Dispatches From Overlook Mountain Vol 4

Sweat And Incense

A recent hike up to Overlook Mountain Fire Tower in Woodstock, NY, provided fodder for a whole string of stories - honestly it was one of the most adventurous hikes that I can recall in a long time. So, in an effort to give that all to you in bite-sized pieces, this week we’re presenting the final chapter in a series we’re calling Dispatches From Overlook Mountain. Parts one through three can be found in our archive. I hope you’ve enjoyed this set!

I stumble, parched, across the street from the trail head toward the temple bells. Even more emergency vehicles are starting to stack up in the parking lot. Rescue personal are wheeling an ATV out of a trailer. I assume they are going to go get the injured hiker on it.

(Sidenote: I found out later that the woman took a spill and injured her shoulder. They brought her down and she was fine.)

The Karma Triyana Dharmachakra monastery was establish in 1980 and offers visitors a sprawling campus with a simple courtyard that faces the primary temple. I shuffle into the bookshop and the kind monk there offers me a glass of water.

Even from the bookshop, I can hear the gentle drone of prayers taking place inside the temple.

“May I go up and in?” I ask. I wasn’t certain if I’d be disturbing anything.

“Of course,” he says. On my way out, he adds, “Take off your hat.”

After climbing the stairs, I enter the front vestibule and leave my sneakers in the rack with the dozens of flip-flops and crocs I assume belong to the praying monks. Very gently, I open the door to the temple and slide inside as unobtrusively as I can. I take off my hat.

I wonder: Is it possible to miss a moment? Not a place, not a thing that you do repeatedly. A single moment.

I ask this because stepping inside that beautiful temple with dozens of monks sitting in a half circle reciting, took me back to Tengboche Temple on our Everest trek all those years ago. On that cold plateau, we stepped into a prayer circle with dozens of other trekkers. We sat back against the wall, cross-legged. The room smelled like sweat and incense and the hum of the praying monks combined with a greenhouse like heat of that room nearly put me to sleep. It felt so comfortable, I felt so protected.

So too, in this place. I missed that moment.

Here, in Woodstock NY, I wasn’t surrounded by dirty trekkers, but I found a corner in the back of the room and leaned my head back against the wall and closed my eyes. Here, like back then, felt warm and gentle. The mantras, though I couldn’t understand them, comforted me.

What a hike this had been. What a way to conclude. Rarely does a 5 mile afternoon walk in the woods offer so much. I’m just glad I was able to absorb it all. And in my ears, the temple bells continue to chime.

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