Art Festival Season!!!
Hello everyone! I hope this finds everyone all well and good and hopefully enjoying some lovely Spring days after yet another plummet earlier this week! I was out in it for my April backpack and brrrrr! Haha, but more on that next week. This message is to give you an early outlook at my upcoming Festival season! Perhaps coming to a town near you??!…
I will give updates as the year progresses and any changes come about. But here is a list of current jury acceptances and committals on my end. The jury and application process are still out on several more.
Also, the process of moving to Squarespace email campaigns from Mailchimp seems to be going great! I have a couple more tests to confirm on my end but if things keep going the way they have been I would say most likely within 2-3 more posts I will discontinue the Mailchimp campaign and just be sending the Squarespace version. Please let me know if you have ANY objections or feelings one way or the other!
I am super excited to kick things off tomorrow in Lewisburg, PA! This is a quick one-day hitter, but one I thoroughly enjoyed opening the season with in 2018 and 2019. So stoked to be back after a 2 year shutdown! I hope to see some familiar faces tomorrow and meet several new ones…!
Lewisburg Celebration of the Arts - Lewisburg, PA
Saturday April 30th - 10am-5pm
Stockley Gardens Spring Arts Festival - Norfolk, VA
Saturday May 21st - 10am-5pm
Sunday May 22nd - 12pm-5pm
Manyunk Arts Festival - Manayunk, Philadelphia, PA
Saturday June 25th - 11am-7pm
Sunday June 26th -11am-6pm
Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts - State College, PA
Thursday July 14th - Sunday July 17th (Official times to come)
Lake George Art & Craft Festival - Lake George, Adirondacks, NY
Friday July 29th - Sunday July 31st (Official times to come)
Mount Gretna Outdoor Art Show - Mt. Gretna, PA
Saturday August 20th - 9am-6pm
Sunday August 21st - 9am-5pm
Stowe Foliage Arts Festival - Stowe, VT
Friday October 7th - Sunday October 9th (Official times to come)
P.S. - I have a fancy, new look with a TrimLine booth and several other upgrades I’ve made over the past two years since you last saw me that I can’t wait to unveil for you…! :-)
All my best and I hope to see you soon,
Brandon
"Fortune and Glory" - Image Spotlight Release
“Get off the tracks at Belton Station (now West Glacier), and in a few minutes you will find yourself in the midst of what you are sure to say is the best care-killing scenery on the continent. Give a month at least to this precious reserve. The time will not be taken from the sum of your life. Instead of shortening, it will indefinitely lengthen it and make you truly immortal. Nevermore will time seem short or long, and cares will never again fall heavily on you, but gently and kindly as gifts from heaven.” - John Muir - Our National Parks, 1901
This has always been one of my favorite quotes on Glacier. It is also one of those things I sincerely hope to accomplish some year - giving at least a month at one continuous time to this precious reserve!
And a Happy Birthday to John Muir! He would be 184 today were he still out there… I think he’s still “out there,” don’t you?!😉
I wasn’t even going to be here that night. I had left Bowman Lake campground and was sitting back in West Glacier on midday of the day I was going to exit Glacier and begin the return journey home. I was on the phone with Anna, and as we were talking, I started thinking to myself - maybe one more day/night here…
I had woken up that morning to rain falling on my exposed hammock set up. Having not been expecting rain AT ALL, I did not not put my rain fly over! Oh well, a little soggy but no harm done in the long run.
As I was driving that morning back to West Glacier, the light and storms kept fighting back and forth, and ‘I just had a feeling I wanted to go with.’
Of my 4 visits to Glacier National Park, I have yet to hike the Highline Trail. This is one of the most popular hikes in the Park and one of those hikes that is consistently rated on all the top National Parks hike lists.
Basically, anytime I think about hiking or planning to hike the Highline on a certain day I am there, the trail is closed due to Grizzly activity. This had been the case on this adventure as well. But, the trail had opened back up a day or two before and I had the thought that maybe a mile or two out could provide a nice sunset opportunity.
I remind you that storms were moving in and out this entire day…
I was down to just 3 sheets of film (and I really wanted to try and save at least 1 for my plan to spend a night in Badlands National Park for the first time on my return journey home!)…
Despite being mid-late August, the weather conditions up on Logan Pass were quite brisk and very windy as early evening descended. I set out on the Highline and hiked roughly a mile and a half to where this vantage point lay before me. I decided this would be the spot and as I began breaking out my camera gear, I was watching a storm and bands of rain move from those distant mountains straight towards me. ‘Oh man, I am going to get hammered!’ I thought to myself. But behind the storm, through the veil of rain and mist I could see the sun softly illuminating everything… ‘Oh man, this could be epic!!!’ I now thought.
