Tumble, Targhee
I haven’t shared as much as I intended to from Targhee, but I’ve been, well, busy. I have been told I’m attempting to do too many life-altering-and-stressful-things in the same year. Which is most likely true. And sometimes it makes me feel a bit like Greg did during this little incident. He built this jump after a night of whiskey, so I like to call it the “Makers Mark Jump.”
Skiing Middle Earth
At Grand Targhee there is a bowl between the main mountain and Mary’s Nipple that feeds directly into a deliciously named run – Middle Earth. Middle Earth consistently had the best powder on the mountain.
Backcountry, Craters of the Moon
This weekend Mike and I headed to Craters of the Moon for a bit of alpine touring. The conditions were fantastic, and the day was beautiful.
<image by Mike Gordon>
Street Life for 31ish
This month’s challenge on 31ish is “street life.” Today, I captured one singular alley that cuts through Hailey. See some of the images here, then head over to 31ish to watch for posts from my counterparts Jeff and Melissa.
Evening Light, Ridgeline
I captured these layers of evening light on my way home from work. The front of the range was already cast in shadow while the sun illuminated the higher peaks. In the bottom left foreground are tracks from backcountry skiers.
Home, Moonrise
Last night I saw this unusual combination of light reflecting off a snowy roof with moonrise on the ridge right behind. I like the contrast of soft, warm light and crisp, cool light in the same scene.
Storytime, Cougar
I told my friend I had “quite the story to tell.” He retorted by saying “Quite the story to tell – that was the understatement of the decade.” I so rarely tell stories here, but this one is a good yarn. Except it’s all true.
I woke up this morning in a scream. I couldn’t figure out why, until I focused enough to hear the howling and snarling outside the window. My first thought was that a fox or coyote was after one of the barn cats, and that our neighbor’s dog was fighting it off. I sensed a faint scuffle happening near the barn but it was too dark to see.
After dragging Mike out of bed, we grabbed a flashlight and headed outside. My main concern was that there might be an injured cat in the yard. Just outside the barn we came across a sizable patch of blood. I heard a faint noise, and something rushed out of the darkened barn towards us. I screamed, and shone my light on what turned out to be my neighbors dog. She didn’t come near us, but I started to worry that it was her blood we had seen.
I called the neighbors in my concern, and shortly all the lights went on in their house. I proceeded to get ready for work. As I was walking through the living room, out of the corner of my eye, I saw a large shadow lurking on the side of their house. My first thoughts were “No way. It couldn’t be. It just couldn’t.” The shadow turned it’s big head in the reflection of light against snow and I couldn’t deny it. Cougar.
After calling my neighbors again to warn them to stay inside, a car pulled into the driveway. A woman I didn’t recognize got out, unaware that she was 20 feet from the shadowed cougar. The cougar crouched. I panicked, flung open the window, and yelled at her to return to her car. She moved her headlights to flash at the house. The mountain lion stood up, turned, and stalked away.
The woman left, with our neighbor’s dog (and the neighbors) a short time after. Once it was fully daylight, I returned outside and hunted down the large paw tracks. The one pictured above was behind the barn. The circumference of the paw print was bigger than my palm, but smaller than my fully extended hand. A big cat.
The happy ending to this story is that the dog is recovering from her run-in with the cougar, and we are hopeful that the one missing barn cat will return (barn cats have a tendency to disappear occasionally, and they are great hiders). I am grateful that when I went out to investigate the “fox” this morning, that it was only the dog that came out of the barn, and not the cougar too.
I live in a very narrow valley where large animals are feeling the constant pressure of fragmentation and development where they once traveled. It is a constant struggle in these situations to do what is best for humans and animals, while remembering that we as humans have invaded their home. I don’t yet know what the resolution in this particular situation is, but it is never easy.
For now, I will be keeping my two dogs close at hand and being careful not to venture outside during dawn and dusk. I hope the cat got a healthy scare and will move into a more wild locale. I hope that for the cougar, and for us.
Winter, Big Wood River
Winter has finally set in with a few good snowstorms. I haven’t been out to shoot since the feet and feet we received this past week, so here’s an image from a few weeks ago. Love the river, love the snow.
Impressionist Winter
This morning it snowed hard, with big floppy snowflakes, for a whopping twenty minutes. It wasn’t the snow storm that we so desperately need, but it was beautiful for it’s ability to turn the world into an impressionist painting.
Blue Moon
Right before New Years we had our thirteenth full moon in a calendar year – what people call a “Blue Moon.” I was able to capture the rising of the blue moon over the mountains from my living room.
Snowshoe, January 2009
I captured this shot right about this time last year. We had a bit more snow then than we do now – here’s for hoping that will change soon!
Slaughterhouse, Vintage Process
Vintage processing is a pretty hot item right now in the world of photography. I am on the fence regarding my like for the style, so I decided to give it a whirl today. I shot this image in Slaughterhouse Canyon with the express intent of processing it in a vintage style.
Snow and Sun, Deer Creek
One of my favorite activities is trekking around this valley’s mountains - off the trail. Today the destination was the Deer Creek drainage in the Sawtooth National Forest. With Franconia in tow, Mike and I looped up a small ridge approach and down a nice deep gulch. The snow was deep, light and untouched. Franconia loved it.
