I had to travel to the Phoenix area for work. Our Headquarters is there and I am required to be there often. The terrain and temperature are a lot different than Sedona. And not just because it is a sprawl-riffic city. When I told one of my colleagues about my 21-day Hiking SuHaeng. He said "too bad there's nowhere to hike in Phoenix." I told him I had thought the same thing, but did a little research. I found out the Phoenix area is full of mountains and wilderness, so there are countless places to hike. On this day, I found a harshly beautiful trail. It is surprising to find this around the city. It is a 30 minute drive from our office here. In the Phoenix area, that's a short drive. The trail is in a county preserve called Usery Park, which borders on a national park. I learned that there are many places like this in and around this city, thousands and thousands of acres of wilderness.
The Wind Cave Trail leads to the top of a mountain about 2000 feet above sea level. The trail is pleasantly vertical with a lot of switch-backs. At first I recognized the elements of my preconceptions of "the desert" and "Arizona." However, the more I spent time in this environment, I came to recognize distinctive beauty of these cliché desert features. Particularly, the Saguaro Cactus plant. These are the cactus everyone has seen in films or represented in cartoons. But here these plants are giant trees. I recognized area as a forest of these giants. With many birds living in or resting on them.
The birds were not shy along this trail. Maybe they feel protected by the cactus giants. I got pretty close to several Doves and smaller birds I did not recognize. I heard their songs as I climbed up toward the top. They cheered me when I felt weary. It was a little arduous but the pinnacle was close enough to encourage continued ascent. Thankfully, I was out before the sun. Nonetheless, it was in the mid-80s and sweat was falling all around me. I heard another climber talking about need determination to get to the top of this climb. The guidebook that I found recommended coming here in the Fall and Winter. I agree that it is a good idea, but this is the day that I have chosen to make the climb.
I make it to the top, where there are a group of girls chattering away. The "cave" is a side of the mountain worn down by wind. Inside the worn portion it is shadowed and cool. So cool that bees had made their home in many of the walls. Buzzzzzz buzzzz! The bees were really interesting and cute until they started checking out the humans. One of the girls screamed; her friend kicked and screeched. That was the end of their journey to the top…and the beginning of my quiet time in the Wind Cave. When I got up to leave, one of the bees started checking me out, too! Flying around my head, bumping my chest, buzzing near my arm—I guess I had more moisture than the wall. I started to fan the bee away with my handkerchief and move swiftly down the mountain. My new companion didn't seem to want to leave me and the handkerchief was attractive because I had wiped my brow.
After a while, the bee gave up. Maybe I had walked too far from its nest. Who knows? As I removed my attention from the bee, I noticed some fuzzy cactus growing around the big trees. I slowed down to take some photographs and found another "cave" farther down the mountain. I picked this as my meditation spot for this morning. A perfect small ridge overlooking the rest of the mountain and the valley below and a cool calm place. After my meditation, I followed the trail slowly and joyfully. Mindful of the ground beneath my feet and the plant and birds around me. Even near the city, nature thrives.
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