Summer 2017

A lesson in patience on the CDT. “I think we have to turn around.” My riding partner’s voice drifts to me through the darkness, enveloping us during the thirteenth hour of the second day of our 100-mile mountain-bike ride…

Hope springs eternal in the deep pools of a mountain stream. It is August, that thick season of harvest and summer fading in a series of hot days, a time of sunburn and sweat. Hay bales are bucked onto slow-moving pickup…

Canine colleagues in southwest Montana.  All over southwest Montana, dogs are working on our behalf to protect threatened wildlife, conserve sensitive landscapes, and enhance our outdoor-recreation experience. Skilled…

Gallatin County Search-and-Rescue. A trip into the backcountry can go south real quick. Whether you roll an ankle and tumble down a scree field, get lost in a sudden snowstorm, or drink from the wrong stream and surrender…

Climbing the Madison Range's highest peak.  The highest peak in the Madison Range is also the highest peak in Montana outside the Beartooth Range. Its position within seven miles of the southern tip of the Madisons…

Cougar collars save lives.  While historically rare, human encounters with mountain lions are on the rise across Montana. Lions typically hunt deer and avoid contact with humans. But as housing and recreation pressures…

Training tips from the experts. You’re generally fit and want to push yourself to the next level. You run 3-5 miles a few times per week, but this summer, you’re thinking about tackling a longer mountain race, like the…

Naming Mount Blackmore.  At 10,154 feet, Mount Blackmore looms high above Bozeman on the southern horizon. Anyone who has lived in town for more than a few weeks can point to the peak, but few know how the mountain got its…

A Red Lodge trail pays dividends. Ready for that weekend road-trip? The one that involves a little exploring, a little adrenaline, killer views, and perhaps some taproom time? There’s a trail out of Red Lodge that’s worth…

We often wax poetic about the millions of acres of pristine public land surrounding Bozeman, but the reality is, our trails, forests, and waterways are under threat. The menace in question? Us. We are trashing the landscape…

From a walk in the woods to a walk down the aisle.  Potosi Hot Springs is no secret, but it is one of only a few undeveloped hot springs on Montana’s public lands. The trail isn’t particularly challenging; the view is no…

All about Bozeman's bike club. Day Tours. Youth Rides. The Bike Swap. If you’ve heard of any of these activities, then you may have heard of the Gallatin Valley Bicycle Club (GVBC). According to Jerry Coffee, one of the…

Homemade granola bars.  This summer, you can get your energy from mass-produced, stale, tasteless bars, or you can make your own. The latter option is cheaper, they taste better, and you can play around with the recipe to…

A fishery under threat. With about 100 miles of floatable, wadeable, and fishable water, the Beaverhead River supports a strong local recreation economy—valued at nearly five million dollars annually—as boaters, fishermen,…

Adding wildlife to the outdoor agenda. Most folks don’t consider themselves “birders,” but who knows when you’ll be peeing in the forest and you get dive-bombed by an angry bird? Want to know what it is? Here are some…

Climbing's dirty little secret.  Climbing has no shortage of challenges to overcome. Weather, fragile rock, sketchy protection, route logistics, and physical and mental limitations combine to make climbing what it is: an…

Foraging with a purpose. Want to become more self-reliant in the wilderness? Intentionally under-packing the food supply to self-impose a “forced foraging” situation can stimulate hunting and foraging skills. The trick is…

Don't be that guy.  It’s summer: more people are in the woods now than any other time of year. While there are more people, the size of the space hasn’t expanded any; we all need to coexist without driving each other crazy…

Family backpacking made fun. Family backpacking is a great way to share your love for the backcountry with the people you love most. While strapping on a heavy pack and plodding through the woods to sleep amongst bears and…

Musings and mishaps from bear country. The concept is simple: because bears can be attracted to the smell of your food, you don’t keep it in your tent. You hang it in a tree out of their reach, say 15 feet off the ground…

Tent-care tips.  Outdoorspeople know there are three guarantees in life: death, taxes, and zipper failure. None are any fun, and I’ll avoid the first two, but hopefully these tips will help you with the latter…

Tying the Royal Wulff Cripple.  When I think of summer fishing in Montana, my mind immediately drifts toward thoughts of trout gently sipping dry flies from the surface of a slow-moving riffle. I don’t know which fly I’d…

Big Sky biking on the cheap. In case you haven’t heard, Big Sky has some new biking trails. Many of them are only accessible by chairlift, but the longest and perhaps best trail in the system—Mountain to Meadow—can be…

We all love Bozeman—no doubt about it. But the times, they are a-changin’. Gone are the quaint, small-town attitudes, the relaxed pace of life, and the slow, steady growth. Nowadays, you’re as likely to overhear folks…

Navigating the Gallatin's grandest rapid.  For much of its course, the Gallatin River is an intermediate paddle, but once you float past the Lava Lake trailhead and round the corner, things get a little Western. It narrows…

Riding high-alpine singletrack. By the time summer gets around to the 45th parallel, avid mountain bikers are looking to tick off a few big, definitive rides before the snow starts flying again. Definitive, in our circle,…

Running for public access.  Across the United States, the public-lands debate continues to heat up. Despite strong public support for federally managed public lands, legislators and lobbyists are eagerly working to…

Hiking the Windy Pass Trail.  Windy Pass is a vast alpine meadow that straddles the Gallatin Crest between the Sentinel and Eaglehead Mountain. At an elevation of 9,250 feet, the open, windswept plateau feels like the top…

Float the summer away. The rock caught both of us by surprise. In disbelief, my paddling partner Bill and I felt the boat hesitate for an instant, balanced on the unseen boulder like a see-saw on a fulcrum, and then with a…