So, I got myself rain-geared up, set up the camera as rapidly as I could muster and got the little poncho I keep for it secured. As I was finishing this all up, it was upon me. The wind was whipping and it felt like little rain-icicles were pelting me, but I was too stoked by what was happening beyond me to really care! The golden illumination of everything off in the distance grew more and more intense and the storm passed over almost as rapidly as it had come upon me.
I freed the camera, got back to composing and metering in what seemed like a fury to not miss the opportune moment! I was ready. And just in the nick of time, for moments later, what you see below is what happened!!!
As I watched, waiting to hopefully capture the glory at its fullest, yet not miss the perfect moment, the clouds slowly broke apart and revealed the sun. Within seconds, the sun began its descent behind the mountain peak. Not only was every break in the sky glowing gold, but it was as if the mountain peak itself broke and shaped those heavenly rays of light just so, just for me…
I snapped the shutter, this was it. ‘Man I hope I didn’t botch that exposure!!!’ as within moments, it was gone. As the sun continued to set, the clouds began to glow orange, pink and purple as they do when conditions are oh so right. I decided to fire off an exposure of that as well and that was that. One sheet of film left for the Badlands.
I took in the total sunset experience and everything that had just occurred fully before I began packing up and continuing on my headlamp hike back to Logan Pass parking. The chill in the air seemed not to matter as I was so alive with what had just come to pass. I drove down Going-to-the-Sun Road and exited West Glacier to find an easy car camp pullout spot in the National Forest that night and awoke to begin my journey home the next morning.
As you might imagine, when I finally came to process this film, I was so excited and nervous as to find out if I got it or not…
This is one of my most insanely beautiful moments ever witnessed and I am so proud of the end result on film. This is a once in a lifetime moment and I had very little leeway to nail it as conditions were changing rapidly (AND I only had 3 sheets of film left!!!) but, nail it I did!
I didn’t even realize this at the time, but it just recently occurred to me that one of those peaks in this photograph might actually be Heaven’s Peak?! I got out my National Geographic Glacier National Park map and took a good gander… Eureka! It isn’t the peak where the sun is directly behind, but Heaven’s Peak is the left most mountain in the composition, where the tuft of clouds are resting upon the summit and the shaft of light is piercing underneath! Just kind of a neat little something extra if you ask me. :-)
Back up top to John Muir’s quote - “Nevermore will time seem short or long, and cares will never again fall heavily on you, but gently and kindly as gifts from heaven.”
In referral to my journal quote from yesterday’s post - talk about “fortune and glory of this blessed life!” I can never stop thinking that I wasn’t even going to be here this night. To quote Indiana Jones - “But why Dr. Jones?” - Shortround. “For Fortune and Glory kid, Fortune and Glory.” - Indiana. ;-)
Fortune and Glory indeed.
All my best,
Brandon
“Fortune and Glory” - Brandon Kline
“Fortune and Glory” - Brandon Kline
"This Blessed Life" - Image Spotlight Release
Happy National Parks Week folks! I hope you are all doing well and maybe getting out to enjoy a Park or more! Life here on my end is getting to be a crazy balancing act right now!!! Between my artwork, landscaping, my fiancé and dogs, family and friends and all the other things that make up my life currently, it’s a bit bonkers🤪😂 But, most importantly, all is good. So with this in mind, I have decided to interrupt my ‘Wilderness Solitude part 2, Isle Royale’ post until sometime in May, as I simply need more time to sort through pics, video and writings to properly put everything together for you. And what I have to share these next few days is more time sensitive, seeing as I want to have these remaining two image releases that I’ve been holding out on, as well as some other information, out to you before my art festival season officially kicks off in Lewisburg, PA on the rapidly approaching Saturday April 30th!
So, without further ado, here you go - one today, one tomorrow, both from one of my favorite places on Earth and my favorite National Park thus far…
“Far away in Northwestern Montana, hidden from view by clustering mountain-peaks, lies an unmapped corner - the Crown of the Continent.” - George Bird Grinnell - Century Magazine, 1901
August 20th, 2019, early in the evening, Glacier National Park -
“I think it’s time to go build a fire and convene with some of Glaciers’ Spirits. A long day lies ahead…” - from my journal
The photograph below is not an uncommon view to many who visit Glacier National Park. I certainly won’t say it’s easy to get here - from the Many Glacier Hotel/Camping/Parking area, you’ve got a 3+ mile hike gaining roughly 800 feet to stand at this view. If you haven’t been here - believe it or not, more and more extravagant beauty awaits you over another roughly 3.5 miles and 800 feet elevation gain to Upper Grinnell Lake and the end of the trail. (See “What Is Remembered” in my portfolio for just a sliver of what awaits you!)
