Kentucky Falls is Special

Day 10

I was super tired and did not get up until 6:05am.  The alarm was set at 4:11am but I didn’t’ hear it at all. 

What is it about the kitchen or dinning area that seems to draw people to do lots of venting.  I find it offensive to spoil the food with such garbage, toxins, and poison!    

After lunch I got onto the Kentucky Falls truck.  I was on Henry’s truck.  I sat next to Darius and Henry.  Somehow we missed the right turn after the last bridge and went left towards the highway.  We didn’t know this until we were 15 miles into it.  The GPS did not work for Kentucky Falls. 

When we made it back to the crossing, a red truck sat and parked on the island of the crossing.  Two men sat in the front and one in the back. The man in the back pointed the right to show us the way.  What are the chances of that? 

On the trail I chose to be a sweeper and walked behind.  I had thought I could skip Kentucky Falls this year because I have seen so many beautiful trails this summer already.  As I hiked I realized Kentucky Falls has a special place in my heart.  The trail is just so beautiful.   There is history here of the early days of this retreat when it first begun. This trail is trail #1376 on Siuslaw National Forest.

It’s lovely to see the monastics join us for this hike.

I recalled when Silver was able to join us and jumped in at every sight of water he crossed and that’s a lot water.  I recalled when Silver learned how to ride on Henry’s truck to lean on the turns to not slide across the back of the truck or fly off the road.  I remember when Henry would chant Great Compassion Mantra on the trail and read Dharani Sutra while waiting for us to catch up.  The simple peace of anther time was felt in this modern busy day. 

The Boy Had an Angelic Voice

Day 22 Glaciers National Parks 2011

It’s a good thing I slept in a double sleeping bag, I was so cold last night.  I did not get up until I felt the soft warm sun through the tent.  It was lovely, warm, inviting, and gentle.  The wind was continuous in the morning, yet it had become a gentle persistent cold wind.  I did not have to wear my beanie. 

I knew which trails I wanted to do each day and I felt a need to get on with it.  But I was tired and did not get up until 9:50am.  I rolled up when it was no longer a struggle and stressful.  It is safer this way, to do things after a full rest.  The last time I didn’t do that, I fell and tore my ankle and hurt the entire right side of my body, of which I am still recovering from. 

This morning in bed, I found my mind wondering to California, Taiwan, TV shows, Movies, and novels.  My body has traveled so far and my mind keeps slipping back refusing to get on board and in alignment with being present in the here and now, wasting these precious hard earned conditions, guidance, and protection. 

An eleven year old boy from a neighboring camp sang acapella the entire morning working on his vocal exercises.  What a treat.  He was so lovely to listen to.  He must be in a boys choir, he had an amazing voice.  What delightful sounds to wake up to.  I have been showered with so much amazing music within twelve hours of my arrival here.  What a good way to start my journey of recognizing my voice, hearing my voice, and recovering it. 

I had sate mung bean noodles at 11am.  I then made cabbages in hot and sour soup.  Then I had a cup of green tea.  I laid on the hammock and just took in the scenery.

After cleaning up camp I organized my bins. The sink wash area is small but adequate.  It has a toilet flush system.  I am glad my dishes fit in my rack and the rack fits right on top of it.  I was able to keep the dishes off the flush fill system and the ground.  It was almost 1pm when I finally got all set up to recite and do my morning prayers.  It’s just how it is today.  It’s better to keep up my practices even if it’s out of order of thing and at a different time of the day. 


When I was done, I decided since it was afternoon tea time that I would make more tea and have a cherry turnover.  I heated up the turnover on the dash.  I didn’t want to pull out the griddle. 

I swung by the other loops to check out the different campsites.  I met a couple who felt so fortunate to have found their perfect spot which faced the road.  I found that particular loop to be a bit yin for me and over used, that the nature has yet to exhale and recover.  Perfection in this case is held in the eyes of the beholder.      

