Providence Canyon

Today was the Zen Hike down to Providence Canyon. Seven of us showed up for the hike, and we were able to all fit into one van with reasonable comfort (albeit with a rather low back end). The drive down was over two hours, but the ride was not unpleasant.

It had been a cold morning (30 degrees when I left the house), but when we got to the park a little before noon and began the hike down to the canyon floor, it had warmed up into the low 60s. The cliffs and walls of Providence Canyon do not display themselves to the visitor immediately; instead you have to hike in a little ways, and at first get only glimpses and glances of the canyons. But gradually they reveal themselves in all their erosional splendor. We all hiked together at first and found a sunny spot to sit down and eat our lunch. After the meal, we split up and one group explored some poorly maintained trails on the west side of the canyon, while the other group followed the main trails to the easternmost canyons. The two groups crossed paths again after a short while, and together we hiked up off the canyon floor and started around on the rim trail.

We came across several old abandoned and rusted cars sitting in the woods. According to the Parks Department, they are from an old, pre-state park "homestead," and since have become home to several small mammals and birds, and removing the cars would cause more damage to the environment them leaving them. We found a young tree that was growing up through the rear window of a truck cab, and on up and out the driver's-side window.

The automotive graveyard seemed as good a spot as any to sit, so we practiced zazen there for a half hour among the trees and old cars (30 minutes of enlightenment). Just before the half-hour ended, I heard the voices of some other hikers approaching, so I rang the bell, ending the period a few minutes early, as I didn't want to create the impression that we were "worshiping" old cars or anything.After sitting, we hiked the rest of the way around the rim trail, taking in the great many beautiful vistas of the canyon. Although the canyon looks like rock, it's actually all sand. The "canyons" are in reality runaway gullies resulting from bad soil management practices by 19th century farmers - Providence Canyon did not exist in the 1850s. The exposed sands are Cretaceous and Tertiary aged sediments of the Providence Formation and Clayton Group. When the erosion cut down through the fairly resistant Clayton, the Providence quickly washed away, creating the interesting landscapes found today - a unique terrain in Georgia.We left the park after 3:00 and took the ride home, arriving back at the Zen Center around 6-ish.