But come mid-morning to early evening, this trail is one of the most popular and crowded in the Park! And deservedly so. I often wonder if I have ever seen as much awe-inspiring splendor in one 6.5 mile stretch as the Grinnell Complex offers?! And this viewpoint area has been high on my radar ever since I took that first hike up here in 2016 and captured “What Is Remembered.”
So, here’s the thing… to truly capture the best light on this scene and bask in all of it’s glory with some sense of solitude, you’ve got to get here by dawn. And that means, in high Summer anyway, starting your day in the ballpark of 3am, give or take a little.
Oh, and if you haven’t had the thought already, the real kicker is - that means you are hiking in the dark/pre-dawn, by yourself, for roughly 3 miles, an hour and a half, in some of the most prime Grizzly terrain Glacier has to offer! There are often trail closures in this area due to Grizzly activity and they SHOULD BE HEADED WITH THE UTMOST RESPECT!!!
This is no joke folks - people and bears for that matter, die, unfortunately. The first time I was here in the Many Glacier region (2016) I witnessed two young girls being reprimanded by a Park Ranger for disobeying a trail closure due to Grizzly activity. If I remember correctly a mountain biker in the previous weeks that year had suffered a fatal attack not too far from this area. DO NOT SHRUG OFF TRAIL CLOSURES, ESPECIALLY IN THESE CIRCUMSTANCES!!! And you SHOULD NOT BE HIKING WITHOUT CARRYING BEAR SPRAY!
There are two trails leading to where you start to climb the ridge line towards Grinnell Glacier, a North and a South shore. Both times I have been here one of those shores was closed. I obeyed the closures and followed the open trail.
Insane still, perhaps. The inherent risk is always at hand. I don’t write or tell about these things as a boast of bravery or that others should do the same. All I can say is that I know full well what I am getting myself into when I set out and I do my best to be cognizant and practice the smartest behavior under the given circumstances.
Why am I going on about this? - because I am NOT trying to blindly lead anyone to follow in my footsteps, haphazardly thinking it is totally safe. Always be Bear Aware out here! And not just for you, but for the bears’ sake as well! These are magnificent creatures that need our help and protection to thrive! The less negative interactions between us both, the better!
Despite the inherent risks, however, there lies the inherent beauty of this ‘Crown of the Continent.’ It often isn’t easy or 100% safe, but can I outweigh the risk with the reward is what I ask myself in such a situation?
You’ll often hear adventurers of all types say something to the affect of ‘I just had a good feeling about it.’ As crazy as it may seem, I feel these “feelings” have merit. If something seems off, maybe you should listen to that. If it feels right, go for it! Sometimes you just have to trust your gut and hope that it pays off, accepting there is no guarantee.
When I quoted my journal earlier talking about ‘convening with the Spirits of Glacier’ - that is a very real thing to me. Whatever you want to call it, this place has an ancient Spirit. And by feeling that, I feel safer in my journeys here.
All this being said, this morning turned out to be smooth seas, fortunately. To my surprise, I wasn’t even the only pre-dawn hiker as another guy pulled into the parking area right when I did and we set off on the trail almost together. He quickly passed me though with his lightweight day/hydration pack just out to beat the morning rush against me in my “lightweight” 50 pound only camera gear and a few essentials “daypack.”😂
It is almost impossible to put into words the full glory of the scenery here, and that lack of words, thoughts even that you can comprehend, speaks volumes of how special this place is. So, I’ll just let my journal entry take you out…
August 21st, 2019, gazing out upon early morning on Lower Grinnell Lake, Angel Wing, Mount Gould, the Salamander and waterfalls - all part of the Garden Wall, Glacier National Park -
“Wow…
That about sums it up.
This morning began at 3:30am, making coffee by moonlight at my Cut Bank campsite and driving over here to Many Glacier. I began hiking by the soft glow of pre-dawn light through the forest along the shores of Swiftcurrent and Josephine Lakes. Very early on, a movement in the forest and a couple sets of eyes accompanied by large silhouetted bodies met my headlamp… Bears, deer??!
Although I began hiking almost an hour later than I had wanted, it proved not to matter in terms of the light I had been hoping for, as the sun angle now in later August takes a while to rise up over the mountains. Late July I think would be ideal for catching when the sun perfectly rises in the valley between peaks and would bask the scene with its first golden glow!
Nonetheless, the colors and light upon these lakes, forests, and granite peaks I witnessed this morning were nothing short of spellbinding.
And here I have sat for a while now, so peaceful and serene, soaking in the fortune and glory of this blessed life!”
