Twenty Seventh Anniversary:  Twenty-seven years ago – that’s May 4th, 1991 — Janie and I were married, and for the past few days we’re been recalling some of the highlights of our lives as a couple. At the time we were surrounded by family and friends and were married in New York by Methodist minister Tom Vancus, who had once hiked the entire length of the Appalachian Trail.

That afternoon we drove to New York City and spent the first night of marriage in the World Trade Center. We dined in a revolving restaurant that looked out over the city and then attended CATS, a Broadway musical. Tragically, we cannot repeat our stay at the World Trade Center.

We departed NY several days later, then drove to our permanent home in Montana, then on to Alaska. Back then I had a contract to teach in a summer school program at a remote Gwich’in Indian village known as Arctic Village. The superintendent, an old friend, was trying to bring in people with different backgrounds.

My expertise was photojournalism, and for three more summers, Janie and I worked in several different Gwich’in Indian villages, to include Fort Yukon, Beaver, Rampart, Venetie and Arctic Village. At the end of our first summer we created a multimedia slide presentation, later made into a video and used by the Alaska Department of Education to acquaint prospective teachers with life in remote villages.

Originally, we’d planned to stay but one summer, but we became so enamored with their subsistence culture of caribou and fish, we continued to return, even doing so one winter. As well, we took up their cause to preserve the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, “birth place of the Porcupine Caribou herd,” writing stories for many major publications. We continue to support their various causes and remain friends with a number of the Gwich’in.

Now, 27 years later, we’re still fulfilling assignments with various publications, most of which we cover from the comforts of our Airstream. The easiest way to summarize some of our experiences is simply to post pictures.

Accordingly I’ve included a small sampling of images from various spots in North America. Included are images of northern lights streaking over our cabin in the Arctic; an image of a four-month trip along the Yukon and Porcupine rivers; toasting one another near the Mojave National Preserve; and using a wheelbarrow to transport our camping gear to a site in the Dry Tortugas.  Finally, I’ve included images of the  Apostle Islands, and of an elk and our Airstream in Jasper, Alberta. You can see write-ups on some of the areas by following links to blogs which I’ve included below.

It’s been a great life for Janie and me, and we hope to keep exploring North America for years to come, celebrating anniversaries where ever we might be.

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A FEW HIGHLIGHTS FROM ALMOST 1,000 BLOG POSTINGS

The Citadel, Preserving Quebec’s Peace

Return To The Everglades Anhinga Trail

Grand Pre, A Prime Contender For Designation as a World Heritage Park

Ghost Mountain

BERT GILDART: Yesterday , I told Janie that before the day was over, she’d be in jail.  “And why might that be?” she inquired as we drove along Highwy 93 north to Ely, Nevada, enjoying the beautiful stands of Joshua Trees now starting to flower and the endless baths of cactus.

Despite the Jail House atmosphere, the dinner was absolutely excellent.

“Well you missed one of our turns,” I said, and was immediately countered  that I’d turned off to see what Janie was calling “an Alien Landing Site.”  It sure looked like one and we stopped to take pictures. As well we got off from our route stopping to photograph the immense stand of Joshua trees, now starting to bloom.

Travels yesterday took us to Ely, Nevada whee we dinned in the cell of
an old Jail House.  The bottle of Jack Daniels dangles from ceiling and is was tantalizing to us prisonsers

Nevertheless, I was right about one thing: we did wind up in a prison cell in an Ely Super Club which had partitioned a section of the cavernous room into 15 different dinning “cells”.  The section is used to add ambiance to a person’s dinner experience – and the metal bared doors even close.  A bottle of whiskey tangled just above the center of the table and the surrounding walls were lined with black and white image of some of the area’s historic figures.  With their dapper mustaches all look a little like Doc Holiday.

Janie and I both thought this was a landing site in Nevada for space aliens. 
Other, however, say the immensity of blinding lights derives from a vast outlay of solar lights
Janie and I both believe that immensity is intended to serve as a alien landing station.

Janie splurged and had a T-bone stake while I stuck with fillet of salmon.  Both of us followed the servers recommendation and supper on their “stuffed potato.” I topped off the meal with a huge slice of carrot cake and a scope of ice cream. We conclude that jail food was really good.

