Granite Lake Hike Dodging 10,000 Baby Frogs...by Kat Carroll, NTP and Associate Editor of Health Freedom News

The Spectacular Pristine Granite Lake Outside Ashford, Near Mt. Rainer in Washington State

This is an absolutely  beautiful hike not far from Adytum Sanctuary to three lakes: Pothole, Bertha May (where do they get these names??), and Granite Lake - and you could hike on to Cora Lake but when we reached Granite Lake, it was already growing quite dark as we got a late start. All this beauty is in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest near Tower Rock  and reached by walking over a single-track footpath, despite what the sign says, with stunning Mt. Rainier views along the way. 

In the Pleasant Company of the Ancients

When I was among the beauty of the old growth forest, some of these trees over 400 years old,  I was struck by the sense of community they exuded and the beauty and individuality of each lichen covered One.There is an unspoken and often unacknowledged energy in their presence. We usually focus on the water as the end-line destination of a hike, and it was some of the most beautiful forest water I've ever witnessed but really - it was the trees that worked their balancing 'magic' on me and gave me my peace back.

Mt. Rainier Views Along the Way to the Three Lakes

A sign at the entrance said horses, bikes, motorcycles, etc were all able to use the trail but we just couldn't imagine how that would be possible the further along we hiked. Even a child, an elderly person- certainly horses- had the potential to slip over the cliff without a lot of provocation. If you mountain bike, you will carry it on your shoulder about 1/3 of the way and up some steep inclines, across rough stream beds,  and walk it down wash-outs, but it is conceivable. 

Tower Rock in the Background, Lake Bertha May

We dodged thousands of baby frogs- no exaggeration -  until we finally stopped trying to avoid stepping on them...I've never seen baby frogs in a forest but with three lakes nearby, there you go! Actually what was cute at first became creepy as they scuttled from under every foot fall like crabs or cockroaches and distracted from the great beauty we were immersed in on this lush trail. Maiden hair ferns mixed with knick-a-nick and huckleberries. Mosses overtook rocks and there was a thick carpet of fir needles and cones on the forest floor. It's going to be a cold winter.

Fresh Bear Activity; Donn's 6'2" Tall & This is the Bear's Reach

We followed a bear  tall enough to scrape trees at the 6'2" mark as you can see with Donn standing by one of his scrapings. The darkened patches denoting a recent desire to fill an empty belly with ants and bugs. 

To reach the final destination you might take a blanket for a picnic, a fire-stick as there are fire pits in season, and a gun.

Bear Activity

Great Picnic Spots with the Lake Beyond, Fire pits Well Used

We realized our level of vulnerability when we saw fresh bear scat on the trail full of huckleberries. The huckleberries, however, had been picked over by hikers and the trees all had been ravaged on and off trail. Somebody was hungry....we joked after stepping over the fresh 'evidence' that he probably wasn't interested in a couple of skinny vegetarians, but still it left me with a sense of 'dis-ease' in such peaceful surroundings and it made me realize the need to bring something besides my camera on these hikes.

Is This Reishi?

Our hike evolved into a mushroom walk and the variety is astounding! Purple ones, orange and tan ones, ones with spots and some slumped over. Some the quintessential 'toad stools'. My childlike imagination ran rampant as stories around these mushrooms invaded my head...It is a fantasy walk and it's too bad it's too much for children unless they are closely supervised or carried.  Our interest in mushrooms is growing after last week's seminar in LA - the Longevity Now Intensive where Reishi and Chaga were highly esteemed.  We are trying to learn if any of these are the powerful Reishi which we are taking now from Ron Teeguarden's Dragon Herbs. If so, there is enough to last lifetimes growing on these trees.

After walking nearly an hour up a gradual incline- nothing too taxing and stopping for a ton of photographs-  we arrived at the last lake. They were all stunning in their turquoise, 'Caribbean' color, clarity, and the peace was palpable. If it wasn't so late, it would have made for the quintessential skinny dip. All you have to do is count the cars at the entrance and count the people as they pass. Simple math told me we were quite alone- except for that bear....

Although the elevation gain is not too remarkable, still this is not an easy hike because the trail has been degraded. At points we were sliding down the hill or using roots to pull ourselves up to the next section. The sign says horses and motorcycles...good luck! I imagine it was these that tore the trail up in the first place.

