The Vixen, The Chipmunk and the Raven

During our summer road trip, punctuated by a five night stay in Algonquin Provincial Park, we serendipitously encountered a female fox ushering a fat chipmunk meal to her likely den of pups. Walking along the ditch of the one lane highway that traversed the park, I imagined the backstory that led to this predatory encounter. 

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Eastern Chipmunk (Tamias striatus)

Canon 1D mark iii + Canon 300mm f2.8L IS

The campsite and home for our five day stay was rich with chipmunks. There were times when it felt as if we were under siege. I, with a bag of shelled peanuts, would sit in the midday sun cracking shells, eating nuts and shooing rodents from my protein-rich morsels. The dogs, enamored by the little mammals, would chase them about only to be foiled by the tethers that restricted a final lunge. The peanuts, the product of photosynthesis, store molecules, rich with long chains of carbon, whose assembly from atmospheric gasses was fueled by the sun. On occasion a chipmunk would recover a fumbled nut, and dash away to gnaw on the morsel of fat and protein. Combined with the seeds of nearby plants, the army of chipmunks expands as they become the physical reservoir for the sun’s energy. 

Road Fox (Vulpes vulpes) : Algonquin Provincial Park, Ontario

Canon 1D mark iii + Canon 300mm f2.8L IS

So, when we encountered our fox along the Highway 60 corridor, I imagined that a chipmunk took one risk too many. Having seen my dogs restricted by their ropes, chipmunk logic might dictate that this canine vixen might be kept at arm’s length as well. Sadly, the pawn of the chipmunk army now lies limp between the mandibles of a mouth that will feed the next link in a food chain. The transfer of energy continues as the sun becomes nut, nut becomes chipmunk and chipmunk becomes fox.

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Highway 60 : Algonquin Provincial Park, Ontario

Canon 7D + Canon 100-400mmL f/4.5-5.6

On the evening of our fifth day in this boreal forest, we saw a flock of ravens circling about. Highway 60 was quiet as we traversed the park in search of moose. The Jeep sped along and the ravens drew near. We could barely see a shadowy form pulling at some flesh along the shoulder of the road. Lying limp and lifeless, the roadkill stores energy that will feed the scavengers that lurk about. A beak tugged at the red and brown mass of hair.  The flow of energy never stops, as the fox who, built from the sun, will soon be fuel for making raven.

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The scavenger: HOH Rainforest - Olympic National Park, WA

Nikon D100 + Nikon 300mm f2.8 AFS 

©2000-2014 BTLeventhal.com / Bruce & Tamy Leventhal. All rights reserved. No image on this site may be used without permission.

Roadtripping 2014 (Post #4)

“Wander where there is no path (Chuang Tzu)” and Lessons learned from a turtle.

Killarney Provincial Park in central Ontario, is located on the north shore of Georgian Bay nearly ninety minutes from the city of Sudbury. Driving east of Sudbury we turned south on a gravel road that gradually drifted into a mix boreal forests, azure blue lakes and quartzite mountains. Known for its paddling and fishing, Killarney is rich in wildlife and a great place to hike. 

It took 9 hours to drive from Pictured Rock Lake Shore in Michigan to Killarney, and shortly after our arrival we set up camp and mapped a plan for day hikes during our stay. I wanted to take in the entire park and push myself a bit, so when inquiring about interesting hikes, I failed to mention that we would be trekking with dogs. Seeing my enthusiasm and willingness to endure a bit of pain, the ranger suggested that we begin our stay at Killarney by visiting “The Crack.”

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Turtle on Walk-a-bout - Killarney Provincial Park, Ontario

Canon 6D + Canon 17-40L

It wasn’t until after we had completed the trek that I realized the challenges we would face. Rated as “difficult,” the hike is about 10 km total, and terminates at the top of Killarney Ridge where you are treated to a panoramic view of the La Cloche Mountains. We began early and were fooled by the ease of the first three kilometers. Following moose tracks that meandered through pines, spruce and wetland habitat, the four of us (2 people and 2 dogs) basked in the solitude enjoyed by those willing to start early and avoid the masses. Hoping to catch morning light, we ate a very small breakfast, skipped the coffee and carried only trail bars to feed hungry legs. Needless to say, we were ill prepared for the time and rigor required to complete the final ascent. 