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THIS TIME THREE YEARS AGO: (Twenty Hours of Photo Ecstasy)

http://gildartphoto.com/weblog/2013/04/24/twenty-hours-of-photo-ecstasy

Ulysses:The words that follow here were penned by the famous poet Alfred Lord Tennyson, and appeared in his classic poem Ulysses.  Academics viewed Ulysses as resolute and heroic, and they admired him in part for the thrill he derived from traveling.   Tennyson said that Ulysses… considered himself a symbol for everyone who wanders and roams the earth. His travels exposed him to many different types of people and ways of living. Ulysses declared that his travels and encounters have shaped who he is: “I am a part of all that I have met,” he asserts. And it is only when he is traveling that the “margin” of the globe that he has not yet traversed shrink and fade, and cease to goad him.

Much the same can be said for the modern day traveler and I have met several from the Airstream community who use the words that follow in Tennyson’s poem as an inspiration for their own travels, printing selections on the back of their cards.

Traveling “Top of the World Highway” from Alaska to Dawson City, Yukon Territory

In an effort to embed these words in the minds of modern travelers I’m attempting to complement (actually an impossibility)  Tennyson’s words with a few of my images, hoping readers will find the combination relevant, for we’ve all had challenges to overcome, and if you are a steadfast traveler certainly you’ll remember days when the fates were unkind.   But memorize the poem and perhaps  some of your concerns will quickly fade.  That’s what several of my traveling friends believe and it’s certainly what my friend Burns Ellison believed, made clear one night as we were struggling to find our footing as we climbed over Alaska’s Brook’s Range, for that night as we sat around a campfire, Burns recited the words by heart.

But more pertinently, Ulysses is also a validation for the types of parks we’ve focused over the years, such as climbing  Mount Rainier or kayaking to the wreck of the Franciso Morazon.  We included these activities here as suggestions of what you may find following your own interests at a time when — just like Ulysses – you’ve gotten a little older and been “made weak by time and fate…” But like Ulysses — and mostly likely many of our friends — we hope we’ve all remained “strong in will.”  For that reason we are still doing that which we enjoy most  – and that is traveling — believing our adventures have “shaped” who we are, and have enabled us to “find a newer world.”

So “Come my friends, ‘Tis not too late…”

-—–

Come my friends, ‘Tis not too late to seek a newer world.
Push off, and sitting well in order smite the surrounding furrows,
for my purpose holds To sail beyond the sunset, and the baths
Of all the western stars, until I die.
It may be that the gulfs will wash us down:
It may be we shall touch the Happy Isles,

Tho’ much is taken, much abides; and though
We are not now that strength which in old days
Moved earth and heaven; that which we are, we are;

One equal temper of heroic hearts,
Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will
To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.

—————-

MOUNT RAINIER: By the Grace of God and a Damn Good Guide

Kayaking To the Wreck of the Francisco Morazan

Photographic Retrospective of My Year: Here’s a selection of my favorite images taken this past year, some have been published.  Several come from events that were much celebrated and include the solar eclipse and the incredible flower bloom from spring of 2017 in Anza Borrego Desert State Park.

We Planned One Year in Advance to See the Full Eclipse Near Casper Wyoming

Two of the other images were taken while engaged in one of my favorite activities: bike riding.

The image of cyclers ascending Going to the Sun Road in Glacier Park is a challenging 35-mile round trip ride and was made to reinforce the notion that after a difficult winter I’m good for a few more years, yet.  But more than that it’s obviously a beautiful setting, and made even more so because for a few days each spring bikers have Going-to-the-Sun Road all to themselves.  That’s worth documenting.

The image of the giant reptilian sculpt was made with a GoPro camera placed on the ground.  I synched the camera to my cell phone and composed so I’d appear to be a species of prey.

L to R:  Biking to Logan Pass; 100 year Flower Bloom.
GoPro camera synched with cell phone for composition

Next image was made in an area called East Jesus, an area in California associated with an abandoned Marine Base known as The Slabs.  The area and the evolving “Museum” is sought by those who have no place else to go.  But the image…  note the extended legs.  I had to wonder if the idea for this concept was based on imagination or on a horror actually realized?

Museum known as “East of Jesus”

Images of the road runner were made these past few weeks and were all taken in the backyard of a house we’ve been renting these past two months.  That comes to an end, however, in a few more days when we move back into our Airstream and on to a nearby campground. Several weeks after that we intend to travel.

Road Runner images

Finally, there is the image of the super moon from a spot in the Sonoran Desert.

Super Moon

Now… I’d like to suggest that if you’ve had experiences that excited you this past year — that you  provide a link. Thank you!

In the meantime I wish all a Happy New Year!