The Camel Tree; Making Space for Play

We only passed one couple and next a father hiking with his daughter. Despite such a perfect temperature day, we were essentially alone. That's part of the mystery of the Pacific Northwest...even within 5 minutes of Adytum I can show you places that no one but the locals know of or will ever find. I lived in Olympia, 45 minutes north toward Seattle, for 23 years and only came to Mt. Rainer...never these sketchy hikes down miles of pitted, holey gravel roads. It just takes getting off the beaten path every now and then to discover these Caribbean-like jewels in the midst of old trees that look like they came out of the set of the Hobbit.

Mushrooms of Every Color, Shape and Size Abounded on the Trail

There was no sound but the wind in the fir, the occasional Blue Jay and the sweet twisp of the Pine Siskin. I could hear leaves falling.  Will we go again? Most definitely.

On the way home, you could head back to Ashford for a nice meal at Alexander's Country Inn where we spent our wedding night in 1995. We have no 'white tablecloth' or 5 star restaurants in our area but this is the closest by far.

Donn & Kat's 17th Anniversary Dinner at Alexander's After Hiking Granite Lake

 I've made the request to the chef there to incorporate gluten free pastas into their menu as eating the white pasta makes me ill. Since we send many of our guests  to Alexander's after serving  them all gluten free and healthy options at breakfast, we want them to return back to Adytum feeling as good as when they left. For me today after having some lasagna  I am lethargic, tired, and my stomach hurts.  I will have the salad next time if the menu remains un-enlightened in respect to gluten. The staff is wonderful and the atmosphere is nice. I'm just requiring more options the further I get along my journey to radiant health, that's all!

Far Infrared Sauna in the Orion Suite at Adytum

We just did an interview on www.tnsradio.ning.com with Dr. Carolyn McMakin on Frequency Specific Microcurrent. Her podcast should be up soon but here is the link for some of the other podcasts currently up (The Far Infrared Sauna talk with Jill Harrison is quite informative and we have this sauna from High Tech Health at Adytum and I wouldn't be without it, seriously: http://www.tnsradio.com/scott-tips-podcasts.html

Dr. McMakin is a chiropractor who uses FSM on her patients and I have an excellent home unit I also wouldn't be without!. She said the FSM treatment will only last one day if the patient is sensitive to gluten and continues to eat it, but many more days if they stay off of it. It is highly inflammatory and comes with a host of symptoms, most of which many of us ignore thinking that's just how it is for us and our health. 

Lovely Spot for a Private Picnic and Swim

For herself, she said that gluten consumption will take her pain level from a 7 to a 10 and last three days at the higher level! The effects of one meal with wheat/rye/oats/barley/soy sauce/filler in canned foods, etc. will remain with you long after the meal is forgotten. It's just not worth it when there are great options out there like Tinkyada's brands of rice noodles that hold up so well with cooking, or Shirataki noodles in the cold section of the fridge at Safeway and most stores, or quinoa and amaranth noodles, Pamela's mixes, and so many of Bob's Red Mill GF flours. Most of us are avoiding corn because of the GMOs now but it is gluten free.  Those of you that follow a gluten free diet, please join us in asking restaurants to provide options. Otherwise, we had a nice time at Alexander's Country Inn and lovely memories too from a wedding night and many anniversaries celebrated there since.

Don't Believe Everything You Read (:

As far as the hike goes, there are no bathroom facilities on this hike and our cell phone didn't work after we left the Morton area.You are on your own so be prepared for any eventuality. When we got back to the car, the key wouldn't open when the button was pressed due to being carried in a pocket with a bunch of dirty Reishi (hopefully!!) mushrooms clogging up the mechanism. 

I was thinking about the long, long walk back to a road if it didn't open and realized how very unprepared we were in this quasi-wilderness for anything to go wrong.

To find these hidden jewels, proceed about seven miles out of Ashford. Take a right on Skate Creek Road, R 84 and the last right at 9510. When the road Y's, park on the side of the road  and the entrance is there- and yes, hard to find. We may have missed it were there not two cars parked there on the side of the road. 

