Fall activities to try: Yosemite Museum, MOCA exhibit, more

By Rachel Schnalzer
Design and illustrations by Jade Cuevas

Hello, dear escapees. Fall is here, and although temperatures are hitting the 80s this weekend, it’s a great time to plan your fall trip, whether you’re heading to a desert campsite or an air-conditioned museum.

My Times colleague Christopher Reynolds recently compiled a list of 40 Best California Experiences: Fall Edition to provide readers with seasonal inspiration. You’ll see some of her recommendations highlighted in Escapes in the coming weeks.

Did he miss any of your favorite destinations? Keep an eye out for a follow-up story in which readers share their go-to hangouts.

?? Immerse yourself in a sound bath

Integratron has been a landmark in the Southern California desert for decades. Once focused on time travel and alien life, it’s now a destination for those seeking a sound bath and a healthy dose of New Age desert vibe.

“At the Integratron, sound baths are a way of life and the acoustics are amazing,” writes Reynolds.

The Integratron, 20 minutes north of Joshua Tree National Park, offers private and public sound baths by appointment only. Visitors are treated to the sound of 20 quartz crystal “singing bowls” being tapped by mallets, which “may sound like church bells, elegant return or planetary tone,” Reynolds describes.

Group sound baths are offered from Thursday to Sunday at $ 50 per person (14 years old and over). Private sound baths cost $ 1,200 and more.

🧗‍♀️ Do you like Yosemite? Don’t miss this new museum

Watching daring climbers climb the granite walls of Yosemite is an integral part of any visit to the national park.

Now a new museum in Mariposa, California is dedicated to telling the story of these climbers. Ken Yager, a seasoned mountaineer, founded the Yosemite Climbing Museum after spending decades collecting artifacts and photos that illuminate the history of climbing in the park.

“It has everything you hope for and more,” Joseph Taylor, author of the 2010 book “Pilgrims of the Vertical,” told Times contributor Alec Scott. “I’m not sure how he got it all, but it’s all there. “

Call (209) 742-1000 or email yosemiteclimbingmuseum@gmail.com for museum hours. Tours available on request.

🖼️ Put this immersive art exhibit on your must-see list

“Forget the ‘immersive’ Van Gogh exhibit,” writes Times art critic Christopher Knight. “Pipilotti Rist’s MOCA show is the real thing.”

Knight recently reviewed the exhibit, which highlights Rist’s video, sculpture and installation art over the past 35 years, calling it a “generous psychedelic excursion through the digital mirror.”

Some highlights of the trippy experience:

• The “Pixel Forest Transformer”, a room with flickering LED lights suspended from the ceiling. “Walking among them is like being inside a video screen surrounded by digital pixels,” Knight wrote.
• The “Peeping Freedom Shutters”, the back facade of a clapboard house, with a few picnic tables in a backyard. Video projections swirl across the floor and in the windows of the house. “I found myself carefully walking around the indoor / outdoor room,” Knight said. “It was as if I could trip and trip over the flickering light of an image projected on the ground.”
• Don’t miss the “29 Palms Chandelier”, a large chandelier lined with boxer shorts suspended above the museum reception.

Admission costs between $ 10 and $ 18; children under 12 are free.

?? Sleep in a tram

Do you like small houses and yurts? You might consider staying at this tram-Become Airbnb in Castaic the next time you venture north on a road trip.

The cart, tucked away in a residential area, includes a TV, stove, refrigerator, microwave, air fryer, tiled shower, and other amenities. Just outside is a patio and chairs to relax and enjoy the evening.

Airbnb host’s fiance and teenage son bought the working tram in 2020, then gutted and renovated it. “Every step of the way has been a labor of love and many father / son bonds,” the list says.

The streetcar can accommodate two people and can be booked for $ 171 per night.

What i read

• Pismo Beach is “the best place to see the great migration of monarch butterflies”. Stacey Leasca explains how to see and protect them in Travel + Leisure.
• In Northern California, a lawless state park was overtaken by off-roading, fireworks and raves, Ashley Harrell reports in SFGate.
• Fall is a great time to camp in southern Utah. If pitching a tent under the stars is on your list of things to do for fall, check out Megan Michelson’s to guide in The Outdoors Online.
• The Inca monkey bridges of Peru are hanging on a thread, reports Lidio Valdez and Cirilo Vivanco to Sapiens, as the “tradition of creating suspension bridges to unite communities in the Andes [fades] in history.
• In 2015, Tom Turcich set out to cross the world on foot and has been on the road ever since. Ann babe covers his journey in Afar.

Photo of the week

Song of the road

Song: “California” by Chvrches

Favorite lyrics: “God bless this mess we made on our own. “

Best place to listen: California 154, on the way from the Santa Ynez Valley to Santa Barbara.