Finding My New Home

Rather than type a whole lot, I thought I'd share some video. If a picture is worth 1000 words, then these videos ought to be worth a fortune. Like, maybe a whole dollar.

The first video features commentary by me whilst driving down the initial paved section of Upper Pack River Road. Despite my misguided comments, anyone will note that if you take a left off Highway 95 (heading North), you will quite obviously be heading WEST. Just ignore me when I say I'm driving East. Basically, I would just like to show you the scenery. On clearer days, you can see Schweitzer in the distance to the left. But this was hardly a clear day...



This next short segment captures a quick shot of Pack River itself and features more UPR scenery after the pavement ends. From here, it's roughly 3 more miles to Maker's Way.



OK, so I really had no idea how to take video with my digital camera. I probably could have left the video feature on the whole way and everything would have been fine. But I had no idea how much footage my little memory stick would hold and I also didn't realize that the little gadget would keep on filming if I let go of the trigger button... So, I shot lots of little segments. This next clip starts in my new "neighborhood" as I drive the last 1/3 mile or so approaching Maker's Way.



And now (with a big smile pasted on my face), I'd like to show you my new driveway and the property itself!



As you've probably noted, the day was cloudy and rainy but not particularly dark. However, I learned an important photography lesson (at least as it relates to my camera): don't use flash in the rain. See, I took a bunch more pictures after stopping the videos but the auto-flash feature was on. The flash hit nearby raindrops and reflected back massive amounts of light, narrowing the auto-adjusting aperture. Thus, I have a bunch of pictures of what appears to be the forest at night with brightly illuminated raindrops. Ironically, the one picture that was enhanced by the flash was the following photo of deer scat near the seasonal creek ravine. Enjoy:



I took one other photo that turned out OK after hiking up past my property line (North) and into Boundary County. The Northern edge of my property follows the county line between Bonner and Boundary counties. This photo is taken facing South East from a logging road that roughly follows the Northern edge of my property. Nice views, eh?