Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid

This is Will who works in the Owl Bar at Sundance, Utah. I was super nervous about asking him to pose infront of the old historic (1890s) rosewood bar but he was super friendly and obliging. My patter of trying to get people to pose for photos is shockingly bad (80% of the time I jib out completely). Today I approached Will by saying, "I know this is a really strange request but...." If someone approached me with that line I'd be off before they could complete the sentence. If any more confident blippers can tell me the lines they use it would be helpful?

Once confidently posed I took 3 shots, all rubbish, this was the best of a bad bunch as I was shaking with worry I was going to mess the shot up. Additionally, I decided it was best not to use the flash as I wanted to capture the glow of the bar. The result is shakyorama.

Robert Redford bought Sundance in Utah in 1969, possibly using his paycheck from appearing in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. The Owl Bar which is part of the resort echoes the theme of that film and there is some memorabilia from the film and also featuring the people who inspired the film.

I understand that the bar was transported from Thermopolis (how cool a name is that?!) in Wyoming many, many miles away to Sundance as it is the bar where Butch Cassidy and his gang used to drink.

Sundance is mainly known for the film festival and as a ski resort but this is the second time I have visited in the summer and I think it's a calm and beautiful time to be here. There are many walks, the ski lifts take you up the mountain where there are several trailheads. Wildlife is all over the place. This morning I was surrounded by hummingbirds flying around, fighting and making noises. You can often see deer walking or bounding across the fields. Today for the first time I heard the noise of two squirrels making a vocal chatty commotion, I never knew they could speak! There are classes to take here too, flyfishing, making glass, photography etc etc. I have never done a class but most people here seem to be doing something. Tonight there was an open air play and music filled the valley. It is a relatively small, slightly hippy place where you stay in small wooden cabins, crucially it is not over developed and generally, in my experience, silent at night.

"This place in the mountains, amid nature's casualness toward death and birth, is the perfect host for the inspiration of ideas: harsh at times, life threatening in the winters of destruction, but tender in attention to the detail of every petal of every wildflower resurected in the spring. Nature and creativity obey the same laws, to the same end: life. " Robert Redford.