Notes from the Road Issue 010

Welcome to Notes From the Road—an inside look at desert happenings, things we’re currently into, and anything/everything in between, brought to you by one of our owners and founders, Janelle. We don’t gatekeep here in the high desert, so if we love it, you need to know about it.

Dispatch from the woods…

In September, Robert and I spent three incredible weeks roadtripping, camping and hot springin’ all the way up to Eastern Oregon and back. This was our sixth year doing our late summer extended camping trip, though this year was our shortest out on the road.  When people ask me what it is like to live in the desert I say, “I love it, but that is not an easy place to live.” Our summer road trip is the highlight of the entire year. We really do work hard all year long, just so that we can take off for a month and be in nature. There is something actually healing and grounding about getting off-grid. 

A perfect camp spot for us has no cell reception, has a swimming hole and is cool enough at night to enjoy a camp fire.  Our trip brings us closer together. We are undistracted, free to brainstorm ideas and live simply for a few weeks.  During the year, when things feel overwhelming or even mundane, we talk about our favorite moments from the summer’s trip. It gets us excited for next year, and motivates us to get through the work in front of us.

Hot Springs

This summer we visited a few hot springs locations that we had never been to before.  Hot Lake Lodge was so special we went there twice. The second time we got caught in a rain storm. The feeling of big drops of cold rain while sitting in a concrete tub of 104 degree water was pretty perfect! What made this hot spring a 10/10 was the cold plunge tub that you could periodically dip into to cool off. We did not stay at the lodge, but you can. The former sanitarium kind of in the middle of nowhere Eastern Oregon would be fun a destination road trip. 

Another great hot spring-resort type place that we spent a few days at was Crane Hot Springs. Also in Oregon, we camped here and enjoyed the hot spring, which was one large man made pond.  The water was crystal clear and the bottom was black lava rock gravel. The water here was pretty hot.  The highlight of the experience was floating in the water at night under the stripe of the milky way and getting lost staring at a million-billion stars.

Fall in the Eastern Sierra

Wow, we got super lucky, and on our way back to the desert we caught the fall in Eastern Sierra at just about peak.  The colors were unreal, hypercolor. It felt like being on mushrooms when everything is saturated and amplified. We did a lot of fishing and I caught a whopper 2 pound trout!! It took me an hour to break it down and cook it on our little camp stove. But wow, new goal unlocked…do I need a fishing boat? This desert girl is starved for fresh fish. Can’t get any fresher than catching a beautiful fish in an alpine lake and then cooking and eating it within the hour. 

We went up into the lakes west of Bishop to meet instagram friend Kathy of Austin-based chainstitch studio Ft. Lonesome. Her and her family recently took over the historic Parcher’s Resort by South Lake.  Dang, Kathy and Debbie make the best breakfast we had all summer. We went as many days as we could. Don’t forget to grab a cinnamon roll for a snack later in the day. 

How we find the perfect campsites

Robert usually does all the driving on our camp trips, while I am in charge of navigating. I use camping apps like iOverlander to find the perfect campsite. We prefer free or cheap, usually once you get out of California camping fees are way more reasonable. When you are out for 4 weeks, $35+ a night really adds up! We try to find BLM or state run campgrounds. I spend a long time reading reviews on the apps and the internet to try to find a campground that is less likely to be overrun by tons of families (read: loud) or groups of partying college kids. We look for remote spots that perhaps less people want to drive the extra miles for. We also discovered this trip that campgrounds popular with hunters are really great.  They are quiet, empty during the day and usually just a little bit past the distance that novice campers want to drive.