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THIS TIME TEN YEARS AGO:

Bay Bayou RV Resort (In Florida)

©Bert Gildart:  Last year Janie and I learned from Adam and Susan Maffei, our good friends from Vermont, that on August 21, 2017, the moon will move across the sun to completely eclipse the sun during the course of its 3-1/2 hour journey.

“Make reservations now,” they had encouraged, “and if you do we’ll meet you in Glenrock, Wyoming.  But we’ve got to make plans now. Hotel and campgrounds are already beginning to fill!”

Progression of solar eclipse which lasted for about three hours.

They weren’t exaggerating, and the word was spreading fast.  Six months later, hotels were charging $1000 a night.  But we got by cheap.  For a mere $55 we purchased the right to park our Airstream on a tiny spot of grass at the Platte River Campground in Glenrock, Wyoming.  And all this simply because it was predicted that the moon was going to blot out the sun for several minutes, and that we would be in the perfect path to experience this happening.

Though our small grass site was reserved, nevertheless, we arrived several days before the big event, and of course, we were not alone.  An hour after we arrived, a couple pulled into a site immediately adjacent to us.  He introduced himself as “Chip,” but as the day progressed we learned that “Chip” had a doctor’s degree and that he had been part of the team that placed the Rover on planet Mars!

Like us “Chip” (also known as Philip Good) had also made reservations months ago and he, too, was rendezvousing with a friend, Frank Nadell.  Though Frank worked as a fireman he was so knowledgeable about astronomy that we concluded Nadell qualified for an honorary doctor’s degree.  From them we learned about sun spots, Bailey’s beads, the ring, and the fiery red circle that should inscribe the sun to become the corona.  And so, with newly acquired knowledge we gathered together with the masses of “eclipse chasers” anxious for the event to begin.

Images of eclipse immediately before totality and shortly after.

Finally the morning arrived and the crowd grew silent and remained so until 10:22 at which time the moon began its journey over the sun, taking a bite in the upper right arc of the sun.  Then, the bite grew bigger and then yet bigger.

The improbability of this happening stirred a primordial reaction from the crowd and in sync, everyone began howling like packs of wolves.  But then the crowd grew silent again, content to watch and whisper.  How could two spheres separated by 100 million miles find an alignment that affects Earth’s inhabitants?

Over 1,500 “eclipse chasers” set up camp in Glenrock, Wyoming, for one of the most dramatic solar events of the century. 
Attendees included our friend Adam (broad brim hat) visiting with astronomy enthusiast Frank Nadell;
Janie, back dropped by my 800mm lens; and Philip “Chip” Good
who had been a member of the team responsible for placing the Rover on Mars.

At 11:42 the moon moved to cover the entire face of the sun, turning day into night and did so for almost four minutes. As anticipated birds settled into trees, planets and stars appeared, and temperatures dropped to the point where people dug out their coats and sweaters. To restate the obvious, we were experiencing a total eclipse of the sun.  But the world didn’t end as some doomsayers had predicted.

Frank Nadell and Philip Good demonstrate proper technique for viewing the eclipse;
Frank waving in front of our Airstream; Frank and telescopes.

At 1:09 the moon completed it journey across the face of the sun, which then brighten our world just as it always does, but the event had an impact that I’m still attending to.  Randomness, it seems, punctuates both our world and our universe – and that can be either good or bad, of which I’m not yet sure.  But I do know this was a providential event and that Janie and I were fortunate to see it on a day when the skies were clear, winds had diminished, and that our fellow attendees were gregarious.  And all these happenings occurred at a time when so many unanswered questions remain concerning mankind’s future in the universe.

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Eleven Years Ago At This Time:

Kayaking to the Wreck of the Francisco Morazon

©Bert Gildart: Yesterday (3-8-17),  photographer friend/Airstream owner Bill D and I hiked Moonlight Canyon Trail searching in part for the elusive Ghost Flower, a species that derives its name from the ghostly translucency of its flowers. Certainly, that’s appropriate, but Bill and I concluded the plant could also be named because it is so ephemeral.  “Here today, gone tomorrow,” is the way Bill expressed the condition, adding, “like a ghost.”  And that seems apt, for over the years Janie and I have visited Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, we’ve only seen but one example of this beautiful white flower.

But Bill and I lucked out, and during our hike we found a number of small clumps, and then, later, as we researched the species, discovered it has some characteristics that make Mohavea confertiflora unique.

Bill and I return to Moonlight Canyon, near Aqua Caliente. 
An excellent area in which to see bighorn sheep and to find the elusive Ghost Flower.

