Musings from the last best place - Thoughts on living and working in Montana
 

Grand Teton in Autumn

I took this shot of the Grand Teton earlier today from a bridge on the Snake River in Wyoming. I was able to get a nice pop from the sky thanks to my polarizer and a cooperative angle from the sun.

Filed under  //   Fall   Grand Teton   Photography   Tetons   Wyoming  
Posted September 28, 2008
// 1 Comment
 

Lewis Falls - Yellowstone National Park

I took this shot of Lewis Falls in Yellowstone National Park this afternoon. The angle of the setting sun made this shot a challenge, but tight framing and stopping down to f22 help me capture what I think is a decent shot.

Filed under  //   Lewis Falls   Photography   Rivers   Yellowstone   Yellowstone National Park  
Posted September 28, 2008
// 2 Comments
 

Early Thoughts on Jackson Hole

Growing up in Wyoming, I've spent my fair share of time in Jackson Hole. From speech meets in high school to work trips during college, I'd make it up here at least once every year or so. But now it's been almost ten years since my last visit, and we're here for a soccer tournament with my daughter. It's good to be back, but it's also interesting how I now have a different perspective on this town given my current living situation in Bozeman.
  1. Dropping into Jackson from the 'wrong' side: From where I lived in Wyoming, we'd always come into Jackson from the east - over Togwotee Pass. This meant you'd see the Tetons about an hour before you hit Jackson, and the drive was spectacular. Now that I'm in Bozeman, we drop down through Idaho to get to Jackson. The drive is certainly scenic, but nothing like what you see from the Wyoming side. That said, the drive from Ashton to Driggs is a kick - winding roads through farm land that remind me a lot of the roads you'll encounter if you drive west of Bozeman through Amsterdam and Churchill. And the back side of the Tetons ain't that bad...just not as good as the front side.
  2. Jackson Hole is tourist central: Jackson has always been Wyoming's 'tourist trap', but it feels more touristy than ever on this trip. While Bozeman gets its fair share of tourists - the instructor in my fly fishing class threw out a number of 1 million visitors a year to the Big Sky/Bozeman/Yellowstone area - it still retains the feeling of a 'real' town. No such thing in Jackson. From the over-the-top twang of the bouncer at the Cowboy Bar to the knick knack shops lining the square, things are overdone. Jackson is definitely the classic, "great place to visit, but I wouldn't want to live there." Not so with Bozeman. When you first visit Bozeman, your thought is - "I think I could spend some time here."
  3. Bring your wallet: Jackson has always been expensive; I'm pleased to note that nothing's changed in that department. We got a pretty good deal on rooms at the Snow King through the team, so no complaints there. We wanted to hit the Mexican food restaurant that used to be in the basement of the Cowboy Bar, but as my wife headed down the stairs I noticed the menu: $10 a plate enchiladas had been replaced by $40 a plate steak dinners. Looks like someone determined that a steak house was a more appropriate use of the space. We headed a block away to Mountain High Pizza Pie and had a decent (not great - just decent) pizza on whole wheat for $20.
  4. Golf is crazy-expensive here: Golf is like food - it's best when it's plentiful and cheap. Granted, you're dealing with a pretty short season in Jackson (May-October), but $160/round (Teton Pines)? The Jackson Hole Golf and Tennis Club is even higher. I've golfed both of those courses in the past, but I won't be doing so this trip. We're heading back over the mountain today to Driggs, ID for a round at The Links at Teton Peaks, where 18 will set you back $30. The course gets good reviews - we shall see. [Who am I kidding? Golf is golf! - I'm gonna love it.]
Don't get me wrong - I love Jackson Hole. It's always fun to play tourist here. But I guess I'm more enamored of Bozeman now than I realized. I keep comparing the two towns and on balance, I think I'm glad to be living in the Bozone...

Filed under  //   Jackson Hole   Wyoming  
Posted September 27, 2008
// 0 Comments
 

Pixelpipe - one photo upload site to rule them all

Today's Photojojo mentioned Pixelpipe, a web site where you can upload your photo once and have them pipe that photo to almost 50 different photo sharing / blog sites on the web. It's a great idea and very necessary - especially if you're trying to maintain a portfolio on several different sites.

