Chayacitra

=== JKrishnamurti.org – Daily Quote ===

You know, there are two ways of listening: to listen casually, to hear a series of ideas, agreeing or disagreeing with them; or there is another way of listening, which is not only to listen to the words and the meaning of those words, but also to listen to what is actually taking place in yourself.

If you listen in this way, then what the speaker says is related to what you are listening to in yourself; then you are not merely listening to the speaker—which is irrelevant—but to the whole content of your being.

And if you are listening in that way with intensity, at the same time and at the same level, then we are both of us partaking, sharing together, in what is actually taking place. Then you have the passion which is going to transform that which is.

Beyond Violence, pp 37-38

=== Thoughts ===

For the first time since I started writing these, I had some trouble figuring out this passage. I had to read it a couple times before I got around my immediate “huh?” reaction. I was doing exactly what Krishnamurti warned against- reading the quote while attempting to understand it in terms of my own ideas, beliefs, and conclusions. I wanted to see where it fit into my own mental scheme, and was searching for a way to justify my agreement with what he’d said.

While Krishnamurti’s talks and writings cover a wide variety of subjects, sometimes it can be frustrating to read what essentially seems like the same point, made time and time again. But as he’s explained before (notably in the incredible series of interviews he recorded with Dr. Alan W. Anderson in 1974), it’s useful to discuss the same subject multiple times, but approaching it in different ways. Using different words, different metaphors, and different examples to shed light on a subject helps the audience to appreciate and understand it more fully. Most of us just aren’t going to understand everything that first time around. I’ll be the first to admit that I don’t always get it at first glance!

With that in mind, the above passage is quite similar that what we’ve been discussing lately in the past few posts: Real observation, or true perception, requires a negation of the ego and all of it’s associated baggage.

If you agree or disagree with what the things that you read or hear, you have no chance of actually understanding what’s being presented. You’re just evaluating it in terms of similarity to your preconceived conclusions, trying to figure out whether or not it fits with your preexisting mental hierarchy, or classificatory scheme. All you’re doing is reinforcing your own subjective viewpoints, by reinforcing them with further evidence, or reinforcing them by rejecting evidence that you find contradictory (according to your already established beliefs).

If your perception rests on approval or rejection of what others put forth, you will experience entirely according to personal preconceptions and prejudices, translating everything you meet in the present in terms of your past. You experience nothing original, you see nothing new, and your life becomes monotonous, dull, and repetitive.

Listening to what’s actually taking place within yourself does not mean listening to your own internal dialogue. It doesn’t mean listening to your internal verbal response to what you’ve heard, in terms of the words or thoughts that what you’ve witnessed produces, but it means paying attention to the way that you react to what you’ve seen.

It means watching yourself and the movement of your thoughts. It means observing that movement and the career that is your response. The response itself is not what’s important. It’s the mechanism of delivery that counts.

Listening to what’s actually taking place within yourself does not mean identification, attachment, or approval of your response. It means observing the response itself, as an impartial and objective witness. It means watching your reactions to the stimulation introduced by the environment. It means following closely to your response to your surroundings.

Real listening is not possible as long as you remain attached to the self. Your “I” necessarily includes previous experience, all of your self-constructed images and ideas, and even your ideological dogma. Without first negating all of that, without being able to put it all aside, there is absolutely no possibility of perceiving the actual because your perceptions will be a mere translation, or an interpretation of what really exists.

For more on this subject, check out these recent posts: Is There Seeing Without Preconception, Listening To Everything, Observation Without The Screen Of Knowledge, To See Without The Shadow Of Yourself, and What Is Perception.

=== JKrishnamurti.org – Daily Quote ===

The dictionary meaning of the word ‘perception’ is to become aware of, to apprehend. That is, you see the cupboard, you have a preconception of it; that is not perception. Is there seeing without preconception?

Only the mind that has no conclusion, such a mind can see. The other cannot. If I have previous knowledge of that cupboard, the mind identifies it as cupboard.

To look at that cupboard without the previous accumulation of prejudices or hurts, is to look. If I have previous hurts, memories, pain, pleasure, displeasure, I have not looked.

Tradition and Revolution

=== Thoughts ===

When we attempt to perceive without first negating our prejudices, our conceptions, and our beliefs, we limit perception and see only according to our ideas. We see only according to our self-constructed images, based on previous experience.

We meet nothing anew. We don’t see things as they actually exist, but translated through that fogged lens of our personalities and subjective mental conceptual structures.

