My Year’s Favorite Photos
©Bert Gildart: With but one exception, all photographs shown here were taken these last 12 months. The exception is the grizzly bear, taken 13 months ago, just outside of Yellowstone National Park. All photos were taken for publication in various magazines, and will soon be running. My outlets range from the various RV magazines to magazines with a hardcore conservation theme.
In order for visitors to safely explore certain parts of Organ Pipe National Monument, you must be accompanied by armed rangers.
For a number of reasons, the large picture shown here is one of my favorites of the year. It was taken in Organ Pipe National Monument about 50 yards from the Mexican border at a place called Quitobaquito, which means beautiful spring. Since the tragic murder of Chris Eggle back in 2001, the area has been closed, but the superintendent (whom I interviewed for a story) said he was determined visitors would have the opportunity to visit the area, and last spring, he devised a way.
To make our excursions safe, the park required that we be accompanied by armed guards, adding a bit of intrigue to our hike. Obviously, the conditions say much about a crisis in our country that will hopefully find a satisfactory resolution. Park managers asked that I obscure the ranger’s faces, so I complied using a series of X’s.
PASSION FOR WILDLIFE
I choose the other photos for various reasons. Wildlife is one of the subjects on which I concentrate, and the image of the elk bugling – and charging – represents an aggressive form of behavior that is hard to capture.
Over the years I’ve worked hard trying to find desert bighorn sheep in the wild, and finally, in Anza Borrego (Anza for the Spanish explorer and Borrego for “sheep”) this past February, we found a small group of males while hiking the Palm Canyon trail.
Other photos show a sunrise in Death Valley; Joe Whiting, a man who interprets the infamous Wounded Knee Massacre in South Dakota; the seed heads of Salsify backlite with a strobe that Janie positioned; a grizzly bear in Yellowstone; and, finally, sunset at Knife River National Monument in South Dakota. To see a larger version of the images simply click on the image.
Snow is our immediate forecast, but the weatherman has promised us a break within the week. When that happens, we’ll be heading down the drive. Several days thereafter, with any luck at all, we should find ourselves in the Southwest.
HAPPY NEW YEAR
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THIS TIME LAST YEAR
Last Year We Were Skiing The Winter Woods
