On June 11th, 2022, I circumambulated around Mount Tamalpais.

The first known circumambulation of this mountain was done on 10/22/1965 by Gary Synder, Philip Whalen, and Allen Ginsberg, all members of the Beat Generation who played a large part in the San Francisco Renaissance. Inspired by the Buddhist practice of Pradakshina—the religious rite of circling clockwise around a sacred object—hiking this route around the mountain was meant to be a walking mediation (according to Synder) or a pilgrimage (according to Whalen). Starting at Muir Woods, the route ascends the Dipsea Trail to Cardiac Hill. From there, you continue to climb toward Pantoll Ranger Station, Mountain Theater, and a Rock Springs. At this point you begin to traverse the northern slope of the mountain to Rifle Camp, Collier Springs, and Inspiration Point. A final jaunt up fire roads and the Plank Walk Trail will lead you to the summit. After visiting the peak, you descend steeply to Mountain House along Fern Creek Trail and Hog Back Road, finishing with a pleasant stroll through the redwoods back in Muir Woods. The total journey is about 15 miles and 3,000 feet of elevation. There are 10 stages with 8 “shrines” (sites and objects selected by the poets) at which one is suppose to offer a devotion, meditate, or reflect.

While I did not take this solo journey to the summit in the search of zen and enlightenment (in all honesty, I needed to hike to the summit and thought this might be a cool way to get there), I did try to embrace the experience of this ritual, which is designed to pay tribute to this mountain. As such, I wrote a haiku at the end of every stage and tried to be as present as possible throughout the journey.

I completed the circumambulation with another successful summit of the mountain, many miles under my shoes, a few poems in my notebook, and perhaps some greater insight into this Gary Synder-inspired quote by Jack Kerouac from his novel, The Dharma Bums: “the closer you get to real matter, rock air fire and wood, boy, the more spiritual the world is.”