Like you, I have never been to the moon, nor to Mars. But I have been to the Trona Pinnacles, the Earthbound site in the high Mojave Desert of southeastern California that many describe as being “other-worldly” and “moonlike.”

The first time, for me, was back in 2000-01 when I lived in the area for ten months and first rode fat tyres across the vast, stark desert landscape that is home to hundreds of tufas, brittle spires, some more than a hundred feet tall, standing guard over a surrounding dry lake basin. Back then, I even had the opportunity, and took it, to pedal around the protected area where a piece of the set for the Planet of the Apes movie sat for weeks.

Fast forward to 2017, and I am back in the high desert. It is late afternoon, the air is cool, even a little chilly in the shadows, but the sun is warm and the spirit in the air—five hours of road tripping behind us, camp already set up in a secluded spot—has us all feeling