Embracing The Savage - Part 4
Back in Santa Fe, the band disbanded as quickly as it got together. But it's no longer a solo mission. There was a man hitchhiking from Oakland to New Orleans at the hostel and even though I'm heading in the opposite direction, he tags along with me. We head north towards Colorado and pass the Great Sand Dunes National Park along the way.
This park contains the tallest sand dunes in all of North America reaching heights of 750 ft. It is sedimentation from the nearby mountains that led to the formation of these dunes over a period of ten thousand years. Coincidentally, the oldest evidence of human life at the site date back 11,000 years ago. Nomadic hunter-gatherers entered the area due to their connection to mammoths and prehistoric bison. The area is also of importance to various Native American peoples such as the Navajo.
The man tells me about his life, his struggles and his current journey. He's lived a rich life including time spend street racing in his youth. He also shares that he has Native American blood. At one point he tears up after recounting the loss of a loved one.
We stop at a town called Gunnison for the night and enjoy some South Asia food at a place called Sherpa Cafe. It's delicious.
The next morning, we make our way to the Black Canyon of Gunnison National Park and take in the views for a few hours.
The following day, we meet up with another member of our Santa Fe party - Fred, the Brazilian, and hang around the town of Telluride. I lose my keys on a hike and nearly an hour hunting them down. It illustrates the difference between me (and I'm sure others of similar background) compared to most other travellers. To me, it's a lapse of concentration and an emergency situation, but to Fred it's not a big deal at all. He's sanguine about it. The difference between those who travel to see places and those of others flavours is evidenced by the fact that Fred didn't really want anything to do with the hitchhiker and had pawned him off on me. To me the connection shared with him is worth more than a hundred waterfalls, canyons, Burning Mans etc.
We split up again the next day. I drop the hitchhiker off at Grand Junction, Colorado as he looks to hop onto a train or bus moving in the right direction. We hug and say goodbye.
