Ashima Shiraishi Instagram – Climbing in Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), the unceded, ancestral, and occupied, traditional lands of the Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish) and Salílwata? (Tsleil-Watuth) Nations of the Coast Salish peoples, has been nothing short of nourishing. Staying long enough to truly listen to the landscape has deepened my sense of reverence for this place.
The forests here feel alive in a way I’ve rarely experienced—towering firs, cedars, and spruces cloaked in usnea, whispering of time far older than me. To walk among them is to feel small in the best way possible, witnessing the perpetual cycles of decay giving fruit to the abundance of regeneration is a reminder of the bittersweet endings in my own life that give room for new streams of experiences to emerge~
Summer heat drew me to the rushing waters of Ashlu Creek, its glacial streams carving striated riverbed boulders and washing away the doldrums of still air. In Chinese and Japanese pictographic characters, the combination of mountains and rivers translates to landscape: 山水. And with each surge of water, each pull on stone, the season slowly shifted. Autumn arrived with crisp air cooling the rock, every climb becoming a ceremony—each cut of skin, each movement, an offering of gratitude.
Just as the salmon return to the Mamquam, leaving their bodies so the next generation may thrive, I too feel the call to come back. To give and receive from this land, its waters, its rock, and its people is a gift I’ll keep chasing. 🤎
📸: @taylor._shaffer
#arcteryx | Posted on 19/Sep/2025 01:33:33
