Earth Pilgrim in Monterey County and beyond: Jody Emerson Quintana

Update: Jody no longer maintains her Earth Pilgrim blog, so all links to it have been removed from this post. We are otherwise leaving this post intact.

California native Jody Emerson Quintana, a resident of Monterey County since 1972, embarked on a pilgrimage by bike on May 1, 2017.

She began this journey from the Carmel Mission / Mission San Carlos Borromeo Del Rio Carmelo, as described in “Take Two” on her blog, earthpilgrim.org. That post includes observations as she journeyed through other Monterey County communities.*

Jody had begun her pilgrimage on foot in late March, then changed her plans: bicycling and walking would be the right mode of transportation for her at this time. Learn more in the stories on her blog.

If you happened to have recently read Bicycling Monterey’s South County tips or Bike to History tips, you may have noticed some links there about the Monterey County section of Jody’s pilgrimage. Her posts about South Monterey County include, e.g., Soledad, Mission San Antonio de Padua, South County, and the post entitled Mother’s Day, in which she reports: the ride from Soledad to King City was beautiful! History buffs will likely enjoy gleaning Monterey County history tips from her posts such as Take Two, Soledad, Mission San Antonio de Padua, and South County, as well as following her blog as she journeys south to San Diego on the Camino Real.

She is using the Camino Real as a structure for her meanderings, “a historic and traditional route to follow as a pilgrim,” as she wrote in “Take Two.” As she also said, whether she remains faithful to that route remains to be seen.

Jody reached San Luis Obispo County on May 21, as described in her post, “Oh, What a Beautiful Morning.” Who knows, maybe she’ll even find herself visiting Bike SLO County’s Bike Kitchen this week.

Jody has been my friend since 1989, when we met at a La Leche League meeting in her home. We later shared in Waldorf-inspired homeschooling/unschooling of our daughters, as well as many other sweet times, including Earth Circle gatherings in my tipi. I enjoy checking out the photos and tales from her pilgrimage, and perhaps you will too, at earthpilgrim.org.

Photo by Jody Emerson Quintana of the San Antonio River at Interlake Road (G-14) was provided for Bicycling Monterey courtesy of Jody. 

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*Regarding some of the communities Jody mentions in “Take Two,” you may be interested in the following on the Bicycling Monterey website: Carmel, Gonzales (in South County tips), Pebble Beach, Salinas—including the Alisal / East Salinas and Old Stage Road—and the Salinas Valley.