“The love of wilderness is more than a hunger for what is always beyong reach; it is also an expression of loyalty to the earth, the earth which bore us and sustains us, the only paradise we shall ever know, the only paradise we ever need, if only we had the eyes to see.”
Edward Abbey
Over the course of the past year, extended travel adventures have been checked, thus limiting new posts for our readers' enjoyment. Time has been filled with trips to both the southern and northern part of the state offering love and support to our family. And sad to say our "Central Coast Hidey Hole" has been pretty lonely too.
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| Fossil Falls with the Eastern Sierra backdrop |
On short notice though, we have headed to a few surreal landscapes for brief respites of soul charging, mental highs and emotional bliss. When the wind calls, I know that somewhere in the mountains there is the fortitude and tenacity we are looking for. The pull of the horizon overcomes our passivity and we must go...as the greeting the sun over the Eastern Sierra pinnacles is pure bliss for my own "Sun"...Imkelina.
Our recent trip was a short expedition to the "Gateway of the Eastern Sierras"...the southern part of Highway 395. Although this stretch of highway is not new to us, we wanted to explore a few camp spots that we have not been to.
We have passed Fossil Falls, near Ridgecrest, hundreds of times while at full throttle heading north up Hwy 395...and not once did curiosity work it's way down to the brake pedal. But our dear friends, Tim and Denise, shared their visit and it jacked up our interest. Well our intent was to just stay a night...turned into a multi-day rest stop. Pics tell the story why.
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| Imke navigating a trail through the lava fields toward the falls |
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| Cascading Lava Falls |
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| Looks like a close up of black bear scat...but just a huge lava boulder |
The name Fossil Falls is a bit of a misnomer. There are neither fossils around to see, nor an active waterfall here. The highlight is...walking through this surreal land of convoluted chasms of shiny, sculpted black lava formations. From what we read, these fields were formed from the rushing water of the Owens River and lava pouring down from nearby volcanoes 20,000 years ago.
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| Thistle Sage |
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| Red Hill cinder cone looking down on WeBeGone |
We loved this spot so much that the daily 40 mph gusts did not deter us to say "sayonara". Dotted on and among the lava beds were a brilliant palette of colors...flowers, shrubs and lichen. The distant landscape views were beautiful, the night skies stunning...and then there was the solitude. It is only when we silence the blaring sounds of daily existence (Southern CA) that we can hear the whispers of our truth and what path forward we need to take.
Fossil Falls...a simple reminder of how ancient our mother earth is, the knowledge gathered within her and the messages stored within this lava of our past. We left only our footprints. We head north toward Lone Pine and them Alabama Hills.
At Waypoint 35.9728, -117.9119
We have passed Fossil Falls, near Ridgecrest, hundreds of times while at full throttle heading north up Hwy 395...and not once did curiosity work it's way down to the brake pedal. But our dear friends, Tim and Denise, shared their visit and it jacked up our interest. Well our intent was to just stay a night...turned into a multi-day rest stop. Pics tell the story why. 