Arriving here is accomplished after about  fifteen minutes on a potholed gravel road with a lot of scattered rocks as well. Use the restroom before embarking if you wish to avoid some kidney rattling (:   Plan to hike about an hour in if you're stopping for lots of great pictures and  45 minutes back out. Wear good shoes as you'll cross some streams.

We Shall Return!

A Little Full Moon Creativity in the Adytum Kitchen By Kat Carroll, NTP, Associate Editor, Health Freedom News

Our Yet Unnamed Creation "On the Half Shell" (any ideas?)

Right before bed last night, my guests advised me- for the first time- that we needed to cook around his diabetes. He’s also received word he was allergic to eggs this week. As a chef, it’s not what I like to hear without having time to inventory my kitchen and put some thought to creative, healthy alternatives for people not accustomed (by virtue of having that diagnosis, my assumption anyway) to eating too far outside the typical American diet. It’s the last minute challenge, however, that ends up bringing new culinary adventures into our collective experience.

Option #2 for the Muffins

We’ve been eating mostly raw, vegan – these guests didn’t strike me as a Wakantanka Tofu Scramble type. (recipe: http://blogspot.adytumsanctuary.com/2011/04/january-2009-found-donn-and-me-in-kauai.html) It seems so few people really love organic, non-GMO tofu…So somewhere around 3:30 a.m. while my brain had been doing a little calculating as my body slept, I realized I had smoked salmon and Boursin cheese in the refrigerator purchased for my new girlfriend and her friends from China who housesat when we were in LA at the Longevity Now Intensive.

When we hit the kitchen at 8:30 a.m., this new idea had mentally arranged itself in the huge seashells we normally use for other purposes. A quick call to my son Phillip, now a finish carpenter for Gritton Building Company(http://www.grittonbuildingco.com/) but who was actually a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America helped me brainstorm these ingredients into an eclectic new item on the Adytum Sanctuary brunch menu, “Do you have dill? Capers?...”Perfect timing too as we have a lawyer and paralegal staying for nearly three weeks while attending a trial in a nearby town and they will appreciate the culinary variation from week to week.

Coconut Rum and Coconut Cream Fresh Fruit

While this bit of creativity was going on in my station of the kitchen, Donn was building some amazing fruit into something that begged for a little splash of …A quick run-through of the liquor in the pantry yielded some coconut rum he bought on accident. We make our own vanilla extract from beans procured from the big island of Hawaii and they rest in a base of rum, vodka, and Grand Marnier for six months- the last liquor was a suggestion from my neighbor who used to be a chef in San Francisco…decadent blend to be sure- pure vanilla in Grand Marnier!! Anyway, Donn doesn’t drink so he bought the ‘wrong’ alcohol home for the vanilla extract. It found yet another new use this morning marinating the fruit which we topped with coconut cream, a lemongrass spear and lemon verbena. Phillip said he would have added toasted coconut…this is how things just keep getting better here, coming to higher levels.

Time out for a quick lesson from Phillip Gritton, ex-Executive Chef, CIA

By the way, I purchased the lemon grass from my favorite Asian Store, Cho Market, in Olympia. It was immediately put into a vase for several weeks where it rooted and is now in the herb box that Phillip built. I’ll bring it in for winter soon and enjoy fresh lemon grass all winter long.

Lemon Verbena and Lemongrass in Phil's Herb box off First Light Suite

Brunch was on the table at ten o’clock; the real test came when the guests said, “You have a winning dish here. The combination of flavors is amazing and the salmon isn't overpowering like it can be sometimes…” (or something to that effect- I’m so bad at relaying the precise comments verbatim)  When Phillip tasted it with his cultivated palette he advised to thin the salmon, Boursin mixture with a little more cream to dilute the saltiness. Donn and I  had learned from a chef in Whistler last year to fry capers vs. using them raw and we did a quick sauté in the same pan the onions came out of. Be aware the capers as a garnish will be adding even more saltiness to the dish. So here’s how it went~

Caramelize a Sweet Maui or Walla Walla Sweet Onion by slow-cooking them in olive oil. In a separate pan, sauté mushrooms in a few pats of organic butter with olive oil- high heat initially and then reducing. Use sea salt and ground pepper to taste. When you’re about ready to turn the heat off, throw in a lot of thinly sliced garlic. Don’t go beyond two minutes on heat or your garlic will turn bitter.

