Today we set out to begin understanding the lay of the land and the resources, conceptual and physical, it has to offer.
Gold mining drew homesteaders to this area, but all that remains are the sad hovels of those who sought the elusive prize. Getting up into the hills, away from the enormous man-made mountains of mine tailings, the landscape is fresher, a little greener, and happily being left alone by large mining operations.
It's interesting to speculate about the lives of those who live here. As a Midwesterner, it's hard to understand being drawn to such an exposed, barren landscape. But those are car thoughts - questions I have while racing down the highway in an SUV. To get closer to the true nature of this place, I have to get out of the car, brace myself against the wind, kneel down to bend a twig, discover a split stone, listen to the birdless silence, observe the low layers of cloud cover, hear the crunch of my boots on the gravel-like ground, find snow in north-facing crevices, wonder what I would do if the car, and instantaneous warmth and comfort, weren't 20 yards away...
