(no subject)

[dolari]

So, today, I went to the Snoqualmie Tunnel. I didn't realize, however, how low the batteries were in my flashlight. So I walked it without the flashlight. 2.7 miles of unlit tunnel. Just pointed to the speck of light on the "horizon" and walked towards it for an hour. Then did the same back. Only used the flashlight for short bursts here and there when something caught my eye.
I'd walked the tunnel before with a flashlight, and walked one way through without a flashlight after seeing others doing it. But when I did it that time there were many others in the tunnel. This time, I had only the briefest of light, seconds at a time, and had the tunnel all to myself.

It sort of became a sensory deprivation tank, with some very very strange experiences. The first run through the tunnel, the light behind me was very very weak, and the light ahead was strong. So all I had was a pinprick of light ahead of me, an no other sensation of moving other than a slight breeze. It almost felt like walking in place. My legs were moving, the breeze of walking was blowing by. But there were no walls, no ceiling, no movement from the speck in front. I was walking forward while walking in place.

The second trip, the light behind me was very strong, and in fact, the tunnel was well lit for a good portion of the walk. I'd say maybe a third of a mile. As the light dimmed, the irregularities on the walls and cieling would catch the light as it got darker and darker. I was walking through clouds of star clusters, which got less dense and eventually, I left the "galaxy."

I also got a good insight into a phobia I've had as a kid. I was actually quite afraid of the dark (so much so that ten teamsters armed with shotguns didn't help my phobia...long story). Even to this day I'm jittery in the dark. On my way back the silence began to get to me, so I put on some music (I had the tunnel to myself, I wasn't gonna disturb anyone). But visually, I began seeing large voids and what looked like passages branching off the tunnel. And...well...shadow people. One of the reasons I used the flashlight when I did.

What I was seeing was the last traces of light behind me, hitting slabs and making patches of dark my brain was translating as dark passages and even people. I've known this for a while - but it's nice to have that confrmation. See a passage, flash a light, and it's a smooth wall with a slab in front of it. See a person, flash a light, and it's a refection of water from the dim light behind you.

Will I do it again? Hells yes. Will I do it with no flash light again? Yes...but...prefereable when the tunnel is busier, or someone's wth me.

Or...well...maybe if I want a psychadelic experience again.:)

Comments

[porsupah.livejournal.com]

Egad. That does sound like a quite literally surreal experience.

I'm sort of tempted to try the same myself. ^_^ There's a new cycle path back where I used to work, running right through the hillside of the southern part of the town, once used by a 19th century railway - not quite as long, but something like a mile or two. It is lit (very carefully), but they turn that off between something like midnight to 6am, so as to give the bats some nighttime.

I think I would, however, bring light along, in case it proved too unnerving. ^_^;