By the third kilometer, I became a bit concerned. We reached a mountain of quartz that needed to be traversed. Rather than a trail, a suggested pathway was marked by red arrows hammered to the occasional tree. The barely visible path quartz was interspersed by steep climbs which led to more of the same. Fearful for the dogs, I wondered aloud if we should turn back. Tamy has that “never say never attitude,” and while she always pays a price in the end, we forged ahead. This first ascent terminated in an amazing view of the valley we had climbed, and made for a great place to rehydrate, eat a bar and catch our breath. The dogs had a tough climb up, and I knew that they would be challenged by the trip down. 

Portrait of a Snapping Turtle - Killarney Provincial Park, Ontario

Canon 1D mark III + Canon 300mm f2.8L IS

Shortly after a brief rest, I began to investigate the surroundings to record this experience. While we still had many kilometers to go, the current spot was quite photogenic. It was here that I found a snapping turtle. Sitting quietly on a boulder with no water in sight, I was astonished that the turtle was in this place. The statue-like posture made me question whether the life force in the animal was slowly withering away. To be clear, we were on a quartzite mountain with barely a puddle of water in view. I couldn’t help but think that the turtle was engaged in quest much like our own. Searching for a challenge or change, it wandered beyond its range seeking to experience a renewal of its life.

Ninety-minutes later, we made it to “The Crack.” To get there, we traversed two more quartzite mountains that required hands and feet to scramble about. Much like us, the dogs were beat but not down. In the end, Tamy and I took turns to make the final ascent, as the last mountainous path was not dog or tripod friendly. While the view beyond The Crack was spectacular, the sense of accomplishment was greater than any image I might have captured on that day. Interestingly, the descent felt as treacherous and exhausting as the climb, and the turtle we had encountered on the way up was now gone. Fooled by its wariness, the reptilian wanderer was not on its last leg, but was still filled with a life-force that was willing to forgo the path of least resistance in favor of an adventure that is only privy to the living.

©2000-2014 BTLeventhal.com / Bruce & Tamy Leventhal. All rights reserved. No image on this site may be used without permission.

Roadtripping 2014 (Post #3)

There are times when travel should simply be about "being there." Fortunately for me, I travel with two dogs that get it even when I do not.

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Quiet Moments before the Dogs Jumped in - Algonquin Provincial Park, Canada

Canon 6D + Canon 17-40mm L

I know of no other creature that appears to embrace each moment as if it were their first and might be their last. They are true Zen masters. 

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Searching for Moose (See this Link about finding them!) - Algonquin Provincial Park, Canada

Fuji X100

While traveling with the dogs certainly impacts my productivity, these empaths always add more to the travel experience than they take. 

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Tamy, Sequoia and Luca - Pictured Rock National Lake Shore, MI

Canon 6D + Canon 100mm f2.8 Macro

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Deep Thoughts from Little Minds - Algonquin Provincial Park, Canada

Fuji X100

©2000-2014 BTLeventhal.com / Bruce & Tamy Leventhal. All rights reserved. No image on this site may be used without permission.

Roadtripping 2014 (Post #2)

Every summer we spend several weeks on the road. In past years, we’ve flown to places like Puerto Rico, Costa Rica, Seattle and Alaska only to rent a car and drive hundreds to thousands of miles. Call it wanderlust, but I’d rather take the backroads to some seldom visited wildlife refuge than park myself behind the barricades of an all inclusive resort. When we don’t fly and drive, we travel by Jeep with a tiny A-frame popup. From the western edge of the Canadian Rockies to the eastern limit of Ontario, our camper has been a home base during the pursuit of wildlife and landscape subjects.

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Dusk at Sand Point Beach (Looking North) - Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, Munising MI

Canon 6D + Canon 17-40mm L

Dusk at Sand Point Beach (Looking South) - Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, Munising MI

Canon 6D + Canon 17-40mm L

The first stop during this year’s trip was the “Upper Peninsula” (aka UP), Michigan. We found a quaint, but somewhat crowded, campsite near the town of Munising and spent four days investigating waterfalls, Lake Superior’s sandy coast and the iconic features of Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore. Because we like to take our two dogs on these camping adventures, access to the best trails throughout the United States is somewhat limited. The National Park Service regards dogs as a potential threat to trail structure and wildlife and thus limits our ability to spend long hours in the back country. We’ve learned to accept these restrictions, as there are many irresponsible pet owners who refuse to leash their dogs and collect the inevitable waste they produce. In contrast, Canada has a less restrictive pet policy and has been a better place for us when we are looking for a back-country experience.

