Marty’s photo of the day #3779: This is Lake Bowdoin in northeastern Montana, near the town of Malta. When Deb and I traveled to the American Prairie Reserve, we took the long way and drove north out of the Bitterroot Valley, stopped in Kalispell, where I performed a show at Flathead Valley Community College, and […]
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Tag: Nellie
Dogs make the trip!
Marty’s photo of the day #3768: When Deb and I traveled the world for my first book, Cool Creatures, Hot Planet: Exploring the Seven Continents, I loved all of our adventures. Even so, our least exotic trip, to the top of Canada, always gives me the warmest feelings when I think back about it. That’s […]
Plant life on the American Prairie Reserve
Marty’s photo of the day #3765-3767: Plant life close-ups on the American Prairie Reserve (Montana). The most nerve-racking aspect of visiting the American Prairie Reserve was all the prickly pear cactus. When hiking, Deb and I had to be careful that our dog, Nellie, didn’t step on any of it. Months before our trip, we […]
Conflicted genetics
Marty’s photo of the day #3764: When Deb and I adopted Nellie from the animal shelter, a little over a year ago, we assumed she was a black Lab mix. A DNA test showed otherwise. She’s actually one-half golden retriever and one-half Australian cattle dog. We don’t dispute the DNA test, as we can see […]
Montana’s railroad car bridges
Marty’s photo of the day #3763: In Montana, when people need a bridge, they often go to the railroad yard and buy a used flatbed car. In fact, on the dirt road leading to Deb’s and my house, we cross both a river and a stream on bridges made with railroad cars. When we first […]
Wolf spider on the prairie
Marty’s photo of the day #3761: Whenever I’m out photographing nature, sooner or later I will end up on my hands and knees capturing an image of something small. In this instance, Deb, Nellie, and I were hiking the American Prairie Reserve, in a dry area that overlooked the Judith River. The ground beneath my […]
Elk on the prairie
Marty’s photo of the day #3760: Stalking elk on the open prairie isn’t easy—especially when accompanied by a very active, medium-sized dog. The elk were at the beginning of their rut, when Deb, Nellie, and I visited the American Prairie Reserve earlier this month. A few times we even heard them bugling. These two bulls […]
Coyote Camp
Marty’s photos of the day #3744-3747: My favorite of the three places Deb, Nellie, and I stayed at in the American Prairie Reserve was a yurt on the western side. The yurt didn’t have running water, but it still felt luxurious compared to our previous two stays. Our yurt had three sections: one section had […]
Wind Camp
Marty’s photos of the day #3730-3736: Deb, Nellie, and I stayed in three places while visiting Montana’s American Prairie Reserve. Our middle stay—two nights in a cabin at Antelope Creek Campground—was our least favorite. There the days were so windy that we renamed the location “Wind Camp.” Even so, we still enjoyed our visit. Photo […]
The fastest animal in the Western Hemisphere (disputed)
Marty’s photo of the day #3722: I expected to see pronghorn everywhere in the American Prairie Reserve, but instead they were a rare sighting. I attribute that more to bad luck than to the lack of animals. Pronghorn can run a little over 50 mph, making them the fastest land animal in the Western Hemisphere. […]
Relaxing on the Missouri River
Marty’s photo of the day #3721: During our American Prairie Reserve visit earlier this month, Deb and I walked many miles, and our dog, Nellie, more than quadrupled whatever ground we covered. Despite all that exploring, one of our most enjoyable days occurred when we found a grassy section along a high, sheer bank of […]
Prairie vs. ranchland
Marty’s photo of the day #3719: This is our tent site, from earlier this month, at Buffalo Camp on the American Prairie Reserve. It’s not an exciting photo, but I wanted to point out how green the landscape was. As we drove south out of Malta, Montana, we followed fifty miles of gravel roads until […]
The Bison Roll
Marty’s photos of the day #3718: I shot this series of bison photos during our first day in Montana’s American Prairie Reserve. Our tent, at Buffalo Camp, was a two minute walk away. I thought about attaching speech bubbles to the photos, but ultimately decided they would detract too much from the scene. Instead I […]
Swallows on the American Prairie Reserve
Marty’s photo of the day #3717: As a wildlife photographer, I’m naturally drawn to animals of the more exotic variety. But sometimes common animals, like this barn swallow and chick, are just waiting to show that they can be interesting subjects too. While visiting Montana’s American Prairie Reserve earlier this month, Deb, Nellie, and I […]
A shocking prairie dog photoshoot
Marty’s photo of the day #3716: As mentioned yesterday, Deb, Nellie, and I enjoyed an amazing six days in Montana’s American Prairie Reserve. I might even write a magazine article about our experiences or work them into a future book. Our initial adventure occurred as we entered the reserve, and it caused a freaky injury […]
The American Prairie Reserve! (Post #1)
Marty’s photos of the day #3715: Last night, my wife Deb, our dog Nellie, and I returned from six fabulous days in the American Prairie Reserve. Few people know about this wonderful, remote Montana treasure—and admittedly I’m quite tempted to stay quiet about it. Located along the Missouri River, in north-central Montana, it is one […]
Great sticks!
Marty’s photo of the day #3674: “Hey, Dad. I’m really diggin’ this backpacking thing. The sticks in this meadow are grrreat!”
The long and the short of it
Marty’s photos of the day #3673: On February 12, 2020, I got my hair cut in preparation for a college show in New Jersey. At the time, I had no idea how hard the COVID-19/Trump pandemic would hit, and that following that show, I would be switching to performing at colleges via Zoom. After that […]
Falling from the bridge
Marty’s photos of the day #3667: Here are three more photos from Nellie’s first backpacking trip (this past weekend). 1) Nellie always insisted on leading, as we hiked six-miles-to and six-miles-from the Twogood Cabin in western Montana. She did a great job of setting the pace. Except, of course, when the squirrels and chipmunks invited […]
Nellie’s first backpacking trip
Marty’s photo of the day #3666: I haven’t posted for several days, because Deb and I took Nellie on her first backpacking trip. We hiked six miles to the Twogood Forest Service Cabin in the mountains of western Montana. There we spent two nights and had a wonderful time. This was Deb’s and my second […]