Mindfulness Practice on Angel's Rest

It’s amazing how a change in mindset can make all the difference in the world.

This past Sunday, I was jonesing for a hike.  The weather was supposed to be perfect—mid-50’s, sunny skies, pure bliss!  I laced up my shoes, packed my bag, and headed out the door.  I didn’t have the same kind of grit and to-hell-with-them-all determination as I did hiking Devil’s Rest.  My thought process when hopping in the car was, “a walk in the woods sounds nice”.  Boy, there must have been a bunch of folks who thought the same thing.  Holy cow.  Several parking lots in the Columbia River Gorge were full at 9:30 a.m.  I was lucky to find a spot right in front of Wahkeena Falls.  In essence, I was going to be taking the same hike that led to the Devil’s Rest Summit, but heading towards Angel’s Rest instead.

Though it was the same initial part of the hike, it didn’t feel nearly as leg-busting and strenuous as it did previously.  It was interesting.  Instead of “I HAVE TO MAKE IT TO ANGEL’S REST NO MATTER WHAT TODAY”, my mantra was “Yup, a walk in the woods will be nice”.  You’d be surprised.  You really would be.  I didn’t have the kind of tunnel vision as I did before, when climbing up all of the switchbacks.  I stopped and took pictures.  I saw interesting plant formations and mushrooms emerging from the decaying trunks of fallen trees.  I didn’t even give these beauties a second glance before.  Huh.

Little chandelier-looking mushrooms

Before I knew it, I made it to the top.  Once you wind your way to the top of the switchbacks, there’s a little lookout called Lemmon’s Viewpoint, named for a fallen firefighter who lost his life protecting the gorge.  I passed a fellow hiker and took a few pictures.  Wasn’t out of breath, legs were fine—cool!

Lemmon's Viewpoint over the Columbia River

As I wound around to Fairy Falls, the creeks were swollen and singing a gentle reverie in the depth of the forest.  How did I miss this before?  Was I blind and deaf in my goal with Devil’s Rest?  Interesting.  Either way, I was thankful to be enjoying it this time around.

How in the hell did I miss this before?

I reached a clearing in the hike, the invariable fork in the road.  Devil’s Rest or Angel’s Rest?  As I was making my way towards Angel’s Rest, I came across a semi-familiar face.  The hiker I passed at Lemmon’s Viewpoint was asking a guy where to go at this point in the hike.  Bless his heart, I think he missed her question entirely and tried to lead her back to the parking lot.  After he headed on his way, I approached her and offered to lend a hand.  A quick introduction later, I found out her name was Liz, this was her first time in Wahkeena, and she was headed to Angel’s Rest as well.  We agreed to join forces on our journey and made our way to Angel’s Rest, which was another 2.6 miles away.

This “walk in the woods” became a conversation about life, love, the changing flows of time, the hospitality of the Midwest, and how each of us made our way to Oregon.  I was so entranced with the conversation that before we knew it, new friend Liz and I made it to Angel’s Rest.

Made it to the top!
Note: I didn't ask new friend if I could post her pic, so out of respect, I decided against it.

We were in awe.  We made it?  Really?  Wow!  We sat on the sun-soaked rock formations, gave our quads a break, and sat in the glory of our victory.  The winds picked up pretty intensely, so we didn’t stay too long.  We finished a lunch of blackberries, protein bars, and roasted pumpkin seeds, and made our way back.

The perfect spot for lunch.

As we continued our conversation, but I couldn’t help but think about everything I had absorbed during this trip.  Not only did I get a lovely “walk in the woods”, but since I wasn’t so rigidly focused on the end point, I was available to make a new friend.  I saw new sights and discoveries on the trail.  I got the chance to appreciate being in the moment and not focus so much on how long I was going to be out and about, where my end point was, anything like that.  In essence, I enjoyed the hike for the hike’s sake, not for personal glory.

This hike ended up becoming a mindfulness practice.  What opportunities do you open yourself up to when you relax and go with the flow of the day?  Being the anxious busy little bee that I am, giving myself a break mentally was the most nourishing and loving thing I could give myself.  And the rewards were plentiful.

Nature's ikebana

We made it back to the car, exchanged numbers, and designated each other as our ‘hiking buddy’.  We laughed at our good fortune to find each other; hurray for new hiking friends!  We calculated our triumph before we parted ways.  We climbed 1,600’, traversed 8.4 miles, and made it there and back in 5 hours.  Insane!  The longest distance I had gone before was 7 miles.  I unintentionally broke a personal record that day and didn’t even realize it.  I was too busy enjoying the experience.

It opens one up to think—what would it be like if all of the aspects in life were this open?  To just sit and let the day happen?  I, for one, would be curious to see what happens.

Happy Journeys,

al