Blossoms and Bones
I have never been to a proper outdoor music festival. This is significant as I am an avid lover of all things music and very much enjoy the outdoors. Blossoms and Bones - a music festival at the enchanting Ghost Ranch and home to famed artist Georgia O'Keeffe - was on my radar, but my attendance was uncertain.
During a bike ride at the end of a hot summer day, my riding companion Slade, floated the idea of going to the festival together. But, with a twist: we would bikepack to the festival. The idea captured my interest. We would start in Los Alamos and ride through the Valles Caldera before dropping into Abiquiu. We would meet up with my partner Laura and have a home base of a small camper van for the festival.
The route was about 70 miles with 7,000ft of climbing over the course of two days. The terrain was diverse starting in high desert pines, climbing into a sky island, traversing the caldera of a supervolcano, descending into the desert-scapes of Abiquiu, and finally being ushered into Ghost Ranch by the Chama River.
The weather was generally moody with storms and rain every night. Temperatures were hot in midday, but evening storms kept the climate reasonably comfortable. We had iconic views of O’Keefe’s famed Pedernal. We found gems in the form of obsidian (no tires were harmed, thankfully). We skinny dipped in cold rivers. Once at Ghost Ranch, we hiked through majestic canyons and viewed stunning mesas. And, of course, we grooved to stellar music performances each evening at the festival.
Bikepacking to a music festival felt natural. The freedom cycling provides pairs nicely with the vibes of the festival. While I cannot say we reduced emissions or used less resources getting to the festival as we had a camper van to support us at the festival, I can say that I would absolutely do it again sans van and have a great time. Maybe consider getting to your next big event by bicycle? Riding to an event makes the experience an epic. Everything seems to take on so much more significance when you have to work hard to get there.
That was the big takeaway from this adventure for me: if you put yourself out there, do big and challenging things, life rewards you with a sense of belonging and purpose that is missing when one takes the “standard” path. This was a good reminder to me to think big, feel small, and find my place in the world.
Big thanks to Slade for proposing the idea and joining in the adventure!
