What an incredible trip. I was fortunate to have seen so many great things. I met so many outstanding, fun, and intelligent people. I saw more wildlife than I had image storage space for, and landscape scenes that will always haunt me. I remember waking up in Glacier National Park, the wind wicked, my eyes stinging from sleet and snow. I remember the howls of wolves in Yellowstone on a ten degree night, and the crashing of branches near my tent at 2 a.m. as a bull moose stomped past. I could go on a tangent here, but honestly after a month + in the mountains I think I forgot how to freaking write, lol.
I thought I’d share a few images from the last night of the trip (and two that were not from the last night…I just like them).
The last night is always bittersweet. Hell, leaving the beauty of Montana is always difficult, but this time was easily the worst (and not just for landscape reasons). As I approached the state line near the “town” of Hodges (yes, that is correct) at 2 a.m., fog rolled in and limited my speed to about 20 mph. And good thing, too. As I slowed, a chunky coyote bolted in front of my car. I swerved. The coyote lived.
The last night at camp:
Loading up the car:
The last elk:
This small black bear was enjoying berries (balanced in a tree while chomping away). I was glad to have my father at my side while filming this bear. He came out with me for a week early on for the Gallatin National Forest, Yellowstone, and Grand Teton National Park portion of the trip. I don’t blame him for leaving when it hit ten degrees in Grand Teton, lol. Watching this young, acrobatic black bear was an experience I’ll always remember.
The elk and bear images are meant to be viewed much larger, so give them a click.
Many more images and thoughts are on the way.
It is strange to go from a million acre national forest to a million acre parking lot. Very strange.
In terms of writing news, I have several things either just released or forthcoming.
“Grangy” is now up at AE: The Canadian Science Fiction Review.
My story “Seven Fish for Sarah” is forthcoming in the December issue of Penumbra Magazine, and my story “Storm Fronts” is appearing in the Old, Weird South Anthology in November. Also keep your eyes out for the January 2013 issue of Bards and Sages Quarterly, and with it “From the Mountain, Fury”.
A packed release schedule, but that’s a good thing. Hopefully readers can find something they really enjoy.
Killer shots, Mike. I hope you had bear spray.
Love the bear shot. I just want to take him home (as long as he doesn’t nip).
And welcome back.
Cool site, really like what you are creating here. Good seeing you in Glacier Nation Park again this year. Bill
Bill –
Thanks for stopping by. It wasn’t windy at all in Glacier this October, was it? lol.
For anyone wondering, Bill has an incredible wildlife gallery up at Fine Art America, well worth checking out:
http://fineartamerica.com/profiles/bill-keeting.html
Great to see another trip of yours out west. I can fully understand the leaving part no matter what the temp is. The long flat very flat road back to all concrete is a tough one, amazed you went back. There was only a Moose incident? The last time i came out to see you there we had to worry about the neighbors eating hot dogs and hamburgers right next to us, and then leaving the leftovers in their cooler. They were in the comfort of their steel camper and we were in our tents. Glad to see your dad came out and had a good time. Can’t wait to see more pictures.
I forgot to mention, you still pack your car like you have always done. Figured you might have found a better way by now.
Hey bro, thanks for stopping by. And thanks for the car-packing jab, lol.
Yeah, I’m surprised I came back to the concrete, too. But I’m pretty sure that’s the last time. Going back was unusually difficult this round.
For anyone who doesn’t know, Eric and I have been good friends for a long time. We met at a windowless tomb of a school known as Madison Junior High. From there on it was all good times. We used to camp a hell of a lot, thus the car packing jabs, although I have to say I’ve made improvements, lol.
Anyway, some of you may know Eric as the host of Discovery Channel’s Machines of Malice show (yeah, this series wasn’t dark at all….) He also runs a carbon fiber molding business, and does all kinds of other cool shit, like human slingshots and jet packs. I even believe he’s heading to Dubai soon for a human slingshot project. How boring!
Talk to you soon. And I will get even for the packing critique.