Lizards Mouth

I am a sophomore at UCSB, for those unfamiliar with the school, it's located just outside Santa Barbara, California, an hour or so north of LA. This trip occured sometime in June, just before the end of my freshman year, and was, without a doubt, the most gratifying shroom trip i've ever had.

The day started out fairly boring. I woke up, saw how beautiful it was outside, and decided to skip class and go chill with my friend, T. I arrived at his house, and we were just sitting around trying to entertain ourselves when I mentioned sort of as a joke that "I would love to shroom today". As it turned out, T's roomate D had an 1/8 and a half of shrooms that he'd been saving and said he would sell them to us for 20 bucks. So we bought the shrooms and began getting ready for our adventure, gathering up some food, a gallon of water, and several essential records we hoped to listen to while tripping. D suggested that we go up to Lizards Mouth, a peak in the Santa Barbara mountains where huge boulders literally the size of football fields have been smoothed over by rain, creating all kinds of caves and crevices to go run around in.

On the drive up, me and T both ate our half of the sack and washed it down with some orange juice. We parked our car and headed out, only to realize that our cd player didn't work. So much for the music. After a short 5 minute hike, we arrived at Lizards Mouth. In order to fully appreciate this experience, you have to know what Lizards Mouth is like. Quite simply, it is one of the most incredible views I have ever witnessed. I found myself staring down into Santa Barbara and UCSB, which is right next to the ocean. You could see the waves crashing on the shores of the beaches, though cars were tiny and hard to see(just to get an idea of how far up we were). We could see one of the Channel Islands rising up out of the ocean a few miles out, and even the ocean beyond that, until it melted with the horizon. I could see miles up and down the coast, as well as about 25 miles or so back into the mountains of Santa Barbara. Easily the most incredible 360 degree I've ever seen. About 20 minutes after getting there, we starting exploring. Around this time the trip starting coming on, and the both of us began to find almost anything at all absolutely hysterical. We found a warm boulder to lay on, and started talking while enjoying the sun. I can't recall anything we talked about, because T and I were both having trouble remembering anything that was said less than 5 seconds ago. At this point I was getting mad tracers on everything I looked at, and as I stared down into the valley below, I could see all the trees and bushes swaying together in the wind, turning into a type of liquid foliage before my eyes and then back again. I can't be sure, but this was about 45 minutes into the trip. T and I then decided to start climbing any boulders we found suitable, and since Lizards Mouth is a fairly popular rock climbing area, we had no problems whatsoever. I had come that day wearing only sandals, so I began climbing rocks barefoot. I didn't think much of it at the time, but there was so much broken glass on the ground there that I'm amazed I didn't slice my foot wide open. Strangely enough, I found I could climb almost anything I tried, and some of the faces were probably near 15-20 feet. It was like I had gained some intimate knowledge of the rock structure, all I had to do was look at the rock for a few minutes, and I knew the best way to the top. I have to tried to climb some of the rocks I did that day on later trips to Lizards Mouth when I wasn't shrooming, and couldn't find my way up most of them. Weird. All this was going on while everything in front of my eyes was swirling and mixing together, I even found myself taking little timeouts to stare at the backs of my eyelids, immersed in the beauty of the patterns I could see. I also had that profound feeling you get on shrooms of my entire body pulsing with an unreal type of "energy" I guess you could call it. We continued climbing, laughing our asses off and staring at everything with mouths wide open for a while longer before deciding to go smoke a few bowls. We found a spot protected by the wind and chilled out, smoking and talking, except the fact that everything I heard now sounded like gibberish. Couple this with the fact that I had the short term memory of a fish, and any effort at communication was absolutely impossible. We were both peaking around this time, and we each found a seperate boulder to sit on and began admiring the view. I sat there, legs crossed, for the remainder of my trip. All I can say is that I had the deepest, most clear thought I have ever experienced. I felt myself slipping into a deep meditative state as I stared out at the ocean, my entire being satisfied and fulfilled. I thought about the miracle of life, about how the mere fact that I exist is amazing. I found myself taking in the entire ecology of my surrounding environment. I understood how everything was connected in every way. Every single moment was like a catharsis of unparallelled force, and I was completely knocked on my ass by the breathtaking beauty of the world around me. I turned my suddenly all-knowing gaze to the sky watching the patterns dance and move before me, feeling complete and total peace. The vastness of space entered my mind, and for a brief moment, I understood everything I could imagine. The entire time my body felt alive and refreshed, and I was completely at ease. I really can't put into words just how profound this suite of emotions and knowledge was. I began to come down around this time, and looking at my watch I realized that neither I, nor T had moved a single inch for 2 hours. As we came back to earth, the sun began to set, and we both agreed as we walked back to the car that we had experienced a day that had altered our lives forever. It brought the 2 of us closer together, and T is probably my best friend here because of it.

Stilll the most fun I can remember having in a long time, I don't think a day like that will ever happen again. I didn't trip that hard, and intstead maintain the belief that there is something magical about Lizards Mouth that made my trip something I'll never forget.