Spirit Quest

[Brewmaster]

If you had any amount of droogz (or perhaps droogz wouldn't even be included) for the purpose of a 3 day spirit quest; what would be your ideal choice of substances, location, theme, setting, accompaniment? Hypothetically. The sky's the limit.

I know most of us have been on wild, three day benders at music festivals, concerts and gatherings but I'm interested to hear what you would want for the purpose of spiritual enlightenment, self healing and/or self discovery.

I haven't even paid attention to the fact that Friday is 4/20 but I've got my ideal spirit quest lined up for this weekend. Only trouble is, I'm experiencing a really shitty cold for the first time in the four years since I quit smoking. Fuck it. Last weekend was ruined by rain. I'm going through with it. I'm drinking orange juice like it's going out of style.

De Plan, de plan:

Tomorrow. Have the Jeep packed by the time wifey gets home from work at 6:00. Then, drive to our perfect, little camping spot high up in the Blue Ridge mountains of Virginia where we will meet 4-6 of our closest friends (same place I went in the last story I wrote). It's a wilderness area. Nothing around but trees, mountains, animals and a fresh water spring.

Now here's the stupid amount of substances that will be available.....

3 500mg capsules of pure mescaline. (2 are definitely for me and wifey)
1 8lb log of San pedro (for guests)
8 oz of Peyote laced Everclear (roughly)
200g of dried peyote
Endless supply of kratom, weed and alcohol.
Salvia (not for me. I hate the shit )
Enough Ayahuasca ingredients for everyone involved. White, yellow and red caapi vine, mimosa hostilis and diplopterys cabrerana. Syrian rue which probably won't get used.
3g of pure DMT
Also betel nut, yerba mate, kanna and indian tobacco.

I've also got plenty of mushrooms but I think they'll be staying home. A friend that we're meeting also has a limitless supply of Extacy; something I truly hate. Hopefully that will be left at home as well.

It's a 2 hour drive but hopefully we will be there in time to watch the sun set and gather fire wood before it gets too dark. When the sun does go down, wifey and I will be drinking a mix of 35g white caapi and 35g yellow as is our custom the day before an ayahuasca experience. Others will be encouraged to do the same but will more than likely be getting drunk instead. That's fine, this weekend is all about me. Everyone involved has taken aya with me before and will be observing the rules of obstaining from unhealthy food or those high in tyramines. Rum and whiskey excluded.

Saturday will be huasca day. I want to hike a 7 mile loop that traverses the top of my favorite mountain. It's 4,000 feet tall and completely bald on top so for the 1 mile that the AT crosses the highest ridge, you have perfect 360 degree views of the surrounding countryside. I love this place. By the time we get back to camp, it will be fairly close to night fall which is when I like to dose aya. The visuals and everything are just much better in the dark. A roaring fire will be made, candles will be lit and sage will be burning.

Everyone will drink their selected caapi vine (red for me, yellow for wifey); the two of us will then drink a brew of diplopterys cabrerana (the 5-MeO-DMT adds a nice touch) and everyone else will, unfortunately be sipping mimosa. Sorry, I'll be all out of challiponga. The rest of the night will be spent writhing around in the dirt like crazy people, shouting into the night, and professing our love for life. There will also be vomit. Lots and lots of vomit. Depending on how we feel, a bit of DMT may be smoked after coming down. Afterwards, several strong batches of kratom will be brewed in order to knock my ass out.

In the morning (Sunday) I'd like to make a killer feast of a breakfast for my psychonaut friends (this would be another area where I'd like suggestions. What to make?) Plenty of yerba and coffee will also be made.
After breakfast, it will be time for a good dose of mescaline which will hopefully calm my mind and make it easier to meditate on the previous night's experience. For me, Ayahuasca and DMT are the end all, be all of substances. It's not a drug, it's medecine. Mescaline is used for a good time, artistic inspiration and meditation.

So wifey and I will take our 500mg pills and probably a shot or two of the peyote/everclear. My other companions will be drinking snot brewed from the 8pound pedro, drinking the black liquor,and we'll all be rolling little "dough balls" with the dried peyote and some water.

