Cliffs, Cubensis, and Cyanescens

Background: Two friends (N & K) and I went picking in Seattle and acquired about 10.5 wet grams of cyanescens....many small mushrooms. The following Friday night, amidst bong hits and college dorm party life, we managed to acquire an additional two 8ths of cubensis from a friend. Saturday morning, five of us (N, K, D, L, and myself) all went out to Larabee State Park in Bellingham, WA. Upon arrival around 12:30, we divided both 8ths of cubensis and the cyanescens between the five of us and drank them down with some nice orange juice. The following is an account of our journey...
Immediately after consumption, we mutually decide to trek down to the water to look around while we wait for the mushrooms to kick in. We walked down and climbed on top of a huge rock right next to the pounding surf. Winds were high, and although I wasn't tripping yet, the feeling of leaning against the wind was exhilarating by itself. We walked around along the forest's edge and the beach, until we reached a nice place just inland next to a very large boulder which formed a 250-300 foot cliff against the shore. We decided to smoke a nice bowl there, which only complimented the mushrooms that were just starting to kick in. Then, we decided to climb along the not-so-steep side of the boulder. Once we reached the top, the real adventure began.
Hmmm...I have been here before on a few occasions, but why did I never notice how fascinating this log is!!! It has a little face in it, and it's very fun to touch. N & I begin discussing the family of nearby trees...there's papa and mama tree, and their two children....one of which appears to be napping (it was the fallen log I had found before), and they even have a little dog and cat tree next to them. Next to the slumbering giant was a space on the ground....clearly meant for drawing. I pick up a stick and begin drawing a pattern in the dirt...this is very satisfying!! The other four appear to be sitting on the cliff edge looking way down at the water and discussing something funny. I join them, and suddenly they enlighten me as to how fun it is to throw pinecones off of the cliff and watch them bounce and tumble down into the water. After about five minutes of this, we decide it's time for a walk.
We climb down the side of the huge boulder again, and make our way back to the car where we started. We decide to go on a hike, but we're momentarily sidetracked by a small gazebo nearby. I begin picking little mushrooms from the ground (absolutely magical while I'm on them!) while D & L lay back on a table and watch the wooden roof of the gazebo. D exclaims that the wood-grain in the roof appears to be moving and spiraling around...L verifies this and we all space out and look at the roof for a while. Finally, we remember that we were about to go hiking, and we all head up to the trailhead.
It's a 0.9 mile hike to the lookout, and we head out along the path. Once we are walking, I begin playing with my drawing stick (the one from the boulder). I start tracing it along and carving a neat curvy line into the gravel as I stroll along. Then the conversation around me is replaced by ooos and ahhs and I look up.....wow! It appears we've stumbled into a giant forest of broccoli! The trees are all bending and swaying in the wind, and there leaves look exactly like broccoli with butter (sunlight) melting all over them. At this point, my wonder and awe is second only to my appetite. Then, we realize we are on the wrong trail and we turn back...we quickly find the appropriate dirt trail, and we move off into the forest.
Suddenly everything is much darker...almost giving the impression that dusk has fallen. This intensifies my new reality...the ferns that surround us on all side seems to wave and sway as if greeting me. I feel as if I've discovered some magical forest as in the Tolkein series...suddenly L verbalizes my thoughts! This can't be a coincidence!!! Wow, we must really have stumbled into this fantasy world..."I'd better be wary of orcs in these parts" I think to myself as we round a switchback, and continue climbing higher and deeper into the forest.
D runs on ahead and I hurry to catch up as the others wait behind, obviously engrossed in a world of their own. I catch up to D and we sit by a rock waiting for the others while discussing how people who haven't tripped just can't understand what "psychedelic" means, and how so many negative stereotypes of drugs are based on misinformation and lack of experience with both sides of the issue. Discussion ends abruptly when D begins starring at the ground. I look to and am suddenly hit with a wave of beshroomed disbelief...the ground is alive! All of the little pine needles are squirming around like thin little worms!!! This is a bit trippy, and so I turn and walk a few paces off the trail to explore it further. I discover a large, natural hole in the earth...about 12x7 feet or so just off the trail. "This must be a tree grave!" I rationalize. Then, as if I actually were at a haunted burial site, I begin hearing low, long, almost indistinguishable mumuring from deep in the forest. "The trees are talking to me!" I imagine...it reminds me of the Ents from the previously mentioned novels...a very bumbling, deep kind of murmuring. This was probably the weirdest and coolest part of the trip for me. Then, the others catch up to us and I am drawn back into reality again.
They join us at the side of the trail and we all suddenly discover something cool....tons of mushrooms!!! We start to climb along this log where there are hundreds on mushrooms growing (all inactive), and we begin picking them and throwing them at each other in a sort of mushroom war. After a few minutes of this, we stop, sensing the approach of others. A pack of humans passes us by, and we keep our distance, anticipating how unpredictable and savage they can be at times. Then we continue our hike.
As we walk straight up the hill now, paying no attention to the established trail, it begins to rain. At first, this brings feelings of discomfort to me, but then N exclaims that one must only "accept" the rain, and upon realizing and accepting that I will probably be drenched by the end of our hike, my blissful beshroomed state is restored. We continue along, entertaining ourselves with philosophical/ridiculous conversation until we realize that it's very dark now, and that we've probably walked several miles, obviously along the wrong trail. We decide to turn back at this point, but we are not disappointed, as we have just discovered the joys of going downhill as opposed to up hill...the realization that "running is FUN!!!" quickly follows. We run down the switchbacks until we reach flat ground, and then we resume our walk and take in our surroundings once more.
Wow, now this is cool!!! The forest has become much darker and mist now swirls about us. The ferns glisten with the rain, which is now falling heavily on us. It feels as if we're now in a rainforest in Central America somewhere...this feeling is so strong that I'm half expecting to emerge from the forest in some Spanish speaking farmer's land, and we start joking about how odd that would be. However, as we really do start to come down out of the forest (and our respective trips), we notice that we are emerging into a far more beautiful reality.
The mist has cleared up, and the sun is now out, creating golden beams of bright light through the trees. We hurry to reach the edge of the forest and as we come to the broccoli trees again, the full strength and magnificence of the sunlight reveals itself to us. Heavenly.
After walking back to the park from the trailhead, we decide to go back down to the shore. We crawl along the rocks, between surf and shore, marveling at how the water swirls and crashes against the rocks. N, K, and I clamber back up to our original smoke spot as D and L continue along the beach to the base of the cliff face. The remaining three of us decide to hurry to the top of the cliff (a five minute climb/walk) to ambush them with pinecones. But upon arriving at the top, we can't see them on the shore anymore. We go part way down the side of the boulder again and then I make a rather dirty and quick descent down to the beach through the underbrush. Once I reach the rocks I look up to see that D and L are halfway up the cliff!!! I yell to them and they yell back to meet them at the top. I climb my way back up the side of the boulder, using roots and small plants and handholds (which proves to be a difficult task indeed), and I join L and K. We return to the top of the cliff to find D and L sitting there contentedly, looking out over the water toward the setting sun. The three of us are astonished that they were able to scale that 250-300 foot sheer cliff, a drop from which would have surely resulted in death. L exclaims, "Wow, that was fun, I never would have done that in real life...Hey wait, this is real life!!!" We celebrate this accomplishment, and I use my drawing stick (which has accompanied me the entire time) to write "SHROOMS" into the ground next to my original symbol. Upon standing back to examine my work, and taking in the beautiful sunset over the water from the top of the cliff, I am left with a sense of satisfaction and closure...another successful adventure with mushrooms.

~Shroomin Shadley~