Bottom Of The Grand Canyon
The gypsum weed definitely fucked you up. I didn't exactly
melt the canyon walls (maybe distorted them some), but body-wise, I
felt like I was turning into a cactus. While tripping we walked out
on the suspension footbridge that stretched across the Colorado
River. We watched the rapids pass underneath while the wind rocked
the bridge back and forth. That was nice. We spent the rest of the
evening sitting around the fire laughing and joking. I stayed in the
party mood for a little while, but later I was the first to climb
into my sleeping bag. The gypsum weed experience wasn't good. In the
beginning it wasn't bad, but the side effects pretty much doomed the
high. Before the night was over my mouth was sucked dry, and
intestinal cramps left me crumbled in pain.
In the morning, when we started to climb out of the canyon,
I was feeling a little better and, as we passed the freaks who were
living in the holes in the cliff, they made another plea for help.
They told us to ask the Park Service to bring down mules so they
could ride out of the canyon. After my experience with the drug, I
could appreciate what they were going through, but even so, there
had to be some tongue in cheek in what they were saying. I told the
person asking for help that I would do what I could and then caught
up with Larry and Pete. Half way up the canyon we took a short side
trip and walked to the edge of the inner canyon rim. From there you
could look straight down at the Colorado River snaking its way along
the bottom of the inner canyon (from the upper rim the river remains
hidden from view). Once again, the view was absolutely gorgeous.
For me, the time spent in the canyon (excluding the side
effects from the gypsum weed) was extraordinary. I had good company,
the sights were incredible, and there was plenty of smoke dope
(marijuana) to keep everybody stoned. The thing that I found most
enjoyable, however, was that after the long, dry, hike, when we were
almost out of the canyon, Pete reached into his bag and brought out
two Pomegranates. They looked like red walnuts, but once opened,
they were full of juicy, red seeds, cool in the mouth, and extremely
tasty. Eating them, overlooking millions of years of the Earth's
beautiful history, I was filled with an intensely delicious feeling.
I look forward to eating Pomegranates again. After that brief
reprieve, we finished our climb. Shortly after 4 p.m., we made it to
the rim and then hung around waiting for the sun to set. We were not
disappointed; what we saw was incredibly beautiful. When we finally
did split, Larry invited me to stay with him for a couple of days at
the university.
It was fun lounging around the University, usually in that
environment I'm working my ass off. I spent one night in Larry's
dorm room and the second night with some of Larry's friends, Pat and
Nina, in a trailer off campus. These people were also really nice,
so I felt right at home; in fact, it was just like back in Lansing
when I use to go over to Tom's trailer and get stoned to the tune of
good music and friends. Pat was the spitting' image of Denny, Carole
Sue's brother, in both body and wit. I must say Flagstaff, Arizona,
was certainly good to me.
No comments:
Post a Comment