In 1965, Gary Snyder, Phillip Whalen, and Allen Ginsberg undertook a walk around Tamalpais, beginning at Redwood Creek and continuing to the top and back down. The walk was based upon Buddhist and Indian practices of walking clockwise around a sacred object. They established ten spots on the Mountain as places of special significance -- each spot is documented in Snyder's The Circumambulation of Mount Tamalpais and Whalen's Opening the Mountain, Tamalpais 22:x:65.
Two years later, the poets led the first public circumambulation (a month after the Gathering of the Tribes for a Be-In at Golden Gate Park). Since then the walk has been repeated any number of times. Matthew Davis documented the practice in his book Opening the Mountain and has led over 140 walks.
Although the "Dhâranî for Removing Disasters" might come in handy during this walk, Snyder believed that it would be too burdensome to assume that it must be a Buddhist ritual. He emphasized that people can be as creative as they like, stopping at his points, or others. "Its just a way of stopping and looking -- at yourself, too."
Gary Snyder:
Muir Woods: the bed of Redwood Creek just where the Dipsea Trail crosses it. Even in the dryest season of this year some running water. Mountains make springs.
Prajñâpâramitâ-hridaya-sûtra
Dhâranî for Removing Disasters
Four Vows
Splash across the creek and head up the Dipsea Trail, the steep wooded slope and into meadows.
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The complete walk is "less than 15 miles." From, here you can continue to Tree / Rock. At the time the cache was placed, the Dipsea was closed because the bridge was out -- hikers were detoured to the Deer Park Fire Road just down the road.
To log this cache, you must first find the caches in this series that are listed in the accompanying bookmark ("non premium" cachers can follow the series by going from stage to stage but they miss out on the bonus commentary). Some of the caches have been long-established. Others were placed near the spots that are generally recognized as being part of the walk. Caches that are placed as part of this series will provide the numbers for the coordinates:
37° 53.ABC
122° 34.XYZ
The final cache is not placed within Muir Woods, but is within a short walk or drive. It is your typical ammo can hide with a few of Snyder's books as trade items.
Although those who complete the entire 15 mile walk in a day will be given special recognition on this page, you can find the caches any way you want. It may be possible to find the final cache using partial coordinates, but in the spirit of this cache, please complete the series before logging the final..
Before undertaking a major hike on the Mountain, make sure you know where you are going. The Rambler's Guide is an excellent map with helpful information and Barry Spitz's Tamalpais Trails offers an authoritative description of all the trails in this series.
Congratulations to SkyBill, Salty Doc, Geojammers, blackforesthiker78713, cachetopher, and pafarmboy for Opening the Mountain