A Ralph Maughan Photography Review

First timer?  In this formerly once-a-day blog (and now pretty much a once-a-week blog), I use an app that provides a random latitude and longitude that puts me somewhere in the continental United States (the lower 48).  I call this “landing.”

I keep track of the watersheds I land in, as well as the town or towns I land near.  I do some internet research to hopefully find something of interest about my landing location. 

To find out more about A Landing A Day (like who “Dan” is) please see “About Landing” above.  To check out some relatively recent changes in how I do things, check out “About Landing (Revisited).”

A Landing A Day blog post number 975

Dan:  As I mentioned in my most recent post, I thought I’d take a detour from my usual schtick and present a Ralph Maughan Google Earth photography review. Through the years, when I peruse Google Earth to find pictures taken near my landing to close out a post, I’ve stumbled numerous times on great landscape photos by one Ralph Maughan.

And then, I figured what-the-heck: why not use this opportunity to dust off a highlight or two from each featured post? So here goes . . .

Cherry Creek, Nevada

June 2013; Landing 2021, blog post 439

Lead in to Ralph’s pic:  Here’s a Panoramio shot (by Ralph Maughan) up in the mountains near Egan Canyon:

Highlight from that post:

Cherry Creek is a classic Nevada mining ghosttown.  From ghosttowns.com:

At its peak in 1882, Cherry Creek had a transient population of 6,000 and about 1800 permanent residents. The town had an amazing 28 saloons. Then the financial crash of 1883 stopped Cherry Creek in its tracks. Mines began to close and Cherry Creek began a rapid decline. A fire in 1888 destroyed a section of the business district. By 1890, the population had dwindled to 350. Another fire occurred 1901 and yet another in 1904.

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Jackson Hole, Wyoming (Part 2)

January 2014; Landing 2077, blog post 505

Lead in to Ralph’s pic:  And a shot of the Gros Ventre river valley just below the lake, as it makes its way through the slide debris (Pano, Ralph Maughan):

Highlight:

There was a massive landslide, the Gros Ventre slide that occurred in 1925.  From the US Forest Service:

On June 23, 1925, one of the largest fast-moving landslides in generations occurred near the town of Kelly, Wyoming. In just three minutes, huge amounts of rock and debris cascaded down the north slope of Sheep Mountain, changing the area forever.

Hurling down the slope at 50 mph, the mile-wide slide carried 50,000,000 cubic yards of debris. The mass rode 300 feet up the opposite slope, blocked the Gros Ventre River, and formed a five-mile long body of water known today as Lower Slide Lake.  It is thought that earthquake tremors (which were occurring) added to these already unstable geological formation and could have precipitated a landslide.

William Bierer, a long-time native to the area, had predicted a slide in the near future. Convinced of the validity of his theory, Bierer sold his ranch on Sheep Mountain to Guil Huff, an unsuspecting cattle rancher, in 1920. Bierer died in 1923 before his prophecy became reality.

Two years later, on the afternoon of June 23, 1925, Huff rode horseback down the river to the north side of Sheep Mountain where he had heard loud rumblings. He arrived at 4 p.m., in time to witness 50 million cubic yards of land mass descending rapidly toward him. He and his horse escaped the impact by a mere 20 feet.

By June 29, after heavy rains caused the dam to fill and overflow, the Huff house was floating in the lake.

Yellow Pine, Idaho (Revisited)

September 2014, Landing 2119, blog post 547, September 2014

Lead in to Ralph’s pic:  Here’s one by Ralph Maughan (a familiar name) about 5 miles east:

Highlight

Yellow Pine is out in the boonies.  McCall – over three hours away – is the closest town:

The annual “Harmonica Fest” is the big event in town:

Here’s a great road sign in Yellow Pine:

While checking out You Tube, I noticed the following video by SunFlyer65, which shows a take-off and landing at a private airstrip near Yellow Pine.  This is very cool, and I highly recommend that you stay with it for the entire 4 minutes:

Trout Creek, Partoun and Gandy, Utah

February 2015, Landing 2155, blog post 583

Lead in to Ralph’s pic:  First this one by Ralph Maughan (featured numerous times on ALAD), looking east from the Deep Creek Range above Trout Creek, across the Snake Valley to the Confusion Range:

Highlight

Wiki: Partoun was founded in 1949 by the religious group called the Aaronic Order, and named after a town in Scotland.  Partoun is home to two schools:  West Desert High and West Desert Elementary.