All my best,
Brandon
“This Blessed Life” - Brandon Kline
“This Blessed Life” - Brandon Kline
Wilderness Solitude (Part 1 of 2) - Voyageurs National Park
Greetings all! I hope this finds everyone enjoying the early onset of Spring! It’s a soaker here where I sit today. One of those great for the Earth, cool rainy days of April. We are beginning to notice significant swelling of buds, and after several cool rainy days this week and a sunny warm up glimpsing ahead to next week, I expect to see quite an explosion of the early season blooms on the horizon!
(A note as to why you have received 2 versions of this email, and/or why this may look a little different for you (depending which one you’ve opened first lol!) - I am giving SquareSpace email campaigns a trial run for a few posts to make sure everything I am hoping for operates properly, and if so I will most likely be switching to this format. I think I can control more and create a much cleaner look for viewing this way as it all stays organic, if you will, through my website. Until I am sure though, I am going to keep the MailChimp campaign operating as well. Please, if you have any feedback on one versus the other, I’d value your input! But, ultimately I think and hope this will be a good transition moving forward.)
I had hoped to share this two part story last week, but time got away from me as the Spring landscaping season is getting into serious go mode and several other priorities that need to be kept on track as I prepare for what I hope to be a very busy festival and backpacking year took hold!
But here we go… Speaking of festivals and backpacking, I am very excited to share this very different type of adventure for me from this past September! In my few travels out West and back East, I had never really swung up into the Upper MidWest portion of the country. Coming off of the essential COVID shutdown of art festivals and traveling in 2020 which I continued to deal with and/or observe through the first half of 2021, it is probably needless to say I was itching to get “out there” again! Applying to and getting accepted into two festivals back-to-back weekends in mid-September in the Minneapolis area of Minnesota, I decided to go for it and plan an excursion I’ve had on my mind for several years. Two places I’ve heard all kinds of awesome stories about - Voyageurs and Isle Royale National Parks were going to be within 4 hours roughly of where I would be, and it was time to get there!
After weeks of hardcore preparation for my first festivals since October of 2019, and bringing it down to the wire, I had an insane 17 hour drive in a 24 hour time limit to make it to Edina, MN for the first festival weekend. I also was hauling a 6x12 U-Haul trailer I had rented for close to 2 months to see how that would work as I have far exceeded the days of somehow jamming my entire booth as well as camping and survival gear into and tied down to the top of my Nissan Xterra! Well, I made it, and although it wasn’t a huge financial success for me, I met some really cool people, saw Minneapolis for the first time and got my feet wet again.
Then, the week between festivals, a beautiful drive through the Superior National Forest and to Voyageurs National Park!
Now, I have backpacked what I consider to be a fairly decent amount and feel pretty darn comfortable doing so. The waterways, however, are something completely new to me! I have always loved to swim, especially in the ocean, but have spent very little time on any kind of watercraft. In fact, I really can’t even recall the last time I was on any sort of “boat” since my chilhood/teenage years. Well, I rented a canoe from a local outfitter, talked some things out, and planned a 3 night, 4 day adventure into the Wilderness of Voyageurs. A little nervous, but mainly super excited, I figured how hard can it be right?!
Ready to embark!
When I first “shipped out” I found the water navigation to be a little challenging as I worked out the kinks of getting my bearings and proper “steering” paddle control. But, overall, I think it went rather well for a complete novice! It wasn’t too awfully long before I felt like I knew what I was doing enough to be pretty calm and as the sun was setting, I found myself taking in a beautiful orange glow while out in the middle of this thin “canal” of Lake Kabetogama. And you know what? It was pretty darn awesome! :-)
Sun sets while all alone out on Kabetogama
Even with darkness encroaching and being in a totally unfamiliar situation, I remained very at ease (the surroundings here don’t hurt, trust me!). I had my National Geographic Park Map and my AllTrails App showing me exactly where I was and how to navigate around the island in front of me and into the channel I needed to be to reach my campsite on the opposite side. Oh, I should also note a full moon was approaching so that certainly helped with visibility out there! And so here I kind of gently ushered my way across the calmest waters as night set in, the moon and stars above me and a feeling of some of the utmost peace and solitude I have ever felt.
As I paddled close to the shoreline where my campsite was to be, out of nowhere a brief collection of howls pierced the silence… Wolves??!!! In case you don’t know this about me, I LOVE wolves and one of my big hopeful to do’s is to experience hearing and seeing wolves in the wild. Well, it was too distant and honestly I was so taken aback that I wouldn’t let myself confirm that it was wolves and not coyotes at this time. Still, to be out on the water, paddling past shore by moonlight and to hear this sound, well it’s up there on my list of coolest experiences! :-)
Soon afterwards, here I was - Lost Bay Island, a solid 4 mile paddle from launch and the site for my first night. And what a night it was - sitting there on my own private island, utterly alone in some of the truest wilderness (by today’s standards) that I’ve experienced in my lifetime - lost in the moonset and stars and silence.