NO NECTAR

Mohavea confertiflora flowers March to April, and what is unique to the species is that it does not produce nectar.  Instead, the internet tells us [the species] “has adapted a morphology resembling the flower Mentzelia involucrata, which often grows in the same habitat. Mentzelia involucrata produces nectar to attract female bees of the genus Xeralictus.”

The explanation further says that our ghost flower attracts the same pollinators to its flowers through floral mimicry (an evolved act in which a species derives a benefit by mimicking some feature found in another species):  In this case the Mohavea flowers contain marks that resemble female Xeralictus; these marks operate as a sign stimulus to the male bee, which enters the flower and in doing so pollinates the Mohavea.”

These facts piqued our interest and we worked hard to capture the blood-red marks (located deep in the “bowl”) of the plant.

Note the blood-red splotch in the bowl
of these ghost flowers, another feature that makes them unique.

FIGWORT FAMILY

Because the species has some unique features that it shares with snapdragons and penstemons, the ghost flower is placed with them in the figwort family (Scrophulariaceae). But its appearance is decidedly different and can be recognized by the long, hairy, light-green leaves that are elliptical to lanceolate.  Plants we saw stood about 4 inches long.

We saw a number of plants on our hike through this beautiful canyon accessed from Agua Caliente, but had spent so much time photographing Ghost Flowers we figured we could dally no further, for Larry and my wife Janie were waiting for us so we could all to sit down beside Bill and Larry’s Airstream and enjoy the scrumptious mid-day dinner Larry had prepared.

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OTHER FLOWER POSTS:

Photographing Cacti — In Macro Mode

Strobes, Great for Photographing Flowers in Windy Weather

THIS TIME LAST YEAR:

Organ Pipe Water Issues

©Bert Gildart:  I just received an email notice (with attachment) that an image I made several years ago of Actress/narrator Tammy Denease Richardson performing at the much renowned Old Sturbridge Village in Massachusetts, was used in a brochure to attract patrons to yet another of her grand performances.  The event is scheduled for February 12, but unfortunately it will be  staged in Virginia. We’re in Montana and distance precludes our attendance. If we were in the same region we would make the trip.

Ms. Richardson can literally step into the shoes of whomever she is portraying, and you can believe, for example, that she is Sarah Margru, the slave who had been brought from Africa via Cuba to America on the slave ship Amistad.

Tammy Denease

You can believe that she is Elizabeth “Mum Brett” Freeman, trying to win her freedom after suffering 30 years in bondage.  You can hear the words echoing through the ages as sadness fills the face of  Denease/Freeman.

“Anytime, anytime while I was a slave, if one minute’s freedom had been offered to me, and I had been told I must die at the end of that minute, I would have taken it — just to stand one minute on God’s airth a free woman — I would.”

Ms Richardson acquired some of her outstanding interpretive skills from her ancestors.  Born in Mississippi she spent countless hours with her 100-year old grandmother and great-grandmother, the latter of whom was a former slave who lived to be 125 years old.  Both were well-known storytellers who passed this treasured gift on to Ms. Richardson, their granddaughter.

We hope she’ll return to Old Strubridge Village.  Because of family, we visit there often, and hope our timing will be such that we can see her again.

Today, of course, is Martin Luther King Day, so the arrival of the brochure was well timed.

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THIS TIME TWO YEARS AGO:

Ghost Mountain, An Experiment in Living: http://gildartphoto.com/weblog/2015/01/19/ghost-mountain-an-experiment-in-living

Jewel Basin hiking area August 22, 2016, about 9 A.M.

©Bert Gildart: On Monday morning about 9 a.m.,  August 22, 2016, this is the way the Jewel Basin Hiking area appeared from the porch of our house.

Smoke from a substantial fire in the Hamilton, Montana, area (about 100 miles to the south) had crept into the Flathead, muting the sun and obscuring Jewel Basin. At times like this conditions afford unusual photographic opportunities that can create stunning images.

On the flip side, my eyes are watering and my sinuses are partially blocked.

Scientists tell us global warning has increased the frequency of fires and the conditions you see here may become the new norm.  Oh my aching sinuses.

Of course the Jewel Basin Hiking Area doesn’t always look this way, though smoke muting the sun does presage future conditions.  But frequency could be reduced, offering a future more like what we saw last week while on a family hike to Mount Aeneas, one of the highest mountains in the Swan Range.

From our house the distance is  only about 10 miles to the Forest Service parking lot, known as Camp Misery, but that required about a 45 minutes because the last stretch of the drive is over a bumpy logging road. However, views along the way are spectacular.

