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(Continued from Page 5)
Results from NSTP activities that enable people to increase their connection with nature
Jan 1, 2000-2003
Three or four miles north of Durango, the glacier that formed this amazing valley some sixty million years ago, exposed a wonderful area of "red rock" now known as the Falls Creek area. The lower falls cascades for six or seven stories and can be seen on the west side of the road as you drive along Route 550; to the east the Animas River meanders southward; on its far side Missionary Ridge towers three or four hundred feet above the valley.
Half mile south of the falls is parking for three or four cars and an access
trail that leads up to its top; and beyond, lie additional falls and
woodlands, the creek itself, and sights and sounds of gentle beauty...Ten minutes after leaving my car, my feet covered with red dust, I stop to
gaze out over the falls and "feel" for webstrings. Turning left I wander
westward up along Falls Creek drawn by the attraction of the cool water, the sun, above, playing hide-and-seek behind billowing white clouds that offsets an unchanging backdrop of blue sky. A truly Zen day!!Following the attraction to "coolness" I leave the foot/horse trail,
cross the creek and pick an animal run that continues westward but leads
uphill, angling away from the creek through brush and pines; heading toward a spot I remember with a cool pool and pine needle covered ground when suddenly I am stopped!! Thatched saplings and brambles provide me with "guidance": I retreat and head further up stream following new runs that move still higher and then down; to a spot, I've never seen before...a pool, small, but fed by a beautiful, cascade of sparkling water, over a moss covered sheet of rock. Crossing back over the creek , I ask for permission to stay and feel an increase in the intensity of the wonder and beauty that surrounds me.Removing my sandals, I lie down on the dry rock surface that flows into the pool, close my eyes and listen to the water happily splashing in front of me. To my right I hear more of this same "laughter" slightly upstream and ditto to my left (Wonderful stereo!! Is it not??). I know the pool is
trout filled for I saw them dart under the rocks as I approached and thank them for their presence. I feel the sun emerge from behind a cloud and "see" the bright red of blood in my eye lids.Scooting along the rock surface (eyes still closed), I feel its gentle
warmth with my hands and the the cool wetness on my heels...my arches, then toes...ankles and calves as I partially enter the pool. Suddenly, my mind's eye sees everything around me in vivid detail: rocks and water and grass and trees and birds and blue and white and... I am startled to "see" things with such clarity !!I sit up and lean forward, the bright red "visual" being replaced with a
deep purple as I "look" down and away from the sun...What a wonder to
"observe" with one's eyes closed. To see coolness and bubbling water;
insects feasting on you; birds everywhere and hardness under buttocks and the warmth on my palms.Opening my eyes I notice the trout have returned, their yellow/green backs speckled to look like the sunlit pool bottom (What a glorious natural camouflage!); the water glinting in the sun, forming happy, clear bubbles as it splashes into the pool.
The pool is smaller than I had, at first, thought. Only about fifteen feet
in diameter and two feet at its deepest. On the far side of the creek I SEE the grass that was in my mind's eye before and I see a wonderful rock diverting the water. Like the spine of some prehistoric being it rises--wet moss at its base, then moss dry from a long absence of moisture, and along this edge of wet and dry leafy plant clinging; then, the rock turns red and is speckled with gray and dark green lichen; finally,it recedes into the green grass beyond.I am stricken by how very sight biased I am. How wonderful it is to see;
yes, but also what beauty there is in closing one's eyes and "looking" with my other senses. This, more than most any other way of sensing allows me to come to realize that other senses actually exist.Looking back into the pool, I see the trout have accepted me, now. One or two have moved to with six inches of my toes and they are snapping at insects in front of me. They range in size from three or four inches to some fifteen inches in length and I can't help but wonder how they came to here four to seven story falls both up and down stream...can't help but feel a sense of awe at the balance of life in this tiny place before me.
I am overcome with gratitude!! For the webstrings that I am coming more and more to trust in each of the places I have visited lately; for the
webthreads that have brought each of us together using this
"world-wide-web"!!My trust in knowing these attractions grows everyday now. It has been a
long time since I've spent time in the woods blindfolded (I keep promising myself that I'll do it once a month!!). I learn, now, how much I've missed it and I recall that in all the time I have spent bare foot in the high desert areas, I have never stepped on a prickly pear cactus (though they are everywhere and I seldom look down). This shows me that I have come to trust at a deep level, that yes, or eyes are wonderful but over dependence on them dulls other modes of experiencing.
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