Mt. Adams, Washington

Stratovolcano, 12,281 Feet (3,743 M) 

Cascade Mountain Range, Southwestern WA

Near Yakima, Packwood, Klickitat, and Goldendale WA

Mt. Adams - Wikipedia

Cascade Volcanic Arc

Karen and I have traveled all around this immense and dramatic mountain many times since 2016.  

Cascade Volcanic Arc

Chang Sang-Feng Remembers Mount Adams

 

The Fireplace Records, Chapter 28

Comings and Goings Around Mt. Adams (Pahto)

Chang San-Feng Remembers Mount Adams

I met a sturdy young man, Frank, at a campground along the Klickitat River,
far below Mt. Adams.  We talked for a good while at sunset.
He told me that he had met a fine fellow, a Mr. Chang San-Feng,
in the forest below Old Pahto; who had published a book of
poems and short essays.  I later found a copy of that book
at Klindt's Bookstore in The Dalles.  Here is one poem
from the book by Mr. Chang San-Feng:

 

"Ancient Mt. Adams glows in the last light,
winds whistling in the thick flowing firs. 

Slithering snakes in the cracks of warm
lava beds.  Dry skies: empty vastness.

A dusty camp near shallow Trout Lake, all
cooling in the darkening shadows.

Stellar Jays check my table
for crumbs.  Nothing there to eat.

Both Presence and Absence wrapped
in Becoming.  Just sit─ a mirror in the dim dusk.

Long stretches of not thinking just
listening.  The mountains are speechless.

Turning on a flashlight reveals the tent's
thin armor.  The beam pierces the walls.

The Tao unfolds itself─ moon rising
midnight.  Sleeping away losses and fears.

Coyotes calling at first hour hunting
hungry.  The hard ground gets colder.

The Yakima's named It "Pahto or Klickitat" many
centuries past.  Thus It became something human,
Something Pointed Out, Something Named,
Something Talked About, slipping away from Presence.

Some man loudly snoring and a dog barks in a nearby tent
at second hour.  My watch does not really embrace Time.

At third hour I awaken, sit up, nurturing
my liver.  I smile, alone, in passing Darkness,
without Her but within Her,
the Valley Spirit Here and Now.

At fourth hour, Buddha-Mountains disintegrate, and slowly
drying racoon Buddha-Crap shrivels on Buddha-Poppy seeds.  

In the distance, somewhere, out there,
Rising, rising into the black clouds, just-so,
Making Clouds Itself, As Is, and in no-mind,
the Transforming Pahto.

I suddenly remembered something Sifu Miao Zhang once told me:
"Master Yellow-Bitterroot Mountain asked me,
'What is the meaning of Old Pahto emerging in the West?'
I lifted my cane and placed it in my mouth, saying nothing.
Later, zany Zen liar that I am, I wrote:
"No minds, no dharmas.  No-mind, much Dharma."

Daybreak crawls in earlier in June, Solstice
Coming, Growing more Sunbeams, Ch'i
Flowing over Everything awakening.

Dawn, we are the Light, everything appearing
pristine, startling, sudden brief jolt of Insight.

After the Awakening,
roll up the sleeping bag, take down the tent,
eat some cereal."

- Michael P. Garofalo, Vancouver, Washington, 2021

 

Comments, Sources

Life in the Mountains are the subject of over 55 Zen Koans.

Meetings with Master Chang San-Feng 

Refer to my Cloud Hands Blog Posts on the topic of Koans/Stories. 

Subject Index to 1,975 Zen Buddhist Koans

Zen Buddhist Koans: Indexes, Bibliography, Commentary, Information

 

The Daodejing by Laozi

Pulling Onions  Over 1,043 One-line Sayings by Mike Garofalo

Chinese Chan Buddhist and Taoist Stories and Koans

The Fireplace Records By Michael P. Garofalo

Mt. Adams, Washington

Repost from 10/2018.

Karen drove our old 2003 Ford Explorer from Vancouver east along Route 14 on the north side of the Columbia River all the way to Bingen.  We climbed up a hill to visit the town of White Salmon, and then drove north on Route 141 to Trout Lake.  From Trout Lake to Glenwood.  Then south down through the Conboy Lake Refuge to BZ Corner.  Over the bridge to Hood River, then hone to Vancouver via Interstate 84.  We left around 9:30 am and returned home at 5 pm.

Spectacular views of trees and shrubs with autumn colors to the leaves intermixed or at the edges of conifers.  The many clear views of the 12,300 foot Mt. Adams from the valleys around Trout Lake and Glenwood were very dramatic. 

The views on the drive east and west through the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area were, as always, very beautiful, inspiring, and grand.  

Others Have Shared Photographs of the areas near White Salmon, Washington.

The town is high up on a hill on the north side of the Columbia River

directly across from the City of Hood River.  Many dramatic views
looking south towards Mt. Hood and Oregon.