HIKER’S PARADISE

The “Jewel” straddles the Swan Range within sight of Flathead Lake to the south, Hungry Horse Reservoir to the east and Glacier to the north.  It’s a hiker’s and backpacker’s dream and has more than fulfilled the promise which the Forest Service envisioned. The challenge, of course, is to maintain conditions so the area’s beauty and history prevail.

The area is characterized by glacier-carved peaks and cirques, which surround valleys dotted with 37 alpine lakes.  Fifty miles of hiking trails connect most of the lakes, and aside from getting from the valley floor to the basin rim, most of the hiking is not too strenuous. Several years ago Janie and I produced a guide to the Flathead and Glacier and we devoted a section to exploring hiking trails in this area.

From our guide book about Glacier and the Flathead Valley, the highest peak, Mount Aeneas, was named for an Iroquois Indian.  His name was Big Knife and he arrived in the Flathead valley sometime in the 1870’s and was adopted by the Kootenai people.  Somewhere along the way, his name was changed to Aeneas, a name borrowed from the Greek and Romans, meaning “Man Without a Country.”

 

L to R:  Family members Alun Polga and his son Griff test a flank that leads to Mount Aeneas;
Polga family pause at saddle en route to Aeneas; pausing at saddle where we recalled
famous John Muir quote:  Climb The Mountains and Get Their Good Tidings.

NATIVE USAGE: Also included in our book are quotes from one of the area’s noted hikers, who is a good friend.   Elaine Synder is a volunteer hike leader with the Montana Wilderness Association and she says that from the top of Aeneas you can see in all directions.  She says that your sweep includes vistas of early Indian settlements, some of which are thousands of years old.  “There are places,” says Synder, “that were used in the last century by Native Americans who camped, hunted, and gathered in the valley.” She says  there is evidence that the peak itself was an important perspective point for early day hunters, just as it often has been for us.

Jewel Basin Hiking area, back dropped by the tan colored massive mountain, known as Great Northern positioned in this photo along horizon, far left. Many years ago, when my son David was 15, we climbed the peak.

 

On the day family members and I climbed and explored the Jewel Basin Hiking area the skies were perfectly clear.  In fact, though we were  surrounded by areas where fires were raging, the Flathead remained smoke free until two days ago.  Lighting, however, has torched off the vast forests in the Flathead Valley, now parched from weeks of hot temperatures and a lack of rain.  Not surprisingly, such conditions have produced forest fires — and now, of course,  smoke.

For those of us who believe the predictions of world scientists, I guess we’re getting a hint of what the future might bode.  Sad, because some of the deleterious aspects of our compromised environment  could have been forestalled.

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THIS TIME IN OCTOBER OF 2006

Graveyard Stroll in Nova Scotia

4th ed. Autographed by the Authors

Hiking Shenandoah National Park

Hiking Shenandoah National Park is the 4th edition of a favorite guide book, created by Bert & Janie, a professional husband-wife journalism team. Lots of updates including more waterfall trails, updated descriptions of confusing trail junctions, and new color photographs. New text describes more of the park’s compelling natural history. Often the descriptions are personal as the Gildarts have hiked virtually every single park trail, sometimes repeatedly.

$18.95 + Autographed Copy

• 
  
• Take a look

Big Sky Country is beautiful

Montana Icons: 50 Classic Symbols of the Treasure State

Montana Icons is a book for lovers of the western vista. Features photographs of fifty famous landmarks from what many call the “Last Best Place.” The book will make you feel homesick for Montana even if you already live here. Bert Gildart’s varied careers in Montana (Bus driver on an Indian reservation, a teacher, backcountry ranger, as well as a newspaper reporter, and photographer) have given him a special view of Montana, which he shares in this book. Share the view; click here.

$16.95 + Autographed Copy

• 
  
• Pictures here

What makes Glacier, Glacier?

Glacier Icons: 50 Classic Views of the Crown of the Continent

Glacier Icons: What makes Glacier Park so special? In this book you can discover the story behind fifty of this park’s most amazing features. With this entertaining collection of photos, anecdotes and little known facts, Bert Gildart will be your backcountry guide. A former Glacier backcountry ranger turned writer/photographer, his hundreds of stories and images have appeared in literally dozens of periodicals including Time/Life, Smithsonian, and Field & Stream. Take a look at Glacier Icons

$16.95 + Autographed Copy

• 
  
• Look inside

One of my loop routes, a 26 mile road along the base of the Swan Mountains,

©Bert Gildart: Because of the social nature of FACEBOOK, I generate many more quick responses and “Likes” using that form of social media then I do by posting blogs.