Large Shells- Real Ones- To Fill and Bake With

Layer this mixture into the shells with onion on the bottom, next mushrooms & garlic. In a bowl, mix Boursin (I used garlic and chives flavored Boursin) with smoked salmon, adding fresh or dried dill to taste. Add cream to thin. Add some organic baby lettuce & arugula blend atop mushrooms to lighten things up, then a scoop of the salmon/Boursin mixture. Top with a basil chiffonade and the fried capers and a flick of the wrist of Smoky Paprika. Serve with toast. Very savory!

Lemon Garnish with Chives or Lemon Grass

I wish I’d thought at the time to add a very thin slice of lemon on the side. When Phillip heard me voice this, he showed me how to make a really lovely garnish- such creativity! It would have been fun to go to the CIA…

The guests were so full with the other offerings at the table and Phillip, who had wanted a chance to try this new creation, got his wish. He loved it! One shell is enough, per person, they agreed.

The morning ends, before Donn and I go hiking to catch the Fall color, with the reason Phillip drove out to Adytum this morning being accomplished; installation of the dog/cat door to help our furry friends to feel a little more in control of their needs and desires.

From a Chef's Lesson to Pet Door Installation...Phillip Gritton at Adytum

Since Gizmo caught his second mole (and we were paying the Mole Man $50 per mole before this….) we are encouraging MUCH outdoor time for that Mighty Hunter. The picture is...well a wee bit gruesome, but hey! life in the country, right?

As I finish my Saturday morning blog post we just got an inquiry from two culinary students to have their wedding at Adytum. They will book out the inn with the request they be allowed to play in the kitchen. They’re particularly interested in making pancakes for their intimate friends the morning after the wedding…in her wedding dress!

Julia and Chris Ward from their Wedding at Adytum

Yes! Bring on some more full moon creativity and fun! Adytum is a house of joy, of light, of the stars and moon streaming in the 75 windows at night to bathe us in creative power while we sleep. Sleep produced this morning’s new creation- sleep and a bedtime challenge!

Eating for Magnificence by Kat Carroll, NTP

Adytum Sanctuary has been called the healthy, gourmet B&B for foodies and we’ve been on the path to what the Chinese call ‘radiant health’, the highest health attainable, ‘health beyond danger’ for 18 years now together.  As we forge a deeper commitment to our shared pursuit of radiant health you will see new offerings on the breakfast menus at the Sanctuary. We’ve wanted to bring more of our daily green drink smoothies out to guests, but frankly they aren’t always so tasty! Donn’s been perfecting exotic elixirs taught to him by Truth Calkins made with the Chinese tonic herbs from www.dragonherbs.com and www.longevitywarehouse.com and believe me, some of them are phenomenal! You can feel them working… Cacao is a superfood and makes the most luxurious ‘ice creams’ and drinks when combined with coconut and hemp oils. Reishi is showing up in nearly everything and capsules being opened and blended…Donn’s an eye doc turned alchemist and the Vitamix is his greatest transformational tool.

Donn's Famous Shooters

We are focusing on the longevity foods and the Chinese tonic herbs which Ron Teeguarden, presenter at the LA Longevity Now Intensive conference we attended, called  transformational ‘growth herbs’ – growth in terms of our character, our well-being, and our evolution. The longest lived among us eat gogi berries, olive oil, honey, dark chocolate/cacao, and  drink moderate amounts of red wine. Can you handle that? Sign me up!   But there were herbs unknown to us in the West that are actually the symbol of longevity in China, like Reishi that we use now after being introduced to them by this team of presenters.

Reishi Mushroom: Symbol of Longevity in China

Jeanne Louise Calment, the world's longest living person (who died at the age of 122) was known for laughter and living without stress. She once said “If you can’t do anything about it, don’t worry about it.” She also ate 2 pounds of chocolate a week until her uninformed doctor (whom I am sure she outlived) persuaded her to give it up at 119. Port wine and olive oil figured into her longevity regime as well.

