TEXAS COAST
1992
During my 10,000 mile journey in 1981 I had rowed the entire length
of the Texas coastline. In 1992 a Texas print publisher lured me down
to their state with all expenses paid coastal tour. It was exciting to see
stretches of shoreline from the comfort and speed of an airboat that I
had previously spent weeks rowing slowly along.
ROCKY MOUNTAINS
1992
Colorado had Bristlecone pines, mountain goats, bighorn sheep, and
alpine flowers. I swung southward during this 3,000 mile tour to the
Canyonlands of Utah; great weathered outcroppings of rock, cougar
tracks, lightening and swarms of evening bats. I always shunned motels
during these road trips. I prefer to sleep on the ground.
ZION & NORTH RIM GRAND CANYON
1992
Another print publisher brought me to the southwest again where I re-visited the Grand Canyon. This time on the north rim I observed the unique kaibab squirrels. Pictured above is a walk upstream into Zion National Park.
KAYAKING BRITISH COLUMBIA and FLORIDA
1993
Sea kayaking brought me back to Florida in the winter of ’93 for a serious hundred mile paddle through mangrove swamps, tall-grass-wetlands, and mazes of uninhabited islands along sandy Gulf shores, all within Everglades National Park. In the spring of ’93 I flew to Vancouver, British Columbia for another serious hundred mile paddle out along the Pacific coast of Vancouver Island. This was an environment of huge swells pounding along the faces of towering seacliffs, brightly colored starfish in cold shallow inlets, arching sea-caverns, and desolate shorelines.
PACIFIC NORTHWEST
1993
A thousand mile drive south along coastal roads from Vancouver, BC to northern California brought me through Washington and Oregon to visit sea lion caves, moss-laden rainforests, and enormous pinnacles jutting upward out of sandy beaches.
CORKSCREW SWAMP
BIG SUR, SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY, YOSEMITE
1994 - 1995
In the winter of 1994 I returned to Florida to follow the pale gray boardwalk of Corkscrew Swamp. It puts Disney World to shame. A mile of wooden, hand-built walkway is suspended above the swamp and penetrates a lush world of cypress trees, owls, night herons, wood-storks, ibis, and alligators, a world we would otherwise never have an opportunity to see. It has since become one of my favorite haunts. I returned to Sanibel Island to see the sunrise over Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge. ’94 was a busy year as I re-visited the Southwest again, and then went hiking in California’s coastal mountains south of Big Sur. I also searched the entire San Joaquin Valley for the last remaining vestiges of the original grasslands: Tule Elk refuge, Kaweah Oaks, and the Creighton Ranch. Before leaving, I revisited Yosemite Valley, the start of my 1978 adventure, and climbed the steeply rounded backside of Half Dome. 1995 brought me back to the Southwest in May, then to the coast of North Carolina’s barrier islands in July.
PRAIRIE GRASSLANDS
1994
November 1994 brought me to Colorado to explore the vast prairie grasslands that cover much of the eastern half of Colorado. Pictured above is a kit fox. (A visit to Estes Park up in the Rockies was highlighted by herds of elk.)
NORTHERN ROCKIES
1997
The National Museum of Wildlife Art featured their annual “miniature” show in September of 1997 in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. This was another good reason for a long serious solo trek, heading northward through Yellowstone to Glacier National Park. I spent time observing grizzlies and mountain goats. Northward by car into Canada, the flat grasslands spread for hundreds of miles before relinquishing to the Canadian Rockies and eventually culminating at Banff where elk walk through the town’s streets at dusk. One of the highlights of this tour was an unexpected stop in the “Bugaboo” Mountains where I climbed hundreds of feet up sheer cliffs to a hut overhanging a glacier.
COLORADO ROCKIES
1998
The "Artists of America Exhibition" was held in the city of Denver at the Colorado Museum of History. While taking part of this black tie gala event was entertaining, it just couldn't match the backcountry roads of the Rocky Mountains! Pictured is Ophir Pass.
