bison love

generally being one who is eager and impulsive, i’ve learned that sometimes feeling the need to make the most of every moment can completely blind my ability to do so.  the 3 days before i arrived in j-tree were some of the most amazing in my entire life.   (the “in my entire life” is becoming a very regular phrase these days).   part of it was because i didn't have the time to think through or plan what i was experiencing.  i covered 1300 miles, 10 national forests, two absolutely incredible national parks (arches and zion), the most magical drives i've ever done, and tiny gems of adventure towns in the west.   upon every arrival, i wasn’t sure where i'd stay, what i'd cook, how i'd choose to spend my measly 13 hours in a place one could spend a lifetime exploring, and how to get at least enough sleep to push me through 8 hours of driving to another destination, so that i still felt energized enough to do it all again when i got there.   turns out when you’re driving through country like that, you could get no sleep at all and still be amped up enough to drive clear through into the pacific ocean.  at least that’s what i felt like…

not to say that planning ahead isn’t entirely necessary in many situations.  i’m learning that thoroughly with steve.  but part of what makes traveling an unrivaled high for me is letting go, and watching the purity of the experience unfold.

in 11 days i took the little prius from cape cod to boston, to new york city on september 11, to state college PA, through ohio and indiana to chicago, into madison and cheesy wisconsin, all through the dakota badlands, across eastern wyoming down into denver and boulder, up into the rockies to frisco and breckenridge, south to durango, then silverton and ouray, west past telluride to moab utah, then zion national park, knicked the corner of arizona, came down through vegas, pit stopped at whole foods for a heaping supply of fresh kale (yup, a gal’s gotta have kale, even in the desert!), and across the mojave for the twinkling last stretch into joshua tree california.

some highlights:

-        madison, wisconsin.  blustery blue sky walk along the enormous lake.

-         roadside trailer cooking bbq at a tiny truck stop in sandusky, selling fresh grilled ohio corn on the cob and 1 lb bags of homemade beef jerky.

-        a cape cod beach on the north coast near dennis MA.  endless panorama of tidal flats and salt marsh.  not a soul around.  tide pool skinny dipping at sunset (still categorizing this as a highlight, even though it’s still unclear whether 6 inches of water made this an amazing thing or an awful thing). 

-        super 8 motel in mitchell, south dakota.  counted 37 4WD trucks, 15 eighteen-wheelers and 1 prius in the parking lot.  room came with free “European Bathing Gel for the Entire body & hair”.   mitchell is the location of the world’s only “corn palace”.  saw it, but still not sure what it is.

-        a handful o sunset roadside slacklining sessions.

-        seeing my family outside chicago.  diner booth omelets and homemade pickles (the first pickles i have EVER liked, this was VIMOG… very important moment of growth) and games of pitch and the best homemade bread i have ever had (ardie, if you’re reading this, i’m officially attempting to publicly guilt you into giving me the recipe) and more love than one could ever ask for.  ps. MITCH SHOUT OUT. 

-        waiting for the bus to kindergarten at 8am, holding hands with my 6-year old twin cousins, after one of them gave me a lesson on frog throat-sacks.

-        my grandmother.  mary lee, granny, treater.  the coolest woman i have ever known. 

-        the badlands.  probably my favorite place in the US so far.  something about the vastness of the land that is endlessly lonely and unforgiving, yet caked deep with eras upon eras of life.  primitive dinosaur fossils, rattlesnakes, bison herds, big horn sheep, coyotes, rock spires, mountains, horizons of eroded canyons, and infinite prairie.  i drove for at least 30 miles without seeing a single human.

-        the night in the badlands.  i camped out in the middle of the north unit, and accidentally was surrounded all night by a herd of over 100 wild bison!!  360 degrees around my tent i could hear breathing, grass ripping, huffing, even literally the muscles twitching… three feet from my face.  so much for the signs everywhere warning not to go within 100 yards of a bison!  terrifying and exhilarating and found poop everywhere when i finally emerged after sunrise.  

-        a bag of aussie style red licorice (with the $1.99 TJ MAXX price tag) that was given to me as i left and stayed absurdly delicious as i rationed it for 11 days.

-        seeing my badass nurse sister in denver, eating frosted flake banana pancakes, and watching bluegrass at a local brewery as the sky erupted in pouring rain colorado-style. 

-        wilderness sports consignment in silverthorne CO.  go there.  (and buy my old patagonia rain jacket!)

-        durango, CO.  cooked stir fry, rode bikes in flip flops, and visited my friend ashley’s brand new charter school, mountain middle.

-        the drive from durango to silverton to ouray.  truly one of THE most incredible drives ever. 

 

-        a lamb gyro (pronounced euro) in ouray (pronounced euray) that blew my mind. 

-        ice lake.  8 mile hike up to turquoise mountain lake in the snowy wildflower belly of the san juan peaks.  trailhead is just outside silverton, colorado off south mineral road. 

-        camping under an open starry sky, along the colorado river where it carves through the red rock walls of arches national park.  

-        pre-dawn and sunrise in arches.  this one doesn’t get words. 

-        zion national park.  biblical hike to a narrow mountain spire aptly named “angel’s landing”.  includes a final 0.5 mile ascent where you haul yourself hand-over-hand up a chain along the cliff’s edge.  i got to the top just as the sun was setting.  camped out under silhouette of stars and soaring canyon walls.  was so excited for j-tree at this point i didn’t sleep a wink.  re-read almost an entire book of my favorite poems.  peed 6… yes six… times.  

 -       arriving at my cabin just before sunset, collapsing on my bed (quilt is just a giant piece of leather), praying that feeling would last forever.