Spring 2005

The Clark's Fork of the Yellowstone.Down in the cool waters,through swirling poolsabove thunderous fallsbetween giant polished bouldersand soaring canyon wallswe are at once immersed in angelic beautyand at peace with the…

A month of Mondays on the East Gallatin.The East Gallatin River is, by most measures, a stream of little account. Hardly anyone floats it. Only a few people fish it. From start to finish, it spans barely 25 miles, as the…

O how can it be that the ground does not sicken?How can you be alive, you growths of spring?How can you furnish health, you blood of herbs, roots, orchards, grain?Are they not continually putting distemper’d corpses within…

The Clark’s Fork of the Yellowstone begins its tumultuous descent from the Absarokee-Beartooth Wilderness just outside the northeast entrance to Yellowstone National Park. On the way to its confluence with the Yellowstone…

It’s a brisk spring day and the sun has just risen over Paradise Valley when a green Volvo station wagon rolls into the empty parking lot at Armstrong’s Spring Creek. A herd of cows watch as Jennifer and Lars Olsson unload…

For Becky Weed and Dave Tyler, co-owners of Belgrade's Thirteen Mile Lamb and Wool Company, sheep farming was a grand experiment. "From the beginning," says Weed, "part of our whole motivation behind Thirteen Mile was to…

Ultimate, the field sport played with a flying disc, was born of 1960s college-campus counterculture. It has since matured into a highly competitive sport where nice guys almost never win anymore. But you can see the game…

If you live outside of town near grassy fields, chances are you’ve seen a winter covey of gray partridge diving into snowbanks or seeking shelter along shrubbery lines or under the boughs of evergreen trees. How do you…

After a long break from shoulder-intensive sports, many southwest Montana outdoor sports enthusiasts will soon transition into kayaking, golfing, climbing, Frisbee golf, and other sports involving overhead or raised-arm…

In December 2001, American Wildlands submitted a petition to the Montana Board of Environmental Review to designate the Gallatin River, from Yellowstone Park to the Spanish Creek confluence, as Montana’s first Outstanding…

In New Mexico, it's 100 degrees out in July and the last thing you want to do is walk around with 20 pounds of golf clubs on your back for four hours. But that's what I did summer after summer as a kid, because my parents…

Commonly thought of as a single mechanism, the shoulder is actually a complex of four different joints that allows you to move your arm in a number of directions. The shoulder has the greatest range of motion of any joint…

Since 1985, Our Lady of the Rockies, a 90-foot statue in the likeness of the Virgin Mary, has overlooked the city of Butte from the Continental Divide. Currently she is only available to us through bus tours from June…

Thanks in part to the recent extreme sport craze, whitewater kayaking has evolved dramatically in the last ten years. What was once a relatively unknown sport now ranks high on the list of the most popular adventure…

How to avoid an encounter. Ursus arctos horribilis, the grizzly bear, is the largest predator in North America. To see a wild grizzly is to view raw freedom and power. Also known as the “brown bear,” the grizzly is highly…

Where to listen to live tunes around town. Take your pick: bluegrass, acoustic, “jam” band, reggae, hip-hop, country, punk, classic rock, symphony, or bluesy jazz. This may sound a little like the famously eclectic Seattle…

“It is strongly recommended that the Biological Survey continue their campaign in this region without abatement until these pests are greatly reduced in numbers.” —Chief Naturalist Vernon Bailey, Yellowstone National Park,…

From the realistic to the ridiculous, Park County and the surrounding area has offered artistic inspiration for over a century. The natural grandeur of the upper Yellowstone River country has beckoned artists since at least…

Whether it’s seafood, steaks, or just plain old burgers you crave, the Livingston area offers plenty of opportunities to pig out. Tourists are the answer to the overabundance of eateries (more than 25) in or nearby the…

Springtime in Livingston and the Paradise Valley offers much more than just the coveted re-opening of the beefburger stand. In addition to those delectable milkshakes, cheeseburgers, and 1950s-style nostalgia, the…

When it comes to natural beauty, the Gallatin Valley and surrounding area are pretty hard to beat. Spectacular mountain views; crystal-clear streams and rivers; vast, untrammeled forests; a magnificent assortment of fish…

All about Bozeman's most famous fishing company. Say the name “Simms” and many people conjure images of former New York Giants quarterback Phil Simms. But if you’re one of the select few who’d rather spend your Sunday…

Ed Bangs, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s (USFWS) Wolf Recovery Coordinator in Helena, thinks he just might be able to put himself out of a job in the next few years. And nothing could sound sweeter to the oft-maligned…

A new cycling team begins its inaugural season this year, and orange and blue jerseys will start replacing those ever-so-popular U.S. Postal Service tops—on the roads around Bozeman and at races throughout the Northwest.…

The battle for the Ardennes Forest was one of the fiercest campaigns of World War II. A similar battle in intensity, if not in lives, is being waged over the Gallatin National Forest, which contains 1.8 million acres and is…

For many teenagers, adolescence is a blur of food extraction from exorbitantly large braces and cringingly uncomfortable dinner-table discussions about the pubescent body. A lucky few, however, are blessed with friends or…

Attention all paddlers: the aquatic circus is back in town—so grab your boat and come on down! That’s right, the Gallatin Whitewater Festival is back and better than ever. The 2005 “Rally for the Gally” will be the 26th…

The mountain snows are melting, it’s rained for the tenth day in a row, the robins are back and bouncing, and the skiers & bikers are pouting. Yup, it’s mud season. The ski hills are all closed for the off-season and…

A rundown on mushroom mania. In May, melting snow saturates the ground and higher temperatures keep the moist soil warm. This is the ideal time to look for one of Montana’s treasures: the morel mushroom, or Morchella…

Out of Gas: The End of the Age of Oil author and Cal-Tech professor David Goodstein says global oil supplies will peak this decade. After the peak, Goodstein declares, measurable oil shortages will incite panic and chaos…

Fair game for last year's fowl. Spring is in the air and it’s time to dust off your tent and sleeping bags for a trip to the forest. When getting your gear together, take a second and look in the freezer. I bet you’ll find…

In the West, designating ownership has always been a straightforward affair: you own it, you brand it. Letters and shapes emblazoned on countless bovine rumps told a rancher what was his—and earned many a careless rustler…

Paddling out into a frigid spring torrent strewn with rocks and sucking holes presents a classic test of judgment. How do your ability and experience stack up against the challenge and the hazard? Decide badly, and you may…