Pennsylvania

92 years old. Novelist, poet, farmer and environmental activist.

He made a huge impression on me through his writings and his perspective on the outdoors and our place in it.

June in the mountains near Ridder looks something like this: there’s still snow higher up, the streams are full from the snowmelt, while the alpine meadows are already in bloom.
A few days with heavy backpacks, icy stream crossings, and some incredibly beautiful scenery. Sometimes you get the backpack across first… and then figure out how to get yourself across 😄
Ivanovsky Range, East Kazakhstan.

A Morning of Discoveries

I went for a long walk in the woods Saturday morning. As usual, I just wandered around the forest, sometimes on old game trails, other times stepping over fallen trees while ducking overhead branches. The Sun was up, but concealed behind mountains. Light sprinkles of rain remained from the overnight storms, but I saw bit of blue to the southwest. Diffuse warm light from breaks in the clouds filtered down through the canopy of trees and provided some magic light. 

The first thing that caught my eye were young Douglas Fir trees surrounded by slender Lodgepole Pines. I found one isolated enough from the others to create a compelling scene. From here I wandered into a meadow, covered in Western Coneflower. These fascinating flowers lack the traditional colorful petals of their relatives, but are no less attractive to pollinators. Many of these flowers had rain-soaked bees hiding under them, waiting patiently for the Sun to come out. This particular one had a caterpillar and a Crab spider of some sort existing in some sort of weather induced ceasefire! 

As I stepped carefully back into the forest, I discovered a decaying log covered in tiny orange mushrooms. As is often the case, I first capture the larger scene, then work my way in to the finer details. In the final image, that single mushroom is just 1/2” tall and less than a 1/4” in diameter, but if you look closely, the entire forest around it is reflected in its rain-soaked cap. 

From here I walked across a stream, and was immediately transported to a much more ancient feeling forest. It got darker, the trees more dense, and the forest floor was covered in the remains of fallen giants of yesteryear. I am pretty certain that the path of this photographer closely matched the flight of a bumblebee as I wander this way and that, from scene to scene. 

I cut back towards where I figured the road would be, found a fallen tree bridge to cross back over the creek, and came out right at a talus slope where I knew there to be Pika. Sure enough, I was able to capture a fleeting glance of one such critter, and then in a spring that pops up below the rocks, I got my last shot of the day. A bold frog stayed visible despite its friends all ducking for cover as I walked up. 

There is critters that you might not see to you almost step on them

3 months ago, anyone there now?

Some time ago, in October 2024, I hiked the Kramerspitz mountain in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany. Very pleasant hike, not too difficult and great views included ;)

The trip was about 15 km / 9 miles long and took be about 7:30h (yes I'm slow, but it also includes a break with beer and cake 😉).