Taking time to smell the roses.  When from our better selves we have too long / Been parted by the hurrying world… —William Wordsworth As we step out of the trees, a swath of scarlet appears on the horizon, arresting our…

Another persperctive on pet health. Editor's Note: In our spring issue, readers asked long-time Montana veterinarian Sid Gustafson a few questions. For some variety, we decided to pose those same questions to another local…

More people, more problems. Living in southwest Montana means we are blessed with unlimited recreational opportunities, but recently, trailhead parking lots of been overflowing. The area is booming again, and with that…

Restoring native trout through catch-and-kill.  Last week, I killed a trout. In fact, I killed three and ate them for dinner. As a longtime catch-and-release angler, it’s always difficult to kill a fish. In this case, I…

Protecting your skin this summer. It’s summer in Montana, so naturally we’ll be spending additional time outdoors. How can we do so safely? It’s important to balance the benefits of outdoor time with appropriate protection…

Summer's astronomical bucket-list. Warm days and balmy nights—such as we have them in Montana in the summer—offer pleasant opportunities to enjoy the half of our personal outdoor world that lies overhead. There’s a lot of…

A camp-kitchen upgrade. If you’re like us, you secretly love rehydrated backpacking meals. One, they’re super easy to make. Two, there’s almost no cleanup involved. And three, they taste better and better all the time. But…

Avoiding poison hemlock.  A rich diversity of plants, native and invasive, thrive in southwest Montana’s varied landscapes. Some may be edible, making for a nice addition to a trailside salad, or they can land you in the…

Visiting Earthquake Lake.  Earthquake Lake provides visitors a stark reminder of the disaster that can occur when the human and geologic timescales overlap. Just before midnight on August 17, 1959, the magnitude 7.3 Hebgen…

USFS and Recommended Wilderness. Through the Forest Plan Revision, the Custer Gallatin National Forest is updating the overall guiding document for future forest management. This summer, the Custer Gallatin will be…

Options for outdoor music this summer.  Summer is so jam-packed, by the time it hits its stride, you’re going to need some R&R—that’s recreation and relaxation, for you civilian types. The recreation part is easy:…

A rundown of Bozeman-area anglers.  In my 15 years as a fly angler, I’ve run across a number of interesting characters. Some interesting in the “wow, I could listen to this guy for hours” sense and some in the “wow, this…

Or do. Your call.  I am socially awkward and used to panic a little when passing strangers on a trail. I have said some embarrassing things to innocent folks. On one occasion, I complimented an elderly gentleman on his…

Local bike-builders get national recognition.  At this year’s North American Handmade Bicycle Show (NAHBS) in Salt Lake City, an annual event showcasing the talent and workmanship of custom-bike builders, three Bozeman-…

Ten years of Oboz footwear.  In 2007, John Connelly quit his day job to start an outdoor footwear company. Ten years later, locally-based Oboz is a household name, selling quality hiking boots in seven countries. O/B sat…

Women getting after it together. Time, kids, careers, motivation: these are just some of the things that make spending time outside difficult for many local women. Luckily for them, there’s a club ready to offer…

Last fall, the City of Bozeman approved the master plan for Story Mill Community Park, an ongoing Trust for Public Land (TPL) project on the north side of Bozeman. That means full steam ahead for the over-60-acre park that…

Remember, you’re here to have fun. Once you replace negative thoughts with positive ones, you’ll start having positive results. —Willie NelsonIt was a beautiful evening up Stone Creek—the kind of night that practically…

Once an essential apparatus, the fly-fishing vest no longer holds hegemony, thanks in large part to innovations like the FHF Gear Fishing Chest Rig. Gone is the awkward reaching into endless pockets that balloon your torso…

Contrary to popular belief, your beloved smartphone is not a panacea—whip it out while deep in a side-canyon up Hyalite, for example, and you’ll wish you’d packed a Motorola Talkabout T465 instead. This compact two-way…

I reached a whole new level with the Sparrow climbing shoe from Lowa—the several weeks I spent bouldering in them at Spire were confidence-inspiring. They have great edging capability, fantastic grip, and they’re…

The new Caldera 5 from Brooks features BioMoGo DNA midsole cushioning that's plush on the trail but firm and responsive in changing conditions. Because of the extra cushion, this shoe doesn’t have a rock plate, but so far I…

Is ’blading back? I sure hope so, because I’ve been having a blast with my Maxxum 90 inline skates from Rollerblade. Pragmatism drove the acquisition—I wanted to (discreetly) stay in hockey shape in the off-season—but after…

In Bozeman, it’s an unfortunate reality that to ride mountain trails, you’re going to have to haul some bikes. Luckily, there’s the Splitrail from RockyMounts. This hitch-mounted rack carries up to two bikes on a 1.25-inch…

The high-performance Elevate Short from Pearl Izumi is light, comfy, and has outstanding flex. The included men’s 1:1 ELITE Pursuit Chamois is a life-changer—as in, say goodbye to swamp crotch. This liner delivers on its…

The Shred Soaza mountain-bike goggles offer a wide range of view and advanced optics technology to keep everything in perspective. The thermoplastic frame material is tough enough to handle downhill, freeride, and Enduro…

With Bozeman’s booming population, there are more cars, and idiot drivers, than ever. Which makes cycling around town, or to and from a trailhead in the Bridgers, increasingly daunting. One way to ride safer is to strap on…

Cooking in the backcountry can make or break an outing. This summer, do yourself a favor and get the easy-to-use Windburner accessories from MSR. Obviously, these items only work if you have a Windburner stove, but the…

Titles for a distracting season.  The lazy days of summer are loaded with opportunities to kick back, relax, and leaf through a collection of essays, a book of short stories, or a gallery of images, and it just so happens…