Then I'd like to go on another hike to the top of a second nearby mountain and smoke some DMT at the peak while tripping on mescaline. Seems like a good idea, right? Eventually we will return to camp and after having tripped for 12 hours, I'd like to make another big meal, get the fire going and just hang around playing guitar and drumming with my homies.
We'll spend one more night under the stars and will hopefully, be in good enough condition to drive home in the morning.

Just to make it clear; I'm not doing this just to prove a point in excess. I really want to have a "clearing of the cobwebs" type weekend while bonding with my best buddies and mother nature.
I need to get back to the earth.


....So what's your fantasy weekend gathering?
What would you do different?
And what would you make for breakfast?

....I'm thinking blueberry pancakes.

oh! And how do I quickly rid myself of a bad, head cold ?

 

[Tetris]

oh! And how do I quickly rid myself of a bad, head cold ?

A small dose of MDMA will work for that.

 

[Soulcatcher]

Damn Brew, that's gonna be a busy weekend!

A friend that we're meeting also has a limitless supply of Extacy; something I truly hate. Hopefully that will be left at home as well.

Quote: oh! And how do I quickly rid myself of a bad, head cold ?

A small dose of MDMA will work for that.

Just stick to the orange juice, eat a lot and don't get cold. A weekend of self-healing should not be started with mdma

I have no idea what kind of breakfast is appropriate.. If your planning on doing mesc after that i think something light is a good idea, so its gone when the mescaline starts working. On the other hand, you will need the energy.

I have never been on such a journey, so i can't give any usefull advice. You have plenty experience to decide what's a good or bad idea.
All i can say is, I wish you the best of luck.. and a very spiritual experience with mother nature and your beloved.

I haven't even paid attention to the fact that Friday is 4/20

Your right! it's my birthday!, but what do you mean by this?

Let us know how it was!


edit: I love blueberry pancakes

 

[Brewmaster]

4:20 is associated with the pot smoking, counter-culture. It's kind of a little, kid thing to me now but back in high school 4:20 was the time of day that everyone would light up. It's a silly American thing and no one remembers how it got started.

Anyway, April 20th (4/20) has become a stoner holliday. Everyone buys lots of pot and gets really stoned.

good times.

And happy Birthday!!!

 

[Faust]

Why all the different kinds of drugs, and why so many?

I would probably stick to a high dose of shrooms and/or ayahuasca. Maybe some weed to get sleepy but I doubt I'd wanna use more kinds of psychedelics, well maybe smoke some DMT. I'm really curious about it again after my last try, the memories seem to fade like they do with dreams.

Good luck on the journey though, I wish we had some rough nature here in the netherlands...

 

[Guest]

the only thing i can say is i really enjoy your writing style, brewmaster. i wish you enlightment and luck. breaking the cycle renews one's feeling of waking up in the morning, if you know what i mean.

Good luck on the journey though, I wish we had some rough nature here in the netherlands...

come to portugal, my friend and i'll tell you what's raw nature!

 

[Faust]

the only thing i can say is i really enjoy your writing style, brewmaster. i wish you enlightment and luck. breaking the cycle renews one's feeling of waking up in the morning, if you know what i mean.

Good luck on the journey though, I wish we had some rough nature here in the netherlands...

come to portugal, my friend and i'll tell you what's raw nature!

I'd love that, I'm defenitly going to portugal some day.

 

[Brewmaster]

Why all the different kinds of drugs, and why so many?

I would probably stick to a high dose of shrooms and/or ayahuasca. Maybe some weed to get sleepy but I doubt I'd wanna use more kinds of psychedelics, well maybe smoke some DMT. I'm really curious about it again after my last try, the memories seem to fade like they do with dreams.

Good luck on the journey though, I wish we had some rough nature here in the netherlands...

It's not that many.
Ayahuasca one day; mescaline the next. Just bringing some other party favors to keep everyone entertained. Kratom to put me to sleep and yerba to wake me up. I'm just bringing what I have laying around the house.

After a strong aya experience, dosing a gram or more of mescaline will be a walk in the park. And I've only smoked DMT maybe 4 times now so I'm eager to see what it's like when I'm already tripping.

Somewhere around here is a post titled "Big plans this weekend" where I went to the same spot by myself (and 2 dogs) and ate 50g of cubes and 2 pounds of peruvian torch cactus. That was insane.

And next time I'm in Portugal, I'll make sure to give you a call.

