Well folks, it’s been a real doozy of a year, hasn’t it? When your whole raison d’être, ikigai, purpose in life is to go on adventures, enormous wildfires, civil unrest, and a global pandemic are the very last things you want to encounter!
Nevertheless, I am a resourceful beaver, and it turns out that getting outdoors by yourself is the best way to socially distance! For me, weathering the storm of 2020 meant more time on the road and less in airports, plus more time growing pumpkins and with my family. You wouldn’t guess it, but in some areas, I actually did more this year than last year. For example, in 2020 I:
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While my 10 best photos of 2020 won’t be as flashy as last year’s, I am proud to present them and hopeful that widespread vaccination will open more doors in 2021! After all, next year marks my tenth year of adventuring (2011-2021)!
1. Señor Castorieti in New Mexico!
By luck or fate, I encountered Señor Castorieti more in 2020 than in any other year! My snowbeaver friend showed up no fewer than four times this year in such arid spots as New Mexico and Nevada! We climbed ladders and explored ruins and glaciers, but he still can’t get the hang of his balance! In this photo, he and I are nicely framed by the ruined church at Pecos National Historical Park!
2. A Leap Day Landmark Installation!
2020 was a leap year! It made sense to commemorate this day by teaming up with the California Landmark Foundation on February 29th to replace historical landmark plaque #777: San Joaquin City! This plaque, stolen long ago, is now replaced, making the California historical landmark program a little more complete! This was also my last bus trip for the foreseeable future, thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic!
3. Zoom and the COVID-19 Pandemic!
Being unable to see family and friends for a long time during the COVID-19 pandemic meant turning to programs like Zoom to keep in touch! It was tough getting everyone together, with an internet connection, at a time that worked for two hemispheres, but we made it work! While it wasn’t quite the same as being together like we were in 2017, it was nice getting to chat with my mom and brothers during this crazy year! I think the messenger albatross industry is really going to suffer for this…
4. Black Canyon and the Vast Great Outdoors!
I really resonated with Colorado’s COVID messaging: “Safer at Home and in the Vast, Great Outdoors!” While most of the National Park Service shut down completely for months, many roads and trails were still open. After sojourning with Flatty in the spring, I headed home via Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park. While the visitor services were fully closed, I did get in a good stroll and some amazing views. I even got my passport stamped! This photo in particular really shows the kind of social distancing I went for in 2020!
5. Black Lives Still Matter!
I came home to my entire neighborhood going crazy: shops looted and fires burning up and down Melrose! This historic unrest, fueled by months of COVID frustrations, erupted after police killed George Floyd in Minneapolis on May 25th. Shouts of “I can’t breathe!” and “Defund the police!” echoed throughout Hollywood for weeks and led to a rethink of the city budget and the end of the LA District Attorney’s career. This photo is from one of the later protests, where LGBT Pride combined with BLMLA and covered a full block at the Hollywood Walk of Fame with a rainbow-colored Black Lives Matter mural!
6. Pikes Peak the Beautiful!
After a few more months at home, I had to get back into the “Vast, Great Outdoors” again. As John Muir put it, the mountains were calling! Tava, or Pikes Peak, is that purple mountain whose majesty so many Americans hold dear! This was my first stop on the longest road trip I’ve taken so far, and the morning light reflected in Crystal Creek Reservoir captured its beauty perfectly! John Denver sure hit the nail on the head when he sang about a Rocky Mountain high!
7. Myths and Magic in Wyoming!
Bear’s Lodge, or Devil’s Tower, was the apex of the longest single day of driving I’ve ever done, from Wheatland, Wyoming, up into Montana, over to South Dakota, and back to Wellington, Colorado: 963 miles from 4:30 AM until 11:30 PM! Here, I met Wyoming’s favorite “fearsome critter,” a jackalope named Hécíkala! The line between myth and history is blurrier here in this part of the country, and while I had a lot of fun learning about both sides of the line from the jackalope, I wish more folks here hadn’t treated the pandemic like a myth!
8. Don’t Go There, Squirrelfriend!
I lucked out and reserved a timed entry pass into Rocky Mountain National Park, where the ground squirrels really don’t get the concept of social distancing! That’s because visitors have fed them for years, which made them really pushy! Luckily for me, neither beavers nor ground squirrels can catch COVID-19 (that I know of), but one of them did bite my paw looking for handouts! Let this be a reminder to never, never, never feed the wildlife! Let this also be a reminder that I don’t count as wildlife!
9. The Glacial Shrine of Wheeler Peak!
As the climate continues to warm, I really wanted to see Nevada’s last glacier, a teeny, tiny holdout from the Ice Age nestled under Wheeler Peak in Great Basin National Park. The approach was long and rocky, and the location under the cliffs was treacherous, but the first glimpse of the glacier was like a spectacular cathedral, housing what was left of Nevada’s ice! It was well worth the climb, even as the sun set!
10. Sunny Day at Johnny Day!
I didn’t get to see all the parks in the Rocky Mountain states this year, but I did visit one I hadn’t originally planned to: John Day Fossil Beds National Monument. Though the visitor center where the most spectacular fossils reside was closed during the pandemic, I was floored by the amazing red, yellow, and brown hills that span about 50 million years! These are the kinds of unexpected surprises that I hope for in 2021!
I’d really like to share my plans for 2021, but as I learned in 2020, plans don’t always play out when you think they will! It’s my tenth year of adventuring, though, so as soon as it’s safe again, I’ll be planning something big! My site’s also getting an overhaul to look better on mobile devices, so keep up with the changes on my Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram accounts! I wish you and yours a 2021 as fantastic as 2020 was difficult!
Happy New Year!