Lost in the moon set and a starry night from Lost Bay Island😍
September 15th, Lost Bay Island, Voyageurs National Park -
“What a new type of adventure! Paddling through the waterways of Voyageurs like the canoemen of old. (Or trying anyway, haha!) This place is special indeed. A wilderness on water bringing utter solitude except for the occasional boat passing by.
This time in Minnesota, so far, has been a wonderful surprise! Very different and exciting. I am getting antsy to get back out on the water and on to my hike to Cruiser Lake, but first, a couple notes…
Two Bald Eagle sitings coming through the Superior National Forest 2 days ago - one right in the middle of the road, perched on top of his prey! What a glimpse of his size and talons I saw!
The paddling adventure last evening was such an incredible experience! Alone, in the wild, on canoe, making my way around islands at sunset and twilight and then star and moonlight to Lost Bay Island - a feeling of solitude and freedom I will not soon forget!
The peaceful sound of water lapping to shore. The orange glow of the setting waxing gibbous moon and the star rich skies full of dreams and wonder.
Did I hear the distant howls of wolves or was it coyotes??! My heart and gut want to say it was wolves, but I am just not 100% sure yet. However, the beautiful howls were nonetheless enchanting as I paddled past Eagle View, where I will spend tomorrow night…”
What a way to wake up!
Soon after writing these words, I was back out on the water. Only about 2 miles to paddle to docking at the trailhead for the roughly 5 mile hike to Cruiser Lake. It was a relatively simple navigation right down the canal, and a joyful relaxing drift as I passed more tiny islands and forested shorelines as far as the eye could see in every direction.
Admiring what had been my own private island as I shove off!
Digging the waterway life😁
After stashing my canoe behind the designated tree as you are supposed to, off I was on foot for a more familiar backpacking feeling deep into the forested islands of Voyageurs. To my surprise, the weather was quite warm this time of year, this far North. In fact this day and this hike were downright muggy! I worked up quite a sweat too as the terrain, albeit not serious elevation change, was a little more rolling hill-like than I would have anticipated. The forest was gorgeous though! Dense birch, aspen, maple, and conifer forest, even some oak I noticed! Lots of bouldery sections and marshlands as well. I passed one couple early on making their way back to shore, but other than that - no human contact, absolute wilderness solitude out there on Cruiser!
More familiar terrain
Marshy habitat further inland
Picturesque Voyageur landscape
I had read and been told by the Park Rangers that this was a great hike to possibly see some Moose and/or hear wolves howling. Well, I didn’t see any moose on this hike and if there were wolves howling that night, I sure wasn’t going to hear them over the wind!!! I mean, holy you know what! It rolled in early that evening and brought sideways rain that pelted me all night long as my rain-fly was essentially wrapped up against me in my hammock being blown sideways myself! It was not the most fun night I’ve had, needless to say. No dinner, no relaxing by moonlight on a secluded wilderness lake listening to “the children of the night!” Only a sleepless, uncomfortable, seemingly gale-force wind for 12 hours straight was to be had. Oh well, these things do happen “out there.”
Cruiser Lake as the sun goes down
A windy morning on Cruiser Lake
It was still a bit windy in the morning, but manageable to get some breakfast and coffee going, and other than being a little tired and groggy, no worse for the wear. The funny thing was that once I started hiking back, as soon as I was inland not 200 feet maybe, it was still as could be and actually muggy again! And so, I meandered my way back through the forest to my canoe and wouldn’t you know it - a windy, stormy looking lake.
Beautiful Birch forest!😍
A touch of Autumn
Snack time rest stop
The water was a little rough, and of course blowing against me, but was still slowly manageable and fortunately I only had about 2.5 miles to paddle, just passed Lost Bay Island, to a shoreline outcrop named Eagle View (where I heard the howls 2 nights prior!).
It was a workout fighting the choppy water, especially after a sleepless night and low on energy, but I arrived at Eagle View just a little before sunset with enough light to make camp and get settled before breaking out the headlamp. And then, just after 9pm as darkness was really setting in and aside from the now calm water lapping the rocky shore, the silence so profound was pierced so sharply by a howl so guttural, there was no mistaking it!!!
September 16th, 9:23pm Eagle View Campsite, Voyageurs National Park -
“I have officially heard wolf howls in the wild!!! No mistaking this one, so guttural! And this being where I heard “them” on Tuesday night confirms that was most likely these same wolves as well!
And wow, what a couple days to get here… Talk about working for it!”