As a result, I sometimes overlook the people who say, “Sorry, we want to know what you’re doing, but we don’t want to deal with another  program.   As an attempt to share I’m going to start summarizing some of my Facebook postings on my blog.  By so doing, I hope to make my blog postings more than just a hit or miss project.

As a result you’ll see two postings here, one on biking, the other about photography and magazine submissions.

———

YESTERDAY I BIKED  26.4 MILES along a series of secondary roads that departed from our drive. Locals will recognize the route as consisting of Riverside Road, Fishhatchery Road, Foothills Road and finally, LaBrant. For the most part it is an agrarian setting and signs along the way told of the price of a dozen fresh farm eggs ($2.75); of dirt roads to Jewel Basin Hiking area; and, naturally — in this area — of how best to prepare for life in the hereafter.

As I ride I monitor activities with a top-of-the-line Garmin, which was a birthday gift from my lovely wife. Information is thorough and includes standard data such as rate of travel, average speed and both heart and cadence rate. When home all this information can be downloaded onto my cell phone or onto my computer. I can also examine my route in the form of a map.

For any interesting in the map, and the information just mentioned, here’s a link.  Generally I find it takes about 20 seconds for the data to load.

I find the program helpful as I chart attempts to improve overall conditioning — and later, to look back on a very interesting bike adventure.

https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/1271194635

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AND NOW MY ENTRY ON THE SUBMISSION OF IMAGES FOR AIRSTREAM LIFE: Just completed a story for Airstream Life magazine, a periodical that appeals to a travel-oriented audience. Most readers are highly adventurous and many are interested in nature photography. Obviously most tow an Airstream.

The magazine is “slick” meaning my images are reproduced with great fidelity

The magazine started about 12 years ago and I’ve sold to every issue since its inception. Images accompany my stories and are sometimes related to the season, in this case to fall travel here in the West. Over the years I’ve covered areas from all of the Canadian provinces and from areas embraced by all four corners of the U.S. Generally our trips are also made for other magazines as well.

Note the belligerence in the eye of the moose, now in rut and potentially a very dangerous and aggressive animal.  Not so the cow moose, simply interested in plucking vegetation from the bottom of this pond.  Photo by Bill Mullins, one of the nation’s top nature photographers.

©Bert Gildart: Recently I’ve been downsizing images currently in my stock photo files. It’s an emotional and challenging task as so many of these photographs have been published.

Others images simply remind me of personal histories. For instance, 30 years ago I was working monthly for Travel Holiday Magazine, which provided me with wonderful assignments that included a month in Egypt. (Every night while on the Nile, I had a bottle of Queen Nefertiti wine in my stateroom.) Editors at the magazine used these and other photographs from my submission to them.

As the man rode his donkey and towed his camel, he shouted out, “I’m John Wayne, 
I’m John Wayne.”  Then he asked for Baksheesh… baksheesh.

This Time Last  Year:

A Few of Our Books:

©Bert Gildart: Several  days ago, I rode my bike by an area of Anza Borrego Desert State Park in which Hedge Hog Cacti were blooming in profusion. Next morning Janie and I drove by the same area and could not find a single Hedge Hog in bloom. I know that flowers of the species close at night, but apparently they remain closed when clouds are heavy and winds are blowing.

Hedge Hog is an interesting species for other reasons as well, specifically for the adaptations it has made to harsh desert conditions. In college, botany fascinated me and I took a number of courses on the subject as electives. Over the years I’ve used the information and hope others might enjoy hearing it here. Information about desert flowers is currently manifest because so many cacti are now in bloom.

©Bert Gildart: Between wind-swept Dante’s View and the torrid salt flats dramatized by the Devil’s Golf course – located thousands of feet below — Death Valley supports over 1000 species of plants. Realizing that the area in between consists of materials such as iron, aluminum, titanium, hematite and some green chlorite, the tally really should be impressive.

Badwater, as seen from Dante’s View. 
In between these two extreme landscapes, the terrain hosts about 1,000 different species of plants.

What’s more, weather is not always conducive to plant growth, a condition that can overlap, for several days ago we struggled for balance as I created the two panoramic images included here. Wind was howling at the Devil’s Golf Course, and a storm was already blowing hard. Off in the distance, Janie and I could see huge clouds of sand swirling about 30 miles in the distance near Stove Pipe Wells. It did not seem like a good day for flowers, nevertheless, right now you cannot travel far in this desert park without seeing huge fields of flowers, and their radiance and breadth draws gasps!