 

[Dantediv86]

mmmh enough drugs
any place
any time
any amt of ppl

i guess

50g of MJ (dear ol MJ):unibrow:
enough DMT (for 10 ppl) for my first time
Salvia Divinorum enough for 10 ppl still my first time
A. Muscaria cause we allways had good times together and ginger root
Peyote loads of Peyote

place
a field of cut corn in the middle of nowhere in Italy
at night
in the middle of August (26 deg C min)
camp there for a couple of days under a poppy tree
cars full of supplies for a week

take turns at taking the drugs so that there is always a
"sober" sitter to keep an eye on the herd...
make the best of the experiences (this is ideal right?)
and travel far in the universe of the mind and explore feelings and sensations.
...............dreamy..........................

artyman: :weedman: :nod: :wasted: :rock: :drool:
but mostly
:smoke: :nod: :weedman:

 

[xonar]

You should totally dress up in loin cloths and go hunt the nearest pack of wild animals, most likely invisible....

I would bring a shitton of shrooms and salvia, a lot of incense too. For some reason when I meditate I like doing a bunch of weird stuff like drawing a big alchemists circle on the ground and sitting in the middle. Candles, and fire to the max...

Oh, instead of blueberry pancakes, you should make ham pancakes. Little bits of ham in the pancake, syrup is optional. It sounds gross but it's ridiculously delicious!

 

[JosVU]

Be love and enjoy every moment of your journey.

Let your free will dicide what to do..
Don't force & any thing and all doors will open.. :heart:

 

[Brewmaster]

I was up 'till 1:00 am getting all my huasca brewed and put into wine bottles. (All of which have a Ralph Steadman painting on the label. Go Gonzo). My buddy, Mike is at my house cooking up a log of san pedro while I sit here at work.......counting the minutes. I've got my grocery shopping done; Bluberry pancakes and maple syrup for breakfast, eggs and fruit too. Plenty of hiking grub like trail mix and jerky for the few meat eaters, canned soups and supplies to make PB+J's and grilled cheese. Garlic powder of course because what's a grill chee without the garlic. And for Sunday night's dinner after our mescaline trip/hike......mesquite marrinated salmon fillets, instant mashed potatoes and steamed veggies (we have a handy little camp steamer that you can throw right on the fire).

I'm pumped. It's killing me to be in this office when it's so bloody nice outside.

God, I can't wait to get to the mountains and smell the smoke of a campfire.

Hope all of you have a great weekend; I'll talk to ya on Tuesday.
Happy 4/20!!!!!!!!


bye

 

[Brewmaster]

Well, everything went wrong but ended up being even better than anticipated.

Mike, who brewed up the cactus on Friday, his girl ended up having to work on Saturday so they stayed home. I gave them enough of the pedro juice for the two of them to trip together that night when she got off. They were both pretty sad and pissed off at the turn of events; it was the least I could do. The two people who were supposed to meet us at the spot, just never showed up and having just got back, have yet to talk to them. So it ended up just being me and wifey, Mudflap and Banana (pitbull and english bulldog, respectively). (pictures to be added soon)

We got there later than expected and the sun was already setting as we approached the 3 mile diirt trail up to the field. Both dogs heads' bobbed up, down, left and right as we sauntered up the hill in 4 wheel drive; I hoped this wouldn't be the final blow to their sensitive tummies after a two and a half hor car ride. No one had thrrown up yet.

Coming out of the woods and seeing the large field, I immediately noticed a camp fire about a quarter mile from where we parked. Someone else was here and they had stolen our cozy, little spot between two maple trees. "Curses!!!" The AT runs right through this big open field as it dips down between these two surrounding mountains so it's not uncommon to see a few through-hikers. So we set up camp about a quarter mile away in the other direction. I put Muddy's pack on him and tied the 2 sleeping bags on to drag behind him. The spot was in a different part of the field on top of some very stiff and uncomfortable grass and upon waking in the morning was very hot due to lack of shade. That first night was pretty uneventful. We didn't even bother with a fire and just sat around listening to tunes on the small radio we brought. We drank our white and yellow caapi tea, smoked teh headies and watched the dogs frollick around in the star light. It was only a quarter moon so the stars were out in full force. It was gorgeous.

