Hi friends,
This is Kawther. I’m back again. This week has felt like 10 years. So much has happened, so many emotions have been felt, and very little sleep has been slept.
But, first: WE MADE IT THROUGH CALIFORNIA!
We are now officially in Nevada after spending the past three days at Fallen Leaf Lake with Stanford Sierra Camp.
Sierra Camp!
We had so much fun swimming in the lake, participating in programming, and talking to the camp guests and staff. Also, eating hot meals was so welcomed after suffering through cold refried beans, tortillas, and Zbars for the past five days.
It was also really great to finally start teaching! It’s easy to forget our mission when we’re outside on a bike eight hours a day, so teaching was the grounding experience we needed.
Storytelling Workshop with the Guppies
I think we can all say that Sierra Camp was an amazing experience. Thank you to Dave Bunnett and especially the student staff who worked so hard around the clock to make the Sierra Camp experience amazing.
After we left, I drove half of the day. I’ve spent much of the past week driving because a fear of heights and the Sierra Nevada do not go well together. I'm so relieved we're past the Sierras now!
During the drive, I was thinking about how this trip has already restored my faith in humanity so much. It’s just the nature of bikepacking to rely on so many different people—most of whom are strangers. People have been so kind, welcoming us into their homes and going out of their way to support us all week. So many people have gone out of their way to stop us and talk/cheer us on. It’s so hard to learn to trust others in a world where we’re taught to fear strangers, but this trip makes me feel like that mentality has caused me to miss out on some of the most valuable experiences and people in life.
The awesome strangers who helped Ethan fix his bike
Of course, right after I formulated this thought, the entire team got cursed out by some angry Nevadans (we were moving slower than the speed of traffic, but maybe we wouldn’t have to block its flow if this country invested in sustainable infrastructure).
Besides that, the day was pretty uneventful. We saw some cows and horses, and I got the first flat of the trip, which I think is pretty impressive since we went a whole week without a flat. Then we had amazing tacos and sorbet with our host, Joan. We’re extremely grateful for Joan, her beautiful house, and her stories. I can't wait for more to come!
Fixing my flat