Afoot and Light-hearted, I Take to the Open Road

That blog title is a line from Walt Whitman, found in another book about walking I started reading called The Lost Art of Walking -- The History, Science, Philosophy, and Literature of Pedestrianism by Geoff Nicholson. I've only just started it and it's amusing enough, certainly a lighter read than the Solnit book I finished recently (which I need to return to here, as I highlighted several more passages).

I've done a bunch of walking in the past week, and it has been divine. Again, as I've said before, there is no better means for me to get my head clear than getting out on a good walk or hike. I've basically done three decent hikes, all in similar but slightly different parts of the Rattlesnake Wilderness just outside Missoula. Last week I went out for about six miles, last Sunday I did an 8 mile jaunt, and last night I cranked out 10 miles. What follows are several pictures cobbled together from these three jaunts. I hope you like this kind of thing. . . .

The next four are different versions of the same shot, using my "regular" camera and a couple different settings using the RetroCamera ap on my cell phone.

Missoula, off in the distance.

Again, a couple different looks of the same scene.

This is just a trio from a group of about thirty deer I saw. No bears or mountain lions, though!

This is the conversation between Sid and I. He'd been bugging me for fast food, which I denied by telling him I'd just been to the grocery store. When I turned my phone back on after getting into coverage area. A couple more messages popped in. Teenagers . . . all they want is food and money!

The obligatory self portrait.