by Andy Dappen
Article in partnership with The Wenatchee World. Forty for Forty: Recognizing the 40th Anniversary of the Chelan-Douglas Land Trust with 40 stories about lands the Land Trust has protected and kept open for public access.
Mysteries are wondrous conundrums. They can precipitate awe. They regularly inspire us to learn. And they are often the root of new discoveries.
Visits to nature are often wondrous specifically because of the mysteries found there. Away from the routines and habits of normal life, our minds get bombarded by mystery after mystery: How did the hills and valleys surrounding us form, how do plants thrive in our arid lands and desert heat, how do the feathers of the hawk overhead facilitate flight, how is that we have brains that can even contemplate these mysteries?
An outing to the top of Peak 2228 in the Saddle Rock Natural Area is one I particularly enjoy when the pondering of mysteries feels like the order of the day. After hiking to the top of the peak and sitting in the shade of the ponderosa pine 100 feet downhill of the summit, I start my meditations wondering about the spiral-shaped rock sculpture that an unknown artist has assembled here. Each of the water-rounded granite stones in the spiral came out of a river, perhaps the Wenatchee River or Icicle Creek, before someone carried them up here. With each of these stones weighing 8 or 9 pounds and 146 stones being part of the spiral, how many trips up and down this hill did that someone complete? And for what purpose — exercise, penance, art, the remembrance of a lost loved one…?
From my focus on the sculpture itself, my meditations about mystery can lead almost anywhere. I might ponder the ties connecting the bug crawling on my leg to everything around me — what does that bug pollinate and who feeds on it? If the temperatures are warm and the light bright, the conditions might carry me to the memory of a similar day in a different place. How does the subconscious fabricate such leaps? After a stint of mental wandering and wondering, I usually ‘come to’ feeling renewed by having given the uncaged mind time to roam from one mystery to the next.
I’ve asked a dozen people who walk extensively in the Saddle Rock area if they know who created the mystery spiral. So far no luck. People I ask sometimes wonder whether I really want to know. Will knowing ‘the who’ ruin the mystery, they ask. But mysteries are rarely truly solved. In this case, upon learning ‘the who,’ there will be mysteries of ‘the why,’ where the rocks came from, how long the creation has been underway, why land managers have not disassembled this, what thoughts and ideas has the sculpture kindled in others….
And how amazing is it that our realities are like this? We solve the mystery behind one door and that leads into a room with ten more doors, with each of those doors leading to 10 more doors. And it is doors all the way down. Indeed mysteries are wondrous conundrums.
Details: The Mystery Spiral
Access. The rock art/sculpture mentioned in this story can be reached from either the south side of the Saddle Rock Natural Area by parking at the trailhead at the end of Circle Street, or from the Jacobson Preserve trailhead on the north side of Saddle Rock by parking at the Wenatchee Racquet and Athletic Club (WRAC).
Trip Instructions. Regardless of the starting point, follow the main trails leading uphill that lead to the pass (elevation 2,020 feet) between the south and north sides of Saddle Rock Natural Area. At the pass walk west (uphill) about a third of a mile to the top of Peak 2228. Pass over the summit and still heading west walk downhill roughly 50 yards to reach the rock spiral.
Map. See the Land Trust’s map of the foothills trails. For a considerably more detailed map of the Saddle Rock are, see this CalTopo map.
Trip Stats. Roundtrip distance is roughly 4.5 miles and 1200 feet of elevation gain if starting from the Jacobson Preserve. If starting from the end of Circle Street, the roundtrip distance is about 4 miles with 1,100 feet of elevation gain.
Land Ownership. A combination of lands owned by the Chelan-Douglas Land Trust and the City of Wenatchee are used for this hike.
Allowed. Hiking, trail running, mountain biking, leashed dogs.
Not Allowed. No motorized vehicles, off-trail travel, hunting, shooting, littering, camping, or campfires. Strive to leave the area better than you found it.
Note. Human-made objects (towers, sculptures, cairns, balanced rocks, etc.) are normally not welcomed and usually dismantled by land managers to keep areas natural and to discourage copycat structures. This formation has not been dismantled, but please avoid creating copycat structures.
Events. Join us on Friday, August 1 from 6:00 to 8:00 PM for an Ice Cream Social event, a relaxed summer gathering at the Saddle Rock Shelter. Enjoy free ice cream, fun lawn games, and the chance to connect with fellow nature lovers in a beautiful outdoor setting. This family-friendly event is free and open to all. The shelter offers shade, tables, and an ADA-accessible pathway. We hope to see you there! Register here.
Andy Dappen is the founder of WenatcheeOutdoors.org and a former board member of the Chelan-Douglas Land Trust. Join him in supporting CDLT’s many projects that enhance our quality of life in Central Washington.
Forty for Forty. Recognizing the 40th Anniversary of the Chelan-Douglas Land Trust with 40 stories about places the CDLT has protected and kept open for public access.
