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Good morning, Golden State travelers. Fear is a curious thing and travel often is posited as a way to help people confront their hang-ups and insecurities in a healthy way.
Times contributor Edmund Vallance
recently faced his fear of canyoneering born out of the horrifying incident in “127 Hours” on an adventure in Utah. You’ll read about his empowering experience and more in this edition of Escapes.
Fear can also be a helpful, life-saving friend. A fear of crowds and enclosed spaces is a reasonable, smart reaction to a pandemic that continues to devastate large swaths of the world.
Did one of Southern California’s most isolated places become even more isolated during the pandemic? You bet. The funky allure of Slab City, which my colleague Priscella Vega calls “the Shangri-La of desert weirdness,” was no match for COVID-19. “The people that come visit me Iceland, Russia, Japan stopped coming,” said Rodney “Spyder” Wild, owner of an RV compound he rents on Airbnb.
The squatter’s paradise, which vaguely feels like a free, year-round Burning Man, is in Imperial County on the eastern shore of the Salton Sea about 50 miles north of the border with Mexico. Locals call it “the last free place in America” where there are no rules, no government, no taxes.
TravelAwaits
May.10.2021
It’s easy to spend a week exploring the San Juan Skyway. It takes you through some of the most majestic scenery and charming towns in southwestern Colorado.
A Colorado Scenic and Historic Byway, the 236-mile loop starts in Durango and leads you to scenic Silverton, through Ouray and Ridgway, then on to Telluride, Dolores, and Manco, all through the heart of the majestic San Juan Mountains.
Let’s explore ranch B&Bs, secluded lakes, old gold mines, ghost towns, hot springs resorts, top-notch ski hotels, Puebloan ruins, and archeological sites in southwestern Colorado.
Janie H. Pace
1. Durango
Spring, late fall and winter are the ideal times to visit nearby deserts
I did have one important advantage though. My instructor, Christopher Hagedorn, has been leading classes and expeditions in this area for upward of 10 years. His company, Get in the Wild Adventures, has thrived throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Not surprising, I suppose. Canyoneering is by its very nature a socially distanced activity.
“I spent a good part of my life following the dream of being an astronaut,” he said the first day at our training camp, about 20 minutes’ drive from Hanksville, Utah.
“When I realized that wasn’t going to happen, I figured this was the closest I’d ever get to being on another planet.”