Companion forum thread to:

Photo Essay: Spanish Peaks, Lee Metcalf Wilderness, Montana

We need recipes for those.

Thank you so much Ryan for another amazing and informative photo essay. These are easily one of my favorite article types on BPL. Your time and effort are very much appreciated.

As far as kids in the Wild are concerned, I have a few comments.

I am 25 years old, and I do often feel somewhat disconnected from other people around my age when it comes to wanting to spend time outside. Whether it be hiking, biking, running, boating, or even going to the park for a picnic, the interest just isn't there. That's not to say I don't know quite a few people who do enjoy those things, but even here in Colorado I find them few and far between. So I love seeing pics of these young people truly enjoying the natural world.

But I feel that sometimes we tend to over-dramatize the situation. I think that wanting to seek civilized comforts and instant gratification is not a new development in human nature. It has just become easier to attain these days. All throughout history people have flocked to cities for refuge from all the discomforts of life (although creating a myriad of other problems, i.e. obesity, depression, blah blah blah).

I grew up devouring things like video games, watching TV for countless hours, logging something like 200 days played in World of Warcraft (yes, seriously, over 5000 hours or probably way way more), and eating delicious snack cakes until I ballooned to over 200 pounds (I'm 5'8", so that's a lot). In high school and college I abused alcohol and drugs. I can confidently say that I was a prime example of the decayed and decadent version of America's youth.

But I have bounced back, and it was by my choice. My brother, sister, and I are all dedicated distance runners, enjoy hiking and backpacking, and being Outside in general. I don't know if its just in our DNA, but we all feel a powerful urge to exercise and explore. And this comes not out of family unity, but individually. We are all separated by fairly large age gaps (I am the oldest) and have spent the last few years of our lives living in different cities.

So my point is that some people are just hard wired differently. The vast majority of humanity is content with living unremarkable lives and being catered to without feeling the need to work to earn anything of value, explaining societies currently decaying state. And some are naturally inclined in the other direction. We can't alter human nature, and we can't force evolution; it has to happen naturally. All we can do is support and encourage each other and hopefully everyone else will take the hint.

Thank you Ryan- I highly enjoyed this photo essay as well as the short film.

Ryan,

What camera do you use? You've had some good crisp shots on this article and others

Thanks!

Those are some very impressive photo's indeed!

@H E
They are made with a Sony Nex7 camera (see the EXIF info of each of the photo's).

The sharpness further tells us that he must have used some pretty decent optics too, most probably prime. Since most (if not all) photo's are shot at 30mm with as fastest f2.8, I guess the lens used was the Sigma 30mm F2.8 prime (but that is just wild speculation)

Detective Cas, good work.

The tele shots were made with the Leica 90/2.8 Elmarit (not EXIF-coded).

The NEX7 is a nice all-round camera, but suffers from rapid overheating when shooting video in the sun.

A gorgeous area that is almost completely accessible to it's depths in one day yet has 11,000 foot peaks that aren't visible from any highway. A true gem. Glad you and your Scouts are able to get out and into such wonderful territory.

Loved the photos and video both--obviously the kids had a great time! Love the shoes in photo #2. I've spent a lot of time in Wyoming (grew up there) and Colorado, as well as Washington and Oregon where I live, but not in Montana. Obviously that has to change! My grandson (about to turn 13) would be ecstatic if he caught one of those lunkers!

And to repeat Dave Chenault's request: RECIPES, PLEASE!!! Especially the cinnamon rolls!

Link to the recipe for those cinnamon rolls please? :)