Now, honestly partly not even knowing how to feel having experienced something I have so wanted to for years and something so few are blessed to ever experience, I just melted into the night. The moon and stormy sky put on a wonderful lightning show for me well off in the distance, which I enjoyed along with a good Stout and some really good Scotch, as I replayed this one of a kind Voyageurs adventure, so filled with delight.
The night sky at Eagle View, stoked from just hearing wolf howls in the distance!!!
https://youtu.be/Ex4ciJbajsM - Click here for a Voyageurs Lightning show!
On my last morning, I still had one heck of an adventure awaiting me to my surprise…
I was to be up before dawn to get packed and breakfast ready, and with hopes of catching a good sunrise on film. Then, I would have to pretty immediately shove off and get back to launch and out of the Park, return my canoe and get back down to the Minneapolis area for that weekends’ festival.
Everything was going great. I was up and ready, caught a beautiful dawn that really spoke to me about my time out here. And then I got out on the water…
Sun rises on Eagle View’s docking beach
Not being a complete idiot, I could tell the wind was kicking up again and the water was well, kicking up again too. It didn't appear to be THAT different from the previous day though. Well, then I was out there and struggling not so much to go forward, but to even keep drifting sideways and not be pushed backwards, and not get capsized at the same time!
Trying to convince myself that this had to be done, and was surely doable with some blood, sweat and tears maybe, I kept fighting. But I was going nowhere. Nowhere in the direction I needed to go anyways. I did manage to fight my way completely perpendicularly and made it to the opposite shoreline. By now, we are talking total white capped waves out there. Exhausted and admitting now that to go back out there was complete stupidity, I got the brilliant idea that if I could manage to get to the other side of this island, the wind and waves may be in my favor for the rest of the way…
Yep, I forged my way first with just my backpack to the other side of the island. It wasn’t much more than a half mile, but calling it bushwhacking doesn’t even really do the situation justice. However, refusing to be defeated, I dropped my pack and went back for the canoe. What I did next, I look back on and think - wow, Brandon. Yes, I somehow drug, hoisted over my head, whatever I had to do to that canoe to get through this unyielding jungle to the other side. Talk about a “real Voyageur experience of old!”
The best part - when I finally was there with my pack and canoe in the same place and tried getting out there, it was still to no avail. The wind and water just battered me to the adjacent shoreline, not allowing me to exit the little cove.
Marooned.
Completely defeated and muscles beyond spent, all I could do was sit there. It was now late morning/approaching noon. Miraculously, this entire time basically, I had cell service. In some ways, kind of disappointing, I know. But, given the circumstances, I was and am beyond thankful for however this is possible! I took a few moments to gather my wits and got on the horn. The weather app was showing me the winds were not going to ease up until between 4-6pm. I got ahold of the Kabetogama Visitor Center and confirmed the same with a Park Ranger, who relayed to me that this “system” proved to be much stronger than any of them expected, that they had put out a small craft advisory/warning, and that as long as it wasn’t life and death the best thing I could do was to wait it out. Then I called my canoe outfitter, who was completely understanding and just told me to be in touch in the evening with an update if I could. And lastly, I called the Festival director to inform them of my current status and that I would not be making it to my appointed check-in time, lol! I said that I hoped to be out in the early evening and should be able to make it down there in the wee hours of the morning and asked if I’d be allowed by security to begin setting up at a ridiculous hour. This was all doable. Now, all I could do was wait…
In hindsight, I think to myself, it would have been an opportunity to explore this or that, perhaps. But in reality, I was done, emotionally and physically, and I got myself in my sleeping bag protected from the winds and took an afternoon siesta. Stirring in the later afternoon, the forecast proved to be rather accurate and around 4pm I began making preparations. I believe it was right around 5pm when I deemed things seemed calm enough, actually quite beautiful, and I set sail, as it were.
Time to set off into calmer waters
Much as this adventure had begun a few evenings prior, I canoed off into the sunset. The water now calm and beautiful, I was able to savor these remaining precious moments, breathe in that watery wilderness air, and reflect on my time out here and what I had experienced, had learned. It is an experience I will never forget, and somewhere I sincerely hope to return to for further exploration.
Embracing the experience as the end of this part of the adventure lies ahead… What an expedition!!!
I can’t help but laugh when I look back and think I could have just realized how bad the water was right away and just enjoyed relaxing at Eagle View that entire day. Then the entire canoe out would have been lovely! But, hindsight is 20/20 as they say, and I had places to be…!
to be continued…
Brandon
"Gratitude" - Image Spotlight Release
Happy Friday folks! Well, I’m down to the last 3 of the 7 “new” photographs I told you I had to share back in January. And yes, I saved my 3 favorite for last! This one (and the remaining 2 you’ll see in April) is/are very special to me. As is the case with most of my favorite photographs, it isn’t just their beauty that makes them stand out, but the story behind them.
