- Jack Kerouac
We left camp at 8am and began the hike up Desolation. I have wanted to climb this peak since I first read it's name in Dharma Bums over 10 years ago. The excitement of climbing a trail and seeing the same views as Kerouac had almost 60 years ago was amazing. However, nearly halfway up the climb, I realized that this was in fact my hike, that could define my life. Comparing my experiences to him was only an injustice to myself and that I need to enjoy it all for what it is. It is a mountain in the North Cascades that has some of the most impressive views i have seen.
As I continued to ascend up the mountain, I remembered what Kerouac had written in "Desolation Angels." Jack had gone up to Desolation as the fire lookout to become closer to god:
". . . I'd thought in June . . . "When I get to the top of Desolation Peak and I'm alone I'll come face to face with God or Tathagatha and find out once and for all what is the meaning of all this existence," but instead I'd come face to face with myself . . . face to face with Hateful Old Me." -Jack Kerouac
In the end, Jack lived on Desolation for months, and hated it. From his writings, it seems that he never truly experienced the place he was living in. I chose to do the opposite. I sat and viewed bees pollinating nearby flowers. I smelled a Ponderosa Pine (they smell like vanilla, try it!). I pondered how ants can be so industrious at 6,000 feet. I sat and ate granola while viewing the summit with Hozomeen looming in the background. I listened to the buzzing life that took place all around me as I was alone on the trail.
Once on top of Desolation, I was greeted by this seasons lookout, Daniel. An ex-marine turned ponderer, he has been up in the lookout for over 60 days and has a month to go. He has loved every moment of it. He showed us the fire finder and taught us how to identify the size and shape of each one of them. He showed us where he sleeps, which is a corner in the lookout on a bed made from rope. He invited us to stay and have coffee so he could enjoy our presence longer.
I sat next to my professor on the peak and we played the name game. Pointing out jagged peaks in the distance we called out:
Baker, Shuksan, Forbidden, Torment, Rahm, Spickard, Challenger, Luna, Crater, Sourdough, Colonial, Snowfield, El Dorado, Torment, Sahale, Azurite, Tower, Jack, Little Jack, Jackass, Hozomeen, Formidable, Triumph, Fury, Inspiration, Crooked Thumb, McMillan Spires, Twin Needles, The Rake.
After the name game finished, and I had my list of peaks to climb over the next year, I went off by myself and explored. I didn't get too far before I chose to sit down and just look out on the landscape before me. Desolation was an inspiring place to be. The valleys rolled out before your eyes and ended at the base of peaks jutting up 7,000 feet from the valley floor. How Kerouac could not find this a lovely and exhilarating place is beyond me.
After lunch, we gave our goodbyes to Daniel and headed down the trail. We were laughing and exchanging stories and thoughts from the day. It was a beautiful day, and I look forward to climbing Desolation again.
I felt like lying down by the side of the trail and remembering it all. The woods do that to you, they always look familiar, long lost, like the face of a long-dead relative, like an old dream, like a piece of forgotten song drifting across the water, most of all like golden eternities of past childhood or past manhood and all the living and the dying and the heartbreak that went on a million years ago and the clouds as they pass overhead seem to testify (by their own lonesome familiarity) to this feeling. Ecstasy, even, I felt, with flashes of sudden remembrance, and feeling sweaty and drowsy I felt like sleeping and dreaming in the grass.
- Jack Kerouac
Left to Right: Top Row - Teresa, Kate, me, Daniel, Dave, Cassie. Bottom Row - Nick & John
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