TRIP NOTES

July 10, Monday, Day 1

Ripstein to BLM field and beyond, 2 hours

Metaphysics and realization

Waiting—what it is, what it is about, and when we ought to ‘wait’… and ought it to be meditative and/or multitasked

Doing nothing—thinking nothing—as being everything (e.g., in meditation and meditation-in-action)

But this will not be doing nothing all the time for that would be doing ‘doing nothing’—which suggests a middle way for beings that are in between limited and limitless

Metaphysics—essence entered

The aim of metaphysics is to know the real—therefore no thought, however ordinary or bizarre seeming is to be avoided, for the real beyond what we know lies in the unthought (relative to us)

However, to know the real, all thought must be subject to criticism—i.e., empirical and conceptual consistency (so far as applicable); this however ought not to be a sterile process

And in this, the merely—as opposed to the necessary—empirical is primarily suggestive,, while it is logic first, and theory of metaphysical objects and forms second, that are crucial

July 11, Tuesday, Day 2

Ripstein, to first creek on Canyon Creek trail, then up Bear Creek Trail, 4 hours

July 12 Wednesday, Day 3

Ripstein to 9 mi marker and back, 6 hours

July 13, Thursday, Day 4

Ripstein, up Bear Creek Trail, 5 hours

July 14, Friday, Day 5

Ripstein to Canyon Creek trail head, to The Sinks 5 hours

July 15, Saturday, Day 6

To first Canyon Creek Falls, 6 hours

Essay

The way in	What we want, where we are going, origins (historical and personal), sources

Metaphysics	Integrated with epistemology, logic, and value

Cosmology	With experience

Realization	Indistinct from and a unity with the rest

Prospect	Being in the world, where we are going now

Dean Childs, 80 – 85 geology, knows Gilbert Craven, is a seismologist, with 2 weeks in India, ten years in Turkey, experiences with polar ice measurement, and a bear story in Northern Canada in which a male bear killed two men, critically wounded two others, and was shot by an American (Canadian Wildlife Officials are not permitted to carry weapons)

Metaphysics and ethics (the essence of this has been entered in ‘2023’

Primary ethical principle—“Think,feel, act, to make the experiential universe, the best we can.”

What is the universe, what is the best (its meaning), what is our power (limited vs limitless), who are we—we have received answers, which presume tacit worldviews and related philosophies… the issue is fundamentally metaphysical… but received metaphysics is limited and barely recognized in this connection

Ethics contributes in part to the questions of what knowledge and its criteria are or should be

Metaphysics, ethics, (and logic and epistemology) are one and should emerge together

July 16, Sunday, Day 7

Rest

Why I hike

It is beautiful in a way not had in ‘civilization’

It is real, over and above social constructs and normative reality

There is understanding of the real

It is healthy—endurance, balance, strength, weight, diet, no pollution, no alcohol, tolerance of discomfort

It is away from the limiting and distorting aspects of social reality as in the media, social media, and personal contacts

Being at the boundary of my ability

A time for creative insight—though I prepare for it, it is also spontaneous – evoked by the environment

A time for reflection on my life—goals, plans, and problems

It is meditative and immersive

On return, the world is fresh, I feel strong, purposeful, especially aware of and committed to my goals

July 17, Monday, Day 8

To the midway campground, 7 hours

July 18, Tuesday, Day 9

To Upper Canyon Creek Trail, 8 hours

July 17, Wednesday, Day 10

Hike out to 9 mile marker, 7 hours

Ride from Gerald, Julius, and Audrey to Junction City

Ride from nice woman—Junction City Store to Red Hill Motel, Weaverville