and were willing to open up.

Our cabin

Armando and I shared a cabin

Our whole group

Men4Directions

This past Thursday evening through Saturday afternoon I attended my first Men4Directions retreat

in the middle of PA at Krislund Camp & Conference Center.  This is a year long program of Oasis Ministries intended to help men grow in faith, self-awareness and spiritual wholeness. The program includes small group community, quarterly retreats and sol-time in the wilderness to engage with Spirit and Soul. Joel Blunk is our leader and spiritual director on this journey. There 

 are six of us who are part of this years journey. The location is in a beautiful setting in the middle of the mountains of PA. We gathered at Fellowship Lodge and I slept out on the porch each night. It was wonderful to fall asleep looking at the moon shining on me through the trees.  We spend time inside and outside. In silence and talking together as we reflect on our lives and our own spiritual and personal growth.

Roy, Skip, Dale, Joel,Al & Lance (sitting)

 Some of the reading that we did prior to the retreat was Christ of the Celts: the Healing of Creation: J. Philip Newell;  Journeymen: A Spiritual Guide for Men, Kent Ira Groff; Soulcraft: Crossing into the Mysteries of Nature and Psyche, Bill Plotkin; The Awakened Heart: Awakening Yourself to the Love you Need: Gerald G. May. We did not have any formal discussions on the books but they were more background to what we were doing.  All of the time was very experiential in helping us reflect on our own lives, where we are and where we are going. We did this together and alone, outdoor and indoors.

 One assignment was to take a walk in the woods and fields observing the authenticity of all we saw around us: trees, animals, insects, etc and then reflect on the authenticity of our own lives. On Friday afternoon we climbed up to "the bald spot". This is about 2 1/2 miles from the Camp near the top of a mountain. The climb was a good time of community and on top we did some more reflection and group time before we climbed out on "the bald spot" for an amazing view.

View from "the bald spot" looking down to the camp. Its further than it looks....this is zoomed in.

 In the Lodge we would gather around the cross on the floor and use a "talking stick" to allow each person to say what they had to say. We also had drumming circles here. We enjoyed meals together around the table and began to get to know each other better and find deeper community.
It was a wonderful two days of deeper self-reflection of who I am. It was a very relaxed pace and I really look forward to our future gatherings in the Fall, Winter & Spring.