I stayed up waaay too late tonight to try out Pixelpipe - I had to tweak a few pictures in LightRoom and then identify five or six photo sharing web sites where I wanted to post. Til now, I've hesitated to venture outside of flickr just because of the hassle of posting in multiple locations - Pixelpipe destroys that concern. The site worked as advertised - and it was quick. I downloaded the pixelpipe uploadr (it works just like the flickr uploadr) and it worked great. My upload failed to one site, but Pixelpipe informed me of that failure and configured itself to automatically try a repost later.

It would be nice if you could re-send a previously piped photo to a new location, but that doesn't appear to be an option. My only other beef - no Posterous integration! Where's the love?

Filed under  //   Photo Uploaders   PixelPipe   Social Media  
Posted September 25, 2008
// 0 Comments
 

Chrome Begins to Lose Market Share

As Product Manager for ScheduleTown, I'm keeping a close eye on Google's new Chrome browser (our app - which provides online scheduling for busy service providers - already runs under Internet Explorer 7, Safari, and Firefox). Most of us in the office downloaded Chrome on its release date and played around with it, but then quickly went back to using our browser of choice (for me, that's Firefox). In testing, I loved that our application SCREAMED in Chrome, but I'm not sure I'm ready to declare official support for the browser just yet.

Today, I found this story at ComputerWorld that indicates I'm not the only one who dropped Chrome after an initial looksy. It seems that Chrome has dropped to .77% of measured Internet traffic, down from a high of just over 1% following its release.

Filed under  //   Browsers   Chrome   Google  
Posted September 24, 2008
// 0 Comments
 

First Fly Fishing Class

So I attended my first fly fishing class last night as part of Bozeman's Adult Education program (http://www.bozeman.k12.mt.us/adlted/). It's taught by Bruce Hemmings and offers five 2-hour sessions plus two field trips on the river for a measly $50. Count me in!

I've already picked up some good information that will help me as I take up this new hobby. This will seem pretty basic to those of you already in the know, but to a complete neophyte like me it was huge.
  1. Fish always face upstream. Therefore, if you fish from downstream (working your way upstream as you go), you'll catch more fish. By casting forward and letting your fly drift into the fish, you'll avoid being seen and bring your fly into the fish in the way they normally feed.
  2. 85% of the time, fish feed below water. So while catching a fish on a dry fly is more exciting, you'll likely catch more fish on nymphs. If you don't see fish rising, use a nymph.
  3. Caddisflies, Mayflies, and other aquatic bugs lay their eggs in riffles that are usually 6" to 2.5' deep. Trout will hang out downstream from these riffles - and sometime even spend time in the riffle to pick up a quick meal. Fish these areas of the river, especially when fishing nymphs.
I'm looking forward to the next four sessions and to the time on the water later this month. Hats off to Bozeman Adult Ed for offering this great class!

Filed under  //   Adult Ed   Bozeman   Fly Fishing   Montana  
Posted September 23, 2008
// 0 Comments
 

Cherry River Wetlands, Bozeman, MT

My family and I love the great trail systems that exist in and around Bozeman. Not three minutes from my office, I can be running on trails that lead all the way out of town. I shot this series at the Cherry River area, a wetlands just north of Bozeman.

           

Click here to download:
Wagon_and_cabin_in_Bannack_a_M.zip (355 KB)

Filed under  //   Bozeman   Cherry River Wetlands   Montana   Photography  
Posted September 22, 2008
// 0 Comments
 

Wagon and shed in Bannack, a Montana ghost town

I took this shot on my first trip to Bannack, Montana, one of the best-preserved ghost towns in the US. We visited at the end of the day in late summer; a storm had just blown through, and there were few people visiting while we were there. Consequently, the place was quiet and real. I think I preferred Bannack to Virginia City because it has that sense of realness - there's no touristy stuff going on here.

Filed under  //   American West   Bannack   Ghost Towns   Montana   Photography   Wagon  
Posted September 22, 2008
// 0 Comments