How about that?  I get to check out the Aaronic Order.  But first, here’s a close-up of the entirety of Partoun:

Oh alright.  I’ll zoom in a little closer:

A high school, an elementary school and some Aaronic Order infrastructure?  Really?  Does anybody live there?

Anyway, here’s what Wiki has to say about the Aaronic Order:

The House of Aaron, aka the Aaronic Order is a religious sect centered in EskDale, Utah, with additional branches in Partoun, and Murray, Utah. It was founded in 1943 by Maurice L. Glendenning and has a membership estimated between 1,500 and 2,000 members.

Glendenning was born in 1891 in Kansas.  As a boy, he confided in his father that he could “hear heavenly music even when wide-awake”.  As a young teen, the heavenly music became interspersed with angelic voices uttering poetry, which he began to write down in notes he kept private out of fear of ridicule.  As a young man, the “angelic poetry” evolved into doctrinal and philosophical statements and he gradually began sharing the text of his messages with more and more friends and relatives.

In 1928, Glendenning and his family moved to Provo, Utah looking for employment. They didn’t move to Utah because of the Mormon community there; he and his family had little or no knowledge of the Latter Day Saints (LDS) church.  However, LDS missionaries found them and Glendenning began to feel that a number of LDS doctrines helped him understand his own writings.  Glendenning and his wife were baptized in the LDS church on August 14, 1929.

On January 15, 1945 he was excommunicated as the “Instigator of the Aaronic Order”.  LDS Church General Authorities asserted that while people could receive inspiration for themselves, no one could receive authentic divine messages for the church except the President of the Church.

Even though Glendenning did not claim to have received divine messages for the church, He was nonetheless accused of wrongdoing presumably because he had received divine inspirations that, if true, would affect the validity of some of the teachings of the LDS Church.

He showed ’em.  He started his own religion . . .

I wonder what the good Mormons who go to the chapel at Trout Creek think of their neighbors just down the road?

Cokeville, Wyoming

May 2015, Landing 2179, blog post 607

Lead in to Ralph’s pic:  Time for a couple of GE Panoramio shots.  First this by good ol’ Ralph Maughan (a frequent ALAD contributor, although I doubt he knows it) – a shot of “Rocky Point” just outside of Cokesville:

Wow. Great geology. Looks like an anticline . . .

Highlight

But there’s a big story about Cokeville WY that made national news not all that long ago (1986).  Strangely, I don’t remember this story at all.  The Wiki entry for Cokeville had this:

On May 16, 1986, former town marshal David Young and his wife Doris Young took 167 children and adults hostage at Cokeville Elementary School, using guns and a homemade bomb.   The children and adults escaped after the bomb exploded. Both hostage takers died, while 79 hostages were wounded.

Whoa.

So I did some research and read quite a bit about that crazy day in Cokeville, and will lay out the basics myself.

After being released (fired?) from his job as Cokeville marshall (after marrying Doris, who was from Cokeville).  They went to Tucson, and David became reclusive, focusing on his philosophical readings.  He wrote his own philosophical treatise, “Zero Equals Infinity.”

He came up with a whacko scheme to hold the entire Cokeville elementary school hostage for ransom, and decided to carry through with it.

He made a crude bomb that he carried in a shopping cart, wired to a detonation devise affixed to his arm.  The bomb was set to detonate if he raised his arm in the air.

Witnesses later testified that just before the explosion David Young had connected the explosive to his wife. Then he went to the restroom, which was attached to the classroom.  Doris accidently triggered the bomb by motioning to her hostages with her arms.  The explosion engulfed her in flames and burned many nearby children.

Chaos ensued. David emerged from the bathroom to find his wife in excruciating pain. He shot and killed her.  Students, teachers, staff and visitors frantically exited the building, with teachers helping many of the children escape through the windows.  David saw John Miller, the music teacher, trying to escape and shot him in the back.  David returned to the restroom and killed himself, ending the hostage crisis. The only two fatalities were David and Doris Young.  Everyone else survived, including the injured John Miller.

