{"id":40741,"date":"2016-07-11T06:11:27","date_gmt":"2016-07-11T12:11:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/?p=40741"},"modified":"2016-07-11T06:11:27","modified_gmt":"2016-07-11T12:11:27","slug":"goin-awol-again","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/2016\/07\/11\/goin-awol-again\/","title":{"rendered":"Goin’ AWOL Again!"},"content":{"rendered":"

Departure: Later this morning (assuming there are no last minute snags, which is always a possibility…)<\/p>\n

Duration: Unknown.<\/p>\n

Destination: Montana’s\u00a0Centennial Valley and surrounding area. I just can’t get enough of that place.<\/p>\n

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\"centennial<\/p>\n

The views in the valley are varied but always expansive and spectacular. On a typical trip I drive hundreds of miles in the area\u00a0looking for birds and wildlife on roads like this (and much, much\u00a0worse).\u00a0If birds are slow I can, and often do, get lost in the scenery.<\/p>\n

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\"centennial<\/p>\n

This is one view of Lower Red Rock Lake very near to our usual campsite. Regular readers have often heard me complain about the\u00a0almost nonexistent\u00a0cell signal here that makes\u00a0publishing blog posts on the road\u00a0so very difficult. But guess what? – this is just about the only place in the entire valley where there’s a signal at all so I live with it and let the views and birds compensate for the technological frustrations.<\/p>\n

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\"centennial<\/p>\n

Early mornings,\u00a0minutes after sunrise, are to die for.<\/p>\n

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\"centennial<\/p>\n

Sunrises and sunsets (and oh those stars at night!)\u00a0are some of the incredible joys of the valley. The problem is I don’t see sunsets (or\u00a0stars) very often in midsummer\u00a0because I usually hit the hay early. Wakeup time is typically about 4\u00a0am so I can put any finishing touches on blog posts (if I can make them) and have time to drink enough coffee so I can stay on the road as\u00a0I’m driving and\u00a0looking for birds as the sun comes up.<\/p>\n

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\"centennial<\/p>\n

Fair warning as you’re\u00a0about to enter\u00a0the valley from the east.<\/p>\n

My extended camping trips to the valley take planning and lots of supplies in anticipation of breakdowns and emergencies. Thankfully this main\u00a0east-west road through the valley has been improved significantly\u00a0in recent years but many others I take are bone-jarring, rocky and very hard on vehicles and tires. When you’re this far from any assistance you have to think ahead.<\/p>\n

Just in case anyone’s contemplating a similar trip here’s a (very) partial list of some of the gear and supplies I carry along (I’m in a full-sized pickup and\u00a0pulling a\u00a0small 19′ camping trailer as far as whatever camp site I choose).<\/p>\n