Fall 2008

A series of self-inflicted wounds.  Every time I get sprayed, I have to laugh. It's like, how dumb can I get? I have been sprayed far more times than any bear I know of. I think something's bass-ackwards here.In fact, I…

For hunters and non-hunters.Lakes freeze over like drooping, sleepy blue eyes. Cottonwoods present their annual leafy fireworks display. Snow sifts over the highest peaks. And the artillery blasts of high-powered rifles…

I'm unloading my bike at the Bozeman Creek Trailhead and already MP is giving me grief."Where's your spare tire? Don't you have a pump? What if you get a flat?" That sort of thing. It's not mean-spirited, though, more like…

"Listen!" says Peter, who is lying on his side a few feet in front of me in the small canyon-shaped passage. "I think I hear thunder."I can only see the muddy soles of his boots by the light of my headlamp, and I didn't…

What you oughta know. Founded in 1607, Santa Fe is the oldest capital city in the United States. It's a high-desert town one hour north of Albuquerque, and it boasts sunshine, mountains, good food, and plenty of outdoor fun…

My father and I go fly fishing each summer to the extent that my limited patience can handle tangled lines and fishless casts. One year, as a birthday present, my father arranged a lesson with a patient he'd had since he…

The city of Bozeman is home to about 304 acres of parks -- those celebrated places where we loll about with the dog, spend lemonade-filled summer afternoons, and take respite from cubicles, commutes, and compression. They…

Keep your pup safe during trapping season. Fall is one of my favorite times to get outside with my dog. There are no mosquitoes, ticks, or flies to drive her crazy; the risk of heat exhaustion is virtually nil; and we both…

This past summer, Ian Garcia pointed his boat over Natural Bridge on the Boulder River southwest of Big Timber, dropping over 100 feet into the swirling water far below. Garcia, a Bozeman local and eldest son of the founder…

Many of the most rewarding and/or time-consuming outdoor activities in Montana require venturing out onto Montana’s network of world-famous CD-skipping washboard roads and jeep trails. The barbed-wire fences that tend to…

So an hour ago you drank the 142-ounce BladderBuster from the gas station, and now, here you are, half an hour late to the wedding reception, sweating, squirming, and about to wet yourself while driving 75 miles an hour.…

The benefits of hiring an outdoor guide. They're handy for breaking into a new sport, even handier for learning more about the ones you love, and southwestern Montucky is crawling with them. They're guides, and they're…

Gazing out from the top of the M, an old man and I chatted about the town sprawled out before us. Bustling Boz Angeles annoyed him. I instinctively defended my home, eventually pointing out the surprising amount of…

Or just a backpack-toting poser? Do you know your capilene from your cat hole? Do you have the chutzpah to see the world beyond the parking lot, or should you just hang it up and get a hotel room? Take this quiz and find…

In today's society, it's hard not to be frustrated about a lot of things. Nonetheless, each week, regardless of the morning's news, I tell myself not to rant. But today, I can't stop myself, so I apologize in advance. This…

The Conservation Reserve Program (CRP), which is sponsored by the Department of Agriculture, came about as part of the Food Securtity Act of 1985. The basic idea is that farmers and ranchers enter into a multiyear contract…

On a walk up Suce Creek the other day, we took my one-and-a-half year old son out of the backpack and let him loose creekside. He headed straight for the water and was thigh-high in snowmelt before my husband or I could…

With the Absaroka mountains as a backdrop, Livingston already beckons visitors, but the little town along the big bend of the Yellowstone River also offers a historic downtown district, a vibrant arts scene, and outdoor…

For its fifth edition, the 500+ mile Primal Quest ultraendurance-adventure race journeyed to Big Sky Country for some early-summer hospitality. And were we ever ready.The banner snow year and exceptionally cool, wet spring…

Tinnitus (pronounced either “tin-nit-us” or “tin-night-us”) is the perception of sound when no external sound is present. Some consider this a nuisance; for others it is a life-altering condition. Those who have not…

Oddly enough, it always seems that as October nears, there is inevitably a week of some of the most picture-perfect weather of the year. This little window of possibility is perhaps one of the best times to discover, or…

Whether it’s a toboggan ride down the hill, an avalanche rescue, or just a bit of friendly advice, the Big Sky Ski Volunteer Ski Patrol has lent a hand at southwest Montana's famed resort for more than 25 years. But the…

Integrating wild game into your diet.  Though many enjoy hunting for the sport, there are many nutritional benefits to eating wild game such as bison, deer, elk. First off, even though all meats are similar in protein…

Making your first batch of wine can be a satisfying and authentic experience, and there's no better time to try it than in early autumn, when berries and fruit all over southwest Montana are ripening in forests, roadsides,…

Western mythos is filled with rootin’, tootin’, straight-shootin’ cowboys—ridin’, ropin’, wranglin’ and rough-housin’ their way into the stuff of legend. The ancient Greeks would have appreciated the type, for they had…

Perhaps there is such a thing.Over a beer a few years ago, developers Scott Dehlendorf and Barry Brown proposed a challenge to themselves: to create an adaptive reuse, mixed-use development from the dilapidated historic…