When we walk down the street to look at the flowers, we’re no longer amazed by their beauty and spontaneity, but rather, we become selfishly satisfied with their habit of conforming to our expectations. “There is the Rose,” we say, “I have been expecting it, and it has come. How marvelous.” And how sad.

We lose that essential capacity to find real joy in the simple things, in the beauty and the glory of the natural environment, in nature. We lose that ability to appreciate the small things and become focused on abstract ideas like “happiness”, “success”, and “prosperity”- all of which mean nothing!

We divide ourselves from the actual, from real living, and from ourselves. We become disillusioned, despondent, and depressed. Our lives become a chore; repetitive, and routine.

And it all stems from that initial division, from that subtle and seemingly innocuous maneuver, from that movement out of the universal, and into that divided conceptual structure between the “self” and “other”.

And what’s the solution?

Don’t merely tell yourself “I should not do this”. Don’t simply say “I will not divide”. When you bring in the “should” and the “will”, you bring introduce the element of time.

You fall back on that familiar habit of procrastination. You separate yourself from action by introducing the future, idealized state. And you doom yourself to failure.

Shot on a cold Spring morning in Irvine, CA

Pentax K10D, with Vivitar 105mm f/2.5

=== JKrishnamurti.org – Daily Quote ===

Have you ever sat very silently, not with your attention fixed on anything, not making an effort to concentrate, but with the mind very quiet, really still? Then you hear everything, don’t you? You hear the far-off noises as well as those that are nearer and those that are very close by, the immediate sounds—which means, really, that you are listening to everything.

Your mind is not confined to one narrow little channel. If you can listen in this way, listen with ease, without strain, you will find an extraordinary change taking place within you, a change which comes without your volition, without your asking; and in that change there is great beauty and depth of insight.

This Matter of Culture, p 32

=== Thoughts ===

Like seeing or feeling, listening completely, with one’s total attention, with all of one’s energy, is an equally effective way of erasing the “I”. We usually listen through the screen of our ideas and what we hear is thus an interpretation, rather than an actuality. We hear according to our beliefs, according to our predispositions, to our patterns of thought, and our previous history.

But when you can put all of that aside, not by thinking it away, but with action, hearing takes on an extraordinarily different quality. Hearing becomes a perception that is real, complete, total, and all encompassing.Hearing is no longer according to an idea, but according to the surroundings, according to the environment. Hearing becomes a form of action, an end in itself, rather than a means, and you will hear things as they actually sound, which is quite different, and quite invigorating.

And in that silent space of unlimited attention, when one is really listening, great beauty unfolds, along with all the secrets of the universe, and the secrets of our lives. We enter a space beyond answers, because there is no longer a “me” to ask any questions. There is great certainty, absolute knowledge, incredible bliss and joy. All of our burdens quite naturally fall away, and we exist in a realm of pure being, or total attention. It’s not easy, but it’s possible, and it’s entirely worth it.

Try it and see for yourself.

=== JKrishnamurti.org – Daily Quote ===

Observation implies no accumulation of knowledge, even though knowledge is obviously necessary at a certain level: knowledge as a doctor, knowledge as a scientist, knowledge of history, of all the things that have been. After all, that is knowledge: information about the things that have been. There is no knowledge of tomorrow, only conjecture as to what might happen tomorrow, based on your knowledge of what has been.

A mind that observes with knowledge is incapable of following swiftly the stream of thought. It is only by observing without the screen of knowledge that you begin to see the whole structure of your own thinking. And as you observe—which is not to condemn or accept, but simply to watch—you will find that thought comes to an end.

Casually to observe an occasional thought leads nowhere. But if you observe the process of thinking and do not become an observer apart from the observed, if you see the whole movement of thought without accepting or condemning it, then that very observation puts an end immediately to thought—and therefore the mind is compassionate; it is in a state of constant mutation.

The Collected Works vol XIII, pp 299-300

=== Thoughts ===

Yet again, as we’ve discussed so many times before, Krishnamurti returns to the essential point that identification with one’s thoughts negates the possibility of understanding anything at all. When we’re burdened with conclusions, with evaluations, interpretations, and translations, there is no possibility for us to comprehend the actual, or that which truly exists.

Instead, we see, hear, feel, and experience ourselves, our environment, and that irrational division between the so-called “inner” and “outer” through the screen of the “self”, through a fogged lens of accumulation. The accumulation a precipitation of our often treasured “knowledge”, which is essentially no more than an aggregation of the past. This screen distorts our experiences, our thoughts, and our everyday lives. Viewing the world through the screen of the self is like taking a picture with a lens covered in tar. You’re certainly not going to perceive what’s actually there.

