Sunday, June 29, 2008

Road to Adventure

The Path to the Boat
Alaska Sunday XI



The Road Goes Ever On

 The Road goes ever on and on
Down from the door where it began.
Now far ahead the Road has gone,
And I must follow, if I can,
Pursuing it with eager feet,
Until it joins some larger way
Where many paths and errands meet.
And whither then? I cannot say.
    -- J R R Tolkien

The Path to the Boat
And the Road to Adventure



Since we arrived safely back at Coldfoot in last weeks episode, I am jumping forward in time in our travel adventure (Driving from Texas to Alaska and Back) and wanted to share this photo. I am still going through the 18,000 photos that we kept (of the ~50,000 that we took). This photo was taken in the North West Territory, Canada, on the banks of the Liard River at Ft. Liard. We ate lunch here and watched the clouds drift by, in hopes of catching a glimpse of birds flying up and down the river.


In viewing the photo, I was struck by the notion that the small path down to the boat, partially hidden in the reeds and grasses, may have been not only a fishing boat, but was a Conveyance on the Road to Adventure. This is akin to what Martha and I were doing. We were on the adventure road also.


If you enlarge the photo, you can just see the tie-up line to the post to the left of the boat. Do you think the young boy, or girl, stopped along the path to pick a few berries growing there? Since they were going in the boat, I imagine they had a rather large sack lunch and a thermos (or jug) of water for the day.


Did they go upriver and let the boat drift back. Did they fish in earnest while they drifted or just enjoy watching the clouds slip by? Maybe they used the boat to cross the river, where they had a secret path through the woods to other adventures.


What adventure waited down that path?


Alaska Sunday is a collection of photographic remembrances of our driving trip from Texas to Alaska.
18,000 miles, 16 weeks, 16 western states including Alaska and four Canadian Provinces.
No chronological order, just anything of interest that got in front of our cameras.


Troy and Martha

16 comments:

judi/Gmj said...

Well done!! Glad to take a gentle reflective moment in your great adventure. I look forward to Sunday visits with you and Martha.

Michele said...

Ahh... love the photo and your description of the photo... beautiful!!
Mountain Retreat

Stacey Olson said...

very nice.. thanks so much for continuing this wonderful adventure.

me ann my camera said...

The cloud cover in this photo is magnificent. And that's what it appears to be; a cover, or perhaps the bottom of a shelf or drawer. I love finding well worn little paths and trails like the one in your photo for it tells me this is a well visited spot even if only by one or two. The used look says it is important to someone.

kjpweb said...

I'm always looking forward to the continuation of your Travel Log. Thank you for sharing and Cheers, Klaus !

i beati said...

very comforting readinf wish I could get away

Pearl Maple said...

Beautiful addition to Sky Watch Friday, thank you for sharing your lovely horizon.

LA Nickers said...

Love how the Tolkien quote accompanies the photo.

Anonymous said...

Brilliant journal and fascinating photography. Thanks for your dedication to sharing your adventures with those of us who care. And thanks for reading; I'm in your shadow. allison

Anonymous said...

FANTASTIC WORK. WELL DONE

Michael Palmer said...

Great Story!! Troy thanks for adding my site to to your blog roll, I will return the favor - You may not know, but I am a Texas boy also - I graduated high school in Beeville, its in between San Antonio and Corpus. Thanks Again for the comments on my blog.

Anonymous said...

Not only great photos but a perfect description also.

And may I ask if you have news of the fig tree?

Kathie Brown said...

I LOVE the poem at the beginning! And while I have no idea what the children did, I would like to jump in the boat and drift lazily down the river to see what I could see!

Pappy said...

Just read this morning where a Griz attacked a cyclist in Anchorage. I'd be careful when walking those paths in the bush. Pappy

This Is My Blog - fishing guy said...

Troy: Very cool, I couldn't even see the boat till I took a closer look.

Louise said...

What a wonderful photo. The perspective in incredible!