Monthly Archives: August 2006

The Power of a Place

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The Teton range at sunrise

“What are men to rocks and mountains?”
Elizabeth Bennett in Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice

I’ve been planning to visit Glacier National Park this fall, a place I’ve not yet visited. While I more or less know what I want to do, I haven’t quite yet finalized my plans.

The Tetons are my siren’s song, calling me from afar to lead me astray. Pull out the atlas and Yellowstone and the Tetons look tantalizing close. No matter that your brain knows that they aren’t, there’s no getting around that on the way home from Glacier, I’ll pass within a few hours of the northern part of Yellowstone.

I could spend a night in Gardiner on Yellowstone’s border and hike for a few hours in the morning, it wouldn’t add much time to the trip, and it’s a great spot to look for elk and bighorn sheep. But then why not swing out to the east and look for bears and bison? And then if you drive for hours more you’re right there in the Tetons … Which adds up to a lot of driving, especially given that I’ve been having trouble sleeping lately and am feeling pretty rundown as a result.

But the Tetons …

The Tetons ambushed me last year. I had never been to the park before and was expecting some beautiful sights, but wasn’t prepared for just how beautiful the park was. And certainly not for the abundant wildlife, especially the moose and black bears. Day after day the park left me breathless and I was nearly in tears when I had to leave — and I was leaving to go to Yellowstone!

I am thinking of going to Yellowstone again in the spring when the animals have their young but before the massive crowds arrive, so I could certainly swing by the Tetons for a day or so then, but many of the trails will still be under snow.

Nevertheless, the thought of even a limited visit would take the sting out of being so close and yet so far and not going this fall.

But the Tetons …

Oh Yeah, The Mountains

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Tetons at Dawn

I discovered the other day that of all my pictures from my visit to Grand Teton National Park last year, I had forgotten to put up any pictures of the mountains themselves. You’d think that if I remembered to put up any pictures it would be those of the park’s iconic mountain range, but no.

Bears? Sure. Moose? Absolutely. Pikas, yellow-pine chipmunks, red squirrels? Yes, the little guys were all represented.

But no mountains.

This picture was taken way, way too early in the morning (5:18AM if my camera’s clock was set right). The whole week I got up way before sunrise and stayed out hiking until sunset. I love the hours around sunrise, they can be so peaceful and surreal, but what I don’t like is having to get up to appreciate them. The stunning beauty of the Tetons at sunrise easily made it worthwhile to sacrifice sleeping in.

Maybe not easily, but definitely worthwhile.

Devotion

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Hot Scout

Portland was gripped with a record-breaking heat wave a couple of weeks ago. On Saturday I sweated it out in my office on the main floor. I figured the cats would stay in the coolest parts of the house, but they would often want to be near me and hang out in my office instead.

This picture of Scout is from that day, she was up on my bookcase and looking pretty pathetic. This wasn’t even her at her worst, I decided not to take the picture when her mouth was hanging open as she looked like she had passed on.

For the next few days, I took pity on the little ones and moved my laptop and LCD into my wife’s office in the basement, where it stays much cooler. The cats can’t quite understand why I don’t just control the weather like the old days, and my protests that I was never omnipotent and that the old house just had air conditioning fall on deaf ears.

Still, I have to admire their devotion to me that they’d suffer just to be near me.

Animals and Earthquakes

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There was a small earthquake in Washington during the wee hours of the morning on Thursday that we felt here in Portland. I was lying in bed, nearly asleep, with Scout curled up on my chest. I sensed the earthquake coming and then a moment later the room shook for a few seconds and then was quiet again.

After the room had been shaking for a moment or two, Scout jumped off my chest and hid under the bed. Go ahead and save yourself little one, don’t worry about me, I’m sure I’ll be fine.

Given how startled Scout was, I thought I’d better check on Templeton. I had left him a few minutes earlier when he was zonked out next to me in my office chair. When I got down to my office, he was still zonked out in the chair. Templeton’s not one to let a simple thing like the earth shaking interfere with a good cat nap.

Drift Net

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Drift Net

A bee hangs lifelessly from a mint plant, two legs stuck to filaments from an abandoned spider’s web. A nearby bumblebee had met a similar fate, unable to escape from a single strand that was still stuck to the stem of the plant. At first I thought they might be alive, but it turned out that their bodies were just waving about in the gentle breeze. The scene reminded me of drift nets in the ocean indiscriminately killing the animals who get trapped in the nets and eventually die, their bodies slowly waving in the ocean currents.