
Originally Posted by
Rossta
Anyone want to hear a story of almost dying out in the desert while on acid? This happened to me about three days ago. It's kinda long, so if it bores you, just skip over it. And the usual disclaimer when posting about illegal stuff on a public forum. This very well could be a work of fiction.
Acid Diaries
Yesterday, I had a really scary trip when I was in the canyons and took two hits of acid.
It is strange times. I just got out of a five year relationship, and had spent the previous night partying in Denver. It was about noon when I remembered the three hits of acid I still had sitting in my freezer. This wasn’t really even my house anymore, and it’s kinda weird to be there. So, I grab the dogs and drive out to Utah. I know this one place in the middle of canyon country, far far from anything else. It takes four or five hours just to get to the turn off. From there, it’s dirt roads for another hour into the heart of canyon country. This place is in the heart of the San Rafael Swell.
I drive past the “sinkhole” which is really a sinkhole. The next feature of this place is a set of petroglyphs drawn by Indians that used to inhabit that area long ago. It is a series of pictures that look kind of like a bird man. I ask the spirits of this place for their blessing in my trip.
It’s been dark ever since I got out here, so the true definition of where I am does not hit until morning. I’m on this overlook called the wedge. From it, you can see down into what is named the little grand canyon.
Saturday morning. I wake up early and drive down to Fuller Bottom. This is where my adventure will begin.
It starts by fording a river in my truck. I just barely had enough clearance, but I did make it. Then it’s a drive up to this trailhead that I found when I was backpacking out here earlier this year.
I get ready for the trip of lifetime. It is cold out, so im wearing a fleece and a shell; but just skate shoes and jeans. I dump out my school pack and fill it with: 1 quart of gatorade, an almost empty pack of trail mix, my .45 with an extra clip, plenty of weed and a pipe.
This is gonna be crazy. I’ve never dropped two hits of acid before, but I’ve heard that’s the amount required for a hard trip. Little did I know it was gonna be a really hard trip. So, I put these two little pieces of paper on my tongue and begin the hike.
This trail leads down into the little grand canyon. I backpacked through it earlier in the year, but I didn’t take the trail until I found it coming home the last day. This country is great because it is so rugged. On my backpack trip, I had to bring an innertube to float my gear for river crossings.
There will be no river crossings today. So when me, Daisy, and Snoopy make it to the first one and realize we won’t be able to make it any further without crossing, we decide to explore. I want to hike up out of the canyon while I still can, and find a place to drop back down into it. Maybe at the first side canyon, which is named clean virgin spring. Just for the record, the water there is not clean, it is not a spring, and it is stale from sitting a long time. This gives it an eerily bright green glow.
We’re hiking up, and I’m having such a great time. The acid is starting to kick in, and I find myself appreciating things like trees, cryptographic soil, and lichen. Also, I feel more in tune with the dogs. As if I just need to watch their body language to understand them. It is like we are a pack of wolves. Instead of being the top dog like usual, out here I am the weakest link. They are much faster than I am. But, daisy always waits for me. And snoopy always shows up when I think he’s lost or im lost. I keep wondering where the beginiing is. Where all the rain first comes to in a flood before it runs down into the canyon.
It has probably been a couple hours of hiking. I’ve pretty much lost track of anything but walking, when I get to the edge of something incredible. I am more than 500 feet up a sheer face, looking down into the canyon. This place is a wide open bowl, it is the beginning, where all the water flows to in a storm. The size of this is so daunting, it is hard to even describe in words. The other side must be a half mile out there. It is a massive echo chamber. I bellow as loud as I can. My voice bounces off the other side, and then echoes eerily down every turn of the canyon.
I’m going to try and describe how large this place is. It is the type of place that will take your breath away, it will blow your mind away. I am on this one pod, the spot where I’m standing, as far as the eye can see, there are seemingly infinite more of these little pods like mine. This is the most amazing sight I have ever beheld. This would be trippy without the acid. It is at this time that my trip hits its peak. The opening now looks like a giant angry face. I call it the jaws of destiny. It is moving. I see weird hippy like swirls in the light. All I can say is “jesus” “holy shit” “it’s so big”.
I make the mistake of taking out my phone to try and take a picture of it. I see I have an email from my ex girlfriend Ashley. All of a sudden, the sky is flashing on, then the screen of the phone is flashing on. Like an alarm clock. Her words, I love you, I can’t live without you, are burned into my brain. The sun finally comes out and I look into it asking, “jesus are you there?” I feel the pain that Ashley feels. My mind is being torn open as if to stretch to the size of this place Im in.
This place is so huge. As far as I can see into the horizon, are more canyons. Every direction looks the same. The sun goes away. This is the point where I lose it. I turn my back on the gaping hole, and run for my life.
The dogs are coming. This place is so huge, and everything looks the same, it’s just canyon country. I realize that I was wondering probably for hours before I found this spot. I can’t even tell what direction im going because the sun went away. How long had I been walking without paying attention?
Fuck.
I didn’t tell anyone where I was going. Then I drove into the middle of nowhere, took acid, and thought I could go hike around and come back to my truck.
Everything looks the same. I could probably walk for weeks before even finding a road. No one knows where I am.
I am convinced that this was my last mistake I would ever make. The Darwin award mistake.
I picture myself not graduating. Being on the news as missing. Sparking a massive search and rescue. But I’m too far into canyon country to be found. Maybe someone will find my remains one day.
I think maybe this is a transition point in my life. This is the point when I disappear from society forever and run with the wolves.
Just me, my dogs, and a .45.
I know I’m tripping hard.
The phone comes out. I want to call someone, and be like come get me. I’m lost in the desert. I call Ashley. I don’t know what to say. I think I will never see her again, so I want to tell her that I love her. She doesn’t pick up. Im not sure if I’m leaving a message, or just talking into space. I’m not sure what im even saying.
I think about this show I saw about people getting lost in the desert. When do you decide you’re lost and call yourself in? I decide I will not call for help no matter what happens.
It has been about two hours since I ran from the jaws of destiny. I am still running. I have never been so scared.
Normally, this wouldn’t be a huge deal. The acid is fucking with my head though. It has fully taken over. I am having a monstrous trip. I am convinced that this enormous land of canyons will swallow me whole, and I’ll never be seen or heard from again.
I just want to see her. I call again, and her phone is dead still.
I am so lost.
This place is huge.
Im just some dumbass from Colorado who thought he knew the canyons, but really just an average tourist. Getting lost and dying in the desert.
I am never getting out of here.
Then I see a road. Still not sure what direction I’m going, but I decide to take it. It’s easier to run on anyway.
I come around the bend, and way down at the bottom, is fuller bottom. And there is my truck. I think the dogs got me back. Everytime I would be lost, I would look out for snoopy, and he would be off in the distance looking like a spirit guide should.
I am still running.
I get in my truck. Turn it on, ford the river, drive the fuck out of there, just to prove I can get out.
I stop at the petroglyphs. They scare me. I keep driving. Get the fuck out of this place.
I drive until I get to Colorado.
Then I camp and try to forget what happened.
I won’t be taking any more acid for a long time, if ever, after this.
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