At 2:40pm I finally rolled off for St. Mary’s Falls and Virginia Falls.  I saw a sign of closure at both of these trail heads.  The sign posted Bear danger.  So I did not get my hike in.  I drove up to Gunsight Pass Trail and looked at the Glacier from there.  It is as far as anyone can drive right now.  The workers are still working on clearing the road of snow.  You are allowed to walk on the street for the next two miles until the snow plow section begins.  I made a turn and decided to wait until Wednesday in hopes that by then more snow will have been cleared. 

I went to Swift Gorge and did the walk there.  The water was a beautiful jade color.  It looked so clean, and healthy.  All the water ran fast in the waterfalls and the cascades.  It was just a marvelous sight, a beautiful piece of gem.  I walked a bit down the trial to pee.  I decided I didn’t want to pee in the outhouse as usual.  I won’t pee in the outhouse unless I really have to.  I prefer the green and lush nature. It is cleaner than the outhouse. 

I decided to park myself on a rock where the water cascades by me.  A place where I can sit and dip my feet in safely and dry them on the rock.  The water was freezing cold.  I dipped my hands and feet in five times.  I was able to with stand ten seconds of numb chilling cold on the last time.  I sat there listening to the water and did prayers of cleansing, and repentance.  I asked the water to help clear away the bad and let the good surface forth. 

A Christian group form Ohio was there and a group of boys touched the water too.  One who kept on throwing rocks by me dipped his head in and wanted my attention.  I saw him and I knew, I acknowledge spiritually, I just didn’t acknowledge physically.  He did his head cleanse with his head dunk.  Good for him.  One of the moms said I looked so peaceful there.  Yes it was peaceful to be there.  She suggested all the kids to take their shower in the water.  I said ti her, "then shower and church are done with, two in one. 

Both sides of the road was covered in beautiful wild flowers of purple, lavender, yellow, red, and white.  They smelled so sweet and lovely.  It was an aroma therapy drive.  I had to pull over in various places to photography the flowers. 

I stopped at Wild Geese Island vista point pullout.  This vista point had the perfect view.  I decided this was the place to have tea and rice crackers.  I stopped snacking to photograph tourist, standing in a their personal photographer.  It’s a good service of good karma.  I am skilled, I am capable to give.  What a pleasant way to spend the afternoon. 

I met an elderly couple who has been here for the past seventy years.  They heard the Logan Pass is cleared.  However because the snow is twice as high of the yearly average and the annual avalanche has yet to fall, the pass remains closed for safety measures.              

Both in Yellowstone National Park and Glaciers National Park, people asked me if I worked in the park.  I must look like I live here.  I wouldn’t mind.  I must look not transient, instead one with nature. 

At 6:38pm, I was back at camp general store.  I checked out the shower situation.  The shower is $2.50 for 8 minutes.  You pay at the store.  The shower is behind the store.  You get a token to put into the slot in the shower stall.  There is only one stall.  The shower is hot.  You have to buy your token by 8pm when the store closes.  Showers close twice a day for cleaning and closes at 10pm.  You can return unused tokens for refund.  No hair or hand dryer.  There is an outlet to plug electronics in or your own hair dryer. 

At the store the T-Shirts I liked had the following sayings: “Forget the box, just get outside”, “ Let someone else climb the corporate ladder”, “Enlightenment begins where pavement ends”.  I bought the last one.  A bag of tortilla chips costs $4. here, same as all the national parks. 

Dinner, due to fatigue, no cooking, I had chips, tomato, avocado, nutritional yeast, cream of corn out of the can, baked beans out of the can, and drank a cup of honey water.  The mosquitoes were diving into my face, hands, and neck.  Dinner was a total workout dodging them.  They were super aggressive.  The soft shell jacket really helps.  I realized they can’t see but only sense heat from me. 

The camp is full tonight unlike last night.  It is surprisingly busy on a Monday night.  The ranger talk at 8pm in the amphitheatre lasted sixteen minutes, super short.  I noticed they put up fliers about programs, that talks do change things.  I had complained to Rangers about how no one knows what is going on because it is not communicated and therefore all the ranger preparations for performances, presentations go in vain, no one knows to show up. 

