Post by spence on Dec 5, 2021 18:40:26 GMT -7
The conversation between brokennock and Hawkeyes about the quality of time spent in the mountains got me thinking about some of the most splendid time I've ever spent in the wild. It was my great good fortune to make friends with a BP hunter who lived in the west, and we shared some special times in the mountains of Arizona and Nevada. I had never spent much time away from the highways in the western mountains, and it was a revelation. Trying to put the experience into words, I wrote:
"Sitting there that first morning, overlooking the panorama of mountains while the sun slowly rose, watching the gorgeous play of light on the peaks and valleys, aspen, spruce and sage was a very moving experience for me. I was mesmerized by the beauty around me, overwhelmed by the tremendous scale of the landscape. I was sitting in the absolute open sage, with no cover, but I had no difficulty holding still, because my attention was directed not at the thicket and the deer, but outward to the magnificent display nature provided for us. I dearly love the mountains. I felt as if I had come home, that I truly belonged there. Regardless of the outcome of the hunt, I was very glad I had come on this trip."
Some pictures, Arizona first:
Northeastern Nevada, Jarbidge Wilderness Area:
On one trip to Nevada I got my buck early and spent most days hunting grouse on and around Sun Peak, 11,200 feet. At one almost miraculous moment I came to the summit and was standing at the edge of a vertical cliff several hundred feet high. A golden eagle was hovering well below me, close to the cliff face, and it caught a thermal, locked its wings and rose straight up very fast, stopped exactly at my level and 20 yards front of me. It hung there for a couple of minutes, wings outstreached and rocking gently back and forth, and I don't think I breathed for the duration. An experience like that has a strong effect on a flatlander. I could feel the glow.
Spence
"Sitting there that first morning, overlooking the panorama of mountains while the sun slowly rose, watching the gorgeous play of light on the peaks and valleys, aspen, spruce and sage was a very moving experience for me. I was mesmerized by the beauty around me, overwhelmed by the tremendous scale of the landscape. I was sitting in the absolute open sage, with no cover, but I had no difficulty holding still, because my attention was directed not at the thicket and the deer, but outward to the magnificent display nature provided for us. I dearly love the mountains. I felt as if I had come home, that I truly belonged there. Regardless of the outcome of the hunt, I was very glad I had come on this trip."
Some pictures, Arizona first:
Northeastern Nevada, Jarbidge Wilderness Area:
On one trip to Nevada I got my buck early and spent most days hunting grouse on and around Sun Peak, 11,200 feet. At one almost miraculous moment I came to the summit and was standing at the edge of a vertical cliff several hundred feet high. A golden eagle was hovering well below me, close to the cliff face, and it caught a thermal, locked its wings and rose straight up very fast, stopped exactly at my level and 20 yards front of me. It hung there for a couple of minutes, wings outstreached and rocking gently back and forth, and I don't think I breathed for the duration. An experience like that has a strong effect on a flatlander. I could feel the glow.
Spence
