A Place of River and Sky

Monica

  • Made it this time- Heart Lake Loop, Yellowstone National Park

    This was the trip I tried to do last year with my friend Brenda when she became injured. This year, I was fortunate to have the company of Michelle, a new friend from the National Association of Interpretation training I attended. … Continue reading

  • I’ll stop planting now, really I will~

    I was going to quit this year, finally, and just maintain areas that  turned into crazy  jungles.  Just prune and weed and divide occasionally, do something else with my time in the winter and spring. But the orange honeysuckle burst… Continue reading

  • The Accidental Trip to Grand Teton

    Sometimes we are saved from our own thoughtless enthusiasm by the well-intentioned fates. And then, when we’re flexible enough to allow intervention and change course, we are rewarded.  In September 2013, I found myself bailing out of a week-long backpacking trip planned… Continue reading

  • The Lovely Tapir

    The academics found it, the four women from the University of Costa Rica combing through the woods for fungal samples. They were on their monthly visit to the Osa Peninsula rainforest outside Corcovado National Park, traveling the trails above La… Continue reading

    The Lovely Tapir

  • Anaconda- Perhaps the next chapter opens in Canada

    I do not know why I am drawn to Anaconda every time I drive I90 through Montana, but I stop every time I pass even though I swear I won’t do it anymore. The first time stop, in 2012, was… Continue reading

  • Lamar Valley Wolf Week, Yellowstone National Park

    For five days in March, I lived at the historic Lamar Buffalo Ranch in Yellowstone for “Lamar Wolf Week”. The Lamar Valley is dubbed a “Winter Serengeti” by the clever marketing folks at the Yellowstone Association for its abundant wildlife,… Continue reading

  • Off the rails in the Methow Valley area

    In early February, we made a trip over to the Methow Valley area, on the east side of the North Cascades crest. It is a long drive in winter, when Highway 20 is closed at Washington Pass to massive avalanches… Continue reading

  • The Year of the Owls

    This is a year of many, many owls. The owls have begun to take over guard of this place, started to assume ownership. I welcomed them in 2007 with owl perches in the fields and the first night heard a… Continue reading

  • Welcome to the wilderness, bring your mittens

    For my first foray back to a mountain in crampons after seven years, I took a trip to Mt. St. Helens. After May 15, climbing permits are limited to 100/day; had I known, I would have accompanied the 500+ people who went up… Continue reading

  • Hangin’ with the goats at Ingalls Pass

    Remember, fellow hikers~ a fed goat is a dead goat. While these mountain goats and their eight compadres were highly entertaining, they had clearly been fed or allowed to lick people for the salt in sweat. Ignore them as they… Continue reading