The Darkness

"In those days there were places out there the trees grew so thick that it was to be twilight at noon." --Description of the old Atchafalaya Basin

We pushed a loaded kayak into the sluggish river as sun began to set. Great flocks of birds rose out from the trees, winging off to roost overnight in the upper parts of the canopy. The normally raucous swamp was unusually quiet and the sensation that we were disturbing the silence of a church or library was strong.

Darkness settled as we slid through the water. Here and there pairs of eyes reflecting our lights rose quietly from the black waters and re-submerged. It was difficult not to imagine that beneath us, invisible man-eaters glided, masters of their domain, offended by our intrusion.

We stepped into much more than a swamp, we stepped into a place deep inside the mind, a scared, primitive place that exists in all of us. We all discover this place at some point in our lives, it happens when a person realizes abruptly that he's alone, it happens in the instant before a crash, and it happens in the darkness.

-2016-
bayou goula towhead

-2015-
the sea test

-2014-
the circumnavigator pt5
the circumnavigator pt4
the circumnavigator pt3
the circumnavigator pt2
the circumnavigator pt1
falling dream
the darkness
one hell of a mile 3&4
he will return
the believers
the horror pt2
the horror pt1
traces
death valley
whiteout

-2013-
paradise of outlaws
the mountain climbers 1&2
brought to surface
one hell of a mile 3
primordial
the lost world
inner gorge
a ghost story
the riddle
slaying the minotaur
heart of darkness
bayou
public lands
organ music
two sought adventure
the virgin river
the road north
preparations

-2012-
steal the world
the end of the world
el dorado
the valley of the kings 2
the valley of the kings 1
one hell of a mile 2
one hell of a mile 1
the mountain climbers rr4
heroes rr3
rainy roadtrip 2
rainy roadtrip 1
the transgression
sandstorm
sinister 2
sinister 1
dehydrated
anatomy
sleepwalking
new chapter

-2011-
like sedona?
torn in two
blink
bridge to nowhere
the door
hitting the wall
elusive 2
elusive 1
harquahala
hole
pick up lines

-2010-
revisited 2
revisited 1
which way?
lost mines
chute
monolith
freeze
slice
in their footsteps
a dance with death

-2009-
goodbyes
undercurrents
casting the bones
mountain thief
the deer hunter
strange temple
sanctuary
burial pt. 3
burial pt. 2
burial pt. 1
the apparition
return to hell
forsaken
the lower depths
underground lake
stretch sewer
the hidden lab
shadow movements
meager rations
sw8: the conclusion
sw7: lost gold mines
sw6: the big tubes
sw5: gold!
sw4: el calderon
sw3: redondo
sw2: ghosts
sw1: westward bound
leviathan
formaldehyde dreams
the underdark
in the beginning