954,421,128: dollars per year spent on elk hunting, according to the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation1,201: dollars spent per year by the average elk hunter, per RMEF1,238: dollars spent per year by the average trail deer…

Every day, one stalwart citizen does the right thing while another acts like a blithering bonehead. Here's a recap of admirable acts and embarrassing blunders for the the past season. Champs: The Joe Brooks Chapter of…

How to tie the One Sock. When the heat begins to wane and the leaves start to show autumn color, it means only one thing: time to start throwing streamers. It's one of the most productive and exciting ways to pursue big,…

Nothing epitomizes the combination of funk and attitude that is Northeast Bozeman better than its annual Parade of Sheds. Begun in 2001 as an arch commentary on the Southwest Montana Building Industry Association’s annual…

Colder weather, larger pack loads, and unsure footing on snow all lead to excessive motion in or around the spine, which can lead to sore backs and even repetitive-stress injuries. Here are some ways to prepare for winter…

After spending a sufficient amount of time on the river this summer, I have a pretty good idea of what to bring. FishPond's Blizzard Soft Cooler was a nice addition to my weekend trips. With its rugged exterior and thick…

Amid a sea of compact headlamps lacking significant differences, UK’s Vizion stands out. Not only is it waterproof—UK stands for Underwater Kinetics—but the bulb is mounted along a battery-pack cylinder that rotates like a…

Yesterday I saw an ad for a 37-pound three-room tent that sleeps six people and costs $39. Now, that's the tent you want if you plan to car-camp with the masses, but if you're venturing farther than the KOA parking lot,…

Dare to Be SafeI enjoy your magazine very much. Most of the articles are very well done and pique an interest in trying new adventures. I read your mission page and totally agree with your philosophy on outdoor activities…

Whether yodeling into the thunder mug or drivingThe porcelain Buick or talking to Ralph on the bigWhite phone, your bear brain is making you do it. The prigIn you hollers, “Enough of the life!” This bear brain is jivingYou…

Anyone strolling down Langhor Trail near the community gardens has certainly ambled over to the artificial bouldering rock, nicely situated next to the rambling creek, and given their fingers a bit of a work out. Children…

He’d been shooting his bow for months. The dedication was intense. He spent the shortening days of the fading summer quivering with excitement and expectation. And now the season is here.It’s Friday, but he’s been packed…

Big-game hunters, this year don’t toss your hides, antlers, or excess meat in the trash. Here are some tips to make sure Bambi doesn’t go to waste. Under all that hide is the meat you seek. Don’t want the hide? Pacific…

After cold beers, a round of horseshoes, and a stellar pork tenderloin served streamside, I’d decided that Moonlight on the Madison was pretty sweet. Here we were, just a few miles from Ennis, in a completely remote and…

For almost four months this year, the Rocky Mountain gray wolf was off the Endangered Species List. That changed, however, on July 18 when a federal judge relisted the wolf at the request of conservation groups seeking to…

A film on fly fishing.  Fall 2008 brings the much-anticipated release of Drift (Confluence Films, $24), “a cinematic fly-fishing adventure exploring the world and the passionate individuals who dedicate their lives to the…

With the addition of the new Schlasman’s (this is the original and proper spelling, not “Slushman’s”) Lift, Bridger Bowl will boast a 311-acre expansion past the old south boundary. Because it's classified as “Ridge Terrain…

Tao Berman is the most successful and dominant whitewater kayaker of all-time—just ask him. His new biography, Going Vertical: The Life of an Extreme Kayaker (Menasha Ridge Press; $11), showcases the life and times of this…

In One Fish, Two Fish, Crawfish, Bluefish (Smithsonian Institution Press; $23) Smithsonian marine biologist Carole Baldwin and research assistant Julie Mounts have combined tasty recipes from the country's top chefs with…

Travels in the Greater Yellowstone by Jack Turner is the product of his exploration of the two national parks, three national wildlife refuges, parts of six national forests, and eleven wilderness areas that compose this…

From the Bighorn River in the southeast to the Flathead River in the northwest, Montana on the Fly: An Angler’s Guide (Countryman Press; $20) will guide you down 14 of Montana’s most renowned trout waters. Patrick “Paddy”…

If you’re an EOR (erstwhile obsessive reader) like me, you keenly remember when it took 2-3 books a week to make you feel complete. Alas, adulthood and its frenetic environment—brimming, as it is, with far too many ways to…

From Transylvania to Cape Town, Daytona Beach to China’s Huangshan Mountains, Dream Destinations:100 of the World's Best Vacations (Life Books; $30) takes you on a dazzling photographic journey to 100 of the coolest places…

Alex Lowe is as much a Bozeman icon as the twirling horse bucking above the downtown Army Navy store. Alex was loved and admired by not just the community of Bozeman, but climbers, adventurers, travelers, and wanderlusters…

Well, it’s about time. Bozeman author, poet, painter, musician, and English professor extraordinaire Greg Keeler has finally written a memoir about fishing, one of the main currents threading itself through his incredibly…