“AH, WILDERNESS!” Alkahest Moccasins & Leathercrafts
Eight years ago, on a fine spring day, Dustin Lyons and Tiera Ptacek set out on a life-changing, 350-mile odyssey, driving from San Francisco to Ashland, Oregon, in a tiny, Chevy Geo Metro.
“We had it packed with pretty much everything we owned,” Dustin recalled, which, given the size of their vehicle, wasn’t a heck of a lot. “It was a funny old car,” Tiera added. “We had about $600 to our name and nowhere to work, and nowhere to live.”
For them, the 5½-hour trip, from coastal California to eastern Oregon’s breathtaking, high-alpine terrain, was a thrilling risk — a big leap into the wild unknown — a spirited gamble that took raw nerve and a shared joy in the grand adventure that is life.
Their goal? To study shoemaking with William “Bill” Shanor, now in his 70s, a luminary among makers of hand-built shoes and boots and cofounder, with his wife, Julie Bonney, of the Bonney & Wills School of Shoemaking & Design based in Ashland.
“Our whole goal was to live near him and study with him. We just wanted to make a leap. We like to make a dream happen. We’re a couple who support each other, following our passions in life,” Tiera said.
She and Dustin have been sharing their lives together since 2005. For a number of years, they lived in Alaska. And, they did a lot of