MKT Trail: A Pictorial Journey

The MKT Trail is an 8.9 mile spur line from the old Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad that runs to downtown Columbia, MO from near McBaine, MO. The city of Columbia maintains the first 4.7 miles of the MKT Trail and Boone County maintains the remaining 4.2 miles.

Seasons of the MKT Trail: A Pictorial Journey, is a 9"X12" hardbound book that contains 176 pages with 260 full color photographs of the trail over a 10 year period. The book showcases the MKT Trail throughout the different seasons of the year from 1999-2010; winter, spring , summer and fall, plus flood pictures. The MKT Trail uses 16 bridges to pass over Flat Branch Creek, Hinkson Creek, and the Perche Creek (which do occasionally flood) before it joins up with the Katy Trail at Hindeman Junction. Seasons of the MKT Trail also includes fauna and wildlife you may see along the trail.

The book was designed to give not only an overall view of the MKT Trail, but to elicit an individual's own memories of the MKT Trail, hence the term pictorial journey. As such, the pictures do not have captions, but there is an index in back of the book to briefly explain each picture. In addition to ordering directly from the author, you may also order Seasons of the MKT Trail: A Pictorial Journey on Amazon.com. If you are in Columbia, MO you can purchase the book at the following locations.

Columbia Books, 1907 Gordon St, 573-449-7417, www.columbiabooksonline.com
Boone County Historical Society, 3801 Ponderosa, 573-443-8936, www.boonehistory.org
University Book Store , MU Campus, 573-882-8525
Walt's Bike Shop, 1217 Rogers, 573-886-9258, www.waltsbikeshop.com
Tryathletics, 1805 Chapel Hill Road, 573-447-2453, www.tryathletics.com
Klunk Bicycles & Repair, 211 E. Broadway, 573-874-0090, www.klunkcycles.com
Shear Perfection, 2535 Bernadette Drive, 573-234-1465
Katfish Katys, Katy Trail, Huntsdale, 573-445-0047, www.katfishkaty-campground.com
Trailside Cafe & Bike Shop, Katy Trail, Rocheport, 573-698-2702, www.trailsidecafebike.com
get lost!BOOKSHOP, 8 S. Ninth St, 573-442-3330

Seasons of the MKT Trail: A Pictorial Journey makes an ideal gift for birthdays, weddings, and any other special occasion that comes up on your calendar.

About the Author

Gary Dietrich

Gary Dietrich earned a Bachelor of Journalism and a Bachelor of Science, F&W, degree from the University of Missouri. The love of nature and its many intricacies has drawn him into the world of photography, where he has tried to capture the awesome beauty of the world around us. He has exhibited his photos at four different shows at 50 Minute Photo and Tellers in Columbia, where he has lived with his wife, Michelle, since 1980.

Hot on the Trail

By: Jill Renae Hicks
This article was published on page C6 of the Sunday, May 29, 2011 edition of The Columbia Daily Tribune with the headline "Hot on the trail."

"Mile marker 5.4" is a photo by Columbia resident Gary Dietrich. Dietrich's book is "Seasons of the MKT Trail: A Pictorial Journey."

The MKT Trail has long been a symbol of health and nature's beauty for Columbia natives. Spanning nearly 9 miles, the trail was built over the old rail bed that once ran through town. But for many runners, cyclists and even walkers, the best details of the trail are largely unseen. That is where Gary Dietrich enters the picture.

Back in 1997, the Columbia resident began snapping photographs of the MKT Trail for his bicycling partner who had recently moved to Arizona. He stopped for a while when his friend suddenly passed away, but eventually the trail called him back, he said. In 2001, Dietrich underwent surgery for his back and was prescribed a remedy of walking two miles a day in 30 minutes' time. Unable to bicycle like he had before, he instead began to walk and take pictures of intricacies and quirks he noticed along the trail. "And I just never really stopped," he said. "Then the thought just popped into my head, 'You should probably put this in a book.' "

The idea "was fermenting for several years," he added. Then he approached Yolanda Ciolli, who had moved from the former shop 50 Minute Photo into custom book publishing. As a trial run, Dietrich first printed six small books through the website Shutterfly, with different themes such as "fall," "floods" and "animals and critters." The positive response gained from friends and acquaintances motivated him to publish a full book of MKT photography, which became "Seasons of the MKT Trail: A Pictorial Journey."

The coffee-table book, widely available locally in bookstores, captures a mix of varying moments: a mile marker easing out of a foggy morning, a spiderweb wet with dewdrops, a farm tractor rumbling across the trail from field to field, flower petals opened seductively, a snowy owl glowering from a tree branch, even a serendipitous shot of a snake eating a toad. The book runs mainly in chronological order, which "gives more of a historical look at it — then to now," Dietrich said. He scanned in film photos taken from about 1999 to 2006, before he switched to a digital camera.

"Most people just walk a short section" of the trail, Dietrich said. "But when you walk the whole trail from beginning to end, that's when you find a whole variety." As he has walked year in and year out, Dietrich has grown to recognize what parts of the trail hold especial beauty in particular seasons. He notices how flooding affects trailbanks and bridges: "You recognize a little bit of changes over the years, and you recognize a little bit about what the city and the county have done to try and keep the floods from washing out areas where they've raised the bed."

"The trail is more than just the trail," Dietrich mused. "Runners probably aren't going to stop and look at a flower. I look at the different things that are around there, the different times and the seasons, and try and capture the whole environment" — effectively creating a comprehensive view of the trail in a photo narrative spanning more than 10 years. One of the earliest photos he took that appears in the book, a 1999 photo of a doe at close range, is a favorite of his. "She let me walk up to within about 20 feet of her," he remembered. "I kept expecting that she would bolt and run, … but she stood there, and she just looked at me."

Dietrich is not a photographer by trade; he works in sales for U.S. Farmer. "Over my lifetime, I've just taken pictures for myself, pretty much," he said. He carries a camera with him whenever he goes out. But he acknowledges the ways the book has affected people. He cited the example of a friend whose wife is a substance abuse counselor: She has used the book to help treat some of her patients. "It has a calming effect on them," Dietrich said. He has exhibited in town before: three shows at 50 Minute Photo and one at Teller's Gallery & Bar. However, other books are "in the thinking," he said. The next one will cover all of the Katy Trail. Dietrich has ridden half of it so far.

"I don't take every picture so that it's a perfect, great picture because basically I'm documenting what I see that day," Dietrich said. "And, naturally, some of them are going to stand out better than others. I'm not going to say that every picture in here is the perfect picture, but we put different things in just so they could tell the whole story. That's why we called it 'A Pictorial Journey.' "

Reach Jill Renae Hicks at 573-815-1714 or e-mail jrhicks@columbiatribune.com.

This article was published on page C6 of the Sunday, May 29, 2011 edition of The Columbia Daily Tribune with the headline "Hot on the trail."