The Toana Range, Nevada

May 2015, Landing 2180, blog post 608

Lead in to Ralph’s pics: Time for some GE Panoramio shots by my good friend Ralph Maughan (OK, so he’s not really a good friend.  I just keep bumping into his Pano shots all over the place).  These are all Toana Range shots.  I’ll start with this one, looking up the valley that contains my landing:

Here’s one looking north from the Silver Zone Pass:

Here’s a shot near my landing, looking west across the valley:

This one is south of my landing up in the Range:

Highlight

As mentioned previously, I landed in the Toano Range.  The range extends south to the Silverzone (or Silver Zone) Pass, through which I-80 travels, as well as a railroad.  Here’s a GE shot:

The railroad has a section of track known as the Arnold Loop, which takes a train about six miles out of its way to the north:

Of course, this loop was built so that a steady uphill grade (going east to west) is maintained that allows the train to make it through the pass.  All together (counting track east and west of the above photo), the grade is 1% over a 35 mile stretch of track.

Here’s a shot of the end of the loop by Brian Solomon, from his blog Tracking the Light:

Here’s a You Tube promo piece trying to get you to buy a full video of the Silver Zone Pass experience (by Railway Productions):

Wind River Range, Wyoming

July 2015, Landing 2197, Blog post 625

Lead in to Ralph’s pic:  Even though this is far from my landing (about 25 miles), I’ll throw in this great shot by Ralph Maughan of the crest of the Gros Ventres:

As I always mention, Ralph is a regular contributor to ALAD, although I doubt he knows it.  And here come some more Ralph shots.  First this, from a mere 1.5 miles north of my landing, looking across the Green R. towards the mountains:

Here’s a mountain meadow by Ralph, shot from just 2 miles east of my landing:

One more from Mr. Maughan [correction: I now know he’s Dr. Maughan] – a lovely shot from the hills 4.5 miles northwest of my landing, looking east at the sunset-lit mountains:

Highlight

I landed near a watershed “triple point:”

So there is a spot on the top of the Three Waters Mountain where a guy could stand and answer the call of nature, spinning all the while (making it temporarily Four Waters Mountain).  And yes, a third of the water would end up in the Columbia, flowing past Portland, Oregon on its way to the Pacific Ocean.  And yes, a third of the water would end up in the Missouri/Mississippi River, flowing past New Orleans on its way to the Gulf of Mexico.  And yes, a third of the water would end up in the Colorado, flowing through the Grand Canyon and desperately attempting to make it past all of the water withdrawal points to make its way to the Gulf of California..

Butte Valley, Nevada

August 2015, Landing 2205, blog post 633

Lead in to Ralph’s pic:  You can tell I’m not very inspired.  I’m not going to talk geology.  I’m not going to talk history.  Harumpf.  In fact, I’m simply going to close this post with several Butte Valley Panoramio shots by my good buddy Ralph Maughan  (OK, he’s not my good buddy, but I’ve certainly featured many of his shots in my posts). Here’s a cool shot from several miles northeast of my landing, looking to the northwest (using a telephoto lens):

Here’s a shot closer to my landing (still north), looking west across Butte Valley:

Here’s a shot from the southern end of the valley:

I’ll close with this sunset shot, once again looking west from north of my landing.

Highlight

A little research, and I stumbled on the fact that a glacial-era lake once existed in the valley.  It is called Gale Lake and was about 75 feet deep.  Gale Lake is just a small sample of the glacial lakes that were all throughout Nevada. Here’s a broad map showing most of Nevada and the glacial-era lakes:

Here’s a close-up of Lake Gale:

I’m sure my landing was a lovely lakeside location – a great spot for a get-away cabin. (And the 1905 is en elevation, not a year!)

It’s hard to imagine that just 15 thousand years ago (the blink of an eye, geologically speaking) the landscape of Nevada would be dominated by lakes with forested shores. I doubt the fishing would be all that great: think about it – how would the fish get there?

. . .

American Falls, Idaho

June 2016, Landing 2271, blog post 701

Lead in to Ralph’s pic:  Anyway, here’s what it looks like today – a GE Pano shot by long-time-yet-likely-unknowing ALAD contributing photographer, Ralph Maughan:

[FYI, the above picture is of a long-defunct power generating station on the Snake River.]

By the way, I’ve used Ralph’s photographs in 9 posts:  3 Nevada posts, 3 Wyoming posts, 1 Utah post and now 2 Idaho posts. I’ll close with another of Ralph’s shots, this of a Christmas Day sunset in the Deep Creek Mountains, about 10 miles east of my landing:

Highlight

So what about American Falls?  From Wiki:

American Falls was a landmark waterfall on the Snake River, named after a party of American trappers whose boat went over the falls.

