"The bucket list item you never knew you needed!"
These were the words of my dear friend, Courtenay, in the weeks leading up to our Otter Trail adventure. I did not give too much thought to this claim. This was about to be my very first multi-day hike and I really had very little knowledge to draw up any kind of expectation.
It was an experience that pulled us into pure presence, into the here and now. Like children walking through the Candyland of nature, constantly in awe and delight.
Koning told the best bedtime stories and if it wasn't for his bladder, we never would have seen Starlink. Sternie birthed our Oodles of (2-minute) Noodles Cafe on the Bloukrans riverbed and made sure we had a candle for our Dhalicious dinner on night 4. We received lichen and fungi lessons from Miloman, Henri, who kept us alive by finding kindling for each evening's fire. If Kiernan wasn't spotting and naming a new bird, he was breaking out in song and posing with the morning buck. Mel was the most skilled cairn builder and managed to fall over only once despite her backpack weighing half her body mass! Chris consistently delivered the morning's much appreciated jet-boiled water and certainly put the sh*t into Sh*thead. Dre kept up the tail end as his clinking mug always let us know he was nearby and brought us grated cheese one afternoon while we watched a spectacular display of waves pummeling the rugged coastline. Courts and Jeff arrived like an oasis in the desert at the end of day 3, bringing ice-cold beers, fresh energy and "hand-sallies" to celebrate our togetherness.
We played. We laughed. We swam. We shared stories, made up our own, and even shared some poetry at the start of a new day. We certainly snacked well. And, we walked.
The experience for me was deeply moving. I guess when it comes to spirit, matters aren’t meant to be understood, or at least spirit doesn’t need to be explained in order to be understood. Matters of the spirit are simply, felt.
The closest thing I can describe it to is being in love. And doesn’t love just send us souring, yet keep us grounded at the same time? On a handful of occasions, tears welled in my eyes, overcome with the beauty and sheer touch of nature. I felt wooed by the sights and smells, just through the power of her being. I recall a moment where we had put down our bags and walked slightly off the beaten track to what is commonly referred to as quartz rock: a giant protrusion of rock and quartz, standing valiantly as the ocean swayed like a skirt at her base. Matt asked me to walk out a little further and to step up onto a little peak as he tried to capture the magnificence that engulfed us.
I’ll never forget that moment (pictured above).
I felt simultaneously so small and insignificant while so alive and invincible to life’s trials and tribulations. Supported and fearless. The majesty and presence of the waves crashing against the shoreline below, calling to the forest that gloriously clothed the land ascending before it. The sky above and the vast space of freedom that surrounded us. A shower of peace cascaded over me while I stood on the earth; on holy ground. There was also something quite ethereal about the morning light seeping in through the forest canopy as we walked the trail. It had a similarly transcendent feel to that of a cathedral or temple. And I believe that; that the trees are saints, the rocks my pew, the whisper of wind God’s voice.
The church is but a man-made construct, though, in the eyes of the soul, it is a place that only the spirit knows. And that place, well, it is anywhere and everywhere. Sacred practice does not only lie in the acts of Sunday morning worship or evening prayer but in the simple, everyday moments that make up each day; in both the constructed intentional moments as well as the messy unexpected ones. Especially in those.
Standing in awe of nature. How can that not be deemed a form of worship? An attitude of gratitude, a song of praise? Sometimes I think God looks down upon me with a cheeky little smirk, basking in the delight of this recognition. Not of his own, but a delight for me, that I have come to see and feel the grandeur, the miracle, the ineffable beauty of creation.
Anyway, the most special thing about these 5 days, was undoubtedly the friends I got to share them with. Everything else was a wonder of assorted toppings.
Photo credit: Matthew Sterne
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