That’s not snow, it’s salt…  And it represents the harsh conditions in which Death Valley plants have evolved. 
Look closely and you’ll see our truck, here a blue dot.  Panoramas create much altered perspectives as in this case. 
Actually, I’m about 50 feet away from the truck, but then this is a 180 degree sweep.

©Bert Gildart:   Included here are several images, and two of them show a river flowing near Shoshone, Nevada, just outside of Death Valley. Before reading any further, try and imagine what happens — eventually — to this, the Amargosa River?

I think the fate of the river is amazing, and have tried on numerous occasions to photograph it, but it has either been traveling below ground or there simply hasn’t been enough water to reveal it as a river. But two days ago, such was not the case.

The Amargosa River flows
almost 200 miles then enters Death Valley National Park.  What Happens to it Then?

©Bert Gildart: IMPROVISED BLIND: With the help of an improvised photo blind I’ve managed to capture images of the cactus wren from the camping space alloted to us here in Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument. We’ve been here now for almost three weeks and in the course of our stay have biked, hiked  and taken advantage of the van trips provided by the park. I’ll report on those later because right now I’m excited about the images I made yesterday.

My “photo blind” consists of my Zip Dee awning, backdropped by Rich Luhr’s Airstream.  With it I’ve also managed to capture an image of a house finch pollinating an ocotillo.

I’m always amazed by the coordinated flight maneuvers birds have developed to avoid cactus spines…

Heat is building and we may start heading north, hoping Death Valley is not so overwhelmed with visitors that the pleasure of viewing is spoiled.

==  ==  ==  ==

THIS TIME LAST YEAR:

El Pinacata — The Place of All Creation

OUR RECENT BOOKS

©Bert Gildart: As a photographer, the year 2015 has been a productive one, and I want to share 15 of my favorite photos in MY NEXT TWO posts. The selection was a difficult one, as it involved an editing progress that drew from over 10,000 exposures.

L to R:  Burrowing owls must be resourceful to find nesting sites, even adjacent to the
Sonny Bono National WL Refuge; black bears
in Shenandoah may now boast highest N. American density; once deer in Shenandoah suffered near if not complete extinction, but not so any longer.

Essentially, selection was based on the story-telling quality of the image. In other cases the choice was simplified as it was the picture editor who chose the illustration to illustrate a story or section in one of my books, and that influence my choice.

L To R:  Talented actor Andre Keitt performs at Old Sturbridge Village, recalling ancestor’s heritage;
children in Boquillas respond to visitors who accessed the village from Big Bend NP; clipping wife’s hair, prompting many women
to believe Janie was perhaps the bravest of all travelers.

Use here on my blog and on Facebook  is more relaxed, and one of the images that made my favorite list was selected because so many readers responded. That’s the one of me shearing Janie’s locks, and, as you might guess, many respondents were “horrified” women.  When the two posting are complete you’ll see images of national parks, wildlife, night skies, and travel. You’ll note that often I try to include people interacting with the setting. (For additional images click on Shenandoah, Lake Meade, Sturbridge, Boquillas, and Big Bend.)

November 2015 Photo of Lake Meade dramatizing with a panoramic image the 100-plus feet of vertical depth the reservoir has lost. 
Who knows what the future holds, but this loss reflects the result of a 15 year drought — and perhaps an overuse by the nearby city of Las Vegas.

I hope these images stir you and create appreciation for our great land.  As well I hope they instill compassion for the critters that depend on this land and for a few of the inhabitants who have become special to Janie and me. Obviously there are are many more, but we couldn’t include  (or photograph) them all.

Happy New Year.

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THIS TIME LAST YEAR:

Adventures of Ballarat Bert and Panamint Jane

©Bert Gildart:  Fixed forever in my mind is the image of Trimble Gilbert, a Gwich’in Indian, sitting proud, feet beating up and down in a rhythmic manner, drawing his bow across the strings of his fiddle, creating a sweet, sweet sound that only a handful of skilled musicians can yet produce…

At Christmas, Trimble Gilbert of Arctic Village has written this author asking,
“Bert, have you learned yet to jig?”   The answer is:  “I’m still trying.”

