SkyLines
Storytelling inspired by adventure. Fishing, hunting and two-wheeled pursuits by Bryan Huskey
Episodes
This is the story of my experience racing The Standhope Ultra Challenge, a 30K trail running race through rugged peaks of Central Idaho. Flop down on your couch, and come along. I'll handle all the suffering for ya!
Episode #53
Hey everyone guess what? I’m still here. And I’m back! I think. It’s been a few years now since I’ve published anything here, which for those of you who know me can probably understand. But for those who don’t, here is something of a recap and an update for what I’m hoping to resume going forward.
Individual short story exercise.
Peering through the sliding, wobbling sheets of spring creek current he could just make out the torpedo shaped fish and it was the largest trout he had ever seen. It swung heavy in the current like a river of its own, sulking in the minty shade of an olive tree, but on occasion moving out to the edge of the shade where its entire length could be marked. And it startle him each time he saw it that w...
It was like tea bleeding in hot water. A blend of fragrances that rolled uphill in a slow, thermal simmer. The peppermint-butter aroma of bitter brush blooms, silken spice of sage and vanilla honey of mountain mahogany. The warm dog-foot smell of campfire juniper, and purified starkness of mocha-brown basalt... blotched with lichens colored of copper. Each layer unique in its scent, yet common as clouds.
Out on the open highway his journey found its tempo, its rhythm, its pulse. Every day on a bike has its own feel, and today a natural feeling sense of urgency had him riding fast. Carrying speed into corners and leaning steep with the bike as it swung through turns steady as a pendulum swings. Putting miles behind him felt satisfying. Little time was spent behind traffic, as he could pull around and charge past vehicles in the lawf...
A bumblebee bounced around.
Miles below him the line of dust continued crossing the valley, sending its flags into the air like smoke signals of forgotten interpretation. It was headed south and gaining ground fast. At the tip of this spear-shaped cloud of airborne earth, whatever was ripping dust from its resting place was still too far away, too small to see.
With a quarter turn of his right wrist the motor churned out a flurry of crisp-sounding notes that broke skyward like mallards from the angled titanium exhaust.
"As he woke his back stiffened. He tilted his head slightly and with a weathered hand pushed the woven-palm cast shadow upward- pouring the freshness of daylight into his eyes. Grasshopper wings rattled all around like strings of firecrackers hitting or missing every first or third fuse.
He blinked through rusty flakes of salted blurriness and stared past his boots and deeper down the northern view that unfolded the way heavy wool...
Daddy daycare has really put a squeeze on my time to write, and thus what I write has really been squeezed. So I'm trying to see if I can continue to produce content that's shorter in duration.
I begin this short story effort with my take on what riding a motorcycle feels like, and the sense of possibility it creates in my imagination.
Thanks for coming along! Bryan Huskey
As my kiddo and I gazed at the slab of largemouth bass flexing along the handle of my net, he asked “Dad, is that fish bigger than me?”
I could swear I heard an echo making its way back… of my own voice asking that same question 40 years ago.
For images that accompany this piece, visit the Fishpond USA blog post here: https://fishpondusa.com/fishpond/the-pond/tales-from-the-pond:-bryan-huskey/
Ch 9 Magnetic Fog resumes my 2014 archery elk hunting season with the addition of my friend Ian and his traditional bow. “They’ll be in FULL ParTay mode and we’ll have it all to ourselves.” as I whispered an invitation for him to join me for the last 2 days of the season.
See the film here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=auXUq08KHi8&t=10s
A whole new year and season. An entirely new location. Mature bulls right out of the gate. Ch 8 resumes my elk trek into the backcountry of Idaho in search of solitude, success and bull elk for the 2014 season.
Watch the YouTube video here https://youtu.be/vC4KQwpvQzg
Wired to Wander Ch 6 Anger Issues
Audio version of video. https://www.skylinesadventure.com/video
The last trip of my 2013 season is upon me, and as I head for the hills I recall some of the season's most engaging moments. And focus on a mission to finish what the previous trip started. Written, produced and narrated by Bryan Huskey @fishbitemedia @skylinespodcast
www.skylinesadventure.com
Wired to Wander Ch 5 "Dead Reckoning"
Resuming the tracking of a big bull elk I arrowed in 2013. There is a lot to think about while crawling along the forest floor looking for drops of blood.
Listen here or watch the film at www.skylinesadventure.com
Chapter 4 resumes my Idaho archery elk hunting season of 2013. Note that this Wired to Wander series is produced as a video series, and in some instances captions display audio that is difficult to hear. So hop over to YouTube to see the video, or listen to the audio portion alone here via podcast.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xiSJfkZ_E7U
Thank you! Bryan Huskey
Chapter 3 gets the memories of 2013 rolling with a painful start. But the action picks up in a big way!
Note that this is the audio version of a complete video posted to YouTube here: https://youtu.be/fNqHNOEbyKk
Second chapter of video series Wired to Wander sets the stage for my journey as an archery elk hunter in Idaho. This is complete audio from the actual video that can be watched on Youtube at https://bit.ly/2UES62G
For those who are listeners of this podcast series, I’m excited to add a visual element to my storytelling efforts. In addition to recorded essays, I’m also producing a series of short films called “Wired to Wander” that will chronicle the visual elements of my archery elk seasons from around 2012 to the present.
Music by Wrinkle Neck Mules and TV Torso
This essay is a look back at my 2016 archery elk season and what really kicked off a formalized effort to share complete accounts of my hunting seasons with audiences beyond my close friends. For all the years prior to this point, my hunting “Rut Reports” would go out as emails accompanied by photos of highs and lows of what each archery season had provided. (And that actually goes way back, even before the social adoption of email...
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