High Season

photos by Greg and Trina
words by Greg

Not that we every really stop riding, hiking, or poking our noses into canyons and cliff edges, into the private business of plants and the secret world of rocks… Summer, Winter, Autumn… But if we were to pick just one season for our explorations, it might be Spring. The trails are tacky and beautiful from moist spring storms. And the flowers… Well, this year, so far, they seem to be just a little ridiculous. Mustard blossoms covering the hillsides. Flowering bushes bursting forth riotously. Paintbrush seeping out of the ground in brilliant red.

Add in the usual smooth-to-chunky trails, long evenings, wide vistas, golden light, desert camping… Go ahead. Add them in. And just try to come up with something more powerfully conflicting: Do we go long, hard, fast? Or do we stop to smell every flower?

More often, it's somewhere in between. We may even find a balance between driving hard for more, more, more… and delving deeply into each small experience. But balance -- in this season of wild, lush, rowdy, invigorating imbalance -- is likely to remain elusive. Which is just fine by us.