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What is it about Yellowstone National Park that draws millions of visitors from all over the world? If you've visited Yellowstone, you should already know the answer. If you’ve never visited-or you have, but still don’t know the answer—Michael Leach explains it to you in his book of essays, Grizzlies on My Mind.
Leach is a Yellowstone insider with unmatched passion for this nation’s first national park. At the age of twenty-two, Leach’s dream of becoming a Yellowstone ranger came true. It wasn’t long before he’d earned the nickname "Rev" for his powerful Yellowstone “sermons.”
In Grizzlies on My Mind, Leach shares his love for Yellowstone—its landscapes and wildlife, especially its iconic bison and grizzlies—as he tells tales that will delight anyone interested in the national park system, wildlife and wild landscapes, rivers and adventure. Heartwarming and heartbreaking stories of human lives lost, efforts to save a black bear cub, a famous wolf who helped Leach through some dark personal days, the unique and oftentimes humorous Yellowstone “culture,” backpacking trips that nearly ended in disaster, and Leach’s spiritual journey with his Assiniboine-Gros Ventre “brother” fill the pages—and the reader’s heart.
If you’ve never been charged by an elk, traveled solo at dawn across Yellowstone’s frigid interior (working your way slowly through a herd of peaceful bison in the process), or lain awake in a backcountry tent, listening for the spine-tingling breaths of a curious grizzly—but you crave such experiences, Grizzlies on My Mind is the book for you.
List of contents
Medicine Warrior
Grizzlies On My Mind
The Journeyman, 253
Winter Adventures
Life Returns to Yellowstone
Mammoth Madness
Ranger Field Journal
Wild Entrapment
Christmas in Yellowstone
Ode to #6
The Story of the Kestrel
Bitterroot Paint
Only In Yellowstone
Hello Again Old Faithful
The Hills Are Alive
American White Pelican
Summer Love Letter
Fall Is In The Air
Yellowstone’s Gym Culture
Winter’s Loosening Grip
The Fading Light Of Summer
Closing Out The Season
Bison and Bigotry
Teasing Seasons
Chaos, Wind and Harlequins
Respect For Señor Blanco
Song of the Yellow Bellied
Bliss Pass
Hoodoo Equinox Storm
About the author
Michael Leach has written numerous pieces for regional publications, including YELLOWSTONE DISCOVERY, OUTSIDE BOZEMAN, DISTINCTLY MONTANA, NEW WEST, and WYOMING WILDLIFE. Michael is known for his bold, unique voice, his humor, and his lyrical writing style. Drawing comparisons to the great Norman McLean, Michael's writing conjures up deep and powerful emotions in readers of all ages. With his innovative and passionate approach, Michael brings a contemporary style to the nature genre through his rich and heartfelt prose while connecting readers with the raw power of wild places like Yellowstone.