When we identify with our thoughts, we become attached to people and things. We become attached to ideas and conclusions. We become attached to plans, to organizations, and deliberations. We become attached to the past, to our images, to a self-constructed and subjective view of the world, based entirely upon previous experience. We become lose our capacity to create, to take risks, and to be original. We become stale, dull, shoddy little copies of those that have come before us.

Look at yourself objectively for just a second (if you dare), and observe your behavior and actions. Watch your thoughts. Watch your responses to environmental stimuli. Think about the past few hours, the past few days, and the past few years, and what you’ve done with them. When was the last time you did something truly different? When did you last show courage? When did you go against the flow, step outside the box, or swim against the stream? Have you ever stepped out on a limb, taken a risk, or put it all on the line?

Or have you followed the herd, plodding on through life like a cow to slaughter? Like a robot on an assembly-line, following the instructions that laid out before you by the authority figures, by those in power, or those with “knowledge”. Have you ever stopped and wondered whether or not they might have gotten it all wrong?

How could they not have gotten it wrong? Look at the world around you, not your city, or even your country, but the world at large. When you see the poverty, the misery, the chaos, and the general suffering of man, don’t you wonder where we went wrong, and don’t you want to find out what can be done to right our course?

Are we doomed to live out our lives in a world divided between the fortunates and the unfortunate? Between those who were born with a silver spoon in their mouths and those who were born without a single spoon in the entire village?

Do you really refuse to promote goodness, equality, justice, and morality, deferring your individual responsibility, and resigning to allow the impoverished, the starving, and the unfortunate to live out their lives according to the will and the twists and turns of what you call “fate”? Are you really that petty, that selfish, and that pathetic? Are you?

Or will you agree to watch yourself, to observe your selfish ways, your immoral acts and evil deeds. I’m not talking about stealing, lying, and killing, but consuming, abusing, and wasting more than your fair share.

Are you willing to become aware of your wasteful tendencies, of your greed, of your gluttony, lust, and pride?

Every individual has to make that choice. And unfortunately, though I wish it were possible, I can’t make that decision for you. But what I can do, what I am doing, is to challenge you to do something different, to reject the status quo, and to try to make a positive difference for the people of the world that aren’t as fortunate as you. For those who don’t own a computer. For those who don’t have access to high-speed internet. For those who are starving, living out their lives in war-torn, AIDs-ridden, impoverished, and by many accounts “hopeless” situations.

The world is not going to change on it’s own. The world is not going to change until each and every one of us forces it to do so. The world is not going to change until each and every one of us changes our own thoughts, our own ideas, and our own behavior. And by each and every one of us, what I mean is you and me.

It starts, and ends, with us.

Do something different!

=== JKrishnamurti.org – Daily Quote ===

Suppose I am attached to something or somebody. Can’t I observe the consequences of attachment, what is involved in attachment, how that attachment arose? Can’t I observe the whole nature of it instantly?

I am attached because I am lonely, I want comfort, I want to depend on somebody because I can’t stand by myself, I need companionship, I need somebody to tell me, “You are doing very well, old boy.” I need somebody to hold my hand; I am depressed and anxious.

So I depend on somebody, and out of that dependence arises attachment, and from that attachment arise fear, jealousy, anxiety. Can’t I observe the whole nature of it instantly?

Of course I can if I am aware, if I am deeply interested to find out.

This Light in Oneself, p 59

=== Thoughts ===

The most important, most relevant, and most salient knowledge I’ve extracted from my involved study of Krishnamurti’s extensive body of work is also perhaps his simplest admonition: “Be a light unto yourself.”

When I look at the world, I see quite clearly that it is in a state of chaos, confusion, and disorder. I see suffering, misery, greed, envy, fear, and a variety of evil activity. And I ask myself, what has created this state of disorder, if not people like me? Who’s responsible for this madness, if not people like me?

And when I look at myself, inspecting my so-called internal “identity”, with all of those conclusions, divisions, and images that I’ve constructed, I see the very same chaos, confusion, and disorder that exists throughout the so-called external world.

And I ask myself, what has created this state of disorder, if not me? Who’s responsible for this madness, if not myself?

