Sacred/Secret Locations

olesma · Post by **olesma** » Jul 08 2003 10:59 am

Joe's topic reminded me of a topic that was posted a long time ago - but this is a newer group by and large so I thought I'd post it again.

For me there are certain places I have been that I consider sacred. Not secret - most of them are easily accessible to anyone who wants to get there, they just hold a special place in my heart and mind.

The reasons can be varied and different. The reasons and locations are seldom the same for different people. You may consider the same place sacred to you as another person - but for different reasosns. Or you may have the same reason but a different locale.

For example - I spent several summers backpacking in NE New Mexico. One summer I was sitting with two of my best friends on a 12,000 ft peak watching the sunset over the mountain range. It was beautiful and moving. One of my friends asked if he could say a brief prayer of thanks - in awed silence we just nodded our heads to confirm our agreement. He said a beautiful prayer of thanksgiving. I will never forget that evening. That location is etched in my memory and is a sacred place to me.

In Brazil we spent 3 different weekends traveling to a spectacular grotto with two beautiful waterfalls. We spent some time there and had some beautiful experiences. The grandure, solitude and beauty of the area, combined with the shared experiences with my friends make that location sacred. Besides - I'll probably never get there again, and that contributes to the precious memories.

There are other places - buildings, homes, and other locations which I also consider sacred for one reason or another. But since this is a Hiking forum, I have focused on outdoor locations.

So the question is - do you have any sacred locations? Any stories about it you'd be willing to share?

Lizard · Post by **Lizard** » Jul 08 2003 12:13 pm

For me, I would have to say the Sierra Nevada. I dreamed about the High Sierra for two years while planning my PCT hike. During difficult stretches of the PCT in southern California, I motivated myself to keep walking north with thoughts of the Sierra. And the first time I climbed above timberline, the dream was laid bare before me. Reading through my journal from that trip, every other page says "this is the most beautiful place I've ever been." "No, THIS is the most beautiful place I've ever been" "No..." etc. You get the idea. I was blown away by the beauty and wildness of the area. It was the first time I had explored real mountains, and it felt like coming home. Although I was with a group of thruhikers that I had been hiking with for about a month, after a few days in the Sierra, I made the decision to stay behind a day, so that I would hike the High Sierra alone. I didn't see another person for five days. One of the best experiences of my life. There was a short poem I found in one of the trail registers, that I think sums it up nicely:

The soul of man
was made to walk the skies
so that he may be freed
to grasp at something great

~Lizard

Billy · Post by **Billy** » Jul 08 2003 7:48 pm

Wow Lizard and olesma, what beautiful memories, mine are of a time in my youthful years, living in Hans Peak Colorado, we lived high in the mountains. My Father owned a restaurant there, the only one in town. The town consisted of a general store, a small school house and church, all surrounded by cabins and trailer homes, but very few of those. All travel was by truck or motor bike, man I loved it there. The local Greek sheep herders would come by the restaurant with all their buddies, to eat, dance to Greek music, tell tall stories of Grizzly Bear hunting, and to booze it up on HUGE bottle of whiskey! Our cabin sat about 20 yards from our restaurant, two huge metal garbage dumpsters sat in between the cabin and the restaurant, and sometimes, at night, we could hear the Grizzly Bears knocking those things around like tin cans. I always prayed that they had gotten their fill from the dumpster, and would find no need to come busting into the cabin for an after dinner mint! I remember my Dad taking me up to the peak of our mountain, where the ranger tower was located, it was so hard to breathe, it was literally above the clouds; how awesome the view was from that ranger tower I thought I could see the whole world from up there; I'll never forget that day

JimmineyGrl · Post by **JimmineyGrl** » Jul 08 2003 9:28 pm

I will always be nostalgic for Christopher Creek. My father took me on my first camping/hiking trip there. There is a large bolder along the trail on the creek that I could (and still can) sit on for hours and just listen to the water and the air whispering through the trees; thinking of how many different versions of me sat on that very spot and how many will come to sit again.

RedRoxx44 · Post by **RedRoxx44** » Jul 10 2003 6:58 pm

For me it is southern utah- not in the parks but in the monuments and back country regions. Almost anyplace between Kanab and Page is great. I was diagnosed with cancer last year (feel pretty good now) and did a short backpack in Coyote Gulch with a friend 5 days after my 2nd chemo. Let me tell you it was special to be able to haul around that 30lb pack, sleep out and look at the red rock arches, huge alcoves and stand under the springs. Before that, a night in Canyonlands that I slept out and saw a million stars- I'd doze then wake up to the milky way, nap some more and wake up and see a new starfield. With no ambient light it was incredible. Then of course my favorite area in Anza Borrego- Sheep and Cougar Canyons!!! Steep big bouldered canyons, water, waterfalls, and white sand small beaches----nuff said--

Abe · Post by **Abe** » Jul 10 2003 9:34 pm

My Sacred/Secret Location. I had to give this one some serious thought, I felt I had none and I puzzled over this. Finally I realized I have only one. An indian ruin on a knoll across the road from where we lived when I was teenager in Blue Hills near Dewey.

When I was a kid around 7 or 8 my mom had bought property in Blue Hills. It was cheap and she had plans to leave Phoenix whenever possible. I remember the first time my dad, mom. little sister, and I explored it: I was petrified, we found some pottery shard everywhere, some arrowheads, and clearly the remains of a small pueblo ruin on top. One lone pinyon pine stood sentinel duty above the scrub oak and over the crumbling remains. Looking around, keeping a sharp eye out, I could feel the presence of ghosts, those who had lived there before.

It was quite some time before I ventured up there alone.

As a teen, we finally did moved up to Blue Hills. And the ruins, well over time it had become my safe haven, my refuge: to sort out lifes problems, my lifes problems as a teenager. Frankly, by today standards as a teenager I would have been considered a loser, geek, ect. And though I did not find the answers to many of my questions as I scanned the area around, the ruins offered me solace during my lonely vigil, my quest for understanding.

The knoll and ruins are destroyed now. I had entered into recruit training after graduating high school and when I come home on leave after three months, the ruins was fenced off and a mobile home was planted behind the barb wire.