So, immediate contradiction - although the story behind capturing the actual image here is not all that exciting (aside from the drama Nature provided that daybreak!😍), the ordeal my fiancé and I overcame the week prior, which consequently leads to the title of this photograph, is what I consider to be somewhat entertaining. So, here you go…
A word of warning - if you find yourself in the state of Vermont and come upon a “road” classified as a Class 4, unless you are driving a serious Off-Road 4x4 vehicle with aggressive tires and a generous lift, TURN AROUND!!!
In our defense, we did not know such a thing existed, nor what we were getting into! Our plan was simple - follow our printed out map to a labeled parking area 1/2 mile or so into the mountain and enjoy a lovely couple days backpacking…
Well, you know what they say about best laid plans. At first, the “road” was kind of fun! Anna drives a Subaru Outback and I have a Nissan Xterra (driving separately because my Xterra was filled to the gills for back to back weekend art festivals). Anyway, we were crawling over semi-big rocks and feeling all off-roady with a bit of an adrenaline rush going deeper into the mountains. After a while, it seemed we should have come across this parking area and the terrain rapidly got… more challenging let’s say.
Here I am, watching Anna in front of me in her Subaru seemingly crushing this off-road adventure and I’m cringing at the smashing sounds on my under carriage as we now are tackling legit boulders! Finally we stopped and convened and I realized that Anna was not “crushing it.” She was having the same anxiety I was about the situation and our vehicles. However at this point we felt trying to go back out the same way may be next to impossible and “it had to get better.”
Well, no it didn’t. At one point I got stuck for a moment amongst rocks and forest debris, needing 4-low to grind out. Then Anna’s Outback succumbed to a big mud patch. I actually was able to push her out with my Xterra twice before it became too much. We were stuck in the mud, literally.
I refrain from sharing all the details, but let’s just say emotions were had. But, we pulled it together, realized obviously we were prepared for spending the night out in the woods anyway and set up camp as we were losing light at this point and knew that searching for help would most likely go better in the morning. I remember thinking at the time how much stronger this will make us if we can get through it without a major breakdown. And we did, and I do often think of this as one of those great make or break moments of one’s inner strength, on both of our ends. It would have been so easy to lose it completely, but we persevered in our togetherness.
Now, I want to stress the importance of having some sort of GPS device when embarking on such things. I am all about being off grid and cut off from civilization and all that, but in reality having a means to track yourself, even a simple app on your phone that can follow you off-line can make a huge difference in a bad situation or a really really bad situation! I personally use AllTrails to track myself when I’m “out there” and I’ll tell you what - in this situation it was a life saver! I was able to see that we were a little less than a mile from a main road and how to get there.
After taking a while to calm down, we talked ourselves through it, got a little rest, and were up at dawn to make our way way down to the road. We could also hear construction sounds in that direction which was an added reassurance. In many ways it was frustrating to know we were so close to getting out of there but then as we made our way down the path we came upon two huge obstacles which would have prevented us from getting out anyway - a big birch tree toppled over on the “road” and then a locked gate.
At this point we are thinking, at least my best solution was that we would find cell service and contact the Forestry Department to get help. Then, upon getting to the road, we saw a house right across the street. Carefully we approached and met our would be saviors…
For several reasons, I am not publicly going to go into all the details that ensued here, but in a nutshell - I was able to use their phone and the Forestry Dept. idea was going nowhere. The family of the house however had a viable option…
We went that route and a mere few hours after waking in what could have been an absolute nightmare situation on so many accounts, we were getting out of! Once they pulled Anna’s Outback out of the mud with their truck and chain, I was able to free myself in 4-low. And then with a fist pump out her driver side window and a huge smile of relief on her face, Anna’s exuberance was contagious.
Once out, we took a quick look at our vehicles and although we both had some issues to eventually fix that most definitely were a result of all this (especially me and my Xterra!), both were at least still driving fine at that time and we are both still driving those same vehicles to this day! We thanked this family from the bottom of our hearts before parting ways and then Anna looks at me and says “let’s go backpacking!!!”
I was shocked! But obviously it made my day that she would still want to backpack for a night after this fiasco😊 We first went and got a delicious lunch from a local market and decompressed a bit but yeah, so exuberant from being saved from this ordeal, we then went backpacking… oh and we parked at the easily accessible trailhead this time!
