#elias carlson
The June Gloom.
I love the rains in June,
before the grass is dry.
Everything still fresh and alive.
Raindrops cling to blades of green,
dampening my shoes as I walk
softly and scent wet pine in the air.
Priest River, ID
2018
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Awaiting
Priest River, ID
May 29, 2018
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Poem is a portion of the first found in Wendell Berry’s book A Timbered Choir
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Chris Eyer and his mule string.
Bob Marshall Wilderness, MT
2017
I’m not usually one to edit color digital photos after the fact. If I want black and white I’ll shoot black and white film. But the shadows and textures in this shot were just screaming for a monochrome treatment.
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Volume 9 of Another Escape - the Wilderness issue - is finally out, and it looks SO good! I produced, photographed, and wrote one of the feature articles about a 5 day mule-packing trip in Montana’s Bob Marshall Wilderness with Chris Eyer (who goes by @muledragger on Instagram).
Grab a copy here: http://anotherescape.com/shop
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On my drive over Highway 20 this weekend I noticed a black lump on the side of the road out of the corner of my eye. As I whizzed by something clicked in my head and I thought, “was that a bear!?”. So I pulled over at the next shoulder and turned around.
Sure enough, it was a black bear laid out on the side of the road. The victim of a car or truck I’m sure. Aside from a bloody eye, it looked nearly perfect, as if it were asleep. Though it was clearly dead, the hair on the back of my neck stood up a bit as I approached. Not out of fear or disgust, but rather I suppose, in recognition of the great power this animal possessed when the spark of life still burned in its mighty chest. Even in death, being in its presence was humbling.
The North Cascades have always felt like home to me. But I am merely a visitor. My time there is fleeting. To this bear, the mountains were a true home. It made its living in the high valleys I daydream of as I whizz by them in my car.
Though I know there are quite a few, I’ve never seen a bear on any of my many hikes in these mountains. I always hope to encounter one, from a safe distance of course. Their existence, and continued presence in the mountains lends a vitality to these wild places that would be lost without them.
They are animals to be feared, yes. But fear is a clumsy and imperfect word to describe it. I do not fear them as one fears a monster. Rather, it is a fear based in respect and reverence, rooted in the recognition of the power, intelligence, and super-human abilities these magnificent creatures possess.
I hope the next time I see a bear in the wild, it will not be lifeless on the side of the road. To lose such a precious creature in this way is surely a small tragedy.
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