Soda Springs, Idaho has made a name for itself by turning a small natural hot spring in the area into a full fledged, albeit man made, geyser. Some inspired entrepreneurs tried to market soda water (under the brand name Idan-ha) by drilling for carbon dioxide from a spring near town, kegging the gas, and carbonating local water in the bottle. This turned out to be a bad idea, as the gas was impregnated with a sulfur smell, which made any water all but unbearable.
Said entrepreneurs then decided to make the best of a bad situation, and to turn their fledgling seltzer company into a hot springs bath house. Expanding their drill hole, they hit hot water which shot out of the bore a la There Will Be Blood. Once they contained their gusher, the town now had a fully functional geyser that they could throw on at the turn of a valve. The joke in Yellowstone is that tourists ask where the pump house is for Old Faithful. Here, it is located several feet from the pipe that emits the geyser water every hour, on the hour.
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
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.
This picture was taken near Fishing Cone, in the West Thumb Geyser Basin near Yellowstone Lake in Yellowstone National Park. 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.
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.
A petrified sand dune sounds and smells almost nothing like being near the ocean. Sure, tens of millions of years ago, this area was prime seaside real estate, but now the area is just Prime Real Estate (tm). People die in Snow Canyon State Park all the time—not from exposure and dehydration, but from being too fat. It is a very beautiful area though, as long as you are in good shape.
