I continue on corrugated gravel track across the desert. The road is being worked on as I ride and the surface is deep and loose. The men working in the graders stare at me, as if I might be a mirage, as I pass.
I’m so glad I chose to struggle across the rough dirt tracks [...]
I am in search of another fresh water spring that Mike told me about. A sandy track turns off my gravel road towards the hills and I struggle over it.
Saratoga Spring sits in a small basin surrounded by a curve of bare hills, black, brown and gray – looking almost like slag heaps, mining tailings, [...]
The next day I wake and my mind is still full of yesterday’s encounter. The men are breaking camp in the distance and soon speed off in a huge cloud of dust. I cook breakfast and break camp more slowly and then get on my bike to cycle fifty miles over corrugated deep gravel road, [...]
Also tagged california, desertWhen I return to the men’s camp site dinner is ready and people are scattered around eating and talking. The conversation drifts over a variety of topics, as it always does in large groups. One man is expounding volubly on the difficulties of negotiating life in prison. He is discussing the conflict that exists between [...]
Also tagged california, desert, peopleThe following morning I set off towards the end of the valley where sand dunes shimmer in the distance. I round a corner and find myself confronted with a veritable tent city near the base of the dunes, an American flag flying in the centre of a ring of tents. A lone figure is seated [...]
Also tagged california, desert, fortuitous meetings, peopleWhen I leave Bishop the wind is still icy and it blows me smartly along the highway to Big Pine where I stop to stock up on water, filling my two four litre bags to the brim. I ask the guy at the service station for information about the road. The man, it transpires, is [...]
Also tagged california, desert, mountains