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Lost Mysteries

August 4, 2021 by Rachel Lanman 22 Comments

A poem by Rachel Lanman

When the forest burns, so does it’s mysteries. The cool dark places where deer hide, now too hot and exposed. The smell of sweet pine replaced with the acrid scent of rot and ash. It gets stuck in your nose and lungs. Green to black, life to death.

When 500,000 acres burns, it’s not just death, it’s annihilation. With whole generations of bear, deer and birds unable to escape, succumbing to smoke and heat. A collective and final exhalation of breath. Sound to silence, life to death.

More than a tragedy of nature, this is ecocide. An outcome fueled by greed. The first people of this land warned us. Soot in my lungs, blood on my hands.

Who killed the earth? The black bear, clutching her children as she runs from her home? The ancient cedar, succumbing to fire? The bird, whose song is missing from the blackened forest?

Who killed the earth?

It is our children and their children who inherit this calamity. Futures stolen, mysteries burned.

Filed Under: Hiking Tagged With: pacific crest trail, pct, thru hiking

Previous Post: « Familiar Faces and Places (PCT Day 131)
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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Sodium and Geode

    August 5, 2021 at 1:34 am

    Beautiful 🌲

    Reply
    • Rachel Lanman

      August 5, 2021 at 1:55 am

      ❤️❤️ hi guys

      Reply
  2. stanley

    August 5, 2021 at 3:04 am

    its good to have you two writing again

    Reply
  3. Mack

    August 5, 2021 at 4:05 pm

    Very happy to read your new posts and hear your news after your writing break, I’ve been enjoying your adventures and reflections for some time and wishing you all the best from here in very wet England.

    Reply
    • Rachel Lanman

      August 5, 2021 at 4:07 pm

      Thank you Mack, thanks for reading it.

      Reply
  4. Layla

    August 5, 2021 at 8:41 pm

    Thank you for the poem. Thank you for your posts. I hope you are able to keep them coming. Look forward to every one.

    Reply
    • Rachel Lanman

      August 5, 2021 at 9:04 pm

      Thank you for reading it ❤️

      Reply
  5. Sarah R.

    August 5, 2021 at 9:23 pm

    Beautiful and heart breaking. Thank you for sharing this 💛

    Reply
    • Rachel Lanman

      August 5, 2021 at 9:41 pm

      Thank you for reading it 💜

      Reply
  6. Amy Ross

    August 6, 2021 at 2:32 pm

    Yippee, your back. Kinda love the poem, it makes me very sad but so well put. John wesley Powell when he explored the Colorado river said that there was not enough water for large cities. Now we have Phoenix, Vegas, LA using that water. We seem to never learn or even listen. Thank you for listening and sharing your thoughts!

    Reply
  7. Mandy

    August 13, 2021 at 9:49 pm

    Your perspective of having walked through the destruction of burned forests is chilling. After reading this I had a nightmare. I was watching cars on I-5through downtown Seattle from a window inside a condo above. The cars were all close together and going super fast, not slowing down for anyone or anything. Soon the cars were piled up but still coming like a flood or a lava flow, and people on foot or bicycles and motorcycles were getting crushed but the cars wouldn’t stop so everything was getting drug along on a path of destruction. I was screaming “noooo stop!” And it was horrifying, but the cars were going too fast and couldn’t stop. Pretty dark stuff! Alrighty have a great day everyone!

    Reply
    • Rachel Lanman

      August 13, 2021 at 10:05 pm

      Your dream is actually an excellent analogy for climate change.

      Reply
      • Allison

        November 26, 2021 at 10:14 pm

        Did you finish the PCT?

        Reply
        • Rachel Lanman

          November 26, 2021 at 10:20 pm

          We did! Reached the northern terminus on September 13th. Cactus is currently working on a book of our adventures!

          Reply
  8. Matt Hryniewicz

    August 21, 2021 at 2:15 am

    Sorry, very disappointed that there are no more posts on your trail blog. Not that there are no entries but no explanation as to the disappearance. It was something I looked forward to reading everyday.

    Reply
  9. Anita Chittenden

    September 11, 2021 at 10:56 pm

    Thank you so much for your beautiful yet emotional words……coming from someone that owns a home in Meyers and that area had to evacuate from the Caldor Fire your words are so very true to me….my worries are with all the beautiful wild animals these fries are affecting…..may they all find a safe refuge from them.

    Thank you also so very much for your videos of your PCT adventure….I have been watching all of them,,,I am hoping you both made it to Canada or are close..I miss seeing your videos…Take care and thank you again

    Reply
  10. Adrian

    September 28, 2021 at 3:01 am

    Hoping you all made it safely, it’s been a while since any updates!

    Reply
    • Rachel Lanman

      September 28, 2021 at 4:40 am

      We did! We will be updating the blog in the coming weeks with the parts we havent shared yet.

      Reply
  11. Kevin

    September 28, 2021 at 12:04 pm

    Congratulations! Am looking forward to your updates and am so happy for you two… You’re quest and being part of it through the journal has been inspiring. Thank you and Great Job!

    Reply
  12. James

    November 11, 2021 at 1:44 am

    You don’t know me and I’m just a lurker. I work at a desk here in Oregon and dream of hiking all year long, which I get to do all too rarely. I greatly enjoyed reading your blogs and seeing the videos. It brought some moments of magic to my day. Thank you!

    Reply
  13. Smitty

    May 27, 2022 at 11:45 am

    I’m reading and watching and listening to your amazing walk on the pct again. The slow introduction to the high sierra building over days then bam the sky the green the crystal water the granite the lakes aaahhh!!! it touched my soul I can picture grizzly chasing elk bigfoot chasing grizzly what an intense land aaahhh!!!! Thanks you two. Your poem was sad. We have to all change at once to save this planet or it’s going to shed is like dead skin. We have to give up the crap to get back garden. You two should be proud

    Reply
  14. Smitty

    May 27, 2022 at 1:45 pm

    Me again change is to us and add a the to last comment oops

    Reply

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