Upon waking, we noticed something a little different. The whole field and the surrounding trees were all black and charred. The forrest service does a controlled burn up here, I don't know how often, to keep the briars and coralberry from overgrowing the field. Last time we were here we we saw signs posted saying "No camping, controlled burn scheduled for blah blah". I think that was back in November and we camped anyway and I think this was the result of last fall's burn. It was a little surreal looking but there was plenty of half-charred, fallen trees that made for an abundant supply of fire wood, though the soot got all over everything. After gathering up a good supply (I like a big-ass fire) I started digging a fire pit with the back of my hatchet. Muddy soon saw what I was up to and started doing the digging for me; throwing dirt in all directions including all over myself and his little sister. When he was done, he took a nap in it.

We knew fairly soon that we weren't going to be doing a lot of hiking as Banana was having a tough time keeping up and was already starting to overheat and hyper-ventilate. She tries so very hard to keep up with her much more athletic, older brother; often to the point of exhaustion and we have to give her a valium to get her breathing back to normal. (vet's orders) Fortunately we were only a half mile away from a fresh water spring so we had an infinite supply of freezing cold water to soak her with and she never got to the point of having to take a valium. On my first trip down to the spring to wash all the soot from my hands and face, I noticed a much better place to camp about half way between the two points. This one was in the shade of a few squat pine trees and had some nice soft ground for sleeping so we relocated. This is where we spent the rest of the weekend.

Though no one else had shown up, the plans remained the same so before we started sipping our huasca, we wanted to go for at least a short walk. We climbed about a mile up a steep hill to a high ridge where we could see the sunset a little better, stopping frquently for Banana to catch her breath. Muddy, meanwhile is running up ahead and out of sight then tearing back downhill at full speed, almost taking out our knees a few times. For every mile we walk he probably does five. We sat up there for a good hour or so doing yoga and playing harmonica as the sun eventually started to dip below the horizon. Just before leaving, Muddy hears a dog bark off in the distance and bolts out of sight in the opposite direction of the way we came up. I chase him downhill to the higher part of the field where I mentioned our usual spot was located and see that there is a new group occupying the area; a pack of boy scouts or some such and Muddy is running around with their cocker spaniel, acting like a spaz. I apologize profusely for not being able to control my animal, blaming it mostly on my wife but they don't seem mad at all. I meet wifey and Banana back at camp and we start getting things set up.

Ground pads and sleeping bags are set near the fire, a candle is lit at each of thee four corners of camp, a sage bundle is set up-wind and we prepare our sacred libations. You'd think that we'd have some nice, fancy stoneware cups for these occasions but we don't; this time we used coffee mugs with moo-cows on them. I pull 3 wine bottles from the cooler and place them on a flat rock in the middle of camp and we both sit down. I pour myself a mug of red caapi vine, tasting it with a dip of the pinky finger and then pour a cup full of yellow vine for my wife. I load a little plug of indian tobacco into my wooden peace pipe, take a few pulls without inhaling and then blow the smoke over the top of the cup while saying my chants in my head. One.....two......three.....gulp. Gone. I pass the pipe over and she does the same. I carefully put the caps back on the wine bottles (yes, screw top wine bottles) and place them back in the cooler and at the same time pull out the challiponga brew. Two more cups are poured. I light the sage bundle and we move over to our sleeping bags next to the fire pit. I've got one of those 3 hour burning, starter logs underneath a shit ton of wood so the fire will stay burning for a while without me having to mess with it. I also made sure to sweep all the pine needles far away to prevent any stray embers from from causing problems and a roaring fire is made. I sit down next to girly girl and we meditate for another 10 minutes or so. I see her open her eyes at the same time I went to look at her, we kissed, said our "I love yous" and drank the juice.....

 

[Jahvisions]

Sounds like Fear and Loathing in Virginia

 

[Soulcatcher]

Do we have to imagine the rest of the story? :lol:

Well, so far luck hasn't been with you..
But it sounds like you enjoyed it anyway.. You are quite the storyteller

edit: oh and did you contact the deserters already?

 

[Brewmaster]

Before this point, I'd used ayahuasca 11 times with our previous experience being late, last August when the two of us had done pretty much the same thing. We aim to do it once in the spring and once in fall of each year.

