Mountains Along the Lochsa River.

….The opening of Chapter 24:
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“ .. The sun is up.
.... For a while I’m not sure where I am.
.... We’re on a road in a forest somewhere.
.... Bad dream. That glass door again.”
... The chrome of the cycle gleams beside me and then I see the pines and then Idaho comes to mind.
.... The door and the shadowy figure beside it were just imaginary.
... We’re on a logging road, that’s right . .
.. . bright day . . . sparkling air. Wow! . . . it’s beautiful. We’re headed for the ocean.
.... I remember the dream again and the words "I’ll see you at the bottom of the ocean" and wonder about them. But pines and sunlight are stronger than any dream and the wondering goes away. Good old reality. .. ” (Cont.next)

…Dirt Logging Road, Forested Mountains, Lochsa River Canyon, ID. Many places in ZMM the Narrator depends on the “grounding” of everyday experience, to hold steady his grip on mental stability. Here this is seen in his explicit statement “Good old reality ”.
…In fact, as is said in the passage above, the Narrator uses the “reality” of bright sun illuminated forest to literally “dis-spell” the lingering dream, and get back to “Good old reality .”

.... Much later in ZMM, on page 318 in Chapter 28, as the Narrator & Chris leave Oregon and travel in Northern California, The beauty of the surrounding countryside gives the Narrator a Tremendous Boost. … From this the Narrator also discusses his clinging dependence on, and comfort from, “reality” =>
…. “The road twists and banks and curlecues and descends and we and the cycle smoothly roll with it, following it in a separate grace of our own, almost touching the waxen leaves of shrubs and overhanging boughs of trees. The firs and rocks of the higher country are behind us now and around us are soft hills and vines and purple and red flowers, fragrance mixed with woodsmoke up from the distant fog along the valley floor and from beyond that, unseen—a vague scent of ocean. .
…. .How can I love all this so much and be insane? . . . I don’t believe it! “

…Although expressed in different words, here again we also see the Narrator’s need for support from essentially “Good old reality.“

….We deduce that the Narrator’s full glorious participation in the beautiful coastal country ahead comes from the positive effects of his remembering Phaedrus’s Quality discoveries. From this, he is certain he is not insane! But, according to the Narrator => We, to the contrary, are in the “real gripping insanity” that comes from our 20th Century Mythos, wrongly understood as presently used in Western Culture.
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Another place in ZMM where the Narrator seeks grounding is this =>
…… “Eventually I came to Poincaré. Here again there was little duplication but another kind of phenomenon. Phædrus follows a long and tortuous path into the highest abstractions, seems about to come down and then stops. Poincaré starts with the most basic scientific verities, works up to the same abstractions and then stops. Both trails stop right at each other’s end! There is perfect continuity between them. When you live in the shadow of insanity, the appearance of another mind that thinks and talks as yours does is something close to a blessed event. Like Robinson Crusoe’s discovery of footprints on the sand.” .
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….I believe the Narrator’s dependence on the “grounding” of everyday experience,. Is one of the reasons that the Narrator’s Travel Narrative Descriptions are so fantastically accurate. As Author Robert Pirsig says, to help the reader believe his Chautauquas, his book must seem real, and to do this he makes the descriptions absolutely real & factual. This stance also fits the real world of necessity, for both the mechanic and the scientist: This is because =>
….Total factual accuracy is absolutely necessary, to make sure nature has not fooled you. As The Narrator says => “The real purpose of scientific method is to make sure Nature hasn’t misled you into thinking you know something you don’t actually know.”
(Topic of “Reality” Is Continued Next)
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(Photo = 110-1065cz.5 ..... ZMM Page = 246 ...... WayPt = 265i7. Photo at 268w 3003ft)