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Hey everybody,

 

With the holidays upon us I find myself with zero time. I'm not going to put up a new blog post until after the first of the year but will be back with new content and a new resolve to post more often. My sincere thanks to you for stopping by and following along on this journey.

 

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

 

Bill

The fall air at elevation

is cold clear and crisp

refreshing like water

 

The huckleberries are ripe and plump

the trail is covered in purple signs

what's beautiful and tasty also warns

 

The hair stands up

electrified on the back of your neck

you no longer feel alone

 

The wind whispers softly

gently menacinging your psyche

playing games

 

What was that?

your imagination screams

your heart hammers

 

Your sixth sense

knows your not alone

it's unmistakable

 

The vibration of the forest

reminds you who the visitor is

and who belongs there

 

as suddenly as it comes

though it lasts an eternity

the calming of the soul returns

 

Twice I've been in the woods and "knew" I wasn't alone. One of the times was on a hike up in the Selkirk mountians of north Idaho near the Canadian border. As we hiked to an alpine trout lake for a little fly fishing, my wife and I walked through about a mile of huckleberries. About every 25 - 50 yards through the patch was fresh bear scat. As we passed through it became apparent that we were not alone. I'm not prone to crazy feelings or psyching myself out and neither is my wife which made the whole experience that much crazier. We both felt like we were being watched. Shortly before we got through the huckleberries the feeling went away completely. My wife felt the relief too which made the whole thing too coincidental for me to brush off.

 

We did reach the lake and as I put together my fly rod it started snowing. I made three casts and decided that being four miles up in the mountains during a blizzard was enough cause to not hang around so we headed back. Despite being a little tired from the uphill hike we sprinted the mile through the huckleberries on our way down. Literally. Try singing the chorus to "Roxanne" at a sprint AFTER a four mile hike with about a 2300ft elevation gain.

 

Heck, the bear was probably across the border in British Columbia before I finished the first verse. I'm just that good of a singer.

 

 

Tatanka

©2010 Bill Werle
Acrylic 24 x 30

Despite it's beauty and majesty the American Bison almost didn't last through the upheaval of the late 1800's.

We did our best to kill them off, yet with help here they are thriving again 100 years later. I can only imagine miles of bison streaming by as reported by settlers from that time.  It's also a symbol to me and many others of the destructive nature of humans. To ruthlessly slaughter millions of animals in such a short amount of time is so mind bogglingly incomprehensible to me. All in the name of progress?

A lot of people think they are like cattle. Au Contraire! They can run almost as fast as a race horse and they have killed people who have gotten to close. A truly impressive creature with speed and power that is deceptive. They are a big wild animal that epitomizes the plains regions of the western United States.

There is a Bison range northeast of Missoula, MT that is amazing. Plan on a day to drive through it. One year we sat through a stampede! The view of the Flathead Valley and the Mission Mountains is worth it alone.

http://www.fws.gov/bisonrange/nbr/

Add Yellowstone to your bucket list if you already haven't. For Bison and wildlife viewing (among all the other reasons to go ) Yellowstone is one of the premier locations.

 

 

We like our Sunday drives or Saturday or whenever but some days we get up in the morning and just go. No pre-planning everything to last detail, just go.

 

Typically we head into the mountains or find water somewhere. Sometimes it's a drive along the Spokane river with a stop to walk the Centenial trail. Other times we head north towards the Canadian border and explore up there. This particular Sunday we chose the back roads up into the hills behind Liberty Lake, WA.

 

Beautiful but cold winter day had the sun shining brightly on the new snow. The crispness of the air added that winter sparkle to everything. The forests were beautiful and as we descended down on an eastern track we came out just across the stateline in Idaho. Lo and behold we came across a small herd of Bison on a hobby ranch.

 

We spent the next half hour taking photos. It was awesome as we photographed all the young Bison snorting and drinking. Suddenly they vacated the watering hole. It was soon apparent why. Up the hill lumbered the biggest, baddest and most beautiful Bison I had sen in a long time. This guy rivaled some of the bulls I've seen in Yellowstone. Massive applies to this guy. His head was like a giant granite boulder and his hump was a mountain with it's own weather system. WHat struck me was just how fit he was. He was all muscle and fur. It looked like you could sink an arm up to your elbow in the nappy black fur around his neck. A gorgeous beast I had to paint.

 

 

WIP - Tatanka

 

©2010 Bill Werle
Acrylic 24" x 30"

 

 

Have you ever canoed before? I recommend it it if you haven't.

 

Having grown up in Minnesota I'm lucky enough to have experienced both boating and canoeing. Both have there places and I enjoy the heck out of both. My personal preffered mode of transportation on a lake would be the canoe. We live in a busy noisy society and the peace canoeing offers is it's most appealing quality.

 

The anticipation of getting on the water after a drive up into the mountains to my favorite fly fishing only lake is maddening. There is one moment in particular that I look forward to more than any. After dropping the canoe off my shoulders and sliding it into the calm still waters of lake X, hearing the rocky shore scrape against the bottom I get the adrenalin rush of four energy drinks. I get stoked knowing what's to come. I liken canoeing to what hang gliding must be like. Gently riding the currents untethered from land.

 

I ease my self into the canoe and with my paddle push off from shore. Almost sitting in the water the wave of calmness and peace overwhelms me as I'm set free. The fresh clean mountain air brings me the scent of crystal clear water, evergreen forests and the mountains themselves.

 

I drift away from shore and the world echoes with the sounds of silence.

 

  Lake X