Thoughts of a Modern-Day Mountain Man: A Field Guide to Leadership in the Great Outdoors

This is the fourth of a weekly blog series that will focus on leadership in the outdoors and how to get the most from the least. Even though the title is called, “Thoughts of a Modern-Day Mountain Man”, it will hopefully cover topics that are useful to everyone.

Chapter 4: Always find your way to the rendezvous.

"Great things are done when men and mountains meet; This is not done by jostling in the street.” - William Blake

In the mountain man’s life of yesteryear, nothing was more important or more looked forward to than the annual rendezvous. This was a time for the mountain man to not only trade his wares and purchase much-needed items, but at its core was the social event to end all social events. Great stories were told, amazing contests were held, and much whiskey was drunk. The social aspect of the rendezvous was vital in seeing the mountain man through another year of hard work, danger, and all-around tough living.

In this modern world of mankind, we have never had such resources for communicating at hand. I can send a text or make a phone call and have instant connectivity with anyone, anywhere in the world. However, this doesn’t mean actual communication and social interaction is happening, quite the opposite in fact. The social aspect and the human experience God intended is being grossly neglected. In a modern-day mountain man’s life, the social aspects of communication and brotherhood should be a top priority. You cannot, live, survive or thrive without the help and resources of others.

Rendezvous in the mountain meadow

For the modern-day mountain man, having a rendezvous shouldn’t just be an annual occurrence, but should happen as often as possible or needed. One of the benefits of modern technology that the modern-day mountain man can put to good use is utilizing modern means of transportation. In the mountain man’s time of yesteryear, simply getting to a rendezvous could take weeks, months or even half-a-year. The modern-day mountain man doesn’t have this slow travel burden. The regular occurring rendezvous could be as simple as a dinner with peers that are not regularly seen, it could be a convention or conference in your chosen industry or profession, and it certainly should be regular attendance at a church. Learning new things, acquiring new tools and recharging your mental and emotional state should be able to be accomplished at any modern-day rendezvous.

When I worked at camps and conference centers, I was usually asked to attend at least one conference per year, sometimes two, and one year I attended four national conferences for the camping and conference profession. There were definitely times that going to a conference or convention meant that I was going to miss something at home, and leaving home was seen as a burden. However, when I actually arrived at the rendezvous, I always came back with at least some new knowledge, trick or tool that was going to make my next year much more enjoyable and rewarding. Adding new knowledge into my mental toolbox wasn’t the only benefit of attending these trips, there was always a social aspect to these meetings. Being able to see friends and former co-workers that I hadn’t seen in a long time was worth the trip in and of itself. On a recent trip to a camping conference rendezvous, I ran into a former supervisor from the camp that I met Mrs. Modern-day Mountain Woman at; we hadn’t seen each other in twelve years. It was a grand time talking camp memories, hearing about each other’s family and faith, and recharging the human spirit with a fellow Christian. Rendezvous can do amazing things to boost your mental well-being and bring back many great memories from a time gone by.

There is certainly something being lost today with all of our modern “communication” and “social media,” but that doesn’t mean all is lost and hopeless. God created us to be social creatures, to learn from one another, to help one another, to trade ideas and tools with one another and in some cases have our livelihoods and very lives depend upon one another. There is no better place to make these social connections than at a modern-day mountain man rendezvous.