Traveling the world one color at a time.
Need to escape? Looking to be whisked away? Itching for travel inspiration?
Look no further than the sunny Mojave Desert in California. Often overlooked by those driving from Los Angeles to Las Vegas, the Mojave Desert may at first appear dry and desolate but it is truly teeming with color and life.
The Badlands of Death Valley spread like crystallized sugar for miles toward the horizon. The ground stretched, dried cracks like wrinkles on a spinster’s face pulled outward, trying to connect to anything within its grasp. A fine dust covered the earth in places, kicked up by the occasional hot breeze. My throat stiffened with each breath.
If a place could be a hyperbole, then Death Valley would win. it is the hottest, driest and lowest point in the United States, and by any common sense accounts, those things would make it a nightmare to visit. It is a place where a person can sweat profusely without showing any signs of moisture depletion. A place where lips stay chapped and hands are void of moisture. A place where most living things have escaped or died out, never to return to such a harsh environment.
At Badwater, 282 feet below sea level, I drain my water bottle, eager to refill it when I get the chance. A murky puddle is roped off, a delicate ecosystem that can easily be damaged by wandering feet. Along a short walk into the desert landscape, we find yet another puddle called Devil’s Hole, where a few pupfish swim in it. The fish has lived in isolation in Death Valley for an estimated 25,000 years, surviving and thriving in water that is 93 degrees Fahrenheit.
I happened upon The Last Season when I was browsing the bookstore for Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks. The words on the cover immediately drew me to it:
Randy Morgenson was legendary for finding people missing in the High Sierra … Then one day he went missing himself.
Written by Eric Blehm, this book is the story of a man who spent his entire life with the National Park Service. Raised in Yosemite National Park, Morgenson grew up in the shadow of El Capitan and along the well-trod path of the John Muir Trail. He explored the world as a Peace Corps volunteer but was ultimately drawn back to the High Sierra, where he worked as for the NPS for 28 years, most of them as a backcountry ranger in Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks.
In Morgenson’s last season, he headed into the wilderness and simply disappeared. The Last Season vividly explains the search operation launched in order to find this well-seasoned ranger while weaving in the troubling circumstances leading up to the season and a disturbing picture of how the NPS treats its seasonal employees. Blehm does an excellent job of telling a story that could be cut and dry — a step-by-step process of a backcountry search operation — but this compelling book pushes readers deeper and deeper into the puzzling details of Morgenson’s disappearance by posing theories and situational questions that arise due to the complex nature of the ranger’s past and the bureaucratic and often unfair policies of the agency for which Morgenson worked. Would the ranger have just walked out of the mountains? Did Morgenson plan or know of his disappearance in advance? Was Randy a victim of nature, or was he so selfish that he made the choice to put his fellow rangers at risk looking for him? Was faulty equipment given to rangers to blame? Were there holes in the search-and-rescue operation that could have resulted in a different outcome?
Balboa Park is a living, breathing part of San Diego’s culture. It’s the epicenter of a lot of the city’s culture, a safe space for family outings and a friendly, all-encompassing space to enjoy several of the city’s attractions in a single location, including 15 museums, several gardens and the famed San Diego Zoo.
It calls itself the largest urban cultural park in the United States. What that means exactly, I’m not sure. But I do know that it’s a cool park and a fun place to hang out if you have some time to kill. The one thing that isn’t so fab, though, is the fact that you have to pay to get into most of the museums and, of course, the zoo. Though you won’t get a complete feel for the vibe of the park by skipping the paid attractions, there are several things you can enjoy for free when you visit Balboa Park.
The smell of deep-fried funnel cake hangs in the breeze. The click-clack-click-clack in the distance is followed by a moment of silence and then a chorus of shrieks as a roller coaster screams down its first drop.
Belmont Park Boardwalk in San Diego is not unlike other boardwalks in the United States. I could be in Virginia Beach or on Coney Island. Dozens of t-shirts hang from a nearby stand with varying designs advertising the city. One that says “I heart San Diego” could just as easily say “I heart San Francisco.” Hanging among the shirts, a sign: Buy 2, Get 1 Free.
Carnival games are lined up, side by side by side. Bongo Beat invites players to wallop plastic critters as they pop out of play drums. Win a colorful, animated stuffed animal at One in Wins with only a single successful ball through the basketball hoop.
Red and yellow and blue light bulbs outline each ride and structure. Lit up at night, the round bulbs are dull and reminiscent of decades past during the day.
One of the goals on my bucket list is to hike the John Muir Trail, so when videographer Peter Bell got in touch with me to share his story about his time on the trail, I knew I had to share it with you.
In the summer of 2008, Peter hiked the John Muir Trail, but he didn’t just strap on a backpack and go. Instead, he hit the trail with nine other people … six of whom were boys in high school. Many of these boys were novices to backpacking, especially on something as intense as the John Muir Trail. In fact, even Peter had only ever backpacked for a couple nights at a time. Knowing what I know about high schoolers, this seems like quite the courageous endeavor and I give Peter huge kudos for introducing these kids to the California wilderness.
The other thing that made hiking the trail tougher than normal for Peter was the fact that he had to haul along video equipment. The purpose? To film the trip and create a documentary, which he has entered into the Sundance Film Festival, Mountain Film Festival and Wild and Scenic Film Festival. A trailer for the film is at the bottom of this post; I personally can’t wait to see the whole film!
Peter was kind enough to answer a few questions about his 2008 hike on the John Muir Trail. If you have other questions, I’m sure he wouldn’t mind if you hit him up on Twitter.
1. What was the catalyst for hiking the John Muir Trail with this group of high school students?
I came up with the idea to film the John Muir Trail while hiking in Shenandoah National Park in Virginia in college. We made a really bad hiking and camping TV show for college credit. We were hiking along the Appalachian Trail and some dudes were like, “You have to see the JMT out West. It is pretty much the best and most amazingly scenic hiking trail ever.” I took their word for it.
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