Feyala's Wanderings

I got up and headed to a nearby cafe. Nip randomly discovered me, and decided to join me for breakfast. We spoke about what I might encounter at Saline Valley for an hour or so. He was obviously quite concerned for my safety in his own way, which was touching. At one point he pronounced that “you got some big hairy balls on you girl!” Um. Thanks, I guess?

I packed up my stuff and crammed it all on the bike. Nip brought out a baggie full of trail mix as a gift. Aww.

Pete was busy packing when I got up this morning. Sadly, it was time for him to return to his normal life. On the up side, this was a good opportunity for me to get a closer look at how his gear is set up. The backpack panniers are a nice touch.

Surprisingly, Pete uses a bike to tow his bike. I’d seen pictures of things like this before, but I’d never gotten an up close and personal look. Nip helped him load the dirt bike onto the trailer.

China garden was a surprising, cool oasis in the desert. It had trees, reeds, and even goldfish!

Nip decided to take a seat and share a snack with them. The fish seemed surprisingly well-fed for being in such an otherwise barren environment.

We set out around eleven in the morning, aiming ourselves toward Keeler. Pete and Nip wanted me to meet a local artist named Craig. He was quite eccentric, but seemed to have a good sense of humor.

Pete assured me that this would be a relatively easy day, a fairly short ride with about 5 miles of dirt. We hit the road, heading toward the sierras.

Eventually we reached the turnoff and it was just… sand.  Oh great. My arch-nemesis.