When I’m willing to accept reality, both the reality of myself, and the reality of the world, without distorting it, without interpreting it, without judging it, and without living in a self-deluded fantasy-land of denial like most people, I have to admit that the disorder both in the world and in myself are the product of the very same problem.

They’re the product of a deep seated fear, of a profound and seemingly inescapable need to feel secure, of that all-too-human craving to feel some sense of permanence and some sense of constancy in a world made up of constant change.

Our subconscious minds are fully aware that we exist only in relation to our surroundings, to other things, and to other people, as impermanent beings, completely dependent on our environment, but we’re terrified to accept that fact and the resultant implication that we have no control whatsoever over ourselves, our situation, or our lives.

This simple fact makes us miserable, it terrifies us, and it generates an incredible amount of cognitive dissonance, especially since we’ve been conditioned to believe that things which have no permanence also have no value.

However, in my opinion, anything that did have any permanence would also be essentially worthless. Thankfully, our universe,  and by implication, everything in it, exists in a ‘permanent’  state of flux. Everything around us, including ourselves, is in constant motion, in constant evolution, and constant renewal. And because we live in a universe undergoing eternal change, which is essentially impermanent, our behavior, our thoughts, and our lives do matter (at least in a relative way).

The fact that I won’t exist forever, that I am certainly going to die, and that each and every moment of my life is fleeting and can never be repeated once it’s passed is the only thing that provides my life any meaning at all!

If I were a permanent being, surrounded by permanent objects, buried in permanent relationships, then nothing would matter, because I could take it all for granted! Everything that I did would be essentially meaningless. Everything I saw would be essentially a bore. Everything I thought would be essentially pointless and my life would be completely devoid of any value whatsoever.

And yet, I can see that my mind still clings to this idea of a permanent self. It clings to the idea of stability and of personal security. But when I’m quiet, I can see very clearly that most of my beliefs and most of my behavior is motivated by the attempt to convince myself of what is essentially an un-truth; that I exist independent of my surroundings; that I’m a permanent entity; that within me there is God; that within me there is an inherent or elemental essence which is unblemished, uncorrupted, and unadulterated by the chaos, the filth, and the evil that grips my world.

But when it all boils down, I can also see very clearly that this is just a shell-game I’ve been playing with myself. It’s a ridiculous and wasteful attempt to convince my mind that I will continue on indefinitely, that I can live in total security, and that I am the most important thing that exists. And I can very clearly see that all of this is nothing but a complete and utter waste of limited resources, of limited energy.

And I can also tell you, in complete honesty, that I didn’t have to read this in a book. No one had to explain it to me. I didn’t need to see it in a movie, buy it from a Guru, or hear it on the nightly news. I negated the obsession with “myself” and got around my “I” for just a moment, during which I saw reality for what it actually is. I saw the unaltered, uninterpreted, and undistorted Truth.

For just a moment, I saw with total clarity the true nature of all things- of myself, of the environment, and of our relationship.

And since that moment of clarity I’ve yet to feel that old need to lean on someone or something else to achieve that peace of mind, that tranquility, and that state of calm which so many of us spend so much energy attempting to attain.

I’ve become a light unto myself.

=== JKrishnamurti.org – Daily Quote ===

By looking at the mirror every day, you begin to know your own face, and you say: “That is me.”

Now, can you in the same way know what you are by watching yourself? Can you watch your gestures, the way you walk, the way you talk, the way you behave, whether you are hard, cruel, rough, patient? Then you begin to know yourself.

You know yourself by watching yourself in the mirror of what you are doing, what you are thinking, what you are feeling. That is the mirror—the feeling, the doing, the thinking. And in that mirror you begin to watch yourself.

The mirror says this is the fact; but you do not like the fact. So you want to alter it. You start distorting it. You do not see it as it is.

Krishnamurti on Education, p 61

=== Thoughts ===

Who, or what are we, when all is said and done? Am I my beliefs, my body, my thoughts, and my conduct? Am I my possessions, my relatives, my friends, and their behavior? Am I my country, it’s laws, it’s military, and actions?

Where does the “me” end, and the “not me” begin?

It seems obvious to this me that each of us is a blend of all of the above. There is no single thing, no single aspect, and no elemental force that I’d call “me”. “I” am an accumulation, an amalgamation, and a combination of a variety of forces.

But how best can I observe these many aspects which in unison become my “I”? If I want to understand myself, then where should I begin?

