Getting Real High

Climbing a mountain gives one perspective.  Once above the vibrations of the masses, one can begin to hear the clear signals that are humming above the chatter.  I make it a regular part of my diet, to devour the energies that exist only up in the valleys and across the tops of large mountains, and have been engaging in this life changing activity for years.  Climbing mountains, often running up and down them, is in my opinion, one of the most satisfying and pleasurable forms of natural physical exercise available, with the much needed benefit of enhancing one’s mental health in ways immeasurable.

Take me away...

The San Jacinto range that rises some 10,804 above Palm Springs is a massive, majestic range of mountains that ascend at a great angle in contrast to the flat sandy desert floor that is home to the desert communities of Palm Springs, and less known neighboring communities, Palm Desert, Indio, Coachella Valley and so on.  The entire area is dominated by the vast shadow cast by these impressive mountains.  Once up in the endless folds that cannot be seen from below, one appreciates and realizes just how endlessly large and magnificent this range is.

Leaving The Desert Valley Floor

Some real "complexes" at the base.

The trailhead we choose begins at the end of a road, right next to some huge private houses, and rather obvious signs of some really big money.  The trail begins to rise quickly, with one route branching to the right, the other threading up the middle taking a more direct and steeper route upwards.  This particular trail is popular with the locals, who seem to come out and climb and/or run it every day.  As we are now “locals” for awhile we too have taken this trail several times for good reason.

The hard workers maintaining the "complexes".

Today was a great day for seeing some of the local flora and fauna.  We passed large lizards, bee “motels”, innumerable flowering plants and cacti, bugs of all sorts; all in all quite a show.  We have heard from people that come to the desert every year, that this particular year has been one of the most spectacular as regards the volume of flowering desert plants this year.  Guess we picked a good time to finally get down here.

A mighty lizard comes out to inspect the scene.

The curious roadrunner.

A bee motel, click to view!

For those who want a head start, there is a famous rotating Tram that can drop you off above some 8000 feet, so you can start from there.  Maybe it’s just me, but I trust my feet a little more than Tram cars, not to mention the vertigo that ensues when dangling in a windowed rotating car for 2½ miles way above the rocky landscape far below.   Either way, you have a commanding view of the desert floor down below including an excellent perspective on the mighty gridlines making up its Matrix.

The blooms were spectacular above the Matrix.

Shedding The Load of Civilization

The belly of the beast...

Down in the Matrix, the demands are great.  It becomes hard, difficult, to near impossible to see the bigger picture, because the society at large demands that we stay deep in our egos.  Pay our bills, check our bank accounts, taxes, bosses to impress, dinner at 7:00, and on and on, the clockwork ticking away in rhythm, a deafening roar, blotting out the pure, deep, enveloping  silence that soothes.

The pull is lessoning...

The pull, though, like a mighty, hypnotic whirlpool, is quickly overcome by climbing mountains.  The demands that seemed so real down below, pale to the natural forces that effortlessly wash it away.  Unfortunately, when day after routine day, that becomes the majority of all that you experience, it can overwhelmingly seem so real.  There is a simple, and fairly cheap remedy available to many that is 100% effective in regaining clarity.  Climbing mountains in general, enable one to see, clearing off the windows to that which we really are, letting our Light shine back through, by removing the built up crud.

Blooming barrel cactus

Reaching No Mans Land

The “upper reaches”, which are nowhere near the upper reaches, are clearly marked as a no man’s land.  One has to be prepared if they were to attempt to continue on.  Water which is of vital importance in the desert, is rare up here, and would have to be carried in.  This area of the trail is usually where I quit, though I have gone a little further.  I’ve been trying to climb high enough to see the snow melts up above but so far it’s been out of reach as the trail quickly gets steep and treacherous above this point.

Think twice before you continue...

That’s OK though, as I’ve reached my real goal, to feel the clarity of thought and vision that can only be had by getting up high, and above the cloud of ego-centrified thinking that obscures the reality behind it.  That’s one thing I love the most, this is a lazy mans yoga.  No real effort is made to purify, clarify or forcefully meditate my way towards enlightenment, peace and inner contentment.

Yoga of no effort...

It all happens naturally, on its own accord, and without any more effort than putting one foot in front of the other, and advancing in faith.  I’ve participated in this “meditation” so many times, that I have total knowing, that any confusion, doubt or fears I came to the mountain with, WILL dissolve in the ethers, given a bit of time and a bit of stepping.  These mountains are BIG, and inherent in that obvious fact, are channelers of powerful cosmic energies.

Your therapy awaits...

Get on out and let your cares be cleansed away and your burdens be erased, automagically.

Tags: desert, mountain climbing, palm springs