My brew was estimated to be of approximately 50g of red vine while hers was about 90g of yellow with both of us downing around 30g of cabrerana. (red contains more MAOI's) The only difference between this and the last outing was that we were both experienced with smoked DMT; having extracted and smoked it 2 weeks prior. This was wifey's 5th time with huasca.

Since that first time smoking DMT, I'd been eating really healthy, exercising and avoiding alcohol. The wife always follows this regimen on an every day basis and we'd both fasted for two days; something that's painful for me but easy for her.

5 minutes after ingestion of the cabrerana brew, I started to feel very heavy but light in the head. At 10 minutes I was already out of it and on my way to hyperspace but I got up on my hands and knees and moved uphill, maybe 5 feet away from the fire and started trying to puke. It's not a dizzy, nauseaus, drunk kind of puking but more of an intense cramp or stomach spasm. Like a giant fist is grabbing your innards and squeezing the bejeezus out of them. I had nothing in my stomach so I dry heaved, spit then burped and repeated for 2 or three minutes. I'm usually not this fucked up by the time I purge so it felt a little strange. It was like every time I dry heaved I'd do a front flip. That's how my mind felt; like I was already in zero gravity and was starting to spin out of control. When I knew I was done, I tried to stand up for some reason, was unable to and fell backwards onto my ass and my head was now facing the fire. I got one more clear look at wifey before I departed and she looked blissful. Her fingers were interlaced on her stomach and she had a huge smile on her face. I always worry about her first and seeing that she was okay, I was free to let go.

It was weird and not like my previous half dozen experiences. The place where I started was very much outer-space like with giant, open voids and infinite room to move around. Stars, planets and entire universes went drifting by in a very calm, peaceful way and it was rather enjoyable for a while. Then things started to speed up as if I was approaching the sun and it was pulling me in faster and faster with its increasingly powerful, gravitational pull. I felt that I had broken through to someplace else, some place not nearly as pleasant as the cosmic void I was just in. Now the visuals were in control and it felt like something I'd experience while smoking DMT. I felt hot and tingly all over and a resistance to relinquish control to the weird quadrupeds that were now forming out of the bright lights, disco balls and laser beams. This place was very, very trippy. Everything was made up of different facets and it was all very sharp and pointy including the "beings". They had kind of a mane like a lion but as I said, even they were made up of complex geometric patterns and each facet of the patterns would only stay one color for a fraction of a second before changing into another. There were maybe 3-5 of these 4-legged guys but they worried me greatly. There was no where to run in this little place, nowhere to escape to and it was becoming even more and more busy and chaotic.

I suddenly became aware of my breathing and realized that I was huffing in and out really fast like someone who is furiously mad. As if I was someone in a life or death fight with his most hated opponent and was just pulled apart from him. Inhaling as deep and as fast as I could and exhaling in a grunt.

"Baby, are you okay?" I hear a sweet voice ask.

D' wuh.....

Reality. My head is way too close to the fire and I'm sweating bullets.
I take off my sweatshirt and beanie cap and re-situate myself next to my wife. Things become manageable again and I take her hand in mine. The gentle wind blowing felt great as it dried the sweat from my forehead. Before I lose myself again I remember the dogs. I tried saying "where's the puppies?" out loud but it came out as gibberish. "Mmmmm Hmmmm" was the reassuring comply that I got back. I looked through the fire with my head slightly raised and saw the two of them sleeping next to each other like the pair of sweet, little idiots they are. I was content once again and drifted off to space.

The rest of the experience was very familiar with visuals resembling snakes, vines, ancient Incan carving motifs and plenty of recognizable animals. It was beautiful and quite similar to past endeavors with red vine. Very euphoric with short bouts of laughter as if the visuals are tickling your eyeballs. They're so beautiful that you just have to laugh. I don't know how long it lasted but I remember coming down only vaguely. I know we were still holding hands despite the fact that they were a bit sweaty and that the dogs were now laying next to us but I don't remember being fully down before we fell asleep. That was the disappointing part. The fact that we didn't have a chance to discuss or recount the experience before drifting off. It was a seemless transition but one I did not appreciate. In retrospect, I wish I had puored out enough mimosa/caapi brew to redose at some point in there. Oh well.

