The final leg of the Svalbard journey was from Montana, where Big Cat was staying with a friend, to Oregon. Big Cat and I set up for a road trip. I planned to stay in Boise, halfway between Bozeman and Ashland, but nine hours out of Bozeman, I hit Boise and thought, hell, Ashland is only eight more hours. And, so I drove on. The following is a road trip poem and the final Svalbard installment. I’m sure there will be more about Svalbard to come to these pages but this is technically the end of the trip.

Itinerary

Longyearbyen – Oslo

Oslo – Copenhagen

Copenhagen – Newark

Newark – Denver

Denver – Bozeman

One day rest

Bozeman – Ashland

Road trip

Bozeman 0900

Autumn light in golden cottonwoods and aspens

Mind’s eye sees Arctic blue light

Elk herd #1

“Caution! Animals on roadway. 12 bison killed by vehicles in 2018”

West Yellowstone

Coffee

Henry’s Lake

Rigby

“When you gotta habit Idaho, tobacco, signs, banged

get banged $2”

Gas

Idaho National Laboratory

Craters of the Moon

Sagebrush desert and lava fields

Glacier mirages

Sardine juice for Big Cat

Lunch for me

Identified roadkill:

1 Badger

1 elk

1 cat

Uncounted deer and skunks

1 jackrabbit

1 raccoon

Elk herd #2

Gas

Boise rush hour

NPR first time in 71 days

Trump still an idiot

Coffee

Keep going

Sunset

Not polar night

Oregon

White Settlement Road offers glimpse of past

Says more about present

Sardine juice sloshed on truck seats while attempting to catch throwing up cat

Nap

Harney County

Pacific Time Zone

Gas

Starvation Ridge

Thirty miles; one car

Wagontire. Population: zero

Coyote crossing road

Wait. Motion entirely wrong

Two bounds; gone

Straight tail; big body

Revision: wolf crossing road

Midnight pit stop

Moonlight on sagebrush

Too cold for rattlesnakes

Coyote chorus

Coyotes for sure

Just past full moon

Nap

Orion rising; Mars setting

North Star oddly to north

Christmas Valley

Silver Lake

Cattle guard

Open range

Black angus; black night

Juniper scent

Crater Lake

Great horned owl nearly road-killed

Golden moonlight on aspens

Lake of the Woods

Into the trees

Quiet stars

Ashland 0445

Good night, Moon

The Road not Taken Enough