Home is where the heart is. Mt. Tom is the heart of Lucinda‘s Tribe. This pyramid shaped 13,652 foot Mountain shaped my life. It is best viewed from the scenic turn off of highway 395 just below Tom‘s Place Resort at the top of Sherwin Grade. Looking down from this 7,000 foot perch you see Round Valley with Wheeler Ridge and Mt. Tom dramatically rising behind to the west. This is the largest escarpment in the Eastern High Sierra with deep Pine Creek Canyon cutting through. Growing up here allowed me to run wild and free. I consider myself a “Tom Girl”. My father loved nature and he shared his knowledge of Geology, wildlife, plants and survival with his three girls. My city raised mother loved beautiful things. She didn’t allow modest means or our humble beginnings in a mining village to keep us from living in a beautifully decorated home and wearing nice dresses, looking presentable at school and church. At home we would live in jeans, cut offs, t-shirts, sweatshirts, tennis shoes or simply go barefooted. Like wild animals we would run through our neighbors yards and houses, the gymnasium, tennis courts and baseball fields, 4-H yard where we raised rabbits, sheep and horses. Swimming in the creek, climbing trees and giant boulder, building forts up on the Glacial Moran that encircled Union Carbide’s Rovana Village Keep us entertained. Our fathers played fast pitch softball and basketball. We were encouraged to try all sports; football, volleyball, softball, tennis, horseback riding, cheerleading, track and field. Our fathers took us hunting, fly fishing, hiking and exploring. We grew up sking and sledding, flying down hills dog piled on sleds and inner tubes. This landscape is sacred to the Paiute Tribe and as children we found arrowheads as we played and explored. All the while Mt. Tom watched over us like a giant sentinel. These are the roots of my love of nature, movement and adventure. It is my intention through Lucinda’s Tribe and CirqularX to inspire you to love the wild places and to live an adventurous life.
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