scent of the desert   10 comments

Posted at 12:58 pm in being alone,california

road coming down from Bodie

Upon leaving Bodie, I felt some mild apprehension over the weather. It was cold and the skies looked overcast and threatening. Conditions seemed ripe for at least a little snow. I wasn’t all that sure about the landscape I’d be driving through as I continued south. Looking at the map, it seemed that there might be more mountains ahead — and that turned out to be the case. However, I checked the clock in the van and made a few quick calculations that led me to believe that we’d probably roll up to the motel in Ridgecrest not much after dark. Wrong again. Between the mountainous terrain between here and there, and my eastward trajectory toward the Mountain time zone, my time and distance calculations went out the window.

As the afternoon progressed, I realized that we would be on the road well after dark. That prospect didn’t make me particularly happy as I don’t consider myself to be much of a nighttime driver. However, there wasn’t a lot to do about the situation short of canceling the motel reservation in Ridgecrest, and trying to find somewhere to bunk further north. However, checking my map, it looked like motels might be sparse along this route, especially ones that were “dog friendly”. The weather looked less threatening now, so I decided to try to push on to Ridgecrest.

Round Valley with Mount Tom looming beyond

Despite feeling the need to keep moving, I did stop to stretch my legs and eyes a couple of times. It was at a look-off over Round Valley, with Mount Tom looming beyond, that I caught the unmistakable scent of the desert. As I opened the van door, the familiar odor of dust and certain pollens filled the air, provoking a landslide of memories — of Don and I coming in from long days spent hiking, our hair and clothes dusted with fine red sand and smelling of the desert. The sensation was entirely unexpected and caught me off guard. For a moment, it was as though I was standing next to him once again. At the outset of this journey, I knew that the desert might bring us closer. The feeling was both difficult and welcome.

Soon, we were back on the road, descending into the Owens Valley, with the Inyo Mountains to the east (see below – click on all images for larger views). Now, the road flattened and became straight for long sections. However, as happened at so many other places along the way, there was road construction and lane closings to contend with. I drove onwards, into the dusk, with the setting sun casting a rosy hue over the clouds and mountains. It would be nice to say that the rest of the drive was so pleasant, but that would be stretching the truth. Things got a little hairy further south as the road became more twisted and hilly. Driving in total darkness now, I resorted to my old survival tactic of following a truck that seemed to know where it was going — last used as I tore up the Columbia Gorge in the dark just a few weeks before. Eventually, the truck led us into Ridgecrest. Feeling weary and overwhelmed with aloneness, I asked the motel desk clerk if I could extend my stay to two nights instead of one. In what was to be a rare moment on this journey, I truly felt that I could not push on. Luckily, the room was available, allowing me the chance to crash and burn for a day before resuming the trek onward to Arizona.

Inyo Mountains east of Owens Valley

Written by bev on February 5th, 2009

10 Responses to 'scent of the desert'

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  1. It seems that this day of ghost towns and dusty memories challenged even your brave soul.

    Bev, I could pray for half your courage and be grateful to acquire an eighth.

    Cathy

    5 Feb 09 at 7:35 pm

  2. And be sure to submit this post to Carnival of the Arid #2!

    Chris Clarke

    5 Feb 09 at 7:57 pm

  3. Cathy – Yes, you’re right — it was a pretty tough day even compared to most. Fortunately, Sabrina and I made it through to the next one and got a bit of rest.

    Chris – Thanks, I will!

    bev

    5 Feb 09 at 8:23 pm

  4. Your story keeps me in suspense, even though I know you made it in the end. And these photos are really evocative.

    I have read that the sense of smell is hooked more directly into the brain than the other senses, and that odors can trigger strong memories.

    As I mentioned earlier, the roads you drove over sound familiar. I remember an incident when I rode my motorcycle over some highways that sound like the ones you were on. I was trying to watch the scenery and ride at the same time (not a smart thing to do) when I hit a metal marker pole with the right cylinder of the motorcycle. It was a BMW, so the cylinders stuck out on the sides. It pulled the spark plug lead out. I wobbled a bit but managed to pull over to replace the plug wire. There was no harm, other than losing a few months off the far end of my life.

    Mark

    6 Feb 09 at 10:01 am

  5. Mark – Yikes! That sounds like a close call! However, I can see how easily such a thing could happen. One of my younger brothers flew down to visit me here in Arizona during January. I told him to be very careful driving up into the mountains as some people drive very fast. He pulled off into a turn-out and almost hit a highway marker that was standing in the middle of the paved shoulder. Since he mentioned that, I’ve been noticing markers in the middle of a lot of the turn-outs here in the mountains. I guess they are to keep people on the road and perhaps guide snowplows when there has been a storm. However, so many of them are bent over that I’m sure they’ve been hit by cars that pulled over onto the turn-out to let faster traffic by. That’s kind of a “yikes!” to me as I often use the turn-outs for that purpose. Now I’m being a lot more careful to check for marker poles!
    I have also heard that the sense of smell can trigger strong memories – more so than other senses. I can believe that as I have had similar experiences in the past. A scent can open a floodgate of memories for me — as it did up at Round Valley.

    bev

    6 Feb 09 at 11:17 am

  6. I’m glad that you decided to spend a second night in Ridgecrest. That’s a lot of driving and a lot of country to cover. An extra day of rest is always a good thing. There’s something about the desert that seems to stretch our eyes further. The distance between the mountain ranges and all that open land between. Scent is an amazing trigger.

    robin andrea

    6 Feb 09 at 11:26 am

  7. I like the transitional aspect of this piece, Bev. As well as the tension in the weather – just by coincidence we’re planning a prescribed burn in the morning and everyone’s on pins and needles wondering if the humidity will be too low to allow it. Unfortunately we aren’t worried about snow!

    I also liked the reference to smell and the evoking of memories. That’s something I am always curious about and wonder just how much it’s warped my personality not to have that constant stimulation of remembrance, whether conscious or unconscious. It’s gotta have some kind of an effect on all sorts of things.

    Those are some kind of vistas in the photos. Really amazing.

    Wayne

    6 Feb 09 at 12:32 pm

  8. robin – Spending the second night at Ridgecrest was definitely a good move. I was *so* tired by that point, that it would have been dangerous driving on — my next stop was Lake Havasu, which is a pretty fair distance. Besides, I did a couple of fun things during my stopover. More about that in my next post!

    Wayne – I hope all goes well with the prescribed burn. I noticed signs for one up near Chiricahua last week and thought that seemed sort of scary as it’s pretty dry around here at the moment — but probably not as dry as it will get if this warm, dry weather continues.
    When I wrote this piece, I actually thought of you and your lack of sense of smell. I think it’s something that many of us take for granted, although I know I am constantly sniffing at leaves which I’ve folded or crushed a bit to release the scent. I might value smell right after sight, although I do like to touch things quite a bit to learn to know them.
    And yes, aren’t those vistas something else. Well, there are more of those to come sometime soon!

    bev

    6 Feb 09 at 1:13 pm

  9. “The feeling was both difficult and welcome.”

    Exactly. Thank you for writing about your journey and posting these beautiful desolate images of a landscape that is familiar to me. Just looked on a map and realized I was traveling near Chiricahua in August of 1973 at a turning point in my life. The desert landscape and scent is clear in my mind and heart. I missed the ocean but was struck by the beauty of the desert.

    Ella

    7 Feb 09 at 3:54 pm

  10. Ella – Thanks for commenting and leaving this note. I’ve been up to Chiricahua several times in the past few weeks. It’s a place of incredible beauty. I will be writing about it sometime soon.

    bev

    7 Feb 09 at 5:08 pm

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