I noticed a shelf was put up in the wash sink, nice improvement, you no longer have to put your clean dishes back on the ground.  In front of the trash can area, I saw a man make a pass at a blond lady.  Then a man on his motorcycle asked me out for beer at the restaurant.  I didn’t know camping here is the place to pick people up right in front of the toilet and trash dump.  Seriously, totally not the atmosphere for success in my opinion.  It’s turning out to be quite the meat market in front of the trash can. 

 

Bald Eagles Ospreys Fighting Baby Snatching Crows

Day 19 National Parks 2011

I felt today I needed be on schedule.  It’s a drive out to all the thermo pools and having to cross the continental divide feels like it's that much more work on the energy level of things.  So I didn’t finish my instant noodle breakfast.  I put it in the trunk and drove off with it.  I noticed five hours later, clumps of plastic formations waxy hard were floating on the surface.  It was so gross, I was shocked by how I have been putting this unnatural thing into my body.  This cannot be good for the body. 

I arrived at Midway Basin and sat in the parking lot to do my hair and put on sun block.  When I stepped out I noticed bald eagles and ospreys were going at it with the crows.  The bald eagles and ospreys were teaming up against the crows.  It might be because the crows snatch their babies and devours them.  It was quite a scene in the sky.  The Firehole River was beautiful.  I enjoyed the walks on the trail.  I finished my nice strolls before three tour buses unloaded all their passengers.  They flew to the restrooms.  I guess their bus did not have a restroom.

I decided I would skip the two mile hike that connected Fairy Falls and Grand Prismatic Spring.  I would have to walk through unstable ground and this would strain my already very strained right side of my body.  So I drove to the Fairy Falls parking lot, it was packed and so I just parked along the road instead. 

Grand Prismatic Spring was beautiful.  While photographing plants and bugs I noticed beautiful cloud formations through the trees.  As I looked through my camera screen, I saw a pair of antlers reflected on the mirror of the spring.  I looked out and saw that it was a male elk.  It was a breath taking moment.  It was better than Harry Potter’s patronas.  The elk continued to get bigger as he walked closer towards me.  He grazed at nearby greens.  I stood there admiring the raw beauty he wore.  He was a young adult and had velvety antlers, they were large.  Then he walked close and passed by on the trial for the shrubs.  What a gift, perfect timing, just magical to be present in that way, just like that.  I would have missed it if I opted for a short cut on the trail.  This made my day!  Grand Prismatic Springs was already an amazing beautiful sight and this was like extra serving of dessert on top of what was already an amazing meal. 

I continued on the trail and the sky began to rain.  I pulled out backpack rain protection cover and stood under a tree for a bit.  I contemplated what I should do next.  The option given that it was raining was to turn around and be done with this trail or to continue regardless.  I decided I would continue on the trail and that my soft shell jacket was up for the task of keeping me dry, figuring that was why I paid so much for it.  

The trail itself was not spectacular to me.  It was also full of mosquitoes and I got plenty of bits.  They went through my clothes, the only part that was protected was the areas that had a soft shell on.  The trail was a combination of burnt old growth and new growth.  I looked at the pain and devastation of the burnt twisted fallen trees and found it to be visually overwhelming to take in. 

I saw a family of four backpacking.  The children were in elementary school.  I admired them and recalled how I used to do that.  I then had an internal meeting about it, “I’d like to do that.”  “Not, I don’t want to haul all the weight, day trips are okay.” 

I was feeling hungry after a mile of strolling.  I told myself I'd eat crackers when I am making a u-turn on the trail.  I saw Fairy Falls from afar and called it a day.  All falls are different, unique, and has it’s own beauty, and I find it a challenge to not compare it to Yosemite Falls.  As I munched on my cracker, I followed two women and eaves dropped their conversations about jam.  Then I invited myself into their conversation.  Geri makes famous jams and gives them away as gifts.  I finally inquired on how to make jams.  Through this conversation I learned not getting the right pectin and the proper amount of sugar made the difference of success or failure in jam canning process.  That the sugar had to be added last after the fruits bubbled in boil.  We just kept on chatting about fruits, vegetables, pies, etc…

Geri needs a hip replacement and refuses so she limps instead.  Geri’s husband died of a heart attack while smoking on their Alaska trip on a boat.  He was very happy on that trip.  She decided she couldn’t live in the same place they shared their lives in and moved to Lander, Wyoming to be near mountains and grow her own vegetables and fruits.  She loves slide photography and her husband took care of many things for her.  She said she’d just go and quit photography if she can’t do slides anymore because it is all she knows in this digital era.  That it is all she has and she doesn’t want to move up into the digital world.  That it is too much of a challenge for her with computers etc…  I recommend she get a neighborhood teenager geek and trade work for jam.  I advised her not to give up photography, it would be giving up the “Zone”.  I didn’t know what her religious orientation is, I just called it “The Zone”.  I saw she heard me and something clicked inside her and she got it.  I think this was the entire purpose of this hike.  

