Earlier on the trail I crossed paths with a few hikers who were enjoying the sunrise from a ridge and sat down for a cup of coffee with a couple guys fly fishing in the river that flows elegantly through the winding gorge. They amused me with their stories of the day's catch, which of course turned into disproportional adventures to entertain themselves and the happy audience. The quiet one then continued to tell me they had seen some weird shadows in the gorge and unusual flapping sounds on the water at night. There was a twinkle in his eyes as he demonstrated the sound by roughly slapping the transparent surface with his hand. The loud and liquid sound echoed and eventually died from bouncing off the cliffs. I acted shocked and concerned. They get it. We had good laugh. After lunch I spotted one more hiker in the distance making his way out of the wilderness following a path that leads to the southern entrance of the wilderness. Still a good few miles to go I thought to myself. Since my afternoon break I hadn't seen another soul.

With only an hour or two of sunlight left in the day I started to scan the area for a good place to camp for the night. I was drawn toward a clearing in the forest that was surrounded by cathedral sized pillars of pines, a perfect spot to get an unobstructed view of the stars on this cloudless evening. The wind spoke of softness and the heather invited me to make a nest on its purple blanket. Close to the forest's edge on the south west ants were still busy preparing for winter. I squated next to their casstle mount and held my head as close to it as I dared and listened for a moment to the busy bustle of tiny ant's feet. Incredible.

From the center of my new found nature shrine I looked around myself and marveled at the stunning beauty of the unadulterated expression of God's mind. The absolute lack of human presence here lifted my soul and allowed for my energy to expand and expand. I started to feel the trees some thirty feet away, their roots, their gentleness and strength. Then I noticed that the little wren was watching me from one of the branches, and so were other birds around me. Curious about this strange being who had walked into their realm so abrubtly. Their little heads tilted and listening intently they had briefly paused their songs. Except for the raven's divinating screeches at the outer edges of the valley, all was in still perfection. I let myself expand some more and became aware of a rather large patch of shadow to the North. It was cooling and harbored many multi-colored mushrooms; happy homes to the little folk. I could smell the damp earth there, composting the old to give birth to the new. I love that smell. To the West some bugs were dancing their dreamy dance on the retreating rays of the sun while unseen eyes were watching me from a little deeper into the woods. Nothing unfamiliar, I had become acustomed to feeling the animals and otherworldly beings occupying these lands. The East turned a darker hue of blue, the first stars piercing heaven's ceiling; twinkling lights on my temple's dome; guides to the weary travelers of the world; ancient wisdom holders; memory keepers of the universe. I saluted them with a sigh of loving.

I did not pitch my tent as the wheather would permit me to curl up in my sleeping bag next to the fire I had just started. A pot of tea was seeping on a rock next to me, almost ready to swallow down a makeshift dinner of rice with herbs and seeds, some soy beans and tuna from a can. Life in its simplest forms is filled with joy and saturated with appreciation. And gas, I grinned as I finished the last of the beans. It was too dark now to do my dishes in the nearby stream so I stored them in a container and hung it together with my backpack in one of the high branches of an accomodating pine tree at the edge of the clearing. All I needed was my sleeping bag, a torch and enough firewood to keep the fire going tonight. I was all set for stargazing myself into dreamland as I sipped the last of my tea leaning back on a perfectly slanted rock. Life is goodness.

Adding a few big branches to the fire to keep me warm for the next couple of hours, I withdrew into my cocoon like a caterpillar reversing its metamorphosis and laid down on my back revelling at the splendour of my star-filled ceiling. I don't remember how long it was but it must not have taken much time for me to doze off into the dream realm. Hiking in the pure mountain air does that: inducing 'happy comas' as I call them.

Deep, deep sleep and vivid dreams took hold of me, pulled me into myself where secrets roam that I even keep from myself. They dance across the threads of my consciousness, in and out of the dark beyond, dressed in garments of red, white and gold, their eyes reflective pools of liquid amber. Divine music moves them and softly one whispers to me: 'come dance with me... here, take my hand'. Weaving strands of light three sisters sit at the base of an old tree, one of them extending her gracious hand toward me. I take it, a lover's hand, embued with softness its tender carress opening my heart more fully, I surrender to her completely as she leans over. Her hair brushes my face and I feel the warmth of her lips so intimately close to my ear. She speaks in a tongue I do not know and yet I do. Memory stirs within me like a candle flame touched by God's gentle breath. 'Hear me', she says, 'it is time'. Her sweet closeness fills me with a longing that is almost too painful to bear. My hands travel across the silk skin of her back. Oh, how I've missed her. 'Follow this strand', she whispers. 'It is yours and yours alone. Follow it and He will come to you tonight... you must wake up now.' But I don't want to wake up and draw her closer to me, light sparks where our bodies are touching, she leans back her head and laughes generously. That laugh, oh, those lips, and tears of longing, mixing with her essence, blissful awakening... something pulling at my back. She disappears from view, the fabric of her kiss still lingers but darkness is here now, as I fall back into my body with a loud and painful SNAP!

I sit up in my sleeping bag, shocked. An enormous shadow stands at the tree line in the North, barely visible in the glow of the few coals that are left of the fire. It moves toward me. I can make out the silhouette of a man; a giant of a man. A raven suddenly screeches so close to where I'm sitting that I jump with fright, stuck in my sleeping bag, unable to run or defend myself. He is very close now and the hairs at the back of my neck stand upright. Whatever he is, he's definitely not human. Raven shouts out from the tree line behind him as the dishevelled looking giant squats down across the fire and peers down at me with one dark and ominous eye.

'I have come to tell you of your ancestors', his deep, raspy voice thunders. 'Stand up and get your things. We must leave at once'.

< introduction | chapter two >