This is Gene, so you know
  OUTDOOR SURVIVAL TIPS
Leaving the Ground
by Gene Slacks
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    There's nothing like a tree to provide you with almost everything you could ever need while spending time in the outdoors. A tree casts off its dead and useless pieces for you to create fire. A tree shades you on an oppressively hot day and shelters you from an unexpectedly fierce downpour. A tree symbolizes everything about the completeness of nature.
    The cycle of life that surrounds and intertwines the very fabric of nature and reality can be found within the sturdy trunk of a tree and out to the very tip of the farthest leaves. And within the forest ecosystem, the tree gives so much of its life to nurture and protect other creatures dwelling above, below and at the forest floor. But enough about the greatness of trees....
    Yo and I decided one balmy fall afternoon to take a backpacking trip out one of the last stands of old-growth forests on the East Coast. The Joyce Kilmer-Slickrock Wilderness, located inside North Carolina's Nantahala National Forest, covers about 17,000 acres and straddles the North Carolina-Tennessee border. Within the wilderness area lies the Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest, named after poet Joyce Kilmer - his most famous poem was the apropos ode, "Trees." Some of the huge trees stand at around 100 feet, have a circumference of over 20 feet and are close to 400 years old. The motherfuckers are big.
    You can't camp in the memorial forest - one careless campfire and it's bye-bye pretty trees - so Yo and I started our trip about 15 miles away at Big Fat Gap. After making sure all the food was stowed properly, all the straps tightened down and all the drugs were ferreted out of the car, Yo shouldered his pack and shuffled off down the trail. A few miles of general descent alternating along a intermittent stream bed and through a mossy forest of mixed hardwoods and pines led us to a flat clearing with nice campsites by Slickrock Creek. Yo and I shrugged our heavy bags off our sweat-drenched backs and set up the site. A quick visit to the three-stage Wildcat Falls before it got dark to share a welcome bowl and then Yo and I ate dinner and hit the sack.
    The chilly morning greeted us with the sun. Another quick meal and visit to the stunning falls and the requisite bowl, and we were on the trail again. This trail wasn't no joke, neither. The Slickrock Creek Trail covers about ??? in ???. My out-of-shape ass was not ready for this. Yo and I eventually huffed and puffed our way to the top. The trip up was mostly an extended, sweat-filled blur... but I remember pushing through rhododendron-filled slopes, agonizing over each leaden step up make-shift log steps helpfully placed along some of the steeper portions and sweating like a pig. (Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you, I bought some new socks before the trip that had these Teflon portions sewn into the heels and toes. Unfortunately, I got the wrong size. So, on the descent the day before, they seemed fine. But on the ascent, they slipped around on my heel like a wet tongue. Needless to say, I got some fat blisters.)
    At the top of the climb, in a nice, breezy saddle called Naked Ground, Yo and I threw off our packs and lay down in two exhausted puddles. Yo, of course, quickly lit up a cigarette.
    "Damn," I said, "when are you going to quit the nic?"
    "Awww, come on, man," Yo retorted. "You know you want one."
    "No thanks, I'll stick to the wacky... "
    A quick rustle and a snuffle and all the sudden a scrawny brown hound popped out of the long grass surrounding the campsites.
    "Come 'ere," Yo spoke with a whistle.
    The dog ambled over to Yo and sniffed his hand.
    "What the fuck's on his neck?" I asked.
    "Looks like a radio collar... wonder what that's for... " Yo mused.
    "Damn, I'll bet that's a coon hound and the hunters wait till he trees a raccoon and then they just follow the signal... "
    "Or it could be a bear hound," Yo said.
    "Yeah," I said. "Oh well, let's set up camp."
    While putting the tent up and getting the food ready, the dog sat on the ground and snapped at the incessant buzzing of about 40 persistent flies. It's bony hips and visible spine suggested either the dog's handlers were stiff on the chow, or the dog had been left behind on a previous hunt. Since the owners probably fed the dog decently so it'd be strong enough to hunt, we figured the bitch (we figured out it was female by then) had probably been roaming the woods for awhile.
    Yo and I busied ourselves with the camp chores and eventually some good Samaritans hiked by, talked to us about the dog and took it with them. We wished them luck and hunkered down in the tent and plotted our trip to visit the giants.
    This is where the drugs came in.
    Yo and I had brought with us - for the special pilgrimage to the memorial forest - an interesting new substance. To better enjoy our time among the stately tulip poplars, Yo and I decided to try out a new drug. Salvia divinorum is a member of the Mint family and is totally legal. It's a tree of sorts... actually it's just a plant, but hey, so are trees. I pulled these facts off a Web site about the plant (www.dreamwater.com), so take them with a grain of salt:
    The name Salvia divinorum means "Sage of the Diviners." Under the right conditions, taken in the right way, Salvia produces a unique state of "divine inebriation." For hundreds of years, it has been used in religious and healing ceremonies by the Mazatec Indians, who live in the province of Oaxaca, in Mexico.
    At present (10/7/98), neither Salvia, nor the substance Salvinorin-A that it contains, is a scheduled substance in the U.S. It is legal to grow, buy and sell Salvia plants or leaves.
    The effects of Salvia are very different than those of alcohol; but like alcohol it impairs your ability to drive, and decreases your coordination. Driving under the influence of Salvia is very stupid.
    S. divinorum is both like, and unlike, other substances that affect the mind. In many ways Salvia divinorum is in a class by itself. No other herb, no other drug, is really very much like Salvia. Salvia is not "legal pot." It is not "legal acid." Salvia is Salvia. It is a unique "visionary herb."
    Salvia contains a chemical substance called Salvinorin-A (usually referred to just as salvinorin). Salvinorin causes Salvia's mind altering effects. It is not chemically related to LSD, DMT, Ecstasy, THC or any other drug. It is not an alkaloid.
    Although it is not habit forming, pure salvinorin is extremely strong. Doses of only several hundred micrograms (millionths of a gram) will have an effect, and doses above 1 milligram (1/1000 of a gram) are too much for most people to handle. Fortunately Salvia leaf is hundreds of times weaker than pure salvinorin. This makes it much easier to safely use Salvia leaf than it would be to use pure salvinorin.
    Salvia leaf is quite physically safe. No one has ever died from a Salvia overdose. Salvia is neither a stimulant, a sedative, a narcotic, nor a tranquilizer. Like the psychedelics it can induce visions. But it differs from the so called "classical psychedelics" (LSD, psilocybin and mescaline) in many ways. No one knows how salvinorin works in the brain. We do know it works differently than any other known substance.
    If Salvia is smoked, the effects come on very quickly, in less than a minute. If it is chewed, the first effects come on at about 15 minutes and full effects are at about 30 minutes. Usually a Salvia trip lasts from 15 minutes to an hour. Occasionally trips may last up to 2 hours. It is important not to drive or use machinery for several hours after the trip appears to be ended.
    S-A-L-V-I-A Trip Rating Scale
    Salvia trips seem to occur in levels. The so called S-A-L-V-I-A scale has been constructed to rate trips. Each letter of the word SALVIA stands for another level of tripping. The scale describes six different levels of intoxication, each one more intense than the previous. The overall intensity of Salvia trips is scored according to the highest scale level attained during the course of the trip.
    Level 1: "S" stands for SUBTLE effects. A feeling that "something" is happening, although it is difficulty to say just what. Relaxation and increased sensual appreciation may be noted. This mild level is useful for meditation and may facilitate sexual pleasure.
    Level 2: "A" stands for ALTERED perception. Colors and textures are paid attention to. Appreciation of music may be enhanced. Space may appear of greater or lesser depth than is usual. But visions do not occur at this level. Thinking becomes less logical, and more playful; short term memory difficulties are may be noted.
    Level 3: "L" stands for LIGHT visionary state. Closed-eye visuals (clear imagery with eyes closed: fractal patterns, vinelike and geometric patterns, visions of objects and designs). The imagery is often two dimensional. If open-eyed visual effects occur these are usually vague and fleeting. At this level phenomena similar to the hypnagogic phenomena that some people experience at sleep onset occur. At this level visions are experienced as "eye candy" but are not confused with reality.
    Level 4: "V" stands for VIVID visionary state. Complex three-dimensional realistic appearing scenes occur. Sometimes voices may be heard. With eyes open contact with consensual reality will not be entirely lost, but when you close your eyes you may forget about consensus reality and enter completely into a dreamlike scene. Shamanistic journeying to other lands, foreign or imaginary; encounters with beings, entities, spirits; or travels to other ages may occur. You may even live the life of another person. At this level you have entered the shaman's world. Or if you prefer you are in ''dream time." With eyes closed you experience fantasies (dream like happenings, with a story line to them). So long as your eyes are closed you may believe they are really occurring. This differs from the "eye candy" closed-eye imagery of Level 3.
    Level 5: "I" stands for IMMATERIAL existence. At this level consciousness remains and some though processes are still lucid, but one becomes completely involved in inner experience and looses all contact with consensual reality. Individuality may be lost; one experiences merging with God/dess, mind, universal consciousness, or bizarre fusions with other objects real or imagined, e.g. merging with a wall may be experienced. At this level it is impossible to function in consensual reality, but unfortunately some people do not remain still but move around in this befuddled state. For this reason a sitter is essential to ensure the safety of someone voyaging to the inner levels. To the person experiencing this, the phenomenon may be terrifying or exceedingly pleasant; but to an outside observer the individual may appear confused or disoriented.
    Level 6: "A" stands for AMNESIC effects. At this stage either consciousness is lost; or at least one is unable to later recall what one is experiencing. The individual may fall, or remain immobile or thrash around; somnambulistic behavior may occur; injuries can be sustained without pain being felt; on awakening the individual will have no recollection of what he/she did, experienced or said in Level 6. People cannot ever recall what they experience in this very deep trance state. This is not a sought after level as later nothing can be recalled of the experience.
    I would love to regal you with tales about our journey into the magical forest, but unfortunately Yo and I consumed enough of the Salvia leaves to make it in between Level 5 and 6. All I know is that we woke up amid the leaf litter that covered a far corner of the memorial forest. Towering trees surrounded our eyes when we woke and fleeting visions of swirling patterns, slow-motion speakers leading us (or just me, I'm not sure what Yo saw) through dark, alabaster halls sitting in the middle of a nebula, near the edge of the universe.... Anyway, check out the Web site and try the plant for yourself. It's still legal and as good as a trip you'll get anywhere else - if you're susceptible to it. It's cheap, too. Next time Yo and I will go a little lighter on the dose....