In China, the Reishi mushroom is the symbol of longevity- we don’t have a symbol like this in America…we’re learning to use these medicinal mushrooms like Reishi and Chaga and taking a lot herbs I can’t pronounce but that are helping in so many, many ways not only with health but in creating clarity mentally, enhancing beauty, spirituality, and building reserves so greater stress can be endured without succumbing to it emotionally or physically. These herbs are adaptogenic ‘thinking’ herbs. They have the power to bring balance as they are regulatory herbs. The Chinese have been employing and enjoying them for thousands of years. In China they have two systems of healthcare: one remedial and one strongly promoting radiant health. ‘Health and longevity’ is the common greeting there. I like that and the power we have to create by our words. They are truly tapping into all realms.

David Wolfe and Kat Carroll, Longevity Now Intensive Seminar in Los Angeles

I loved hearing each presenter; David Wolfe, Truth Calkins, and Ron Teeguarden, and each led me into a more exalted understanding of the place food and thoughts impact us. Really, though, you need to see them. They have at times (David continually) an electric energy arcing from them. They are above all passionate, magnetic, charismatic, bright eyed and youthful.

The energy levels maintained throughout hours and hours of speaking and/or listening was impressive. We were all hooked to grounding ‘earthing’ mats which helped with the EMF’s and disturbances caused by the lighting but their energy really came from their spirit, lifestyle, and the tonic herbs and it set them apart, it showed!

Truth Whipping up a Miracle in a Glass

David and Truth have agreed to either write for Health Freedom News, (www.thenhf.com) which I co-edit with Scott Tips, and/or be on the TNS Radio Show (www.tnsradio.ning.com) for an interview. Ron left before I got a chance to connect with him personally but he was invited as well, and in many ways, his wisdom with Chinese tonic herbs and medicinal mushrooms is what I am most excited to learn right now because Donn pioneered it for us and his vitality has grown substantially.  Ron gave a fantastic talk on balance and using top longevity herbs/mushrooms/etc. (Reishi, Gynostemma, Schizandra, Deer Antler, Ant, etc.) (I say ‘etc’ because I haven’t learned enough yet to know how you’d classify trimming the tips off deer antlers or eating ants!  Herbs…mushrooms- I have those classifications down (:  )

Ron writes a great book which he sells through his company www.dragonherbs.com that I am immersing in called The Ancient Wisdom of the Chinese Tonic Herbs. He discusses how “the Daoist sages of China have taught that each of us is born with an intrinsic energy that determines our fundamental, constitutional strength. It is called Primal Essence, or Jing. Jing is said to determine our potential life expectancy as well as the vitality of our life while we are living it.”   Jing is what many of us wish to build and learn to prevent from ‘leaking’. We’re equally desirous of building and storing Qi.

Truth Calkins www.longevitywarehouse.com stated some eat for their liver, some for their heart, etc. but we need to eat to elevate Shen or the spiritual ruling part of our life. We aren’t our body, which will die. We are spirit, and nurturing/feeding spirit is of greater long-term value than merely feeding the body however that doesn’t mean we disregard it as so many in the West do, eating whatever they want and focusing only on their spiritual life.   When we eat to enhance our spiritual experience, embracing it without the influence of the numbing dullness that processed and devitalized foods deliver, we will be living from the most powerful integrated point.

Ron Teeguarden at Dragon Herbs

Here’s what Ron has to say in his book about shen, “The Classics say: “The Heart is the Supreme Master of the organs and is the home of shen, the Spirit. If the Master is brilliant, his subjects are peaceful. If the Master is disturbed, his twelve officials [the body’s organ systems] are endangered.” Shen is the spiritual aspect of a human being. Shen presides over the emotions, allowing them to manifest appropriately but overriding them when they are not appropriate…when shen is shaky or disturbed, any emotion can become dominant.” This makes sense, eating to maintain that equanimity in Shen.

