The Prayer Tree

A mystery tree at the cliffs.
If you've ever looked around the cliffs near the old Cliff mine, you've certainly noticed the big rock pile coming right down the cliff face from the top of the cliffs. That old rock pile comes from the Cliff #3 shaft, which is right on top of the cliffs. It's also a fun place to hike and get a good view. (Mike's got a good article about this part of the mine -- the first photo has the rock pile on the far left side.)

I'd never actually climbed up to that part of the cliffs before, so a couple weekends ago I thought I'd go straight up the rock pile and see what I could see. The pile is very steep, but not impossible to climb. Making it harder, however, were the apple cores raining down upon me from above! A boy scout troop happened to be having a picnic up at the top, and they were throwing their cores to see how far they would go -- apparently my bright purple jacket and blaze orange hat weren't visible among the trees at the bottom. I kindly informed them of my presence.

Up at the top, I rested and enjoyed a lovely view (possibly surpassing the cliff lookout). The rock pile is pretty wide at the top, and very overgrown with trees and weeds. Wandering along the cliff face for a while, I found this tree right on the edge of the cliffs. The photo shows the basic idea: it was covered in post cards, scraps of paper with poems, random messages, and prayer flags. I have no idea what it was or who put it there, except that it was absolutely amazing to find it hidden up there, hidden in an overgrown wilderness.

Also at the top, I found the ruins of an old hoist house, a boiler stack, and sure enough -- the old Cliff #3 shaft (filled but slowly coming open again as wind, rain, and snow take their toll).

I feel sort of compelled to go back and add something of my own to the tree... maybe a photo of this tree?