On the Long Road to Root Camp
15 April 2008
You and I tend to think of road trips in terms of hours or a few days. Like a 560 mile drive from Shurz, NV to Arco, Idaho would take us 8 or 10 hours to drive, and some of us might moan and groan about the long drive. Now imagine Finisia’s reality of 7 WEEKS on the road and an additional 160 miles to reach the Arco Root Camp, barely in time for the June 14th Root Festival. Imagine progressing at only 20 miles a day, 100 miles a week, 49 days and nights, setting up camp each night, and breaking camp in the morning, hitching up and unhitching the horses, watering and feeding the “team”, devising makeshift detours around cattle guards in the roadways, repairing mechanical breakdowns, etc. We’ve heard about the hardships of the pioneers traversing the American frontiers in covered wagons 150 years ago… and we are fortunate to know a real pioneer woman who chooses to live according to the “old ways” and endure the hardships of the pioneers so that she might be truly connected and grounded to the essence of nature, the land & sky, plants and animals, Mother Earth, Life and Spirit.
Finisia and Coyote Camp have completed a successful and fulfilling “Rewilding Camp” in Shurz Nevada with the Paiute tribe. On April 12th they broke camp and headed North to Root Camp and Root Festival in Arco Idaho. Finisia called me yesterday and described how she originally headed south out of Shurz , NV towards Hawthorne and encountered a herd of 60 wild mustang horses blocking the highway. From past experience, she is very wary of the reactions of the wild mustangs to her horses, and has even had them try to charge right up the wagon tongue. Another consequence of trying to manuever her horses and wagon through the wild herd is that the herd will continue to follow, right into the Main Street of the next town Hawthorne. Just imagine the spectacle of Finisia’s primitive wagon train plodding into the center of town with a herd of 60 wild mustangs all around her. Imagine the commotion that would cause!! I would have loved to be sitting next to Finisia on the wagon seat for that close encounter of the 4th kind. She decided it was worth the risk to forge ahead through the herd, but then she learned from a passerby that the highway beyond Hawthorne was under road construction and closed down to one single lane. With this 2nd obstacle in her chosen path, Fin decided to take a detour and head north to Fallon and then east to Middlegate, South to Tonopah, North to Ely and eventually Arco, Idaho, 720 miles away.
I was puzzled why she was heading South on a 720 mile journey to reach her northern destination, instead of taking the 560 mile northern route, and her answer was simple… there are 3 or 4 very hard pulls up steep, mountainous regions on the northern route from Fallon. The force of gravity on the steep ascents and descents is a formidable challenge for the horses, and a mechanical brake failure (yes, even covered wagons need brakes) would spell disaster for Fin, her horses and wagon. Then there is the extreme weather factor. Several of the summits on this northerly route are over 7000 feet and in April & May, snow blizzards are a likely and common occurrence. A wagon and horses on a steep paved road come to a grinding halt in snow, with possibly nowhere to setup camp and are endanger a deadly collision with fast moving cars and trucks. Another major obstacle is that they would end up on “Super Highway” I-80, and no slow moving vehicles, especially horse drawn covered wagons are permitted on Super Highways. Fin boasted that she has traveled the shoulder of Interstate 80 in her wagon before, because there is no other option. The old two lane highway was obliterated when I-80 was constructed and there are no other side roads following that I-80 route. So the path of least resistance leads south before it heads north and adds 160 miles and 1 1/2+ weeks to the journey.
Fin’s traveling companion is Jon “Jon the bicyclist, a voice crying out in the wilderness” as Finisia called him yesterday. He usually travels the countryside on his bicycle and he joined Finisia in early March. Last week after the Shurz Rewilding Camp was completed, he rode his bike the 70 miles to Reno, to take care of personal business and yesterday he returned to join Finisia in her long trek across the desert. He “planted” a very good journal entry in the Wiki-Garden that is worth reading. At times he will ride his bike and at times he will ride next to Finisia on the wagon. Fin is grateful to have his companionship on this long, lonely journey.
Let us keep Finisia and Jon in our thoughts and prayers, envisioning their good health, well being, security, good fortune, and safe passage on their long journey.
Well… that is the latest news from “Coyote Camp” on the road to Root Camp & Festival. You are invited to join them there!! Stay tuned for future updates.
Fin’s messenger
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