I’ve started a new thing, and I’m really excited to share it.
My new venture is called WILD MERCY, and it includes essays, recommendations, a forthcoming podcast, and much more. If you’ve ever enjoyed this blog, I would love for you to go check it out and see if it’s something you’d enjoy.
Thanks so much for your time and continued love!
07/08/20 Light strikes sideways,
Low and golden.
Rainbows and browns rise.
The crowns of the trees gently sway,
In the momentary ebb and flow of the wind.
Colorful ripples dance on the lake,
And then smooth out like a carefully made bed, reflecting pillowy clouds.
Fire expands in a cloudless sky,
Anticipating the brilliance of stars to come.
I am alone, and small.
— Andrew
“I wasn’t lost, I just didn’t know where I was for a few weeks.” – Jim Bridger
A lot of places feel like my “backyard” at this point. But none more so than this massive and idyllic parcel of the Rocky Mountains (any more detail than that, and I shall have to kill you) that we return to every year.
There’s a well-known valley in the area that I’ve been exploring for nearly 20 years now. Much like the surrounding mountain terrain, it would take a lifetime to really get to know it. “I’ve got the rest of mine,” I think to myself, “so what the hell.”
All of the dirt roads and where they go, when they’re passable, where the wildlife hide, and the fish too. What’s just over this ridge or that forest. The CDT zig zags and criss crosses the divide through here. I’m going to have to hike it all someday. For now, I tackle sections.
I have made my life’s goal to learn and know these mountains intimately. So each year, I focus on a few different sections. Some you can drive, others, only walk. Ellen had to leave town for a long weekend, so I took the opportunity to take the dogs and go explore.
It’s still too early to get very high up hiking… late season snow has the high country buried still. So we loaded up the new (to me) truck and headed deep into the wild.
On the way out of our current home (where we are parked for a few weeks), the pastures give way to massive hills, which yield to snow capped peaks.
Exploring one of my new favorite lakes to fish, I found a very old cabin. Probably a cow camp from decades past.
Sometimes, an image presents itself in black and white. The hills surrounding my fishing hole.
The locals. Seen everywhere around here. Until hunting season, and then they become elusive, as if to know.
One of my favorite dirt roads of all time. This old route connects three mountain ranges and two wonderful mountain towns. But it is very rough, remote, and impassable until right about now. Sometimes even later.
This pass is a historic route used by native peoples, as well as early trappers and mountain men. It was treacherous for all who traversed it, as it is remote, high elevation, full of grizzlies and wolves, and the weather is quite unpredictable.
I watched this raptor for what seemed like hours. Turned out to just be 10 minutes. At first I thought it was a falcon, but once I zoomed in, I realized it was a beautiful northern harrier.
On a hike to a potential fishing hole, I startled this old girl. A cow moose peaking over the willows at what was most certainly the first human she likely encountered this year.
But for the wildlife, it is a haven of relatively pristine wild land. Used by humans for hunting, fishing, recreation, grazing, and forestry, the amount of land seems to support the needs of all.
Up at the top. From this pass, one can see at least four mountain ranges. The views are just remarkable.
Another distinct range as viewed from the top.
If you look closely, you might see a very distinct looking and familiar mountain range off in the distance. Almost looks like clouds!
It is quite awe inspiring to be able to view at least four different mountain ranges from the top of the pass, and at various spots along the way. Even more than this, it is one of only two places in the whole of North America where three of the continent’s seven major watersheds interlock. One drop of water here can end up either in the Gulf of Mexico, the Pacific, or the Gulf of California.
Yet another range.
And the same from a different spot further down.
The beauty of the trees this time of year is second only to fall.
One of the lakes up top.
The pups and I spent the weekend way out off the grid, hiking, fishing, and exploring the unending and perilous dirt roads of the high pass. It was a time of getting a little (actually, a lot) mud on the tires, and enjoying the feeling of being wild again.
My favorite mountains, waiting patiently for me in the distance from near the top of the pass.
Bare aspens ready for the new buds to sprout. Any day now for these.
Back home after a long weekend of adventures. Right out my front door. It’s good to be home.
After a decent bit of time exploring one of the many different sections of our backyard, I am always humbled and amazed at the vastness. The sheer size of all that I need to explore is daunting, but ultimately exciting. If this is what I get to die doing, count me blessed and happy.