We got up pretty early in the morning, around 7:30, but there was no telling how long we'd been asleep. I started debating in my head about what we should do that day (Sunday). Should we dose some mescaline as planned; knowing that we would be confined close to camp due to Banana's poor, physical capabilities or wait and drink mimosa that night. Mimosa meant continuing our fast despite the fact that we were starving but mescaline meant chowing down and dealing with a lackluster aya trip until the next available opportunity......

 

[MindAstronaut]

disco balls and laser beams. This place was very, very trippy.

Sound like you had a good weekend Brew

 

[Brewmaster]

I asked my sexy, lady friend what she would rather do: mescaline or more huasca later in the evening. She couldn't decide. Secretly I was wondering how dangerous it would be to do both but wasn't really considering it as a possibility. I still felt quite euphoric, giddy and happy to be allive especially since the weather was so damn perfect. Nothing but blue skies this weekend. It still felt like I was rolling but I didn't feel the overwhelming satisfaction that I normally get the day after an aya experience. My mind hadn't been blown and I started wondering what went wrong. Was it the brew or was it the fact that smoking DMT had somehow desensitized me? I still don't know.

We eventually picked all the pine needles out of our hair, brushed ourselves off and headed down to the spring to wash up. It was cold as ice but I managed to clean my face and hands. I figured my feets could wait until we got home and so they stayed pitch black from constantly walking barefoot around all the soot. Muddy doesn't understand that he's not supposed to walk around in the water, up-stream from where mom and dad are cleaning up and appears to be chasing tadpoles. Banana wanted nothing to do with the freezing, mountain stream and stayed far away.

We began discussing our trips and I told her how I was slightly disappointed. She said it was her best ever and that having smoked DMT, it was much easier to let go and enjoy the trip rather than fight it by trying to make sense of it. She eventually decided that she'd rather leave well enough alone and that she didn't need any more for a while.

"In that case, I'm making salmon and eggs for breakfast."
"Fine by me" she says

We're already snacking on trail mix and oranges while the salmons grilling and eggs are scrambling when we see two hikers come trotting down from the ridge we'd been up on last night. Both holding hiking poles and carrying large packs so it was pretty obvious that they had been out for a while or at least had a ways to go. They were a father and son; Bert and Matt respectively, and this was their 7th day on the trail and also happened to be Matt's Birthday. His 15th.

"Well have I got a present for you" says I. I slide one of the salmon off the grill and pile on some scramby eggs next to it while wifey fixes a plate for his paw.
"Aw, we can't take this" says Bert
"Don't worry man. We were ditched by four other people; it's just the two of us. If not for the two of you, it'd go to the dogs." He looks down to see Banana hungrily drooling at his feet and gives a little chuckle.

The two of us have spent a fair amount of time on the AT so we know how rare a hot meal can be, not to mention salmon and eggs for breakfast. We sat around for a half hour, shooting the shit, talking about our experiences on the trail when they decided that they needed to get a move on. We inform them of how far they have to go before the next shelter and soon enough, after exchanging pleasantries, they're off on their way.
No sooner had they left than we see another hiker coming towards us from the opposite direction. I'm not wearing my glasses so I don't realize who it is until he's throwing his pack down next to my tent. It's Mike!!! Mother fucker not only managed to find the place based on my shoddy directions but even managed to drive a Geo Metro halfway up the ATV trail. Mike's one of those good friends that you can actually count on. A disgustingly rude, skinny, little rat-fink-looking son of a bitch but one of the most honest people I know. The kind of person that never says shit behind behind your back and defends you when other people do.
"You guys never answer your cell phone!"
"They don't so much work up here" says wifey
"You have no idea how long it took me to find this place. Your directions suck."
"Sorry" I say
"I've been in the fucking car since 5:00am."
"Dude, I'm sorry. Have some fuckin' eggs"

We sat down and continued our brunch and Mike tells me that they never drank the pedro juice as he pulls it from his pack.
"I wanted to save it so I could trip with you guys"
"Well we already ate all of ours last night" I say jokingly, "We were just about to mosey on home"
"The fuck you are! We're drinking this shit!"
"That's what I'm screamin', yo" and my better half grabs the nalgene bottle out of his hand. She goes in the tent and comes back with the two coffee mugs, the 3 mescaline caps and a huge smile on her face. I get off the cooler where I'm sitting and grab three oranges. Wifey pours two equal portions of the pedro tea into the coffee mugs leaving the third in the Nalgene bottle then hands me and Mike each a pill. We do our standard "Ziggy zaggy, ziggy zaggy, oy oy oy!!!" before throwing the caps in our mouths, chasing with pedro tea and finally biting through the skin of an orange. I swear, that cactus snot gets harder to swallow every time.

