Hop Plant and Ripening Flowers

The hop vine, I have found, is fairly difficult to get established and sprout. When it does (as seen here in attempt number 4) it grows quickly during the heat of summer. Currently, the main shoot of the vine is roughly 18 feet tall, with a second main branch another 6 feet - amazing considering the hop dies back to nothing every winter. The cone shaped flowers grow on the top third of the vine, and will be used to flavor barley soup (aka beer).

Completion of the Teton Valley Railroad - 1913

By 1913, the Union Pacific railroad had completed a line from Aston, Idaho to Victor, five years after offering the first "Yellowstone Special" on June 11. 1908. The rail dead-ended in Victor, and steam trains were turned around there on a wye (a triangle shaped junction that allowed a trail to back up and turn around.) Passengers heading to Jackson, Wyoming then took a carriage, or later, a bus, over the Teton pass, which by then was still a difficult, though not impossible, journey. The photo above shows the inaugural train - UP #684 - with a second engine and at least 6 passenger cars, probably somewhere between Driggs and Victor. The photo below, given the position of the boxcar with people standing on it in both photos, is probably taken on the top of a car on the track, either before or after the first train rolled through. The population shown in the photo below most likely represents the sum total of residents in the Driggs/Victor corridor.
More information about the UP Victor line (circa 1965) here.

Attempt at Something Hip (part x of np)

Where np is the set of all problems (complex or otherwise), here defined as the solution to a two dimensional vector, for which the solution can be verified in polynomial time (i.e. it is possible to determine the solution in the time given to us).

A Man Standing Near Lake Yellowstone

This picture was taken near Fishing Cone, in the West Thumb Geyser Basin near Yellowstone Lake in Yellowstone National Park. Approximately here:



This area is unique in that geysers and hotspots are on and in the lake. A story from the 1870 Washburn Expedition tells of a man trout fishing near one particular cone in the water, and the fish got off the line, flipped into the thermal vent, and boiled itself. No work on how sulfur infused lake trout tastes.

This photo was probably taken in the mid to late 1910's to early 1920's. During that time, the West Thumb area was a popular tourist destination in the Yellowstone area. Arriving on stagecoach from the Old Faithful Lodge (still a great building), travelers could depart nearby on a steamboat that would take them to the northern end of the lake.

Also, Lake Yellowstone looks like a hunched-over backpacker. West Thumb should be called Hiker's Head.

For Ann, Who Pointed Out The Scene

A Canadian Goose in Washington's Court, or Mr. Canada Goose [sic] to Washington
We've got the guns but they've got the numbers.

p.s. In late December, 1775, George Washington sent Major General Benedict Arnold (who would famously switch sides to the British - Traitor!) and Brigadier Richard Montgomery (who has just switched sides to the colonists - Hero!) to invade Quebec. This proved largely unsuccessful, although not for being a bad idea. The United States maintained at least through the 1960's detailed plans "just in case" we had to invade Canada. Upon declaration of peace after a successful U.S. rout of the mounties, the U.S. would annex Canada and territories and maintain the land and resources a la Puerto Rico. This was the plan for almost 200 years, and even then it was generally decided against.