When I transformed OVERNIGHT in my early 30’s from eating the typical American diet (SAD) to eating vegan with no alcohol, coffee, pop drinks, sugar, refined foods/flours, I observed a few things. My eyes got very clear and even changed color to a jungle-cat green at that time. And my spiritual ‘eye’ became more clear, my prayers more powerful and constantly breathed, my intuition heightened, prophetic dreams becoming more ‘matter of course’, and my Union with the Godhead [Father, Jesus, Holy Spirit] much more vital, intimate, and connected. Later when I removed gluten, added red wine based on longevity studies, and ate mostly raw, the shen elevation was even more pronounced. I’m still on my journey and will be for life, it’s my commitment to myself because my start in life was not from a healthy standpoint at all. Jing can be restored and those of us who had a rough start can, with diligence, end up better than most that had a great beginning from the womb onward. Over the course of 20 years I’ve added buffalo and fish back in, and took one or both back out again mainly due to the frequency that I could now feel- my aggressiveness rose dramatically with buffalo, irritation and anger coming up that had not been a part of my life at that time. With fish it’s always the same response no matter how supposedly ‘clean’- hot flashes to get the mercury out by sweating when hot flashes are not a part of my experience otherwise. Pay attention to frequency and consequences. As a Nutritional Therapist we were taught the Coca Pulse Test. The pulse will tell you if your body likes what you deem as ‘food’ or ‘nourishment’. http://blog.bioticsresearch.com/2012/03/05/testing-for-allergies-using-the-coca-pulse-test/

Frederick Hart's Fragment 3: Ex Nihilo, Out of the Mind of God

Food can be a closed door to keep us from experiencing higher levels of spiritual life or it can be an open door inviting us into higher levels...If we are sick, tired, or stressed we focus on how to fix what’s bothering us instead of maximizing our potential by union with our Source. We’re in charge of which door we focus on and for most of us elevating Shen – or intimate experience of God -involves going from one door to the next throughout our lives as we learn to release addictions and emotional attachments to food, drinks, substances, and people that block Union with our Creator. Some people take it to the limit giving up all attachments, even food and water; it’s hard to believe there are people like Breatharians among us! Some of them feel that food is just ‘entertainment’ or an exercise in 'numbing' and mostly toxic waste.

Breathairian, Genesis Sunfire, a true Warrior for Good

David Wolfe http://www.thebestdayever.com/ introduced us to a true Breatharian, European-based Genesis Sunfire https://www.facebook.com/pages/Genesis-Sunfire/304334442911817 who hasn’t eaten food or drank water in years and only drinks salt water when he is doing his cleanses, which he leads occasionally. Why doesn’t he starve? He says it’s a mental thing. ”    A professional athlete, Genesis carried David Wolfe a quarter mile over his shoulders. David is 185 pounds, Genesis is 145. He is strong and ripped and looks fantastic…vibrant!   Here are some excerpts from Genesis’ YouTube interview:

“Break the addiction and emotional attachment to food… eating a lot of these foods is like taking drugs because of what the food industry has programmed into the flavors to manipulate us into overeating. The food industry is making it harder to have a conscious choice (marketing to children, etc.)  We really have no choice (at points) When in the mother’s womb, the child has no choice- they eat what she eats, drink what she drinks, takes what she takes. We are not taught to be conscious what we put into our bodies, we aren’t taught to pay attention to our bodies’ signals- cause and effect. We’re taught to go to the doctor to get some pills and our body will sort it out. They are relying on us being sick for their business.

Become conscious and aware of why we are eating. I was sacrificing long term health for instant comfort. Active, addictive ingredients make it hard to make a conscious decision. It’s hard to give up products that have a detrimental effect on your mind, body, and soul.  The food industry makes sure we come back for more; numbing, desensitizing us. The body functions in spite of what we eat not because of what we eat. The body sends out white blood cells when we eat cooked foods; it is seen as an invading danger. Our addictive mind sees it as good. Cooked and processed food dehydrates and drains the body of its resources. It takes away and we are left with disease and wearing ourselves down. At the end of the day the universal effect is destruction of the body, mind, and soul. The purpose of food has evolved into getting us as Divine human beings to forget who we are.  Like a roller coaster, I had to get off this ride.” 

Dr. Richard Schulze teaches we can get benefit from an 80% raw food diet. David has been on 100% raw food for years, and I met him about 14 years ago at a Raw Food Festival along with Dr. Gabriel Cousins and others in the raw food movement. David’s now walked through the next door embracing as he described it, “living mostly on herbs…” the superfood Chinese herbs and medicinal mushrooms.