We go for a little walk around the meadow and show Mike where the spring is and where the AT crosses, all the while just jibber-jabbering, waiting for the come up. A few hours later, the signs of a strong mescaline trip began to make themselves apparent. We begin laughing like idiots and everything that comes out of our mouths is comedic genius. I don't remember anything that was said but it was all quite hilarious. After 3 hours of tripping, somewhere near 5:00 pm, I decided that I needed to go for a hike. Whenever I'm around company, tripping mescalito, all I can do is be immersed in conversation and the joy of bonding with friends but at the moment, I needed to be by myself for a while. Since Mike had shown up, I knew that I could dip off for a little while without them missing me too much and they could stay at camp to watch Banana. I told them that I was going to go for a barefoot run up to the top of my favorite mountain (that I'd mentioned before) and that I'd be back in two hours, tops. It's only a 4 mile hike round-trip and one that I'd done many times before.

While I was strapping Muddy's pack onto his back, my wife grabs the peyote laced everclear out of the cooler and pours three shots. I knew that each 1oz shot contained roughly 200mg of mesc and we'd already consumed something close to 750mg. I packed a bowl, smoked it to myself and then took my shot of black, cactus-flavored, liquor. I almost gagged. I tried getting one more hit from the bowl before giving my wife a kiss and heading on my way.

The trail up is rather steep but quite beautiful. Ferns were starting to grow on the sides of the trail, shooting up tender, little fiddle heads. I saw several young deer, a fox and a rabbit on my sweaty, little run. Muddy trotted along right in front of me as if he knew exactly where he was going- he's been here enough times, he should. Every once in a while I'd stop to admire how blue the sky was or how soft the grass here is. It's not until I reach the wide, open summit and take a break that I realize how hard I'm tripping. Intricate, yet transparent patterns twisted their way across the sky and ground. I start to laugh. Muddy is chasing grass hoppers. The ever-loving sun is cooking the back of my neck and I'm all alone up here. I go to the one, lone boulder up here that has the elevation marker embedded in it and stand up on top. Nothing around but beautiful blueridge mountains and some red tail hawks gliding about. Simply beautiful.

I get my fill after only a few minutes because I'm looking forward to running the 2 miles back downhill more than anything. I ran down at break-neck speed, leaping from rock to rock and over logs, letting the downhill momentum carry me almost effortlessly. Even Mr. Mudflap was having trouble keeping up.

I return to camp a little before sunset to find my two companions engaged in a nonsensical, Kerouacian type conversation.
"So, you believe that our indesputiaries have indubitably, instigated insanity"
"Quite. But not so much to the extent of our forebearers, forefathers or forelorn frocks"
"Forelorn frocks? Certainly you jest"
"If only I could jest. Then I might get some rest."
"From your pest?"
"No. From this nest which is the best"
"But I detest"
"Mind your absess, lest we forget the request."

I listened to these two go at it for a good fifteen minutes before I said a word. I was starting to feel restless, uneasy and unable to find anything to keep my attention for more than a few seconds.....so I drank a beer.......and shot of rum........and another beer or two. Smoked another bowl, tried meditating to no avail,I borrowed a cigarette from Mike which was horrible.

"Baby, I'm gonna drink some of your ayahuasca!" I yell from the other side of camp.
"Fine. Just don't take too much."

I probably drank the equivalent of 75g of white vine, broken into two cups which I sipped on for 45 minutes. After that I felt much calmer. I was getting that lovely "aya drunk" that comes with maoi's and I was now able to meditate and drown out their incessant blather. Even so, I wanted to go lay in a shady spot on some soft grass while the moon was coming into view. Our campsite was mostly covered in pine needles so I got the idea to go lay by the spring by my lonesome. Without even thinking about it, I poured myself a coffee mug full of mimosa juice from one of the wine bottles. I don't know how the other two didn't see me because I had to open every bottle in the cooler to find the right one. I grabbed one more beer as a chaser and sauntered off through the lower meadow, past some old hog walls and found a comfy log by the stream to set my ass upon.......