WILDERNESS MOVEMENT
The Mysterious Female
“I can not be with a man who doesn’t follow his dream,” Laurie says. “Go,” she says, pregnant with our second child.
Father’s Day 2006
It is time. Laurie and Raptor are asleep. I begin packing my motorcycle. I wrap a towel and a rain-poncho around a piece of leather hide, roll it in a Navaho blanket, and tie it up circling rope around it leaving enough slack for two straps. I bungee cord it all to the back of the motorcycle, then attach a one gallon water jug and a sweat shirt. I check in on Laurie and Raptor again. They wake after another hour or so. “We’re going on a date when I get back,” I say. “If you come back in one piece,” she says. Laurie has been quiet the last few days. Now I know why. She’s concerned. I didn’t know.
Laurie gives me a peck on the cheek and says have a good time. She goes inside to give Raptor a bath. I can’t find the key to the motorcycle anywhere.
“Maybe I’m not supposed to take the motorcycle?” It’s a four-wheel drive road up to Irongate Campground. “I’m going to find this key.”
I scan the drive. There it is in the gravel not far from the bike. I change my pants and my shoes at the truck. I put a knife in my pocket, and another knife, a large bowie knife, under the bundle on the bike. I mount the bike and ride out of the drive. A phone conversation I had with my sister goes off in my head. “Ma Kundalini is pretty adamant about being fed,” she says. She’s convincing. At her request, I stop at Wild Oats and pick up some ghee, a refined butter, then ride to Pecos and make a final stop for some gas and matches. I ride up the canyon along the Pecos river into the National Forest.
Wilderness Movement Schedule:
Free to the public every Sunday at 4:30 pm in the Santa Fe National Forest