JH Underground – news, sports and music blog from Jackson Hole, Wyoming news, sports and music blog from Jackson Hole, Wyoming

Update 10/13: The discounted bottles have sold out (see comment).

For more than three years, since Wyoming Whiskey first went into an aging barrel, thirsty drinkers have asked Dave DeFazio when they can taste the bourbon. “When it’s good and ready,” has been his stock reply.

Well, it’s just about good and ready.

The state’s first distillery is installing bottling equipment and expects to have its initial shipment of 2,500 cases in stores by Dec. 1. The Liquor Store of Jackson Hole is taking advance orders and offering a 20 percent discount, with 750 ml bottles priced at $40 instead of $50. Other retailers also have waiting lists.

On Dec. 1, DeFazio and business partner Brad Mead are hosting a party at the distillery in Kirby, Wyo., about a four-hour drive from Jackson, replete with tastings, tours and a band. Mead’s brother, Gov. Matt Mead, will help christen the brand. The all-day affair begins at noon.

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Posted under Business, Wyoming

Tags: beer, matt mead, parties, restaurants

Hunters, hikers, kayakers and anglers are about to celebrate, as a conservation group has reached a deal to buy the last remaining oil and gas leases in the Wyoming Range south of Jackson.

A source last night said the drilling company finally agreed to sell the leases, ensuring that the pristine mountain range and headwaters of the Hoback River will be spared fracking and other development. The Associated Press confirmed the deal this morning. A full press release appears after the jump.

The Trust for Public Land will purchase the leases from Houston-based Plains Exploration and Production Co. for $8.75 million, AP reported. The group still must raise half the money by the end of the year.

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Posted under Economy, Environment, Politics, Sports, Wyoming

Tags: conservation, fishing, hunting, national forest, oil and gas, river running, snake river

The upcoming election offers a clear choice in values, and President Obama is best suited to preserve opportunity for all Americans because of his upbringing, First Lady Michelle Obama said during a campaign stop in Jackson today.

“He knows the American dream because he’s lived it,” Obama told a standing crowd of nearly 500 people in the Snow King ballroom.

The first lady recounted her own story of growing up the daughter of a pump operator in Chicago. Neither of her parents had a college degree.

“He saved for us and sacrificed for us,” she said of her father. “Education was everything for us.”

Barack Obama was the son of a single mother who struggled to put herself through college, and his grandmother hit glass ceilings in the workplace because she was a woman, Obama said. When it comes time to make tough decisions in the White House, the president relies on his life experiences, she said.

And once you have walked through the door of opportunity, “You do not slam it shut behind you,” Obama said, in a pointed rebuke of Mitt Romney.

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Posted under Democratic Party, Politics, Wyoming

Tags: barack obama, snow king

Dick Barker, the river guide and musician who built one of the most successful rafting businesses in Jackson Hole, died this morning at his home in Moose, after battling cancer for several years. He was 75 years old.

Originally from Ohio, Barker began spending his summers at his grandparents’ house on Ditch Creek as a boy. He learned to fly fish from his mother and stepfather, Joe Beerkle, and started guiding for Carmichael’s Tackle Shop in Moose in 1956.

In 1963, he and his wife, Barb, started their own float trip company, just as Frank and Patty Ewing went into business. The two families became partners in 1965, and Barker-Ewing grew to become synonymous with scenic and whitewater rafting in Jackson Hole.

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Posted under Deaths, Democratic Party, Sports, Wyoming

Tags: grand teton national park, river running, snake river

The Fontenelle Fire west of Big Piney has grown to nearly 50,000 acres, with high winds and continued hot, dry weather expected for the next few days. Folks around Pinedale must be getting a little uneasy.

Jim Woodmencey sees parallels to the summer of 1988.

Photographer Tristan Greszko ventured down to Big Piney and documented what he could see of the blaze.

Be careful with fire this Fourth of July holiday.

Posted under Environment, Weather, Wyoming

Tags: national forest, travel