I made apple cider muffins, a growler of coffee, packed up a basket of bananas and mugs and we loaded up the dogs. Everyone is decked out in their varying layers of Patagonia. Some of you might know that I work for them, allowing us to stock my family with the best of outdoor gear. I am layered with my recent capilene air base layers, which to someone like me, who is always friggin cold, are my most coveted items of clothing. I can now be out in the cold and not go numb in minutes. LAYERING is the single most important thing you can do in order to be not only comfortable out in the back country but also safe. You never know what might happen, and the high desert of the Sierra foothills don't play. We live mere miles from the infamous Donner Summit. Y'all might have heard of it, and as extreme as that situation was, it's a warning to all of those that come after those unfortunate souls.
The wilderness does NOT PLAY. Be prepared, bring food, first aid, layer correctly. We always bring an emergency kit, even if it's just a quick morning trip like this one. BE PREPARED.
We head out and take 395 north, our maps aren't the most precise and we are going off the vague instructions on some blog about a janky barbed wire fence, 5-7 miles after a certain junction. This is our norm, head out based on some gut feeling and a vague outline. We found a dirt road in the target area, and headed through the gate. We only had gone maybe 1/4 mile when an up and down gave me pause, we have an all-wheel drive vehicle. It is by no means a full blown off road vehicle. I told Don to pull over so I could get out and stare at the dirt, we did not expect to see anyone else out in this vast, and empty land so we just stopped inn the middle of the road.
I hopped out and started to scope out the wash nearby, as we were looking a 4x4 truck came down to face our little Hyundai. Don went over to speak man to them, as he speaks their language more so than I do. Their type is not a welcome sight for me, and I was glad to be out here with him and not just the girls and I this time. I hate to admit it, but there are some unsavory characters out in the beyond back here, and when I'm alone with just women, I do carry. Apparently they all spoke a common tongue and so Don hopped in to move the car out of their way, and we all continued into the hills as they headed out. I knew immediately what they had been doing out here. Shooting. They recently shut down shooting on Peavine peak, due to all the litter and trigger trash, so these guys have gone further out onto public lands. They don't want to go to a range, or to the outdoor spot further down the 395. So they are back here, shooting their guns and leaving the casings all over.
We pulled up to this strange formation, and where the soil noticeably changed color. I wanted to inspect the pinyon pines for sap, and see what the grounds was doing. As soon as we got out of the car, I looked down and the ground was littered with fresh bullet casings. Wonderful, such responsible gun owners. There must be some gun fairy that comes and cleans up their trash, is that what they are told? At least why else would they leave it, or their mommas did a terrible job. My momma told me to clean up my mess, indoors or out. So all I can deduce is that they had terrible mommas, or their theme song is "Momma Tried".
This has become an incredibly huge problem out on public lands, and it also makes me nervous when I am out hunting for rocks. Who knows if they even think that a family is out there when they are shooting? If you are hunting, fine. That's one thing. But just shooting to shoot...go to a damn range, use you own damn property or join a gun club. My public lands are not for you to shoot up, litter and contaminate, you are not the only one out here.
On to the rocks, and off the soap box...sorry for the detour.
We found the strangest combinations of rocks, mostly in the wash because most of the open range is covered in the damn invasive cheat grass! A non-native invasive brought in by range cattle. I will address this issue in another more nuanced soap box post...but it does make it hard to search the dirt that is normally clear between the rabbit-brush. It's impossible, and when it dies it forms a solid grey ground cover, like a blanket, so even it dying off is making it harder and harder to see the ground like we used to.
We checked out a few spots, but really were just fighting with decomposing granite, shiny but poorly formed small crystals. Nothing much to look at. But finally we came to an up and down that I told Don, this is the end for today. At least in this car...time to walk. So the family piled out and we all started our walking through the wash in various directions. Immediately I started seeing fire-red jasper pieces, beautifully shiny. Standing out from the grey dirt and plain granite stones like beacons. Shades of yellow ochre, rusty red, burnt brown and even some flashy obsidian black. The quartz was really pure, with bright veins of rust and chunks so numerous,we didn't even bother picking it up. I was looking for colored quartz, not clear this time.
Ava came down one wash with stunning, opaque strips of agate that looked like sunsets frozen in miniature. Even Don, who usually just wanders was staring at the ground, gathering stones. I think since I told him that he could not use my trove of specimens to carve at lapidary class, that he had to find his own magic, he decided to start looking. I think he also wants to one up me, as is the nature of our relationship. It's fun...nothing wrong with a little healthy competition. My sister had found an odd half-stone of either malachite or fluorite?, not sure and so she had already made a great find, with solid green crystals in the middle, and she was minding the car and relaxing in the sun with the dogs.
After some time piling rocks, and then deciding which were worth carrying and which should remain, we head back to join my sister and head back to "town"for a Reuben sandwich and onion rings at the little Bordertown casino. Covered with dirt, pockets full of treasure and another area explored and noted for what it contains, and for the stunning vistas that it has seared into my soul. One thing that I will never tire of is the ability to get into and be immersed in absolute desolation within 15 mins of my home. I'm surrounded by some of the most incredible wilderness, landscapes that just drop your jaw. Boulders and mountainsides, snow capped peaks, tall and short trees and color changes that no artist could do justice with and that cameras struggle to capture. Rocks are what we are looking for, but that's not really the point, my family likes to adventure together. I am really lucky that my college kid will spend her whole Saturday with her aunt and her parents out in the wilderness staring at the dirt, appreciating the outdoors instead of staring at her phone.
We then use what we find to create together! I did get some pine sap to make incense with, and the scent of all my wildcrafting (another hobby of mine) balms and lotions this year is what I've been calling "home". Not only because of Nevada's theme song, but because this is my home. It's been calling me since those forays as a child. It's a blend of cedar, sage and wild rose, now I will add the pinyon pine sap. One thing we always comment on over and over while out in the chaparral, is the smell. When I lived in the south, I had a baggie containing some dirt, old rabbit brush and some pine needles from the desert up near Bodie. When I was homesick, I would open that baggie and inhale. I don't need to fill my nose with the dried up herbs in an old baggie anymore, I'm actually where my soul says "home".
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