Journal

                    Journal

Oklahoma's Tallgrass Prairie - 2005: A peace hovered over the land that day in May, a peace I needed more than I realized as I recovered from too much time lost and a heart searching for something beyond the everyday

Buster - 2002: ...I must be getting softhearted in my old age, because what transpired over that Labor Day weekend stirred emotions I thought long ago dormant. It was a tough lesson to endure, but one learned only by gazing through sorrowful windows into the lives of the most innocent...

When Nature Wins - 1997: Never again would a sunrise simply be a sunrise. It would be a unique moment of time and place forever bound and tested against that morning...

A River's Heritage - 1998: If there is a crown jewel of the Ozarks, it is the Buffalo River of Northwest Arkansas.

To An Old Friend - 2002: Whether it was wetting a line from a canoe, wading Flint Creek or the Baron Fork, quail hunting inside some tangled draw, or standing waste deep in freezing water waiting for that elusive flight of ducks, Ralph always had a story to tell.

Winchester Bay - 2006: It became a large part of my history and even though I have not returned in all those years, I feel as though a part of me still resides there moving amongst the piers, the dunes, and riding the waves on those 44’s.

That Route to Travel Again - 1999: A million miles away I was...and the fatigue of the past few months drifted away with the campfire smoke as it hovered low over the waters. It felt good to rest and enjoy one of the finer things of life.

Canoe Camping - Some Do's and Don'ts - 2005: I couldn’t believe what I saw that morning during the first week of June a few years back. My nephew’s Boy Scout troop was about to embark on a multi day 60+ mile float trip down the Buffalo River in northwest Arkansas...the near disaster that occurred on that first day could have been avoided had they followed a few basic principles of how to load a canoe and how to prepare for a trip such as this.

The Test - 2000: I faced another kind of opponent on those two mornings, one that dwells within. He almost won, and still taunts me, but deep down I know I passed a difficult test in the scenario of one of nature's remarkable saga's.

What Is Freedom Worth - 2001: So, what is Freedom worth? I shutter more to think what it would cost should we ever lose it, for Freedom is priceless, and our nation is rediscovering that most precious part of our national heritage.

Quail Hunting - A Touch Of Class - 2002: My old friend Ralph is gone now, but I will never forget those red-letter days of quail hunting we experienced all those years ago.

ByGone Days - 2000: ...Times such as those remembered hunting the backcountry of Oklahoma, were lessons well served, for without them the heritage of a land and the significance of retaining and passing those values to future generations have nothing as a precedent. The value of anything is relative to its owner, and those days are priceless memories that I possess...

A Test Of Character - 2007: ...On August 17, 1975, as a member of USCG Station Umpqua River, Winchester Bay, Oregon, I was subjected to a test of character I had never faced before, one in which I was forced to reach deep inside myself and confront the demon’s of fear and pain that threatened to undermine who I was as a person and my obligation as part of a search and rescue team. ...

Return To Duty- 2007: ...Only now am I beginning to understand how the emotions, personal connections, and chance happenings I experienced then affect me now...

Kentucky Morning - 2008: ...On a mid October dawn, the rustic, natural beauty that is Kentucky finally displayed her self in front of my lens, for a brief, magnificent moment...



["There's more to come...."]

Words express emotions that photographs cannot always portray. Ten years ago, I began to journal many of my outdoor adventures, some written many years after the event, some only a few days afterwards. The intent is less a "where to" "how to" narrative and more a feeling of "why". Many of the old time outdoor writers such as Trueblood, Macquarry, and Whelen wrote more about the asthetics of the outdoor way of life and less about how to go about it. It was these kinds of stories I read as a young boy which filled my imagination with adventures and excitement. I wanted no less than to live those adventures myself as a result.

In recent years I've grown weary reading the articles published by today's outdoor writers as they do little to stimulate that sense of adventure and rarely tell me anything I don't already know. I do feel what is missing in todays outdoor publication environment is that sense of personal adventure...the emotions of facing and living the outdoor life. My intent is to focus on these things because I want to tell the reader what I felt during the moment and why what happened was important...not so much how I got there.

I hope you enjoy these few stories, as they express not only my vision of the outdoors, but they are a reflection of how the outdoors has influenced my life.

Thank You...


Keith R. Bridgman



All Rights Reserved
Beyond The CampFire
Release 2.0 - July 2007
Keith R. Bridgman