A steep hill takes us to the Central Valley — the ride went from chilly mountain air to full-on heat wave conditions. Once we got down to low elevation, I spotted a pipevine swallowtail on the shoulder — it looked injured, so I brought it to a roadside wildflower. Ánimo, mariposa!
Salt Creek was a welcome stop. We dunked our feet in the water and planted some seeds. This is Ursa’s last waystation for now. They are embarking on another great adventure: to do dissertation field work studying the music traditions of Morocco. Ursa, you’ve been such an amazing bike companion these past few weeks. It means so much to have you as a core collaborator on this music/monarch project. Nos vemos pronto, Ursa. Gracias por tus grandes contribuciones para las monarcas!
<3
Ale
