The past few days, I hiked the Backbone Trail. Not all 67 miles, but 37, which is enough if you ask me. And the whole point of this blog is to catalog my travels and sometimes, those travels aren’t so grand. In fact, they can be pretty pathetic. Because here’s the deal: I cried. I …
Continue reading Fear tastes different in the wild.
There’s a lot of beauty in the world. I forget that. A lot. As in pretty much every damned day. And there’s a lot of love in the kindness of strangers. I think that’s something worth celebrating. Everywhere I’ve travelled, I’ve met people with whom I’ve exchanged a piece of myself. It’s a little tradeoff, …
On April 29th, 1992, a Ventura County judge acquitted four LAPD officers of beating Rodney King. Reasonable force. More than 50 swings of a baton (a baton is made from wood, plastic, rubber, or metal; they function well in regards to breaking windows to rescue victims in driving cars or blazing buildings--imagine that force). Batons …
Continue reading A White Man’s World
McFarland, California. A small town of about 13,010, located in Kern County, straddling the 99. McFarland is known for a Cancer Cluster in the mid 80’s, which took the lives of over a dozen children, and its Cross Country Team, which ought to tell you something. When the best sport is running, you can’t help …
Continue reading One Rose in a One-Stop Town
I'm coming home from my wanderings. Briefly. I'm sure I'll head back out soon. I'm too restless not to. But what a week for it. Aside from Earth Day (if you haven't planted something yet, get on it), Friday was the birthday of my main man of the mountains, John Muir, a major advocate for …
Continue reading Chasing Waterfalls
Last October, seismologists discovered a second fault line running parallel to the San Andreas, cutting right through the Salton Sea. Which means things may get a lot shakier than they already are. And so, at the risk of having California's next great natural disaster placed on my shoulders, and at the plea of a couple …
Continue reading Post-Apocalyptic Poster Child: The Salton Sea Chronicles, Part 3
There's one restaurant here. Aside from a Jack in the Box and a sandwich shop that looks closed, but no one can be entirely certain. No one remembers eating there, and although the sign at the door says open, there are no cars in the lot, or any signs of life, for that matter. It …
Continue reading Ladybug, Ladybug, Fly Away Home: The Salton Sea Chronicles, Part 2
Puke on a hot sidewalk. This is the smell of the Salton Sea. Rotten eggs, perhaps, is a more familiar notion. In 1906, attempts to bring water into the Imperial Valley from the Colorado River failed, and a strange little ocean was born in the desert. Contractors didn't account for the massive buildup of silt, …
Continue reading Puke on a Hot Sidewalk: The Salton Sea Chronicles, Part 1
The Wild Heart of Life 