Hi Sierra

I found a book while in Oregon about Northern California “An Explorer’s Guide” I always kept it for some weird reason knowing I never wanted to ever move to California. Sean Murray went on a road trip down the California coast and asked to borrow it. Once I decided to make the decision to be a raft guide and come down to California, I packed it on top. I went through living in Northern California without ever cracking it open until I stumbled upon Bear Valley.

After working in Bear Valley I was packing up the Warming Hut for who knows what next and there I found 50 pages of Bear Valley and surrounding areas of the High Sierra. This was the into:

“To fully experience the landscape that captured the heart of John Muir, inspired the photographs of Ansel Adams, and evokes the same sort of grand contemplation and revelation in its visitors, you need to stay a while. In fact, you can’t know Yosemite, Bass, and Mono Lakes, or even the heights of Tuolumne and Calaveras Counties without returning throughout the seasons. How can you fully appreciate the pinkish hue over the valley, the tons of water rushing over the granite peaks, the sudden thunder storms, the deer silently sipping water by a lake, the bear cub playing with a piece of bark, the hush of snow, the fields of poppies and lupine, the sudden chill after the sun sets, the echo that bounces off the spires, the burnt orange, red and yellow of the fall foliage, the swimming holes, the unbelievable heights of sequoias, unless you sit in a field and inhale it all in.”

It goes on and on about the landscapes, trails, mountain bike trails, backpacking, skiing, mountains, flowers, trees, seasons, wildlife, places to see and do, etc. I discovered this while living in the area and there were many times when I first got there how I really wish to share this experience with others that are trapped in a city or caught up in their daily lives of working the 9 – 5. I began to get a little angry at the fact people would “say” they would come visit and I would get excited to share these amazing sunrises and sets, express my passion for the area and show off my knowledge of the plants and trees, then they never showed. I will recognize my buddy Nick for coming out. I had such a blast with this guy! It was refreshing to have this very thing I have been wanting to share with someone.

Buddy Nick from Portland visit me as he said he would when I left.

At first when I arrived, I felt lonely. I was in a new community and away from my lovely St. Clair apartment, away from friends, lovers and family. However I was left there with nothing to do, nowhere to be but sit on a deck and look at the open sky and mountains surrounding me. So besides the beauty of the area, another corner I’d like to shine the light on is the Bear Valley community. You cannot spend 8 hours in the Valley without recognizing it’s tight knit family. People that live there know and respect their land; they are there for the same reasons I didn’t want to leave. They bond on this and in a sense become family, you can even include the Joe Dirt’s in the family but all in all it wouldn’t be the same without them. I remember Joel’s 50^th birthday bash where the whole town was there, buying Orvis steaks and having Denise at the General Store get excited about how local and grass fed it was – it was Denise that told me I was eating my neighbors, I loved Matley Meadow’s music, the Bear Valley music fest, overhearing everyone at the gas station/adventure company talk to visitors about hikes and kayaking around the area – you could hear the enthusiasm in their voices of why they are here, there were no churches around, a time I got super sick with a fever my debit card wasn’t working (due to an unknown cancellation) and Denise at the store gave me the meds with ice cream and told me to feel better.

What really took me by surprise is the disc golf family. I thought when I left Portland I was also leaving behind my hobby but found a wonderful group of [old] men that had the same passion as I did when I played. The thing I loved about playing disc golf in Bear Valley was not only was there nobody there but the locals, we could play in one giant group for hours without having the pressures of other people behind or in front of us. We had some rad weekly bag tag games that always included food and loads of shit talking. I am very happy I got to be a part of this family.

With all the beauty of the natural landscapes, all the effort I put into learning the history, land and geology, and the community accepting me as family, how could I not stay?! I am sad that I am not able to stay in Bear Valley officially however; my goal and passion lay within furthering my education. So I am trying to get into where I can that is close! We’ll see what happens, I just sent an email to Naropa University withdrawing my registration.