Thomas Trock

Mountain Cathedrals: The Outdoors From a Different Perspective

Bears Bobcats Cougars Wolves etc

Bears V

The Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon Him, The Spirit of wisdom and understanding, The Spirit of counsel and might, The Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD. … The cow and the bear shall graze; Their young ones shall lie down together; And the lion shall eat straw like the ox. … They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain, For the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD As the waters cover the sea. – Isaiah 11:2, 7, 9 NKJV Many people think that bears are strictly carnivores …

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Bears IV

I will lift up my eyes to the hills–from whence comes my help? My help comes from the LORD, Who made heaven and earth. He will not allow your foot to be moved; He who keeps you will not slumber. Behold, He who keeps Israel Shall neither slumber nor sleep. The LORD is your keeper; The LORD is your shade at your right hand. The sun shall not strike you by day, Nor the moon by night. The LORD shall preserve you from all evil; He shall preserve your soul. The LORD shall preserve your going out and your coming …

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Bear Track

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Hebrews 11:1 And it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him. Hebrews 11:6 NLT A while back, I posted a picture of my hand holding the front paw of a live black bear (see Bears II). Pictured above is a photo of a print made by the front paw of that same species of bear. As best I can tell, the bear which made …

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Bears III Brown Bear

O LORD, what a variety of things you have made! In wisdom you have made them all. The earth is full of your creatures.  Psalm 104:24 NLT You may have heard the names brown bear and grizzly bear used interchangeably. In fact, they both belong to the same genus and species – Ursus arctos. The main difference between these bears is that of location. Brown bears, like the one pictured above, are mostly located in coastal areas while grizzlies are found inland. I took a picture of a grizzly in Yellowstone National Park a while back, and if I can …

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Bears II

Friends, why are you doing this? We are merely human beings—just like you! We have come to bring you the Good News that you should turn from these worthless things and turn to the living God, who made heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them. In the past he permitted all the nations to go their own ways, but he never left them without evidence of himself and his goodness. For instance, he sends you rain and good crops and gives you food and joyful hearts. Acts 14:15-17 NLT As I’ve mentioned before, I find animal tracks and …

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Bears I

God, who made the world and everything in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands. Nor is He worshiped with men’s hands, as though He needed anything, since He gives to all life, breath, and all things. Acts 17:24-25 An interesting perk as a biologist is sometimes getting to help people with projects different from your own. One of my favorite times has been working with folks from different agencies to live-trap black bears. Whenever I got to participate in this venture, the days always flew by far too fast …

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Wolf Tracks

Yet he knows the way I have taken; when he has tested me, I will emerge as pure gold. My feet have followed in his tracks; I have kept to his way and not turned aside. I have not departed from the commands from his lips; I have treasured the words from his mouth more than my daily food. Job 23:10-12 CSB Seeing animal signs and tracks, along with actually tracking the critters, has held a fascination for me as long as I can remember. There seems to be a never-ending story to be read and understood all around me …

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Unexpected Adventure

Have you not known? Have you not heard? The everlasting God, the LORD, The Creator of the ends of the earth, Neither faints nor is weary. His understanding is unsearchable. Isaiah 40:28 I stumbled across this draft which, for what ever reason, I had not posted in April of 2015. Oh how I miss Star the Wonderdog.   Had an interesting hike yesterday. Stardog and I trekked up a steep mountain to a natural basin of sorts. The basin is large, perhaps a mile or more across. It contains mostly small brush and grass, with occasional thick pockets of trees …

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Elk Close-Up

I lift up my eyes to the mountains— where does my help come from? My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth. He will not let your foot slip— he who watches over you will not slumber; indeed, he who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. The LORD watches over you— the LORD is your shade at your right hand; the sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon by night. The LORD will keep you from all harm— he will watch over your life; the LORD will watch over your coming …

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Huckleberries

He causes the grass to grow for the cattle, and vegetation for the service of man, that he may bring forth food from the earth. These all wait for You, that You may give them their food in due season. Psalm 104:14, 27 A nice perk of the mountains where I live is the occasional discovery of various foods to munch on whilst hiking about. Late summer and early fall yield a lot of different kinds of berries, many of which are safe – and quite tasty – to eat. Once when I was with our old yellow lab, Moon, …

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Bobcat Tracks

And many of the people believed in Him, and said, “When the Christ comes, will He do more signs than these which this Man has done?” John 7:31   A track I haven’t seen much, especially in the summer, is one made by a bobcat. In fact I’m only certain that I’ve seen one live bobcat in the wild in my life. I may have caught a glimpse of the small cat at other times, but the images were just blurs in the timber which I can’t be sure of. Technically, an animal print is where the fore or hind foot …

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The Two Hundred Dollar Bear

The eyes of all look expectantly to You, and You give them their food in due season. You open Your hand and satisfy the desire of every living thing. Psalm 145:15-16   The above picture was taken by my trail cam a few weeks ago. I had placed it near a trail which I’d hiked quite a bit with Star the Wonderdog. We’d seen some fresh animal tracks in the region, so I thought I’d see if I could capture a few pictures of the local game activity. When we hiked up to the area to retrieve the camera, I …

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Elk Bait

Fear not, for I am with you; Be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, Yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand. Isaiah 41:10      Star the Wonderdog and I were recently hiking in an area new to us. It’s a tract of land not too far from our home. In the few times we’ve explored it, we’ve seen sign from deer, elk, moose, bear, wolf, and cougar. The area has had some extensive human activity, but there are still large pockets of semi-wild country within its borders.      …

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Living Water

On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water. But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.” John 7:37-39      I’ve often been amazed at how life thrives around water. Even if it’s not much water, just a little seems to draw a …

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