I really like this quote from Finis Mitchell, a man who grew up since 1906 in the Wind Rivers, and was a fishing outfitter all his life. Finis stocked most of the lakes there, carrying them in by horseback.
Throughout this century I’ve roamed this wilderness, communing with nature, observing other creatures along with myself, merely desiring to live and let live. Because of this aloneness, I’ve learned to love, not only those of my own kind, but all life within a wilderness; the birds, the beasts, the trees, the flowers, and the grasses of the land. Only in wilderness, it seems, is man’s love so thoroughly and completely returned, so unselfishly shared.
I arrived here on Saturday, after driving out from the Bay Area. I’m a real whimp when it comes to snowy roads and since Cody had a minor snowstorm on Friday, I waited till Saturday to go over the 8000 ft. pass to my cabin, choosing instead to stay in a warm house with a Cody friend.
The students who are studying elk and wolves in my valley had been staying in the cabin. They cleaned it up real nice before I arrived and B___ will be staying here with me. She’s temporarily hired on to follow ‘Spud’, the nickname the guys gave the Idaho wolf who’s traveled all the way across Yellowstone to end up in my area. He’s radio collared and she’s acting as his GPS, tracking him every 4 hours. Apparently he’s been hanging with a female. Maybe they’re going to mate. Continue reading
Filed under: Practice of The Wild | Tagged: Telemetry, Wolf, Yellowstone National Park | 3 Comments »
Leslie Patten Books: Wild Places, Sacred Spaces 