In May we sold our house in Grass Valley. This was the place where both of us had lived longer than any other place in our lives. Although we loved it, and had built it to be a forever home, we both felt that moving on, and living a slightly more adventurous life was what we needed. Shortly after selling the Grass Valley house we also sold our condo in the Bay. This meant that we were effectively homeless, living in our van on our friends property while I finished out the school year. Living in a van when you actually have to be somewhere every day isn’t really that cool, but we adapted, and before too long were cut loose. After our return from Nicaragua we were full time van lifers once again, and migrated immediately to the East Side of the Sierra.

We spent the first week just sinking into our new existence, running, going on bike rides, and climbing. Having nothing at all to do can be a bit of an adjustment after always being on a program for so long. Eventually we moved out of our little desert spot, and found some excellent camping nearer to town, and some of the better trailheads and crags.

Mammoth is an easy place to live van life. Plentiful forest service land near town, free water at the campground in town, a Grocery Outlet and excellent summer weather. The time went by pretty fast as we climbed, backpacked, biked and ran. It was an excellent way to spend the summer, but before we knew it, we returned from a trip to the west side, and were greeted by several days of snow. Time to move on. Preferably to the south.