Group
plans book on bird's-eye view of Lewis and Clark Trail
By Michele Linck, Journal staff writer
Photographer
Ron Lowery, left, and writer Mary Walker are traveling the Lewis and Clark
Trail by air and will produce a book about their trip. (Staff photo by
Jerry Mennenga)
SOUTH SIOUX CITY -- A photographer, writer, graphic artist, a boy and a dog made Martin Field airport in South Sioux City their base of operations Wednesday and Thursday.
Like many other modern-day adventurers, they're following the Lewis and Clark Trail during the current bicentennial commemoration. But their quest is mostly by air, a different perspective from that of the explorers of 1803.
Meet the crew: Ron Lowery, a commercial
photographer based in Chattanooga, Tenn., and also the pilot; Mary Walker,
a former Chattanoogan who lives in Tucson, Ariz., the writer and a seasoned
pilot; Sue Lowery, wife of Ron, the artist; Ryan Lowery, son of Ron and
Sue, who keeps track of press kits, contact information and the expedition's
3-year-old dog, Jack.
"We had to have a dog; Lewis and Clark had a dog on their trip,"
Walker explained Thursday afternoon at the airport as Jack kept busy checking
small-animal holes in the ground.
While Ron and Sue -- or Ron and Walker -- fly the specially designed plane, Cloud Chaser, with Ron also taking the photos, those on the ground follow in a camper.
The troupe left St. Louis last Sunday, making stops in Kansas City and Onawa, Iowa, before landing in South Sioux City Wednesday afternoon. They will leave the area this morning. They plan to end the trip in Astoria, Ore., about mid-July, then turn around and retrace their flight. They'll make one deviation coming back, just as Capt. William Clark did, following the Yellowstone River for a while, rather than the Missouri.
Sounds fun. But make no mistake, these people are working.
They're calling their modern day expedition and the coffee-table book they're producing, "Chasing Lewis & Clark Across America."
"It's an aerial, photographic journal we're making of the whole Trail this year," Walker said. "It's essentially our adventure. It will have real meaning because we're living the adventure, not just collecting photographs."
She said she is writing as they go, including information on the interesting people they meet and things they see, both from the air and on land.
Walker flew the route two years ago with her husband. She said the chance to do it again with Lowery, who sells both his aerial and underwater pictures internationally -- and to produce an art-quality book -- is something she was anxious to do. Walker said she has noticed quite a few changes, mostly on the ground.
She said there is much more information about Lewis and Clark in public, more re-enactments and more sites such as Sioux City's Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center.
"Local people have so much more respect for their own land, they're learning about their country," she said. "(The bicentennial) is really building a lot of community in small towns along the route. States are working with each other and Native Americans are working with the settlers -- us."
Lowery said he has "virtually" flown the whole route before, using satellite images available over the Internet. This time, he said he'll shoot pictures in all the areas he thinks will work for the book. Bad weather, such as the haze in St. Louis and wet farm fields, means he'll try again on the return trip to shoot the area.
Some of the photos will be shot from terra firma, Lowery said. For example, he hopes to photograph wind surfers in the Columbia River Gorge, a place with winds so gusty it would be foolhardy to fly the Cloud Chaser there.