FESTIVAL STARTS TODAY:

For me, these memories remain as exhilarating as helping my friend Kenneth Frank of Arctic Village, extract dozens of arctic grayling, cod and lake trout from a fishnet in –33°F.  The difference is that fiddle playing is intended to offset—perhaps even celebrate—the rigors of life in the “bush.” (My opening paragraphs as appeared in Native Peoples Magazine.)

Today, I am reminded of these experiences because 10 years ago Janie and I covered the Athabascan Fiddle Festival in Fairbanks – and the annual four-day event BEGINS TODAY.

Images here are mostly from the Fiddle Festival as used in Native People Magazine.  One, however (three young ladies) is from National Wildlife magazine and was used to illustrate my story “Hunting For Their Future.”  The purpose of that story was to call attention to the dependency of the Gwich’in Indians on the Porcupine Caribou herd – and to the herds dependency on the Arctic Refuge.

L to R:  Image of three chldren has appeared widely;  Trimble Gilbert and sons widely admired for musical skills; Kenneth Frank ice fishing at
Old John Lake, about 20 miles by snowmobile from Arctic in brutal -30 temperatures.

Initially, we meet this wonderful group of people through four years of summer school teaching.  We’ve remained in contact with many through Facebook and occasional telephone calls.  Gwich’in villages number about a dozen and most are small number but several hundred inhabitants.  They flank the Yukon and tributaries of the Yukon.

The pictures also remind us that we are overdue for another visit to the Arctic.  We’re hoping that everyone there is still hale and hearty.

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OTHER GWICH’IN POSTS:

Alaskan Boating Adventure

Gwich’in and the Arctic Refuge

Power of One

©Bert Gildart: Yesterday, for the month of November, the Northwest Outdoor Writer’s Association newsletter included my image of the Chief Joseph Battlefield.  In the past, the image has been used in a number of publications to include my book, MONTANA ICONS.

I think the image addresses several issues. With the North Star positioned at the top of the teepee poles (for other stars to circle around it), I hope the image suggests that after Chief Joseph’s desperate and near-successful struggle to escape the confinement of reservation life, the spirit of this famous Indian chief remains free.

Tragically, this is the only place he might be free, for the U.S. government did not live up to any promises they made to him.

Joseph outmaneuvered the Army for several thousand miles, and though their numbers were few and the opposing forces many, Joseph proved himself to be a superior general.  Sadly, he was stopped just short of Canada, his destination, where he was hoping to join Chief Sitting Bull.  But the telegraph defeated him, bringing in General Miles at the Bear Paw Mountains. Sitting Bull, of course, had just defeated Custer, a man who graduated at the very bottom of his class at West Point.

The image also tells a story of Night Skies and asks a question, tacit though it may be.  How many places are left in the world where light pollution allows such clarity?

The answer is:  Few, very few!

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LAST YEAR AT THIS TIME:

West Point, Where Our Parents Now Rest

©Bert Gildart: If I had to list the single most pleasure of being home I think I would have to say it’s our bird feeders. Throughout the years our two caged chunks of suet have attracted everything from pileated woodpeckers to small chickadees. Meanwhile our large columned feeders have attracted various types of song birds and several times, it has attracted turkeys. Once a bald eagle plopped in.

Right now the combination of feeders is attracted two birds we don’t see often: the Blue Jay and the Steller’s jay. Neighbors say the blue jay (eastern) is rare here and attribute their expanding population to changing climate.

L to R:  Eastern Blue Jay and Steller’s Jay, two birds that rarely visit our feeder — photographed yesterday within 15 minutes of one another.

In the past our feeders have also attracted raccoons (Raccoon Problem Resolved), and when that happens I use a portable drill, detach the screws and bring the feeder in. Takes about a minute.

Though we have heard reports of bears several miles from us, if we ever thought our feeders were attracting bears, again, we’d take them all down. We ascribe to the philosophy that a fed bear is a dead bear, and recently, a sad episode dramatized that fact. One hundred miles south of us in Missoula, an elderly woman was trying to “help” bears out by feeding them. Soon, one of the fed bears began to associate the lady with food. When no one was around, the bear broke into her house and attacked and fatally wounded the woman. That happened just a few weeks ago.

We learn much from our feeders and from the interaction of the different species at our feeders. From the way in which the various species interact, we’ve drawn some parallels between the species – and politics. So… if you want to know which species might represent the various political parties, click on my link (Are Birds Political Creatures? You bet).  Click as well on Raccoons At Our Bird Feeder.

Hope it brings a smile to your face.

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THIS TIME LAST YEAR:

West Point’s Historic Cemetery, Where Our Parents Now Rest