His Chaga book, available on Amazon, is a must read because it is the “king of mushrooms” in his view, and this is the topic of his article in an upcoming Health Freedom News issue as well as his interview with Scott Tips. David Wolfe reminded us that if we didn’t know Genesis 1:29, to go look it up. I did, and this is how he lives:

Then God said, "I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food.

One interesting concept David introduced was his belief that we must eat for our magnificence – that there is a plan to poison us with processed and addictive foods that cause us to forget who we are, Divine Beings made in the image of God. Truth’s focus on elevating Shen by each food and drink choice assures us we will not only be healthy in our body, mind, and spirit, but we will claim the magnificence that is ours by Divine right and fulfill our destiny calling with passion and enthusiasm vs. stumbling through life from one doctor to the next in search of the pill that will undo the damage we’ve done with our choices and habits. David and Truth concur with Genesis Sunfire who teaches that ‘the purpose of food (today’s polluted, GMO infected, processed, etc) has evolved into getting us, as Divine Beings, to forget who we are.” We just keep evolving day by day trying to hit the ultimate mark toward radiant health a little higher each day by the grace of God. We left this conference determined more than ever to keep refining and fine-tuning our evolution toward higher levels- to radiant health where we are protected from disease and living gloriously, magnificently!

Fragment 2, Frederick Hart, Ex Nihilo: Out of the Mind of God...Simply Magnificent!

Windy Ridge Route to Mt. St. Helens “The Exquisite Comeback”

If my last post on Mt. St. Helens was about a mountain as an indomitable survivor, this post reveals another vantage point of her character as she makes an exquisite, lush comeback from her desolation. The drive we took on a late summer day in September with temperatures in the low 70’s to  view Mt. St. Helens took the road out of Randle to Windy Ridge. The contrast of the two routes (I-5 to Longview and over vs. Hwy 12 to Randle and over) to meet the mountain is remarkable and both a powerful testimony to the resilience and invincibility of nature…and ourselves.

Faith is the strength by which a shattered world shall emerge into the light. Helen Keller

Out of Ash and Devastation Springs Life Amidst Reminders of Struggle Survived

At Fischer’s Market in Randle, we stopped to get a pass ($5 for the day/$30 for the year) and I checked out the little gift shop I’d heard so much about from locals in Morton where we visited the Tiller Art Gallery across from our optometry office, Medical Vision Center, on the way out of town. The Fischer’s gift shop was indeed a nice surprise, packed with tasteful gifts and things for the home and garden. Taking a right turn onto Cispus Road we took the right fork and headed toward Windy Ridge, noticing the other branch of the fork led to the Cispus Center and one of our favorite hikes; Angel Falls at Covel Creek.

Donn and Forest Art

The Windy Ridge approach to the mountain seems much closer than heading down I-5 to Longview and over. And while the road was pretty rough in spots, particularly as we finished our loop and headed to the Ryan Lake area on a broken one lane mix of asphalt and gravel, the exuberant life that met us all along the way was a blessed relief after the desolation of the alternate approach a few weeks ago. That route has the benefit of the two superb lodges and visitor centers with their fun shops that remind me exactly of Museum Shops… While the starkness of the first approach taught me some deep lessons about our ability to withstand a stripping of all we possess and still stand firm and immovable, the other approach teaches me about rebuilding again when life takes us down to the core.

Mt. St. Helens From the Windy Ridge Route

Since Windy Ridge closed September 4^th for road repair and will reopen next year, we saw it- and Mt. St. Helens – from a distance but what a spectacular frame! This route allows us to drive through the former devastation and to see the contrast of man’s intervening attempts to replant the forest with many species of trees juxtaposed against what will remain “The Monument” forest in its natural state post volcanic explosion condition. 

The territorial views from all the look-out points are remarkable; Mt. Adams to the left and Mt. St. Helens to the right and wide valleys in between refilling nicely with lush growth. No matter what the mountain’s experience taught, she was still speaking to each of us and that was quite clear in the energy of the sight-seers intent on reading the signboards and trying to understand the magnitude of what happened on that May morning.

