The main lodge
We roll up to Muffintop Mountain’s driveway and are met with a collage of...um..."confrontational" signs. Spray painted in neon orange onto plywood planks: KEEP OUT. YOU WILL BE SHOT. Trying to appear as non-threatening as possible we unlock the gate and enter the lower driveway, a landing edged with piles of forest detritus and the remains of a blown-out car. But the trial of our determination is not over yet: before us looms a dangerously steep and unpaved driveway. Soon we find ourselves sweating and huffing up the mountain like pack animals to preserve our car's fragile engine. Much more sweating and huffing later the land opens up into the cluttered sprawl of Muffintop Mountain, the third queer land project of the RMP journey. Trailers, car parts, wood planks, bikes, and garden paraphernalia litter the sloped clearing, the air sepia toned with smoke.
Trailers and gardens
Muffintop Mountain is a five-year-old queer sanctuary run by Z who hails from Chicago and uses they/them pronouns, and Alix from Portland, OR whose pronouns are she/her. Currently, four people live on the off-grid property, but this number shifts often. The project was started by Z and their three friends back in 2012 when, homeless, they were looking for raw land to live on with trailers. They chose this land due to its affordability, the climate was ideal for gardening, and they didn't mind the isolation. As queers they hoped their stewardship of the land would help revitalize rural queer culture in Oregon. Recently, the residents have refined Muffintop Mountain's mission to center the wellbeing and safety of transwomen. Alix, who identifies as a transwoman, explained "Some voices will not be heard unless we explicitly have them at the forefront." Their website echoes her sentiment: "We believe that for collective liberation, leadership must come from the margins."
Kitchen in the main lodge
Muffintop Mountain is located on the "ancestral lands of the Takelma people"* and in the township of Wolf Creek, an area victim to underemployment, lack of educational resources and drug issues. Though it may not be representative of the community at large, the threatening signs we were greeted with at Muffintop Mountain were due to an ATV being stolen from their lower driveway. The land is organized around a main lodge that holds a communal kitchen, guest bedrooms and a living room and is mostly used by the more transient residents. There's a small private cabin on the property, an outhouse, several private trailers with small kitchens, and a beautiful flourishing garden.
Hannah (left) and Z (right) processing herbs in Alix's trailer
While many land projects are centered around communal practices, Muffintop Mountain's residents prefer to practice their collectivist politics alongside each other. Located 24 miles from town and 10 from the highway with spotty cell service and intermittent wifi, Muffintop Mountain is geared towards "people who practice alone time as part of their self-care."* All the residents support themselves through working in nearby towns and then contribute time to maintaining MM as they're able. Decisions about the land are made through an informal consensus process. Alix explained that as a transwoman she feels safer out here than in cities simply because there are less people and thus less risk of harm. Still though, Z and Alix hope that Muffintop Mountain will be a place for transfemmes can enjoy leadership in a space that centers their needs and experience being in the majority. In a way their self care is their activism and their solitude, sanctuary.
V (left) and Z (right) ride the ATV!
***
In each interview we like to ask our interviewees what brings them joy, here are Alix and Z's answers:
Alix: Smoke weed, eat strawberries, watch TV, ride her ATV, and hangout with her cat.
Z: Sometimes queer dance parties and monthly queer-aoke (queer karaoke).
Check out Muffintop Mountain's website for more info about their project, to visit or donate.
*from muffintopmountain.org/about
All photos by RMP