The various fasts, programs and trainings at The School of Lost Borders take place at various locations around the United States and in other countries.

When you arrive in Big Pine (altitude 4,000 feet), you have already reached the backside of the universe, a place of great natural wonder, named by its original inhabitants, The Land of Lost Borders. You must plan to spend a few extra days to explore the surrounding landscape. Big Pine (pop. 1,500) offers a basic complement of goods and services, including cafés, gas stations, markets, laundry facilities, and showers. A larger town, Bishop (pop. 9,600) lies 15 miles to the north.

We do not provide housing facilities, meals, or equipment.

Participants are encouraged to come prepared to live self-sufficiently. If possible, bring your own tent, sleeping bag, chair, camp stove and utensils. If you need to borrow or share equipment, please let us know ahead of time. Please consult the handbook for more details on equipment.

Depending on season, those who camp may choose to stay at the various county and national forest campgrounds where water, outhouses, and fishing in a prime riparian habitat are available.  Typically, most participants in a course camp together.

There are several forest service campgrounds nearby and three motels in town.

Certain campgrounds, such as our DWP agreement on Tinnemaha Creek, the USFS group camp at Cedar Flat, and the county campground at Baker Creek, are venues often used by the School, depending on time of year.

Fees vary. Showers, 3 motels, a small grocery and several restaurants are available in Big Pine. If you’re camping out bring a tent and come prepared for the possibility of winds or thundershowers.

Hotels in Big Pine include:

Inyo County is the second largest county in California, in size comparable to the state of Maryland. Yet it sustains only 17,000 permanent residents. Death Valley National Park is only 2 hours away. The ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest (the oldest living trees on earth) is 45 minutes away. The pristine Alpine lakes and creeks of the High Sierra can be reached from several dozen trailheads. Petroglyph sites abound, and the White and Inyo ranges are surprisingly free of tourists. The highest (Mt. Whitney) and lowest (Death Valley) points in the continental USA, are but 2 hours apart.

And the Word will wake in Inyo --
never printed in a page --
With the wind that wakes the morning
a thousand miles of sage.

– Mary Austin, Land of Lost Borders

Climate

A desert is defined as an area that receives an average of ten or fewer inches of precipitation annually. This is a simplification, indeed. Deserts are certainly arid, but they are also richly habituated landscapes with a diversity of plant and animal species, fascinating geological formations, as well as extreme weather patterns. Deserts can be dramatic! Rule of thumb – when you go into the desert, be prepared for anything: hot days, cold nights, bone dry weather or torrential thunderstorms, gentle breezes or gale force winds. There is no predicting.

Typically, summer temperatures in the Inyo-Mountain area can range from over 100 degrees during the day and 75 degrees in the evening. During August, it is not uncommon to be greeted with thunderstorms.

During spring, the Inyos have an average high of 85 degrees F to a low of 50 degrees. Remember, these are averages. Temperatures, particularly during the spring, can be much cooler, even supporting sleet and snow.

Death Valley is one of the hottest places in the world. Air temperature readings over 120 degrees F are common during summer months. However, temperatures from November through March have highs averaging in the 60s and 70s. Winter nighttime lows are usually in the 40s.