The Miner's Car Monument

We stopped to see the Miner’s Car Monument flattened to scrap metal in the blast. That morning, mine owners signed a release to enter unsafe zones to check on their mine. They were some of the victims of that memorable day and their car shows the intensity of the demise they faced, obviously playing the odds against meeting their death that day.

Even here we were beginning to appreciate the beauty, however, that was created or set  into place that day in the upturned trunks of hundreds of trees, ripped out of the ground with monstrous force and now aged to spectacular silver sculptures. Nature truly is the art of God as Dante said. Some of these trees are recorded at 400 years old. I loved the sign calling this particular tree a ‘timekeeper’… now they live on with lasting beauty as forest art.

Stopping by Meta Lake and hiking in on the short, paved trail that is handicap accessible was a refreshing escape into a glimpse of a form of St. Helens’ own “Noah’s Ark”. This lake was covered that May morning with 9’ of snowpack atop a thick sheet of ice which protected its inhabitants from the searing heat of the volcanic eruption.

All around Meta Lake, life was extinguished but here it remained safe and sound. Everyone around the little dock was excited to point out the crayfish, the tadpoles- some growing legs and some already tiny frogs- the baby trout, the Damsel flies neon blue that eluded my camera lens like flashing and  darting playful fairies. 

Do You See the Crayfish? Polliwogs, Baby Trout, Frogs?

This is a hike for small children and the elderly whereas on so much of the other route taken last week we found ourselves saying, “so and so would 

never be able to make this walk…” and we saw many people with handicap signs hanging from their rear view mirror sitting in their car while the mobile spouse hiked in alone. Windy Ridge joins whereas the other route has the potential to separate, so be forewarned.

The Inveterate Pod and Cone Collector....

Windy Ridge also had an abundance of ripe Huckleberries which were a sweet reward, and the most adorable little pine cones to collect for the Adytum table, strewing them down the center, bringing Nature indoors as we move into Fall.

Next we stopped to see Ryan Lake and luckily the restrooms were still open. The small visitor center along the way had restroom facilities as well as picnic tables, but the sign on the door said, “See you next summer!” This lake was pretty too, and the foot trail above proved a nice little walk with unexpected lushness in the abundance of Maiden Hair Ferns. We did notice what seemed to be a cougar track and there were signs warning the animals not to eat human food (:…but we saw only birds.

Ryan Lake

As we negotiated the 12 miles of sketchy road that improved considerably as we neared Randle we talked about the ability of a mountain- or a person – to rebuild their lives after disaster strikes. The insuppressible exuberance of nature is so evident on the road to Windy Ridge, driving directly inside the zones that took the brunt of the impact that fateful morning. The birds have myriads of berries to feast on and they add such joy to the sky. Autumn color tinges the slopes softening the thousands of downed trees left lying like matchstick monuments to the terror of a mountain. The contrast of the forests where man began replanting three years after the blast to the Monument mountainsides where nature slowly makes her comeback is marked; both are beautiful in their own ways. Both are not interested in the past but are surging ahead with growth, life, and inexpressible beauty.

Silence is a source of great strength.  Lao Tzu

Be Still and Know

Like Muir, I gain spiritual strength and growth from nature more than any sermon I ever sat through. The music of the wind in the Firs was celebratory yet inside this music was a deep, profound silence at the core – the kind of silence that speaks of strength and endurance gained through trials. The lofty grandeur in the now-green vistas that stretch miles and miles ending in beautiful cloud swiped sky….all of it coalesced to join heaven and earth and my heart to the heart of the World and the heart of God all at once. The ever gentle teacher, Nature, reminds me that we are powerful beyond belief. Strong people move things. They are not moved by circumstance, no matter how seemingly crushing or overwhelming.

Rebirth from the Ashes of the Stripping is Possible....

And rebirth is always the natural result of a stripping. The freshness of this approach to Windy Ridge and Mt. St. Helens really fed my spirit with beauty; the clean mountain air revived my body, and another great lesson in the Cathedral of the World has settled deep into the fabric of my life never to be removed.

Beauty

“As your breathing partakes of the circumfluent air, so let your thinking partake of the circumfluent Mind. For there is a mental Force which, for him who can draw it to himself, is no less ubiquitous and all-pervading than is the atmosphere for him who can breathe it.” Marcus Aurelius, Meditations