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Wagner Falls - Munising, MI

Canon 6D + Canon 17-40mm L

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Showering in Wagner Falls - Munising, MI

Canon 7D + Tokina 12-24mm ATX II

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Leaves and Falls - Wagner Falls, MI

Canon 1D mark iii + Canon 300mm f2.8L IS

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Munising River - Munising, MI

Canon 6D + Canon 17-40mm L

Although we could not see the “best” that Pictured Rocks had to offer, we were not going to allow our limited access be an excuse for producing mediocre images. In contrast, we decided to embrace the limitations and consider it an opportunity to break from photographic norms. Traveling with dogs into national parks required that we stay on paved or heavily traveled trails, and restricted our visit to places that were visible from the road or a visitor center. While this might seem to be an impediment to the creative process, these limits allowed us to see familiar subjects in unfamiliar ways. Rather than focusing on oft photographed places during peak hours, we’d visit the iconic locations while others were sleeping or eating a long-awaited meal. If the weather was marginal, we were out shooting in search of something different. Predawn light and dusk were prime time and photographic “rules” were readily modified or abandoned. 

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Miner's Castle - Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore

Canon 6D + Canon 17-40mm L

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Miner's Castle - Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore

Canon 6D + Canon 17-40mm L

This portfolio displayed illustrates our time at Pictured Rocks. No image require more than a kilometer’s hike to the destination and could be produced by anyone willing experiment with a camera and dismiss the simple comforts of sleeping in and scheduled meals. 

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Cow's Parsnip along the River - Munising, MI

Canon 6D + Canon 17-40mm L

©2000-2014 BTLeventhal.com / Bruce & Tamy Leventhal. All rights reserved. No image on this site may be used without permission.

Roadtripping 2014 (Post #1)

In 2012 we spent 18 days wandering throughout the Canadian Rockies with our dog, Jeep and popup camper. The 3500 mile adventure ended in northern Montana with a blown tire that shredded the interior. By 2013, the repairs were completed and we had hoped to do a short tour of northern Minnesota. Having just returned from wildlife work in Costa Rica, we were looking forward to doing some landscape photography around Voyageurs National Park. Less than one-hundred miles from home the second tire exploded and caused near-catastrophic damage to the appliances and plumbing of our tiny rig. The inadequate tires and plastic fenders on our Flagstaff A-Frame popup now seemed to be an impediment to its use. Two blow-outs  in 3 years have resulted in damages that now exceed the original purchase price. While a bit hesitant to take it on another long trip, I wasn’t about to let $15,000 in repairs go to waste or dissuade us from the opportunity to live another adventure. With an eye on the past and plans for the future, we equipped our Frankenstein mobile shelter with off-road tires and a lift kit as a prophylactic measure against another disaster.

Alces alces - Algonquin Provincial Park, Ontario Canada

Canon 7D + Canon 100-400 f4.5/5.6L IS

On July 12th, we hit the road towards Algonquin Provincial Park. Our route included 3 days near Picture Rock National Lake Shore, 3 days at Killarney Provincial Park, 6 days in Algonquin and 3 days to get home. The leaves on the map (below) were our “ports of call,” the blue line indicates our travels towards the east and the pink is our final path home. While most of our photography focused on landscapes in and around the Great Lakes, the pursuit of moose were in the plans for our stay in Algonquin…

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3500 miles w/ the Jeep Liberty, A-Frame Popup & two big dogs

Stay tuned, as I’ll try to add more thoughts about photography, our travels and the environment as I continue to update the blog later this week. 

About the Image: We had seen quite a few moose during our stay in Algonquin Provincial Park. Most were cows with and without calves. While we had unsuccessfully tracked a moose at Killarney Provincial, the cows at Algonquin were relatively easy to find during drives at dawn and dusk. On our final full day at Algonquin, we decided to rent a canoe and take the dogs out for a four-hour paddle. Because our one year-old pup was a canoe virgin, I had reservations about taking any expensive camera gear. Fortunately, my obsessive compulsion towards making the most of a possibility caused me to throw "caution towards the wind," and risk losing a camera to a swamped canoe. We found the bull (pictured above) nearly ninety-minutes into the paddle. Surprisingly, the dogs remained calm and we were able to take many photographs from different angles as we slowly made an approach. Forty-five minutes later, the light became harsh and we left our moose friend to continue enjoying his meal of lily pads and lake grasses.

©2000-2014 BTLeventhal.com / Bruce & Tamy Leventhal. All rights reserved. No image on this site may be used without permission.