A Spacious View

The last part of the hike was by far the most intense. I had made it the 2+ miles to the cascading exhilaration of Spray Falls and then up the seemingly endless switchbacks to the meadows of Spray Park with their vast array of wildflowers. Even writing these words brings back spacious joy for this is one of my favorite places on Mount Rainier, which is one of my favorite places on our beautiful planet.

At the very top of Spray Park, before the trail turns down into Seattle Park, I headed off to the right on a faint path through the rocks and scrub. I was now at a wall of boulders, which I had to climb with a 40-pound pack on my back. But I had done it before and I knew, as long as I gave the climb my full attention, I would be fine.

As I crested the last boulder, I could finally see the place where I would camp for the night, a saddle between Echo and Observation Rock above the 8000-foot level of Mount Rainier. As I gratefully let my pack slide off my back, I allowed myself to be moved by the spectacular view. Before me was the stunning beauty of Mount Rainier. I have never tired of letting her majesty touch me and to be so close brought tears. I then turned and let in the waves of forests and ridges cascading down below me until they came to the flatlands, the cities and then the waters of Puget Sound.

After drinking this all in, I setup my camp so I could be ready for the other things that had drawn me to do this long and arduous hike. The first was to be present for the sunset. As evening drew near and I finished my dinner, I found a warm rock to lean against and put on my earphones so I could listen to the music that probably touches me more than any – Kitaro’s Silk Road Suite with the London Symphony. It is spacious, alive and exhilarating music and it was a perfect accompaniment for the sunset. My heart swelled with awestruck gratitude as the last bit of the sun’s radiance faded away.

That we call this event a sunset shows how deeply limited our view is of life for the sun never sets. This idea is as small as the one we held for so many years that the Earth was flat.  Instead of setting, the Earth simply turns away from the sun. My heart soared as my perception shifted from sitting on top of a planet that is fixed in space (so we perceive that the sun sets) to one where I could feel the Earth turning away from the sun.

As light faded and the stars came out, at 8000 feet above sea level, the Milky Way was truly milky. As I lay snuggled in my sleeping bag, looking up and through the Milky Way and the starry heavens slowly revolved around the North Star, I recognized/felt/knew that I belonged to something that is vast, loving and highly intelligent.

Life had even more openings in store for me. That night was the Perseid meteor shower and being a moonless night, the streaks of light across the sky were exhilarating, some so wide and long it felt like somebody was drawing lines of chalk through the heavens. At times the joy of it all was a bit challenging to stay open to.

I got very little sleep that night being so moved by life. But there was a final gift in store for me. For where I was camped you could not only see the sunset but also with the sunrise. And when the Earth turned into the sun again, I cried. As light filled the land as far as I could see and life responded to this light, I remembered that I am a part of something that is so much bigger than me. In the rarified atmosphere of this vast view from the mountains, it rang true to me that the universe is made out of light and the main quality of that light is love.

I made this hike a number of years ago but the gifts that it brought me, along with a deepening realization of the truth, which is always here right underneath our addiction to struggling with life, are still with me. If this calls to you too, right now, as you are reading these words, open your perception. You are being held by the Earth as it dances through oceans of space. And for a short time, you are being given the gift of Life and while you are here on this beautiful planet, you are a unique and necessary part of this great love affair called life.

So to re-member who you truly are, the invitation is to carve out some time one evening and find a place where you can watch/feel the Earth turn away from the sun as day turns into night.  And if you are an early riser, find a place where you can see/feel the Earth turning toward the sun again. I promise you, it is worth the effort.

So, I leave you with one of my favorite Hafiz poems:

“Even after all this time the sun never says to the Earth, ‘You owe me.’ Look what happens with a love like that. It lights up the whole sky.”

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