Nature Quest/Inyo National Forest

Mono Lake, Lee Vining, California
This is where our group met to head out into the Inyo National Forest

Inyo National Forest
View from Ridge Above Base Camp

High Desert with The White Mountains in the Distance
That is not snow, it is granite that makes the tops white.

As I write this, I am in The Inyo National Forest, an expanse of about two million acres of wilderness that lies just east of Yosemite and rises from 4,000 feet to14,496 thousand at the top of Mt. Whitney . This is where the Sierra Nevada Mountains meet the high desert ecosystems of The Great Basin. It is high and dry and full of magnificent vicissitudes! The word Inyo means “dwelling place of a great spirit”. This is indeed home of the thunder and lightening and fickle, powerful winds! 

Inyo National Forest, eastern California...high desert...8,000 feet
This place is about an hour drive in from Mono Lake and Lee Vining, CA
The final road you're looking at was nine miles of single track packed sand. Wilderness indeed!

Mountain Mahogany and Me

“I went into the woods because I wished to live deliberately

To front only the essential facts of life and see if I could not learn what it had to teach.

I did not wish to live what was not life - living is so dear.

Nor did I wish to practice resignation unless it was quite necessary. I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life...." Thoreau

Base Camp...stoves, tables, coolers, pots and pans, and water

I am here with thirteen women on a “quest”, a kind of spiritual retreat. Ten of us are questers and we are here to spend ten days completely removed from all that is familiar in our busy lives. There are no toilets, there is no internet access, and there is no electricity. We brought enough food for six of the days and we will be off on our own solo journeys without food for three days. While in Johnny Meadows at base camp, we live in tents  that are situated within walking distance of the gathering area but not within sight of each other. In base camp we have a “kitchen” set up for meal preparation and clean-up and this is where we gather for the work we do as a group.

My Tent in Base Camp

After three days in base camp preparing for our solo three day fast, we headed out to our chosen spots in the wilderness. We had a tarp, rope, sleeping bag, a mat and warm clothing. I chose the highest ridge I could hike to and had a 360 degree exposure to all that would be happening in that part of the world. It turned out to be an intense drama of lightening, thunder, rain, blisteringly hot sunshine, dark cold nights and many moments of calm and almost deafening silence. It was, hands down, the most alive and alert I have ever been. This is where I was for three days and three nights....what went on there is beyond words.

The Ridge Where I Spent Three Days and Nights Alone

Tarp and Gear with Scarf to Scare off Evil Spirits and Man Eating Critters

View from under my tarp where I spent many hours during the high noon heat.
Tarp + rain jacket over the tarp+Peruvian manta over the rain jacket and tarp= deep shade

A Shady Spot...retreat from the intense sun and dry winds.

My Overlook where I Greeted Each Day 

Sunrise over the White Mountains

Back from Solo...having fasted for three days, slept under a tarp for two nights,
and slept under the open sky on the final night. No moon, a high sky pinpricked with a million stars overhead
To top it off, it was the time of meteor showers and the dark side of the moon.
Can you tell I feel fantastic! I got what I came for...and so much more!

Last night in base camp....you may note some face paint....it was a party, after all!
Readings, drumming, singing, and story telling. It was a great celebration.