Study in Black and White, Somewhere in Idaho

A well photographed building in northeast Idaho. At one time probably a school house, now just a temptation for folks intent on disregarding the posted No Trespassing sign. Also, it is probably haunted.

Explorers on Horses near Geyser

Three men and their horses, checking out a geyser in Yellowstone, circa 1915.  No idea which geyser it is.

Fall Panorama Roundup

Fall is panorama time - ok, well, everyday is panorama day - so here are a couple recent big images. The top two are from a recent venture into the McCain/Palin stronghold of southeastern Idaho (on the opening day of deer hunting season, no less). Pictured is Bear Lake, complete with its abnormally blue-green waters, and a (190 megapixel) early morning outside the forest service cabin in Idaho where we stayed.




And just for old time sakes, a panorama at sunset overlooking Flaming Gorge in Utah, taken almost exactly one year ago at th

Cowboys on the Plains

A dozen cowboys out on the plains. See below for a detail.

Native American Woman on Horse with Travois and Child

This is an incredible image, that shows a Native American woman on a horse, pulling a travois and child.  There are not many other details in the image to suggest a time and place, other than the (relatively) modern building and corral in the background.  I image 1900's-1910's given the timeframe of other photos in this batch, but other than that it is anyone's guess.

Montana Panorama

I have a feeling Springhill Ranch leaves their sprinklers on all day for dramatic effect. Not really needed, but a nice touch nonetheless. Overlooking Bozeman, Montana, the foothill of the Bridger Mountains can be seen to the left, with the Hyalite Mountains in the center, and the Spanish Peaks range in the distance on the right.

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.

If You Gotta Go, Go With A Smile

A Message From The Forest

Along the Rocky Mountains, from Canada into Colorado, lodgepole trees are dying by the thousands. Entire forests are being attacked by beetles and the trees, in a weakened state by a decades long drought, are unable to defend themselves by natural methods. More dead trees produce more beetle larvae, and warmer, drier winters don't produce cold snaps sufficient to kill off the beetles. It takes two to three summers for the tree to die, after which the forest is simply biding time until a fire destroys historical structures, cabins and homes, and trees alike. This, unfortunately, is Your Fault.

Somehow, You thought that it would be a good idea to invest in ATVs and snowmobiles, and You taught your children how to start a two stroke engine before they could walk. By insisting that the only means to explore the world is via a powered, personal vehicle, You have created a misinterpretation of outdoor recreation: motor boat bait fishing rather than backwater fly fishing, unlicensed offroading rather than hiking and exploring, and Your original sin, parking Your motor home and associated motor scooters, generators, and trucks in a once empty meadow campground like so many beetle grubs in the forest. You have warmed, and consumed, Your planet.

This particular species of beetle (Mountain Pine Beetle) only attacks lodgepole pines, and their deaths make other trees in the forest nervous - like shopping in a marketplace in Sadr City. Here, then, is a worried message from a couple Aspen trees. Try and expand upon their message, and consider that there are other ways of igniting and burning a forest than by simply lighting a match.

Mountain Meadow Meanderings

I have not yet decided if the redness of the dress makes this more a massacre than a meander.