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Secret Spot

#moab fischertowers coloradoriver desert utah

A Guides Life

#whitewater rafting greenriver silverfox

#whitewater #rafting #coloradoriver #moabutah

Zia Reservation Sunset

#sunset #ziareservation roadtrip

Gardiner River Bighorns

#bighornram #yellowstone nationalparks

A forum to connect and share information about whitewater trips in the American Southwest.

Sledding In, up Mill Creek Canyon, Wasatch Mountains

#winter #camping #mountains #outdoors #sledding

Farm Truck, Sun Prairie, Montana

#ranch #truck #vintage #montana #sunset

The Crazy Mountains, Montana

#mountains #montana #crazy mountains #wild #wilderness #nature #summit #peaks #climb

Steam rolling off of hot springs in Yellowstone National Park

#yellowstone #nature #places #travel #wild #hot springs #national park service

5x6 Bull, Boiling River, Yellowstone National Park

#elk #animals #wildlife #national park service #yellowstone #nature #wilderness #montana #wyoming #idaho

Bighorn Sheep, Gardiner River, Yellowstone National Park

#animals #yellowstone #national park service #wyoming #montana #idaho #rocky mountain #nature #wildlife #wilderness

100 Days on the American Prairie Reserve

SINCE February of 2014, I have spent roughly 100 days working on the American Prairie Reserve, during two stints as a crew member on the Landmark project. Walking 10 miles a day—in any condition—our goal is to observe and report on all of the wildlife that calls APR home. I have never seen another place like this.

Yesterday we came across a herd of more than 100 North American Bison five miles from the nearest road. As my partner and I reached the southern border of the Reserve, the wind changed direction. The bison must have caught scent of us, and they galloped off over a hill to the east. In just a few seconds, the plain before us went from being dotted with the wooly brown animals, to being apparently empty and silent. The contrast was impossible to ignore.

This place sets a baseline for wilderness. The proof rests in a wailing pack of coyotes waking you at 4 a.m.

When I first heard that unmistakable sound, a long forgotten reptile voice from the back of my brain barked out a cadence like a drill instructor. Perhaps the pack was calling their friends, letting them know that breakfast was served.

Hearing that sound I’m forced to imagine cold nights in a cave, mammoth pelts, and a fire; as much for warmth as it is to keep those sounds at a comfortable distance. Ten-Thousand year old memories. Or maybe those coyotes were simply giving the Sun the welcome that it deserves after the long, slow, grinding dawn.

In winter dawn and dusk stretch on for hours, a swollen red sun pulling low across the enormous sky, painting every cloud a watercolor orange. The texture of the clouds comes to life as pink, red, & orange light refracts and scatters; a herald of the coming warmth. On some days the opaque sherbert sky will never disappear. It will just rotate around the horizon. The colors of sunset can begin as early as 1:30 in the afternoon and last until after 6:00. Walking into that sunset through knee-high sage and snow hearing Great-Horned Owls call out from Cottonwood trees is surreal, and serene experience.

The American Prairie Reserve is a place that swallows you up. It takes you in and when you leave, your thoughts are drawn back to it. It’s a place like no other.

#nature #wildlife #conservation #Wilderness #sunset

Great-Horned Owl, Sun Prairie, North-Central Montana

#american prairie reserve #great-horned owl #nature #wildlife #conservation #wilderness #montana #raptor

#american prairie reserve #bison #LANDmark

#Canyonlands National Park #Utah #Desert

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