And Then It Was Autumn

We chugged, chugged, chugged up the hill as we tried to make our way from Payahuunadu, the indigenous Paiute name for Owens Valley, to Whitney Portal in the Sierra Nevada range. Second gear…first gear… a pause in pullout to let the engine cool a bit. Can Caracol, Jesse’s recently resuscitated 1972 VW bus, make it up to 8, 374 feet? This trip was many things, one of those things was our first road trip to test Caracol’s chops, and the other was to see if I could fall in love with her.

Following months of not having a vehicle and only going as far as our bicycles could take us during one heat wave after another (ie. not far) and all National Forest lands being closed to all use for over a month (which basically means no mountain biking in Santa Barbara) I was getting *very* antsy. As a consummate traveller this Covid thing was finally starting to take a little bit of a toll on my psyche – I needed to get out of town. It’s not hard to imagine how much Jesse loves his bus, Caracol, as he kept her through 10 years of non-operation and finally made the big investment to get her up an running again. My lifestyle has long demanded a van, but I never made the investment. However, a van that tops out around 55mph with no power steering, no radiator, and questionable reliability was not really the van I had in mind. Could Caracol make the 650 mile round trip to the Eastern Sierras? Would the slow pace make me hate it? I really dislike long drives and always want to get them over ASAP. Did you know that Caracol means snail in Spanish?! These were the important questions as we set out on a Friday afternoon.

Fortunately, it was cooler weather than previous weeks which boded well for Caracol not overheating. Still we kept the speedometer pegged at about 55mph as the hours passed by and pulled into Alabama Hills after dark to camp; the drive had taken much longer than I was used to, but we were there and though the area was busier than normal we found a small place to park for the night. You might wonder why we have a tent set up in the top photo, since there is a bed in the bus, but we currently do not have a safe way to transport the bikes on the outside of the vehicle; plus it’s better to sleep outside in perfect weather and enjoy the stars. I always sleep the best camping in super quiet high-desert locations, and that night did not disappoint.

The next morning we continued north, again slowly, to a mountain bike trail I wanted us to ride: Lower Rock Creek. This trail never disappoints, it’s a great descent and climb, with a fun mixture of fast flow and challenging technical features. But what I really love about it is that it runs along a creek and through massive pines and Aspens turning gold in the early autumn. Ah, breathing. Though unfortunately the East Side of the Sierra’s were still smoky even though, to my knowledge, there were no new or recent fires burning. Still, to see the massive mountains, to be at elevation, to experience the change in scenery and crisp air was a much needed escape.

Thanks to a downhill return to the same camping area as the previous night, we had a quick return to Payahuunadu; however, again it was packed. I’ve never had to drive around more than 10 minutes to find an available spot to camp in this free BLM land, but we drove and drove trying every side road and eventually had to ask someone to share their area. I hate to invade someone’s private space in this environment, but we were so burned out on driving at that point. We had another good night’s sleep and the next morning found us chug-chugging up the steep hill to Whitney Portal where we planned to spend the day hiking. Second gear…first gear…. Caracol made it! Fortunately for our very slow ascent their were shockingly few cars heading up the hill and we finally arrive to find a few cars parked here and there and a few people camped at the official campground. Unfortunately, we learned that the Inyo National Forest was still closed to use; I honestly thought I had read that it had reopened. We were not able to hike here and down below in the BLM land where we had come from it was still a bit hot, and just not what we were looking for, so we continued on for an earlier than expected arrival home. It was A LOT of driving for not much play, but it did allow us to get out of town and sleep under the stars for two nights and we learned that Caracol could indeed make it. The question still remains: Am I willing to do long trips at that pace? I don’t have an answer yet. Following the trip we took Caracol in for a planned tune-up and learned that the engine temperature gauge is running a bit hot, so we could have been safely travelling a bit faster which is good news.

Now we are back to our regular covid lives. Bike rides, cooking, work for Jesse, volunteer activities for me/us. We assemble these bike bells for our local trail group and deliver them to the bell boxes at each of the trails. The culture here is an expectation for cyclists to use bells on the downhills to alert hikers and reduce the chance of startling someone. Hikers tell us how much they appreciate it all the time!

We took some chances on late season plantings and have new tomatoes coming on, a second crop of green beans just getting starting, lettuce beds, and my first attempt at growing beats!

I also still volunteer at a shelter for those without homes once a week and recently starting helping escort kids on an after school bike ride. The students are in grade school and super fun to be around. Everyone wears masks at all times. Jesse and I have also joined a local action pod in the group Showing Up For Racial Justice (SURJ) and we will closely follow City Council meetings and make public comments on any issues related to racial justice. Someone recently told me that they “aren’t as into politics as I am”, which isn’t really an accurate reflection of my reality. I DESPISE politics and would much much rather go about my bike rides and other activities; however, I see it as a moral imperative. It is the ultimate privilege to ignore politics because the events have almost no bearing on one’s own day-to-day life. As long as the government agencies in this country continue to abuse brown people and Black people, imprisoning them at unconscionable rates, separating parents from children, and murdering people in the streets in my name (as these agencies represent each one of us) my conscience requires me to try and do something more than vote every two years to help create that change.

On a more fun note, I have a new creative outlet!! I’m a radio DJ at our local noncommercial, student run, community radio station! Jesse has been doing this for years and inspired me to start my own show! It airs “live” (because of covid I currently make my show at home and submit it in advance) on Thursday from 6-8am on 91.9fm in Santa Barbara, but you can also stream it at that time at KCSB. If you are not available at that time, later that day I will post the show here each week. You can go listen to my very first show from last week if you desire. My show is called More Banjo! and focuses on Bluegrass, Americana, and folk music with a strong representation of female, BIPOC, and LGBTQIA+! artists. I’m still struggling to find much Spanish language music with banjo, so if you have any recommendations send them my way!

It’s hard to believe I’ve been in the same place for seven months, with only two quick trips out of town, but I continue to try and make the best of things and hope you are finding joy among the challenges as well!