I can observe myself only in the mirror that is my relationship with the people, places, and things in the environment. I exist only in conjunction with them, and never in isolation from them. My surroundings, my world, my universe, are all an ‘outward’ reflection on the ‘inner’ “self”, which is itself an ‘inner’ reflection of the ‘outer’ “not self”!

Certainly, there is a demarcation or a distinction, between the “me” and the “not me”, but can you really say that there exists a true division?

Isn’t my “I” determined by my surroundings, and aren’t they determined, at least in part, by me?

Don’t we exist, endlessly intertwined, in an impermanent state of eternal change, determined by and determining the shape, form, and function of one another?

To know what I am, to know what we are, must we not watch both that ‘internal’ form we call “ourselves” and that ‘outward’ expression of that same form, which we call “the world”?

If you’re asking me, I would say that it is only with a deep understanding of both the “self” and “the other” that we can hope to understand anything.

Devore Campground's Surroundings

The photo above is a view of the Angeles National Forest surrounding Devore Campground, showing the damage from the Station Fire. It was shot from the top of Mt. Wilson, on a later trip than the one described below.

Two weeks before this trip, the Angeles National Forest was finally reopened. I attempted to hike into Devore Campground, but was told that the area was closed by a Forest Service Employee who found me at Newcomb Pass. Devore campground will likely be closed for quite a while as the surrounding area was completely destroyed by the fire. Here are further photos of the damage: Angeles National Forest Fire damage.

October, 2009

I arrived at the Chantry Flats parking area around 7:15 on Saturday morning and it was already starting to get crowded. Strapping on my pack, I began the descent down the large paved access road leading down into Santa Anita Canyon. This is a great area for hiking and backpacking, easily accessed by the Gabrileno Trail, which traces the course of the San Gabriel River.

When I arrived at the trailhead, I was surprised to find no Ranger posted. I had wanted to ask about the conditions in the area, as my internet searches had failed to uncover specific details about damage, closures, and safety conditions. Looking back, I should have called ahead to ask about conditions on the ground, rather than expecting figure it all out on the fly.

The first sign of trouble came  in the form of a weekend-warrior type heading back up from his morning hike. He stopped to ask where I was headed (Hikers often seem quite curious of Backpackers). After I told him Devore, he informed me that everything to the North had been completely destroyed, using the word “obliterated” to describe the damage.

I was dismayed, but still intent on seeing things with my own eyes. I continued hiking North along the Gabrilena, winding my way along the North Fork past Sturtevant Falls, Spruce Grove Campground, stopping for a few minutes to rest and refill my camel pak at Sturtevant’s Camp. About half a mile short of Newcomb, I ran into a backpacker coming the opposite direction.

He stopped when he reached me to say hello, folded his trekking poles under his arms, and wiped beads of perspiration from his sunglasses.

“How’s it look up there?” I inquired.

“Not too good” he retorted with a grimace. “It’s all grey, and it makes me sad.”

Our short discussion revealed that everything to the North and West of Newcomb had been completely incinerated.

His plan had been the same as mine, but executed 24 hours in earlier.

“How bad is the campground itself?” I asked cautiously.

“I didn’t make it that far.” He had stopped at the fire line, setting up dry-camp at Newcomb and settling in the for the night. I wasn’t ready to accept defeat that easily.

“Do you think I could still stay at Devore?”

“I don’t see why not. There’s nobody out there to stop you.”

We wished each other luck and went our separate ways. I was dismayed by the news, but still figured that I could make it to the campground and get some great pictures of the surrounds. I’ve never seen the aftermath of a gigantic forest fire first hand, and figured it could create some interesting shots.

Arriving at Newcomb Pass around 10:15, I dumped my gear on the picnic table and did some scouting around. One of the first things I noticed was that Newcomb’s sign posts had all been ripped out of the ground and laid down on their sides. A fire road had also been plowed right up the side of the hill, where large trees and dense forest had previously stood.

Newcomb Pass - The New Fire Road

I climbed the very steep first few meters, onto what looked like a clearing that I hoped would provide a sweeping view of the valley to the North, providing a good view of the area. I never found that great a vantage point, but the little that I could see didn’t look very promising.

South of Newcomb remains a rich forest, a veritable sea of green, with lush hillsides and a dense canopy, like that of the foreground in this post’s first image. But to the North and West, there’s virtually nothing left but ash. Skeletons of wood where the trees formerly stood, blowing dust, and barren hillsides. It’s a wasteland now, and all because of our overly excessive fire management policies.

