So, the plan is to do a shuttle hike up in the Laguna Mountains. We'll meet in my room at 8, drive to the Lagunas (less than an hour), then hike from one van to the other across some beautiful terrain. We may go up Garnet Peak at the end, time permitting.
What to bring: lots of snacks, water, good shoes. The plan is to snack along the way then to stop and have lunch somewhere on the way back. So bring some $$$, too (maybe 10??). Also, it is supposed to be 57 degrees and windy in the Lagunas tomorrow, so plan accordingly.
I had a great time today, beginning to end. Watching Koyaanisqatsi always makes me think about how I live, how we live. It feels liked a speeded up version of Thoreau's nightmare with a pounding soundtrack. No surprise that Abbey was sometimes referred to as the Thoreau of the West. Pretty interesting that the video piece on Abbey starts with the same Philip Glass music that is used in Koyaanisqatsi ... Writing outside did me a world of good. It's a cleansing experience, like taking a swim in the ocean. I found myself listening more that anything. The electric buzzing was pretty ominous at first, but once I got past it there was a lot to hear. It struck me as an organic metaphor: the din of society is pretty loud and omnipresent... but if you listen carefully you can hear a different type of music in the background, and with enough effort you can bring the background to the foreground -- and dance to it. It's what Abbey called "modulating."
ReplyDelete... and the hike itself was pretty wonderful and liberating. It's nice to have a hike, even a short one, end with a clear destination, and that little two-room cave at the top of the modest peak is a pretty cool destination. It's impossible to create the kind of solitude that Abbey and others have written about -- but if you sit in that cave or on one of the boulders with a view, you can imagine it. You can approach it, visualize it, get the smallest little piece of it. The hike was short, the climb modest... but I felt renewed afterwards anyway. I won't say too much more here -- but I'll look forward to hearing your thoughts. Feel free to write about anything at all about today's experience. Whatever struck you the most, that's what you should be writing about.
ReplyDeleteP.S. I saw 27 hawks today, from the time I left my house to the time I returned. 15 red tailed, 3 red shouldered, 1 cooper's, 8 unidentifiable (too high, but def hawks). Just in case anyone is keeping score. :)
Hear that? Probably not. That's the sound of my fingers snapping for Mr. Harrington's well-put comment. Smell that? Again, probably not. My hands smell like rock and sage oil. It tells me I was outside today and that I was scrambling around and pulling at trail-side plants (and that I need to wash my hands.)
ReplyDeleteHere we are online, everywhere and nowhere at the same time. I wonder what Thoureau and Abbey would say about all this. I'm not sure. What I do know is that the hands typing this still remember a day well-spent.
Here's a little Haiku (Hike-Coo, in this case), in honor of my hands and their good memory:
Green coastal sage plucked
And crushed by rock-rubbed hands
Mountain-smell lingers
Defiantly a very interesting day: eye opening and brain expanding. The days was a great way to ease into the course through the Koyaanisqatsi movie and reading from Abbey and Thoreau, apparently we are all hotdogs on an assembly line spinning out of control like a rocket. Anyway... I Enjoyed the hike very much i was a great feeling to stand over most of the east county and see for miles. Also climbing those rocks and sitting over the cliff edge added a little bit of adrenaline to the hike that was very cool. Overall a very successful day of nature writing and solitude.
ReplyDeleteWritings from the day:
ReplyDeletecactus, breeze, flowers, birds,
hum, wires, structures, poles
(move)
The sun is bright, and the breeze smells of green things. I remove my shirt to feel the breeze of green things.
As I look closer, I notice the remnants of the edge of nearby buildings and society. Glass, tinfoil, 13810.
Yet nature lives on. An ant crawls over the shard of glass. I do not see, but I hear the chirping of birds.
Rocks are overturned. Black, white, blue, red, and occasionally silver cars crawl down the roads. Buildings sprout from the ground, concentrated thickly in some areas, and less in others. Motorcycle. Ben Peters. Metal. Clothing.
A small weed grows, struggles from under a rock. It beats the twig. Lentement. Silence. Warren Brody yells "Putchyourgoddamnedshirton!" "No."
Two birds converse. I notice one perched on the barbed wire. Tweeting to its hidden fellow. Long tailfeathers. Shake. Fly. Mock.
Shade. Breeze is cooler. A small bush grows next to a big shard of glass. Purple. A purple and white flower protrudes from the top of the bush. A multifaceted, multiplanteted bush.
hhaahhhahahah CH.... overall i thought today was a really good day. When we reached the top of the hike , i completely understood some of what Abbey was talking about. In the way that at the top of the mountain in the cave, nothing that involved modern day society or technology came across my mind. I didn't check my phone once. I guess Abbey and Thoreau were right, that when connecting with nature, you achieve a solitude or a moment where your at complete peace where you can just enjoy the people and the nature around you.