Yes there is a photography zone.  It’s meditation, focus, concentration, spiritual, and I find it very important, something you can't just quit.                

I told Geri I was a wedding photographer and I am now a substitute teacher.  Geri said she always felt fortunate to come across a teacher.  She decided to give me a jar of jam from her truck.  I said I’ll take a scoop not the whole jar and she said she’s got tons and wants me to have a jar.  I told her I’ll accept her gift if she accepts my gift of Belgium chocolate.  We both agreed and it was a happy exchange waiting to happen. 

Shawna met Geri twenty five years ago working together in Montana.  She lived in Kalispell and she is newly single after twenty six years of marriage.  Her husband had an affair and she kicked him out.  She now lives in Salt Lake City, Utah.  They still keep their friendship and meet in Yellowstone even though they both live in different parts of the country.  Shawna said I inspire her.  How living on my own and traveling on my own is something she has to learn now.  How she is still searching for the courage to do that.   

Sometimes the trail or Fairy Falls in this case or the object of the goal is just a bait to string you along, the real goal and objective is to come across others and let answers surface, deep healings to begin, and remember how much strength you have to stand tall and strong on solid reliable ground. 

I find it amazing that they found me amazing and inspiring, an example to model after, a goal to strive to.  The chocolate was definitely for them.  I carried them from afar and took great care, all for them.

I was very tired after this and it was 1pm when I pulled over to Biscuit Basin and strolled around the beautiful water, the colors were of blue sapphire.  I loved all this beauty.  To enjoy Yellowstone National Park you have to love animal sightings and looking at pools of colorful water and to accomplish this, you have to slow down. 

Mystic Falls, mosquitoes attacked me while I pee behind a tree.  I have always found that to be a unfair play by the mosquitoes.  Restroom time should be time out time. On the way back I looped to Shell Spring and felt the warm sauna blown by the wind and stood there for a body healing. I decided to take my shoes and socks off for a feet sole healing.  I sat there for fifteen minutes and just inhaled it all in.  It rejuvenated me.  I didn’t get my feet soaked but I got a sauna bath.  The Shell Spring coincides with Jewel Geyser. 

Jewel Geyser goes off every ten minutes.  Shell Spring empties out after the geyser sprays.  The spring bubbles and fills in preparation for the spray. 

I munched on chips in the car.  I was hungry and I was still an hour away from camp.  I can’t look at the mileage, it is 35mph over the continental divide and I drive slower for safety in my very old car. 

An elderly couple said there was another car accident on the road.  There seems to be like one per day here.  At Yosemite it is like one bear break-ins per day and here it’s car accident.  Exercise caution! 

The drive back to camp was exhausting.  I started to wonder off mentally on Harry Potter and Twilight Saga on how well each book was written and how I should read them again and how I should spend that time instead of reading sutras etc.. Seriously?  Really?  Not a wise wondering to follow, totally bad advice is what my well rested mind would be clear to recognize.  

I was so tired that when I got back to camp I laid on the hammock for twenty minutes to lift my feet up and rest.  My right ankle hurts, it actually went numb.  I can walk better today but just five hours of strolling on flat trail wiped me out. 

I ate buttery avocado with nori, nutritional yeast, and then I cooked quinoa in lime and herbs mixed in with beans, green bell pepper and aloo mutter.  I also drank two cups of honey water.  I made pancake in heart shape and really enjoyed maple syrup.  I dug into Geri’s blueberry jam.  It wasn’t very sweet and that was nice.  I had Darjeerling tea with my pancake dessert.