Before the Station Fire, Angeles National Forest had not been allowed to burn for nearly 50 years- promoting excessively overgrown underbrush, and a great deal of fuel. Our misguided insistence on stopping all fires in the area promoted this problem, turning the forest into a ticking time bomb.

The photo below shows the results of this carelessness. The lesson of this tragedy is not that forest fires are the enemy, but that the problem lies in man’s intervention in the natural cycle- even when made on behalf of “preserving” the environment itself. The more we attempt to protect it, the more damage we seem to do.

Looking North from Newcomb Pass

Though the scene was disheartening, I still thought I could camp Devore since I had seen a line of trees in the valley, following what I was certain to be the path of the West Fork River. The campground sits immediately on it’s banks, so I figured it may have survived the destruction. I hiked back to the picnic tables where I had left my gear, ate a lunch of rolls, smoked gouda, mozarella string cheese, and grapes, and weighed my options.

“It’s probably worth the risk of exploring”, I thought to myself, “especially considering it’s only 10:30 and I’m just 1.6 miles away. It really could still be there, but even if it isn’t, I’ve still got plenty of time to return, so I might as well find out.”

But it wasn’t meant to be. When I approached the trail-head I found it barricaded by tree branches and blocked off with a gigantic mound of dirt. The sign noting the mileage to Devore was replaced with one reading “NO —–ING”. I couldn’t figure out what it said, but it was pretty clearly an indication of a no-go.

I resigned myself to emulate the backpacker I’d met along the trail and set up dry-camp at Newcomb. I wasn’t happy about having to abandon Devore, but was definitely looking forward to a great view of the night sky from the newly cleared fire access road.

Dry Camp at Newcomb Pass

I laid down on my sleeping bag for an afternoon meditation. I was perfectly happy with staying at Newcomb, and while the devastation to the North was certainly upsetting, I kept in mind that it was simply nature’s way of clearing out the old garbage and making room for the next generation.

I tried to do the same with my own mind, releasing attachment to thoughts and instead simply listening to the world around me. I must have fallen asleep at some point, and was woken up by a stranger’s voice.

“You can’t camp here! You’re not even supposed to be here!”

It was one of the local Forest Service guys, and apparently, he wasn’t too happy about my presence in the area.

“Where were you planning on going?”

“Devore…”

“That area’s shut! It might not look like it, but the fire came through here. It’s still far too dangerous. You can’t stay here.”

“I didn’t see any signs…”

He cut me off. “They’re patrolling the roads, arresting trespassers, and giving out citations to anyone in the area. The hillsides are crumbling, we’ve got rockslides and tree limbs falling all over the place, and there is heavy bear activity right now. You need to leave now!”

He advised me to return to Spruce Grove and I agreed that I would. I turned away to start gathering up some of the things in my tent, then began to ask another question before realizing that he had already disappeared.

On the way back to Spruce I took a break and sat on a rock overlooking the valley toward the East. I felt quite peaceful, and the forest around me was extraordinarily silent. The fire seems to have affected the spirit of this place. It’s as if the entire Angeles is still cringing in pain.

Much to my chagrin, I found another group of campers staying at Spruce’s upper sites (my favorite spots), so I contonued down to the southern section where I’d never stayed before. It’s not as nice as the upper sites, sitting much closer to the trail and on uneven ground. I won’t be using those sites again if it can be avoided.

After assembling camp for the second time that afternoon, I ate another roll, a handful of grapes, some cheese, and two packets of ramen. It may seem like a feast, but I was still starving at the end of it since I’d burned up so many calories by that point in the day. I laid down in the tent and turned to my iPod for some relaxation, drowning out the people around me who weren’t as excited about listening to the sounds around us.

Getting up early the next morning, I had a quick breakfast of Blueberry Oatmeal and then hiked out. I had failed in my objective to reach Devore, but still enjoyed myself in the process.

I would have liked to explore Devore in greater depth (I’ve only stayed there once) as it seemed like a much older, more mysterious, and more interesting part of the forest than where I usually camp. I still want to return, but realize that it may never be a possibility at this point.

This trip taught me an important lesson, which is to make every second count. I shouldn’t have waited so long to return to Devore, and I haven’t done the same with other destinations- as my many recent Trip Reports can attest.

Summary Stats:

Time: About 30 hours

Mileage: 14.8

Photos: Very few

Concluding Thoughts:

Hiking into an area that was just burned by one of the worst forest fires in Southern California history is apparently not entirely safe, even for an Eagle Scout who does things like this all the time.