Home » Blogs » stuart's blog

BEYOND THE PERMAFROST

  • user warning: Table 'weinerama.comments' doesn't exist query: SELECT COUNT(*) FROM comments c WHERE c.nid = 71 AND c.status = 0 in /home/buttlord/broquest/modules/comment/comment.module on line 992.
  • user warning: Table 'weinerama.comments' doesn't exist query: SELECT c.cid as cid, c.pid, c.nid, c.subject, c.comment, c.format, c.timestamp, c.name, c.mail, c.homepage, u.uid, u.name AS registered_name, u.signature, u.picture, u.data, c.thread, c.status FROM comments c INNER JOIN users u ON c.uid = u.uid WHERE c.nid = 71 AND c.status = 0 ORDER BY c.thread DESC LIMIT 0, 50 in /home/buttlord/broquest/modules/comment/comment.module on line 992.

I know it's been like a thousand years since you heard from us, but I promise all is well. Except for the last 25 miles, which have been HELLRIDE--Cameron is riding on the world's shittiest tire and I might have a little bit of a concussion. We'll talk about that later. First, it's time to talk about...

GLACIERS!

Glacier National Park is in NW Montana and is quite possibly the most beautiful country I have ever seen. Though "Going To The Sun" Road is closed for all but three months (July to September), it is not to be missed. The west side climbs from a massive, greenery-filled glacial valley along ever-steeper mountains, eventually crossing waterfalls, hanging valleys and eventually plunging one into an alpine landscape of fog, snow and ice. Logan Pass sits at only 6600 feet, but looks like the North Pole. We're still trying to get pictures up and I apologize in advance for not being a great photographer.

I have spent a lot of time thinking about photography, mostly in the context of landscapes. It takes a truly great photographer to capture the "nothingness" in a landscape--the true eeriness of the countryside when one eliminates the foreground forces the viewer to project themselves into the space, and that's what makes photography an artform--not a stylized and/or idiosyncratic reproduction of a subject, but a reproduction in the viewer of a feeling or reaction to the subject that is presented. Ansel Adams is probably the most famous example of a photographer who could capture "nothing" with such drama and poignancy that it reduces some people to tears. Henri Cartier-Bresson was another, whose portraits can force an empathic bond between the viewer and a complete stranger.

Anyway, this isn't PHILBROSOPHY QUEST, so I'll just recap some quick stuff: Sat in a tent for 30 hours, illegally rode over Going To The Sun road, got busted by the Park Rangers, did not get tickets, rode on this narrow-ass windy-ass road bordered by young aspen groves, almost adopted a kitten, camped in Browning, met hella bicyclists, two flats, bike wreck, BLOGOTHON.

Will flesh out the recap when photos/time are available.