— Andrew
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All images and content © ARS Media, LLC 2022 If you like the images and sentiment of the article, please consider joining me on one of several photography workshops. For more info, please visit www.andrewslaton.com/workshops
“In the spring, I have counted 136 different kinds of weather inside of 24 hours.” – Mark Twain
Even before living on the road made travel a bit easier, more fluid, visiting my Wyoming parks in May was a goal. No, an imperative. But it wasn’t a given.
Having missed spring 2021 up here, my urge to spend May this year searching for bears and enjoying the abundant wildlife, matched the intensity of the dramatic weather. Ask Ellen.
We reluctantly abandoned the warmth and sunshine of south Florida and booked it 2500 miles north, to the snowy, moody, freezing frontier. Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks are unpredictable in May. Most of the 10 days we spent there ended with at least snow flurries.
The lakes in Yellowstone were still mostly frozen.
But the wildlife… out in full force, seemingly energized by the (somewhat) warming weather with periodic snow.
As I mentioned in an earlier post, the grizzlies were out in solid numbers. They are by far my favorite animal to observe and photograph.
But I do love all the canine species too.
The weather and light wasn’t the best at sunrise and sunset most days, so no incredible landscape shots this time, but it was wonderful just to witness the vistas and myriad wildlife.
It isn’t possible to make it up each and every May, but I certainly cherish the years I am able to visit my beloved parks and animals during the magic of spring in the Rockies.
— Andrew
Thanks for visiting AndrewSlatonBlog.com
All images and content © ARS Media, LLC 2022
If you like the images and sentiment of the article, please consider joining me on one of several photography workshops. For more info, please visit www.andrewslaton.com/workshops
“There were all kinds of things I was afraid of at first, ranging from grizzly bears to ‘mean’ horses and gun-fighters; but by acting as if I was not afraid I gradually ceased to be afraid.” — Teddy Roosevelt
Spring in the northern reaches of the Rocky Mountains means several things, but to me, none is more important and compelling than the emergence of grizzly bears. But I am certainly biased. They are my spirit animal.
And for those who share the same affection for Ursus arctos horribilis, a mecca is spring in Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks.
Since I don’t make very much of my income from wildlife, it’s tough to justify a super telephoto lens, so I don’t often get nice, tight images of the bears. But I enjoy it immensely none-the-less. Below were some of the moments I was fortunate to experience and capture this May.
Felicia pauses and watches the people who watch her from the highway nearby.
A solitary male grizzly wanders through the spring snow in Yellowstone.
We crazies will endure snow, sleet, and freezing rain all to glimpse the awesome sight of the largest land predator remaining on earth (except of course the polar bear). The childlike wonder is thick even amongst adults when we gather on a roadside together to witness and (sometimes) photograph a grizzly. In these parks, the bears are even known by name (or number).
I was fortunate to see seven bears (not all pictured here) in a ten day period… I “knew” five of them. And I’m not even one of the hardcore bear watchers!
Felicia makes eye contact. Always a heart-stopping moment.
A tagged and collared three year old female high in the Absaroka snow.
Felicia keeps watch over her playful two year old cubs. They will be kicked out next spring to allow Felicia to mate again.
Grizzlies are some of the most human-like of all animals I have studied closely. They are complex. Sweet and nurturing one moment, brutal and murderous the next. In fact, it is quite common for mother (sow) bears to hang around roads for safety, as adult male grizzlies will kill her cubs to reduce competition and induce mating.
One of 399’s cubs to be sent on its way in 2022.
One three year old bear I observed is one of the cubs of the most famous bear in the world. 399, an old bear by all standards at 25, had a litter of four cubs three years ago, to the surprise of everyone. This year, she cut them all loose. This is pretty strict grizzly protocol.
This bear was one of those four. Watching her, I couldn’t help but think about how much I hoped her mom prepared her adequately for life alone in the vast mountain wilderness. Her entire life to this point was defined by traveling in the safety of a family of five, enjoying the protection of mom and the playful company of her three siblings. Now, she is a typical, solitary wanderer in the harsh landscape.
Will she make it? If she does, she will join a growing number of successful Wyoming grizzly bears.
399 is known for her successful and plentiful progeny, so I comforted myself as I watched this cub struggle in the snow. I prayed that she would become another survivalist successor to her mum… Queen of the bears.
— Andrew
Thanks for visiting AndrewSlatonBlog.com
All images and content © ARS Media, LLC 2022
If you like the images and sentiment of the article, please consider joining me on one of several photography workshops. For more info, please visit www.andrewslaton.com/workshops
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