The Narrative Image

Our eight-wheeled convoy skitters from the gulch and confidently negotiates a gossamer web of roads that evolved over time - shaped by topography, territory, and tepid human encroachment.   This instant in time - this fragile iteration of topsoil and flora tied to the sky and the distant oceans is even now responding to disparate fingers -   Water vapor flows - an atmospheric river streams in the sky   This image was chosen for its analogous visual relationship to the next picture. Ramona Falls (pictured) is not actually in the Owyhee Canyonlands. Water falls - water flows - gravity is   Earth is a fitful sleeper. She tosses and turns. Her skin cracks and buckles. She bleeds magma and farts ashes that settle in layers through the epochs.   Rain turns the pages - shows us chapters of the past - reveals secrets of creation - and nightmares of extinction.     The earth murders whole worlds, and tries to bury the evidence. And we stumble onto fresh stages ...

Rico passes beyond the confluence of Dago Gulch and Leslie Gulch. Perched at the head of Leslie Gulch, I try to temper my anticipation. I also put on the best poker face I have at my disposal and try to minimize any role I might have played in lobbying for this excursion during the planning stages of this trip. I’m keenly aware of the let-down I felt at The Pillars of Rome and if this turns out to be a bust, I’m hoping I won’t be blamed. If you were to start researching Leslie Gulch today, you might find positively spun comments like, “...Situated amongst one of the most stunning landscapes in Oregon…” or “...one of the most jaw-dropping geological formations in the Pacific Northwest…” But you can also find more tempered expressions like, “But of all these non-disappointments Leslie Gulch, by far, has been the most impressive.” One comment, because of its awkward placement within its respective article reflected a positively cynical perspective. “Things to do near Leslie Gulch…” it beg...