All righty now.  I don’t buy that American Falls was named after a party of trappers whose boat went over the falls.  That would be more like Holy S— Falls.  After a quick search, I can find no other info on the name origin, so I’ll make one up:

A party of French trappers was in the area and they set up a camp next to the falls.  They decided to call it les Cascades Française (the French Falls).    Just as they were breaking camp, a party of American trappers showed up.  One of the Frenchmen said “Bienvenu a les Cascades Française” (Welcome to the French Falls).  The non-French-speaking leader of the Americans snarled “What the hell did he just say?”  When he heard the translation from one of his party who could speak a little French, the leader wasn’t happy.

It just so happens that he not only didn’t like the French, he despised the French.  His response?  “Over my dead body are a bunch of Frenchies naming these falls after their foul country.  We’re naming these the American Falls.”

Fortunately, no violence ensued, as the French (sensing likely trouble if they stayed and defended the name) left in a hurry.  It was settled.  “American Falls” it became and American Falls it remains to this day.

Much better.

[ALAD disclaimer:  ALAD is a non-controversial, diversity-oriented blog.  The views and opinions held by the American trapper in the above piece of fiction are not the views and opinions of ALAD, its agents, employees or advertisers.  Oops.  ALAD has no agents, employees or advertisers.  Oh well, it sounds good.]

Victor, Driggs and Pierre’s Hole, Idaho

November 2016, Landing 2308, blog post 738

Lead in to Ralph’s pic:  I’ll close with this shot of one of my watershed streams (North Fork Pine Creek) by frequent ALAD contributor, Ralph Maughan (who, of course, probably doesn’t know he’s a frequent contributor):

Wow. The fence, the stream, the lighting, the overall composition. What a great photo!

Highlight

Here’s a GE shot of my landing:

:

From Wiki:

The Teton River flows northward though the mountain meadows of Pierre’s Hole and then joins up with Bitch Creek just before it turns west and into Teton Canyon.

To mountain men, a large low-lying valley, such as this, with abundant beaver and game was called a “hole”. Mountain men preferred these areas of numerous beaver rich streams as they provided ample food and comfortable camping in addition to beaver pelts.

Pierre’s Hole was named in honor of Pierre Tivanitagon, a Hudson’s Bay Company trader said to be of Iroquois descent, who was killed in a battle with Blackfoot Indians in 1827.

Gratuitously (and you’ll see why in a minute), here’s a little more from Wiki:

After the fur trade subsided in the 1840s, Pierre’s Hole returned to a quiet summer hunting valley for Native Americans. An Englishman named Richard ‘Beaver Dick’ Leigh came to the Teton region sometime around 1860, and frequently trapped and hunted in the Hole.

Here’s the gratuitous part:  This area seems like a middle school boy’s ideal geography:  Pierre’s Hole, Bitch Creek and Beaver Dick . . .

Halfway, Oregon

April 2017, Landing 2339, blog post 770

Lead in to Ralph’s pic:  Here are three by long-time ALAD contributor Ralph Maughan:

Highlight

I think it’s time to check out Halfway.  From the town’s website:

The town is located “halfway” between the communities of Pine and Cornucopia.

Good thing the word “halfway” is in quotes!  I mean, really!   Look at the map:

I did an incredibly detailed (and some might say tedious) investigation of the name “Halfway.”  With excellent research (and many twists and turns), I concluded that Wiki (and other references) that mindlessly parrot the line “halfway between Pine and Conucopia” line) are wrong, wrong, wrong. 

Here’s the map showing that Halfway is about halfway between Richland and Cornucopia:

Trouble is, Richland isn’t old enough to fill the bill.  It was founded after the “Halfway” post office was named. And then I found this :

And yes, New Bridge (although today much smaller than Richland) is older and had enough substance back in the day to fit the bill! The official ALAD verdict: Halfway is named because of its location halfway between New Bridge & Cornucopia.

Post Script:  I had a Halfway (Revisited) post in February of 2020.  I was so taken with my earlier post, I repeated much of it, including the three Ralph Maughan photos.

Ajo, Lukeville and Why, Arizona

July 2021, Landing 2530, blog post 974

Lead in to Ralph’s pics:  And then two by Ralph Maughan who – totally unbeknownst to him, I suspect – has contributed many many Google Earth photos to A Landing A Day:

Mount Ajo from the Tillotson Peak wayside (off the highway)

I just took a brief journey through ALAD, checking out just some of Ralph’s great photos.   I think I might do a Ralph Maughan post . . .

And indded I did!  Thanks much, Ralph.  You obviously have a passion for landscape photography and a great eye for lighting and composition!

That’ll do it . . .

KS

Greg

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