Day 6 Ascension

Today I busted out some Hugh Nibley on the iPod and was listening to his pearl of great price lectures. Throughout his lectures, he kept bringing up the theme of ascension texts. For those who don't know what an ascension text is, the most famous example would be Dante's Divine Comedy (any story of someone ascending the heavens to throne of God). Hugh Nibley focused on Horus (an egyptian God he associates with Christ) and Moses. But while he was talking about both of their journeys/visions through/of all of Gods creations (which in turn, helps them understand God), I couldn't help but feel the same way about this trek.

It might sound cheesy on a blog, but it was a deeply moving experience, being able to more fully realize the magnitude of this opportunity to hike the PCT. I had to stop and compose myself on some of the mountain views so as not to completely breakdown weeping at the beauty of everything around me. We descended a desert (symbol of death and the duat) mountain into a water cache (which was like an oasis in the 103 degree weather), and then ascended a mountain to the next cache. the descending and ascending of the conical structure (mountain) can be a strong symbol for ascension experiences. The inverted cone is cyclical, the circle being the symbol of perfection and deity, but the inversion showing a turning away to a point that is completely restricted (Dante uses the ascending and descending spiral or cones to help explain hell and heaven). The ascending cone (or mountain) is the opposite, it is a symbol of the restrictions of the world in a circle around you, but as you give up more to god and ascend closer and closer to him (the mountain peak) you can see more and experience more until you are freed from the bonds of the world. During our ascension we came across cacti that were blooming flowers(these cacti, supposedly only bloom once a year, and it only lasts a couple days) and the divine became clear for brief moments of clairvoyance as we looked over how far we had traveled.

We also met a hiker from Israel whose trail name was "the messenger". He got it last year because he was hiking the pct north to south (most people hike south to north) and so he would take messages from hikers pushing ahead, to their friends behind. That night Aj and I split off from Cameron and Curtis to hike, and right when we crested the ridge of the mountain we ascended we were hit by a beautiful sunset that changed colors from yellow, to purple, to red within minutes. We later found out this was due to some wildfire smoke that got blown through the canyon. It gave us the extra bit of energy we needed, and Aj and I chanted and danced for the next 8 miles that we cranked out under the stars with our headlamps, until we reunited with the group.