Summer in the Sierra, Winter in the High Desert

To be brief: summer in Midpines with Outward Bound was pleasantly uneventful. The Jetta was converted to a veggie vehicle in late May (Biggreentruck is still cruising the California climber/outdoor ed circuit with Sunshine). I climbed in Yosemite and Tuolumne, made a few trips to the coast and kept busy at basecamp.



September saw a whirlwind trip to ME and MA to visit the family and welcome Sveta and Tina

followed by a long drive south to the high desert to get ready for the Joshua Tree season. See photo of desert tortise parking in front of the large OB vehicle below. The resident tortise was checking us out as we moved into the winter basecamp.


Later in the week, we had rain. Not just a drizzle, but real rain that made the desert smell of creosote bushes, a puddle form in the driveway and some of the flowers bloom. Here's the Jetta enjoying the its first real rain since May.

I should have guessed that the little shower in Jtree was a preview of the next trip. Administrative staff from the West Coast got together for our own Outward Bound adventure sea kayaking in the Gulf Islands of Canada. The Gulf Islands are located between Vancouver Island and mainlan British Columbia. In typical Pacific Northwest form, we had rain every day with brief periods of clouds and occassional clear skies. Despite (or because of) the weather, we had a fantastic trip paddling from island to island seeing seals, bald eagles, purple sea stars, lots of birds and sea otters. We also had a close encounter with a posse of sea lions. More photos from this trip to follow but here's some of our group getting packed up.

Photos

Here's a link to a slideshow of some of my photos from Peru. (click the picture)

Peru 2007

Vehicle update: Biggreentruck got adopted by Sunshine back in March. The two of them are happily roaming California with NAL and getting ready to settle into a summer of raft guiding. Biggreentruck is thrilled to have kayaks and stuff to haul around.

Becca recently adopted a yet-to-be-named 1997 white diesel Jetta which will be converted to grease in May when they both return to Midpines for the summer.

Accha Alta

Yesterday, I visited the remote village of Accha Alta with the weaving center for a natural dyeing workshop. Accha Alta is a community of about 100 families located above the Sacred Valley at about 3,800 meters. Their weavers cooperative consists of 30 or more women, about 5 men and 10 children. The event took place at the weaver´s community center and focused on how to get more diverse and brilliant colors from the natural materials available in the highlands of Peru.
Most of the action happened in Qechua so I´m afraid I can´t give any specifics. Qechua is the native language of this region and sounds a little similar to langugaes like Navajo. The jungle is only a few hours over the mountains from Accha Alta so plants from there are readily available to the villagers for dyeing.
We used leaves from a jungle plant to get a deep purple, a local flower for a briliant gold, another plant for a deep earthy green and, of course, cochineal for red. Red is particularly prized by the Accha Alta weavers while other communities prefer other colors. Some of the yarn was purchased machine spun, although this is frowned upon by the copperative. The vast majority was hand spun on drop spindles to a very fine diameter. The women (and men) in Acchan Alta are all very speedy with drop spindles and are able to spin while nursing a baby (well, not the men), herding sheep, carrying on a conversation, and cooking a meal, all at the same time. After the dyes dry, it will take a few months to ply the llama, sheep and alpaca threads into 2 strand yarn for weaving or knitting.
At the end of the workshop, the weavers were able to hand textiles over to the director of the center for sale in Cusco. As the people signed the receipts for each piece, it was clear that literacy is a relatively new idea in this community. Some women simply put their fingerprint on paper, others very carefully printed their name and the younger ones signed as though they did it everyday. One young 13 year old girl from the children´s group turned in a small, spectacular manta (the women´s shawl--tourists use them for table cloths or wall hangings). She was clearly proud to be selling a piece of her artwork to support her family or her schooling or her community.

Valle Sagrado de los Incas

I have just returned to Cusco after an incredible week in the Sacred Valley of the Incas. I was based in the small town of Taray at the language school´s house. After my private Spanish lessons in the morning, I had the rest of each day to explore.
Travelling by bus, moto-taxi (a 3 wheeled motorcycle with a covered seat on the back), taxi, collectivo and foot, I visited mineral springs near Calca, the salt pans of Maras, the ruins of Pisac, markets galore....
The highlight of the week for me, though, was my excursion to Huchuy Qosqo (Little Cusco). Huchuy Qosqo is a living village set several hundred meters above the Valley in beautiful green rolling hills. To get there, I hopped on a bus at one bridge across the river, got off at the next bridge and hiked up an unlikely trail up the hillside. When I first arrived on the mesa, I had views of glaciers and the Valley below. Women were herding cows, horses and sheep and men were working in the fields. But, I didn´t see the promised ruins. After walking around a bit more, I realized I was standing on an Incan terrace. Soon, more walls, staircases and terraces began to appear out of the fields. It was really incredible. The whole place was awash in wildflowers: lupines, daisies, black-eyed susans and more. And, the views were spectacular. To get back to the Valley floor, I took a different route which landed me in a small village where a kind old man who was herding an uncooperative cow up the road showed me a shortcut through the fields. Loosely translated, he said 'why are you going this way? everyone goes on that path over there. no sense in wasting energy.'
This weekend I've been in Ollantaytambo, near the end of the road to Machu Picchu. More ruins, more terraces and a very interesting museum. After a brief stop in Chincheros to see the frescos on a church that was built over an Incan palace, I came back to Cusco. I'll be staying here until Mel and company arrive next Saturday.

More Photos

Thanks to Paul for taking these photos on course.

Happy MLKjr Day!

It's been a little while since the last post and winter has been mellow here in JTree. In December, Biggreentruck got a new filtering system complete with an electric pump. The new system keeps things a bit less messy and, when the temps aren't frigid, it much faster than the old gravity method. The new system still needs a carrying case, but filters are cheaper and the whole thing is much more manageble.

Now it's MLK day and it's very cold in Joshua Tree.

Climbing was put on hold for last Friday's snow day. The snow stuck around on north facing slopes for the weekend and we even came across some hidden in the rock while climbing today.

One last photo: this one is from Adobe Lake on the Lower (lower, lower, there's really water there?!? lower) Colorado River taken in the fall on NAL trip. Before the dam a few miles downstream, Adobe Lake was a Mesquite forest. Biggreentruck goes back on the road for a few weeks of NAL in mid-February.

Desert Life and (almost) Petroleum Free

Biggreentruck is wintering in the Joshua Tree this year. And, winter arrived 2 days ago. No rain or snow yet, just those strong desert winds and cold temperatures. Everything, indoors and out, is coated with a layer of dust. The wind dies down yesterday, and despite the chill, we had a good day of climbing. Today's ambitious climbing plans had to be put on hold because the wind is back and we're wimps.

Last week, though, was unseasonably warm and pleasant for the 7 day Outward Bound course I led. These photos are from one of my students.

In the world of alternative fuels, Biggreentruck has found two great sources: first, for vegetable oil, we've got an arrangement with the Break 'n' Run bar. They don't do a great volume of oil but we get fuel and they don't have to dispose of used oil.

The second source is a little more unusual (relatively speaking, of course). Turkey Town (http://3-dlaboratory.com/turkeytown.html) is the local supplier for tested and fully legal B100 biodiesel. I'd like to say it's one of the more unusual filling stations I've seen, but....well, vegetable oil comes from some odd places. Considering it's location in a little desert town, this place is downright normal by comparison.

After filling the diesel tanks at Turkey Town, Biggreentruck is currently using ZERO petroleum based fuels!!!!!!!