I am Lost - Looking for Crystals

I have been lost for some time now, but it’s only now that I’ll admit it.

I probably should have acknowledged it before – if I had, then, I would no doubt be closer to knowing where I lost track of where I was – and I’d be on my way back. But, now I only see the steep  slope I am on, trees surround me and obscure the sky, lush damp undergrowth covers the ground, and fallen logs and broken trees parts  - playing out their part in the timeless cycle of hosting new trees that is integral to a wet pacific northwest mountain forest wall me in.

​No path or sign of one.  

​ I have a heavy bag of rocks. It’s just above freezing. ​

people have begun to dig all over the place - here by the side of the road.

Still, I can hear the freeway in the valley far below and I have cell service. But, I am tired and I have about an hour of light left on this late November day.

​No need to panic, right?

​Yet, I am either above or below or the left or the right of the path I want to be on. I’ve no doubt circled off course.

​How do I decide which way to go? How do I get out of the spiral?

How did I get to this place?
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​

​I went to look for crystals. It’s not a secret place by any means. It's listed on maps, on line,  and in all the rock hound and local geology books.  Usually there are other cars at the trail head, but this day, I was alone.

The rocks here are very special. theses appeared by my feet - often separated from the rock by erosion (or by digging) - then floated up through the soil by water. It takes a lot of looking - staring at the ground - which, I found, can be disorientating.

 The planet is alive! There are some amazing outcrops of exfoliating granite - the pressure is off the pluton and layers of rock are simply peeling away like dead skin cells.

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You walk on the side of a mountain. The trail is  uphill and open for the first half mile, and for the  second half  is more like a tunnel through the woods with a steep cliff on the down hill side that opens occasionaly for views of mountains - currently dusted with snow - on the other side of the valley.  The ribbon of I-90 growls far below. At the end the path just stops - a landscape  opens before you – actually the woods more or less close around you - as you move into a very dark and barren looking  area -  the trees and the steep angle of the slope create constant shadow.

Here the forest is mostly younger evergreen trees,  many of the larger older tress are just stumps - logged long ago. They all cling precariously to the incline. To add to the uncertainty, every stump and every tree hangs on a shelf created by the excavation beneath. Exposed roots dangle, sometimes dripping water over a gaping hole beneath. The dug earth and rocks  spew out around the mouth making a wide fan of debris. These make good foot holds in the otherwise steep terrain.​

I noticed there has been a lot more digging since I’ve been here in the spring. A lot of people have been at work.  I met some of the young self-styled miners at a recent gem and mineral show. A few come here but, the ones hosting tables have claims in other places in this valley. They post photos of crystal formations freshly dug and for sale as well as photos showing them with gas powered jack hammers on Instagram. Their finds are impressive.

I wanted to see for myself how these gems grow out of the mountains.  But, I remember one told me a tree fell on one of his friends and killed him,  so I planed to be cautious.

I know I’m not up to digging.  I wont be finding the trophies they do. I will only be  looking on the ground for what others have missed and for chunks of rocks which have crystals in them that show how they’ve formed. 

​ And there should be plenty to chose from on this day. I picked this day because it was the first sunny days after weeks of rain – rains which should have exposed these overlooked crystals, and the last day, perhaps, before the snow closes the mountain area off.  
​
It can take until June before the area is open again.

Some crystals I found lose - and a crystal bearing rock left behind by someone with ambition to dig and break rocks.

It was around eleven o’clock when I turned off the path and headed up the slope – it looked like an area with some new digging and the earth was the yellow ocher color that I knew hosted crystals.

I am always on a slope,  going up, climbing,  the ground  unnaturally close to my face. Going across I am digging in the soil with my boots. This  ground,  bare of growth,  glitters in the light of my head lamp.

Up I went. Chunks of sparkling rock beckoning me on. Further and further up and into the unknown – filling up my right pocket with small stuff, the left one with special stuff, and some bags with larger chunks of rock with crystals which I stowed in my back pack. 

Around twelve fifteen, I stopped for water and ate part of a peanut butter sandwich and some apple slices I had packed. I drank water from my bottle.  I thought I could see the path below me and knew where I was. I sent some pictures to Dave. I had been in contact with him all along, making sure I was within cell coverage. For the next hour I worked my way slowly east, parallel to the path (I believed – actually I had gone far beyond the end of the path) discovering more and more fascinating rocks.

​ But mostly I was looking at the ground and moving parallel to the slope.

