My son Aaron and I decided to explore a very remote area of forest, swamp, and bog to the south of us. This is the only road through it–a 45 mile dirt trail with no phone or internet at all. We’re going to drive about half-way through before we hike in. We just saw a bear cross the road ahead, so maybe we’ll run into some wildlife out here in the sticks.

Out here, nature can be harsh if not downright cruel at times. This little bunny is crawling with woodticks; his ears are rimmed with them, and there are some bloated ones hanging on his face. And if that’s not bad enough, every animal he runs into wants to eat him.

Just after I took the bunny’s picture, a dark shadow slid along the ground, and he ducked down a hole. I spun around in time to get a quick shot of his nemesis, a big ol’ broadwinged hawk. Life is hard in the wilderness.

It looked like a storm was coming, so we started heading for home. The forecast had been for partly cloudy skies, but now they were saying that a tornado warning was in effect for the Roseau area. We had to make a quick decision, as it was heading directly toward us. We flew down that dirt road and got out of the way in time, but it sure was scary. There’s no help for you out in the boondocks.

–Photos by me