Santa Barbara, Spartan, Southwest, See You Later States!
Wrapping up my 99 days in Baja, Mexico I retuned to the place that I used to call home and most recently where I’ve spent my last few winters in the States, Santa Barbara.
I might have stayed in Mexico longer but I needed to get back for some fun-employed work. First on the calendar was photographing a cowboy campout on the Central Coast with my friends Luis and Fraser. We camped, crushed Coors silvers and yellows, and snapped hundreds of photos of rodeo events, ranch style cooking, and rowdy friends who get together every year to celebrate and honor the traditions of the old California Vaqueros.
After a weekend of “work” I was in need of a shower, laundry, and a detox so I rolled back into Santa Barbara and my home on the street in front of my client’s office. There I cleaned up, caught up on work, and hung with with friends from when I used to call Santa Barbara my full-time home.
I wasn’t in town long before I parked the truck and packed my bag to fly to the east coast for more work. Landing in Newark I kicked off a 3 week stretch of trail races, starting with a Spartan Trail Race in Bear Mountain, New York. In addition to working the race with my running friends, the course was actually right beside the Appalachian Trail and it was fun seeing the good ol’ familiar white blazes again.
After a successful race weekend our Spartan crew loaded the trucks and drove up to Vermont to put on the Bloodroot Ultra near Killington. This race was unique as our small team stayed on a sprawling private farm in a large stable-turned-bunkhouse and we marked miles of trails through New England’s steep and dense mountains.
A highlight of the weekend was when my adventure buddy Ryan Jean drove up to volunteer with our crew and hang out with us for the race. I hadn’t seen Ryan since Alaska in 2019 and we both agreed it had been way too long!
Two races down and one to go. Luis and I left the east coast, landed in Santa Barbara, and headed straight to the Chamberlin Ranch to get ready for Born To Run. This annual family gathering was something that I did not want to miss, plus Luis needed help marking the 20 miles of trails before the start of the multi-day events, so I pulled through the gate, popped a PBR, and got to work.
Not only is Born To Run an annual gathering of our running family, it is literally a family gathering for the Clemens Clan and Dad and Kathy arrived just in time to help us finish marking the course for the weekend.
We’ve had weddings at Born To Run before and this year would be another special occasion with our friends Patrick and Samantha tying the knot. Everyone was excited and I was stoked when they asked me to participate as the Pabst Boy along with the Ring Bear (who wore a bear costume) and the Bubble Girls in kicking off the festive mood for the ceremony.
Monday morning rolled around and we scrubbed the race course, packed up campers and RVs, and said our goodbyes, all of us in need of showers, laundry, and quiet time alone. I’d been attending Born To Run since 2013 and only missed a few events during the pandemic years. Not only did my blood relatives attend, each of these characters, vagabonds, athletes and dirtbags were not just friends, we are all one big wacky and wild family.
And just like that I wrapped up my time in California. I turned the truck east and spun inland, crossing the Southwest on the way to Colorado. Anytime I’m in the area I try to hit one of my most favorite stretches of pavement in the world, Highway 12 through Southern Utah.
While driving the route between Escalante and Boulder, Utah I turned off the blacktop to explore a spot that’s been on my list for years. The Cosmic Ashtray is a unique geological formation hidden in the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. The rock has been carved out by erosion leaving a large basin filled with bright orange sand, very much an otherworldly place. I camped at the trailhead and set out early in the morning, spending more than an hour alone exploring the basin and surrounding cliffs before seeing another person.
Hiking to the Cosmic Ashtray Film
Booking it through the rest of Utah I stopped at my brother’s house in Golden for a break and to see friends living around Denver. We also got to hang out with our Ball State buddies when the Weaver family toured the Rockies on vacation.
Summer in Colorado is amazing, and Golden is definitely one of my favorite places in the world, but I was back on a schedule and my calendar was booked with more friends and an international conference that I wanted to attend. Reluctantly I drove east across the expansive Kansas plains and over the Mississippi River back to the family farm in Indiana.
Terk the Truck Camper, my trusty steed, had carried me through another amazing season in North America. From visiting family for the holidays, to spending the winter in Baja, and crossing the States again back to the Midwest I’d enjoyed many months living in my home on wheels. But my next adventure required a passport, a backpack, and a one way flight, so Terk was tucked into storage in my uncle’s barn in Berne and I headed to the airport. It was time for summer in Europe, Round 2!
