We all saw this trip as the culmination of our efforts, until we encountered the visitor center. There we discovered a chart of the Pacific Rim Ring of Fire highlighting the volcanic mountains in the Cascade Range. This was a game-changer for Erica J and me. Instantly, we recognized that this trip was actually the introduction to a pilgrimage where we would create ceremony and apachetas at the fourteen Cascade volcanic mountains, from Mt Baker at the Canadian border to Lassen Peak near Redding California. Recognizing this as a sacred agreement with Pachamama, we eagerly accepted the assignment.

Once home and out of the heady mountain air we began manifesting our sacred compacto to both connect and strengthen the Cascade Range apus through apachetas. To begin relationship with these ancient beings we uncovered their native names. Once we had those, books were ordered and their photos were copied. We became familiar with lahars and lava tubes, calderas and fumaroles while researching the histories of these giants. Native legends that connected the ancestors to the mountains were sought out as well as prayers and poems that spoke to their spiritual essence. We also began gathering gifts of love for the apachetas we would bring forth. Heather created staffs we would gift to every apacheta and other friends held space for the pilgrimage through apu photos on their mesas. Erica and I divided the pilgrimage into four trips over two years beginning in June 2017. We would travel in the less crowded months of early June and October.

We had not established an agenda when we arrived at our first apu, Komo Kulshan, trusting we would be shown the way. Indeed, we were guided to create a tobacco, cornmeal and shell mandala in a snowy area where the road was still weather-blocked. This natural mandala ritual was to be repeated at every apu when we arrived. Not only was it our introduction, it was also an initiation into the plant energies of these vast ecosystems.

Our first trip concluded where the pilgrimage was conceived, Apu Tahoma, tallest apu of the Cascades. Erica and I would visit this sacred friend one more time for closure when the entire pilgrimage was complete. But for now, we had to leave the powerful solace of the mountains and their wild energies, not yet wanting to release their magnetic pull. Re-entering three-dimensional life, we traveled east over the wide open farmlands of central Washington and were gifted with three separate rainbows, one for each apacheta we had created. We knew Pachamama was pleased with our efforts.