So all of this is taking place around Moose Mountain on the western side of Lake Willoughby in the Northeast Kingdom. Along the Moose Mountain Trail, there are several overlooks. One of which being Wheeler Pond. The foliage this year (2019) was ridiculous and the views were mind boggling! On our hike out, we stopped that I could expose a couple sheets of film of this kaleidoscope of colors. I said to Anna - “I am going to title this ‘Gratitude’ because well, I was feeling pretty darn gratuitous towards that family that could have just turned us away but instead saved our butts and gratuitous that Anna and I could even be here right now enjoying this with so many less cares than could have been!
Fast forward to when I process that film - there is a completely blown out blast of light right in the center of the exposures due to a crack in the film holders’ dark slides that I was unaware of. No salvaging something like that😔
However, go back to the story at hand and to the following week, Anna and I are at our lean-to site at Little River State Park, VT which is our typical thing to do following the Stowe Art Festival on Columbus/Indigenous Peoples Day Weekend. I awoke before dawn this one morning and I could tell from the mist and fog rising off the reservoir that something special could indeed unfold…
By now you have probably glimpsed the image below and I don’t have to tell you that it certainly was magnificent! But I do want to tell you how special this place is to Anna and I. We kind of stumbled upon it accidentally the first time we ever came here and it was love at first sight. There was actually a heart made out of maple leaves on the ground in the middle of our campsite when we arrived. This little vacation lean-to camping week has become one of Anna and I’s favorite things in the world. So much so that I chose this spot to propose to her this past October - yes I re-created the maple leaf heart and yes, she said yes😁
When it came time to title this photograph, I sat there thinking for a while and then it hit me - it is “Gratitude.” Maybe not the same exact way I had envisioned it, but still for all of the reasons I have mentioned above I feel the gratitude when I gaze upon this image and think about that dawn.
And here is a little something I wrote that morning after photographing the scene and before laying back down next to Anna for a bit…
October 15th, 2019 Little River State Park, VT
“Such a peaceful, uplifting morning as dawn breaks over Little River Reservoir. Autumn is in full swing as every color of the season paints the forests and mountainsides with beautiful contrast against the dark evergreens. And the fog rolling through, mist lifting off the water, rising above the forest and into heavenly blue skies is nothing short of divine. Such a crisp air this morning, all the bounties of the season are upon us.”
All my best,
Brandon
P.S. - To all of you following along on this journey, my utmost gratitude to you for your support as well!
“Gratitude” - Brandon Kline
“Gratitude” - Brandon Kline
"Maple Kissed by Dawn" - Image Spotlight Release
Here’s another one hailing from back in 2016. Not only was it quite a Summer but one heck of an Autumn too! One of the neat things about going back through the film archives and producing “new” work from photographs taken years ago is being able to remember and re-live these moments.
I was in Vermont, of course backpacking, but also doing the last couple art festivals I had for that first plunge into the scene. It was quite an emotional rollercoaster of highs and lows, as is the nature of the beast. In some ways triumphant, but in many ways I was beat up pretty good which is all part of the learning experience.
But much of the backpacking and photographing and living I did those few months between July and October that year - I had never felt so free, and alive! It really helped keep me going.
To experience the height of Autumn color in New England, especially Vermont, is an experience nothing short of breathtaking, awe-inspiring, mesmerizing… you get the idea. And well, this was one of those trips. I had set up a base camp of sorts about mid-way up Mt. Mansfield off of the Long Trail for a couple days exploring the forest and eventually summiting the mountain (Vermont’s highest!). Please enjoy, copied pretty much exact from my journal that morning after photographing the first light on this beauty…
October 11th, 2016 -
“How glorious this crisp October morning is underneath this canopy of majestic Maples! When the sun breaks the facing mountains at dawn and casts its soft warm glow upon this forest, it’s light sets the fiery orange and red Sugar Maples ablaze! Like rekindling the flame that temporarily burned to embers, the Sugar Maples’ dark orange hue from their nightly slumber is awakened with brilliance!
It truly is Autumn in all it’s glory where I sit right now, sipping my coffee. I have camped amongst some magnificent old beauties this past evening and morning. Although brisk, chilling winds whipped around last night for hours before calming, the sky was as clear as could be - starlit with a waxing gibbous moon glow. And this morning, not a cloud in the sky, that deep crisp blue like only October can produce. The sun gives warmth yet a chill at the same time. And the forest a splattering of fading lime greens, shimmering yellows, glowing oranges and burning reds!
It is calm and quiet, unlike the peacefulness of the birdsongs and insects of Spring and Summer, you can almost hear the air this time of year. And oh, the smell of the leaves! Like only a forest floor blanketed with Maple and Birch leaves can smell… Yes, Autumn is in the air!”
Until next time,
Brandon
“Maple Kissed by Dawn” - Brandon Kline
“Maple Kissed by Dawn” - Brandon Kline