​About half past one, I am heading down hill. I send a text to Dave to say I am working my way back. We have symphony tickets and I need to get home. I follow paths down the hill and back to the east looking at the excavations for things that glitter –picking up a few more rocks. I figure I'll be out of here in half an hour, walk twenty minutes to the car, and then half an hour down I-90.​

crystals in a rock - lots of big rocks filled with crystals - I wanted to take home some big ones, but could not carry them.

​I am watching the ground, focused on the specific details of each patch of earth - like fishing, or birding, I am looking for the anomaly in the chaotic pattern, that which shines.  

After a while I decide I to start walking west as I go down,  that way  I’ll intersect the trail. I pass one big charred stump that seemed wetter than the others, and soon I am in the woods. There are a few more excavations, but the ground is suddenly filled with undergrowth and I am having difficulty walking. I decide to retrace my steps;  I’ll just go back.

I realize in attending to the specific - I've lost track of the general area.

I go up - no sign that is familiar, I go down - it all looks the same - and no bare ground. I assure myself I knew where I am but it doesn’t look right I cannot see the space in the tree tops that the path should make.  I look up and I look down, there is still no gap in the tree tops, no line of blue sky. How did I get so far off? I am not far off;  I’ll just go back - which way is back? No, I’ll head back down, there must be the path, unless maybe I’ve over shot it and need to go up - how will I know I can just walk parallel to the sound of the freeway and I’ll get back but that’s not easy and there are cliffs below the path and…

The rocks are heavy I am tired.  
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I don’t know where I am.

OK,  I am lost.

I let that sink in for a while and try to come up with a plan. Clearly I am just spiraling about. Going in circles is bad.  I need a plan.

​ I don’t have a plan.

 Hey,  I have cell service!My phone works!

I call Dave. He picks up. I am so glad for that - I say - I’m lost.

Huh. He starts to think. Well, you can...

I cut him off. I want to think out loud.  It’s not that bad. I’m not far from where I need to be.  I just don’t know which way I’m off. I can just head west parallel to the sound of the freeway but it’s difficult to move through the forest and it’s now almost three. I am not hurt. But I am tired.

Why don’t you call 911 and see if they can locate you with your phone. Then call me right back.

Huh, maybe, just maybe, my phone knows where I am, maybe I can just look, maybe it is that easy - I pull up google maps.
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The little blue pin dot appears on a yellow background - it's me! And it shows the path!

It can’t be this easy. But maybe it is.

​I am just below the path and to the east of it. 

At the end of the path, almost to my car!

​After calling Dave back, I trudge up hill.

It’s difficult to travel up a steep forested slope – up and over fallen trees and hoping that the leaf covered  ground between is solid.

I recheck my phone a few times and the blue indicator is moving closer to the path.  In fifteen minutes I recognize the wet blackened stump I’d gone past and I know I am back in the collection area. 

I'm found! 
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I’m home in time to dress up and we drive to Seattle for the symphony. It’s really good – Russian romanticism. The music makes weep.

Driving home - what a beautiful world!

​Friday, the next day, I see a pal in the grocery store. I tell her I was lost in the woods.

Aughh, did you have bear spray? 

I didn’t see any bears.

They can see you!

Dave points out later that the trouble with bear spray is you have to have the big can. The little ones squirt out just enough to piss them off.

I wondered about the experience - how did I get  lost? We almost always feel we know where we are in the modern world.

When I was learning to fly a plane I was told about the cascading series of mistakes that can occur when things go wrong; how you can lose control of the plane and crash in less than a minute; how having the clarity of mind to make the correct decision soon enough to pull out of that spiral in time, is the only way out. You get one chance. You needs to act decisively. Don't panic - fall back on your training. You keep Situational Awareness at all times. 

​Once, when I was practicing landing and my instructor was chatting away I looked at the air speed indicator and knew we were about to stall, which would mean auguring in.  I pushed the yoke forward and pointed the plane down, even though we were only a few hundred feet from the ground. The only way to pick up airspeed. I just did it. The training kicked in. The plane recovered lift and I leveled out.  It worked. I didn’t auger in, but I might have.

We are, I believe, in life, lost a lot more times than we know.

I got found only when I admitted I was lost. The rest turned out to be easy.
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The bears are another issue.

Some of what if found after being washed up. I think the one in front has a tiny bit of purple -which would make it a tiny bit of an amethyst. These are not worth anything  - but so cool to wonder about the crystals growing inside the rocks. It's an amazing planet!

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