ReplyDeleteToday was one of the few days that I really relaxed. I liked the hiking because it took my mind off of everything and I enjoyed being outside. At first it was a little scary because I kept slipping on the dirt but it got better. The view from the very top was amazing and the weather was beautiful! I also liked our yawping! It was a fun bus ride back and I felt that the group bonded. I am looking forward to the rest of the week!
ReplyDeleteTo start of, yesterday was...well different.But a good different, although I am an avid supporter of the outdoors, I rarely hike, and rarely absorb the beauty of nature. It was definitely a great life experience to watch such a fulfilling movie (Kooooooooooyenisgatttiiiiii), then just take a second, and observe what is going on in mission valley from such a strange point of view. Then to top the day off I thought it as spectacular to go on such a great exploration hike, or at least for me. By the way, Abbey is my new role model.
ReplyDeletequickhaze101 is warren by the way.
ReplyDeletehii
ReplyDeleteLast night I watched the entire movie of koyaanisqatsi. It was certainly a unique movie, and made me wonder exactly where society as a whole is going. It seems to say that the machines that helped us get so advanced have taken over. Thus, we have become the machines (or at least the least important parts of them). Through war, and very populated city life, humanity has inadvertently brought about disaster in a nation born from peaceful nature. In addition, the indigenous peoples who drew the cave paintings of strange people could have had the wisdom of seeing the outcome of excessive human intervention, yet the society of today can't even realize that they could easily be related to hot dogs. Today's society seems to be bent on production of new stuff. The culmination of our progress ended in the most advanced technology shown in the movie going up in flames, spiraling and burning to the ground. In my opinion, this transition from calmness to chaos shows that what we're doing is kind of a bad idea, but only if it goes out of control.
ReplyDeleteAs Koyaanisqatsi pointed out our world is spinning out of control, well personally that’s how I feel every day. While we were hiking today and yesterday I started to find a peace that I though only came around during the summer. Its seems as though if you completely let go of your world you can find peace sitting in a park in Mission hills. It is in fact the little things that can help you to detach yourself. Yesterday after school I drove over to Presidio Park in Mission Hills grabbed my blanket and sat in the sun for a good hour and a half. As I sat there listening to the hum and buzzing of the freeway I longed to be back on the mountain away from the sound of traffic and just listening to the wind and the singing of the birds.
ReplyDeleteToday was epic what with our bus being stolen and changing our plans to going to Sonic for the first time in my life. I wouldn’t say that almost dieing from not being able to breath was a downer but I have to say we did good.
Swooping golden eagles to rollerblading sonic people good day I think.
Make up comment :)
ReplyDeleteYesterday was a great day. Koyaaniqatsi was actually really interesting and moving. I found myself staring with rapt attention at the screen especially with the more urban scenes. The shots of people mobbing at the bottom of an escalator as well as the cars shooting along the highway were eye opening to how fast paced and industrial our modern society is compared to the slow and relaxed movement of nature. Sitting outside and writing was probably one of my favorite parts of the day. Just sitting and looking out at the view was so relaxing and eye opening. It allowed me to think without stress or worrying about what i have to do that day. It let me just think about life and the way the sun shines just right on the trees, or how the birds chirping suddenly drowned out the dull roar of the electric lines. Although the hike that day was a little challenging for me, due to back injuries and a bad cough, the feeling of reaching the top and looking out over the rest of the mountains, and the town, was unbelievable. I felt accomplished, like I had done something with my day that was so much better than just sitting in a classroom or spending all day on facebook.
SO bummed i missed this blog yesterday.
ReplyDeleteI hate to disappoint.
any-who...
Yesterday was 2L2Q.
I loved going outside at school and sitting in the warm sun drawing pictures of Mr. Harrington while jotting down sounds i heard or things i noticed about our surroundings.
The hike was so nice. Those caves were cool and breezy and the views were so fab. I love when you work hard and get rewarded with something beautiful like that.
I feel like if Zack went on that hike alone he would have fasho pulled an Abbey and stripped down but he chose to keep it clean for the group.
Speaking of the group, we've got such a classy array. We have everything from goofy white kids to awesome black girls and we're all embracing nature together! We've come so far....
keep it real y'all !
I am so sorry I missed the blog Mr. Harrrington and Aiston. Here is my poem from the first day while I was overlooking mission Valley from a new transcendentalist perspective.
ReplyDeleteI am already discovering new things I have never noticed before.
I never knew there was this extended floor.
I can’t seem to let go of all the complications I know, Thoreau.
WTF? How can you be so carefree?
Why are you so against mainstream society?
Is it possible to have a balance between complication and simplicity?
Ignorance is probably a reality. Material possessions make up our society.
How can I follow your teachings without being an outcast?
How do I let go but still be engaged.
Not until you brought it up that I feel caged.
Ben will perform this rap/poem on Friday. :)
ReplyDelete