When I feel dissonance, I go to nature to reestablish balance. Instead of being still in nature I go there to move. Migrating through the landscape under my own power stimulates a shift in my own nature. Activating my body to attune my mind and soul.
On my most recent journey, I went to explore a new bike packing route in Idaho called The Great Rift Dirt Tour, designed by Aaron Couch of Destination Reroute.
288 miles in the remote, desolate, stunning and protected landscape around Craters of the Moon National Monument & Preserve. A three day solo immersion with my schedule dictated only by the sun. Just me and my bike exploring this unique, sacred, powerful volcanic wonderland. I went alone, but was not lonely. Lava flows, lightening storms, wildflowers, wildlife and my thoughts were engaging companions.
This stunning area is important to the Shoshone-Bannock as a place of sacred power and rich ancestral history. It is also a geological and archeological paradise housing the Great Rift, a fissure in the earth's crust spanning 62 miles, known to be the most extensive, recent and deepest volcanic rift system in the continental United States.
The weirdly wonderful landscape of the lava flows are rock solid now, but at one time molten magma raged and exploded here. The pattern of the flow is now frozen for us to see. A reminder of the power and balance of nature and our temporary place in it.
If you go, be prepared physically, cognitively and emotionally for this expansive adventure.
Resources for the Great Rift Tour:
Great Rift Tour Gaia route file (counter clockwise)
Great Rift Dirt Tour Route Guide - RideWithGPS
Learn more about the ancestral lands of the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes
