Fall 2006

Ten years at O/B. Place is everything. In life and in writing, a sense of place is what fills the soul and enlivens the page. Bozeman is a place like no other, and because of this—or perhaps in spite of it—it has changed…

Climbing Mount Cowen's Black Spire. When I first saw it, I became haunted by this dog-toothed rock, jutting up on the west side of the Mount Cowen Massif in Montana’s Absaroka Range. It was a remnant of the ice ages, its…

A place called home. Place is everything. In life and in writing, a sense of place is what fills the soul and enlivens the page. Bozeman is a place like no other, and because of this—or perhaps in spite of it—it has…

There are only two times of year in Montana: bird season and all the rest.SeptemberSilence and an expanse of empty spaces. Isolated by the approaching sunrise, brilliant Venus stands alone above the eastern horizon, her…

The secret of a good fishing story, I’ve learned, is not really about fish at all. Just like a good book, a lot depends on the telling of the story, and a lot depends on the characters. The following episodes were retold to…

Nobody cares for a foot full of poop. You know the story—you head to the park, kick off the flips for some barefoot grass-strolling, and your first frolicking leap comes down on a huge, steamin' pile of doggie delight. Not…

We’ve noticed a bumper crop of bumper stickers out there lately. Here are some of our favorites: “Did You Move Here to Be in a Hurry?” “Fire Burns” “Raft Naked—It Adds Color to Your Cheeks” “My Child Is an Honor Student at…

In Fort Benton, Montana, there lies an unusual monument to the loyalty of man’s best friend. In 1936, a sheepherder fell ill and was taken to the hospital in Fort Benton, followed by his border collie, Shep. The master’s…

Running along a nine-mile stretch of the Madison River, just below Quake Lake, the Sun Ranch spans just over 18,700 acres in a region known as the birthplace of wild trout management. The area continues to incubate resource…

Dogs are simple creatures, and when it comes to material goods, there aren’t too many ways to enhance their lives. But we do what we can for our beloved canine companions, and with that in mind, Planet Dog has developed an…

Staying on the family farm just got a little bit easier, thanks to a new law recently passed by Congress. Until now, tax deductions on voluntary conservation easements carried significant restrictions, making the prospect…

My border collie Nelly has been a frisbee connoisseur since she was a pup, and she gets attached to familiar, proven disks. It took a little while for her to accept the Hover Craft Interactive Flying Dog Disc by Ruff Wear,…

My son, Osker, was born in the dead of winter. For the first few weeks of his life, “staying fit” meant moving from the bed to the couch and nursing constantly. Rather quickly, too much so in fact, Osker grew, and I…

Every year, more people engage in winter pursuits and many push themselves to perform “better than last year.” Inevitably, with increased or intensified participation, the number of sports-related injuries also increases.…

Editor's note: the Three Rivers Montana treatment program is no longer in operation.Wilderness guide, teacher, medic, mentor, fitness coach, nutritionist, counselor, singer, performer, dancer, naturalist, spiritual advisor…

A dog's rough day on the river. The early days of inducting my dog Stella into the pleasures of drift boating left me feeling like a dog abuser. Being from New Zealand, she had never seen a drift boat, much less been in…

Early this past summer I had two small epiphanies:Epiphany One: Bozeman is a great place to live and my garden is very satisfying, but if I’d stuck it out as a federal bureaucrat, I could afford a nice garden in, say,…

Sometimes the food chain doesn’t look quite right. You’ve probably seen a couple of ants with a beetle in tow, a spider with a grasshopper. “You bite off more than you can chew. You might be little but your eyes are big.”…

Local kayakers Seth Warren and Tyler Bradt have paddled safely throughout numerous kayaking expeditions, including first descents in Africa and waterfalls in South America. But as their thirst for paddling adventure settles…

I’ll never forget when my neighbor lent me his .22 so I could practice shooting in my backyard. Every day it was all I wanted to do. Then my dad bought me a .243, and I couldn’t wait to take it home and practice for the…

Yellowstone grizzlies are not your garden-variety grizzly. Because an unusual number of them go through a black-color phase, and because they are more ponderous and gargantuan than the government often gives them credit for…

Nordic skiing near the Park.“There’s no other place like this. I mean, where can you ever go knee-deep in powdery snow in November?” says Urban Sandel, a Swedish student at Minnesota State University. “I’d never miss such…

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Bozemanites are surrounded by big mountains, cold rivers, and vast valleys, but what many don’t know is that we’re also surrounded by creative folks who know how to tell great stories about these places we love to live in…

Surely you’ve been caught in the backcountry with foot and footwear issues, which is the last thing you need to contend with when trying to enjoy the outdoors. Getting properly fitted boots can help you overcome this. The…

So you’ve decided to order a bottle of wine with your meal. Where to start? Have you ever seen a wine list 30 pages long? Unless you see something you’re familiar with, the possibilities are endless and you might not care…

Bozeman, once a sleepy little enclave without a Gap or Home Depot, focused on a single flashing blue light in the winter months, has morphed into a bustling and bursting mountain metropolis. Despite low incomes and high…

94—billions of dollars generated annually by recreational activity in national forests, according to a 1995 Forest Service study19—billions of dollars generated annually by timber and mining in national forests, according…

The worst experiences make for the best stories.The mountain lion dodged away as my headlamp stabbed at the darkness. Its muscular tawny form would be beautiful if the lion were not stalking us in the predawn hours as we…

Taking a stab at knife shopping.Buying a knife can be overwhelming—the choices in today’s market are immense. You can purchase a pocket knife for a couple dollars at any convenience store or evaluate several thousand $25…

In honor of the November gridiron meeting between our beloved Bobcats and the hated Grizzlies, this season’s battle of college towns goes Montana-style. How will Missoula, the artsy hub of 70,000, dubbed by John Updike as “…

If you’ve seen a recent ski movie or tuned into the winter Olympics last February, you know that free-riding and freestyle have gone off the hook. What is so amazing about these winter athletes is not their aerial maneuvers…

First Ascent Press’s latest offering from the vertical world is a detailed topographic map of Granite Peak with numerous route descriptions. The state’s highest peak, located in the Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness, is an…

The Gallatin Valley’s apparent cycling boom could be attributed to the Lance Armstrong frenzy or high gas prices, but most likely it is a combination of factors. In any case, Outside Bozeman readers are excited to see it…

Every year in New York, Filene’s Basement has a famous one-day sale where leftover designer wedding dresses, each worth thousands of dollars, go on sale for $249. As you can imagine, there is a long line outside and a…

In the years that rainbow trout have repopulated the Madison River since the whirling disease die-off in the mid-1990s, Dick Vincent has noticed something very curious and troubling. Few of the Madison’s rainbows survive…

Volume 2 is here in the Big Sky Rock series of guide books, published by Joe Josephson of First Ascent Press. Central Montana Rock focuses on crags near Helena and the Rocky Mountain Front: particularly Sheep Mountain west…

Some people are really into canoeing. If you’re one of them, or wish you were, pick up Expedition Canoeing: A Guide to Canoeing Wild Rivers in North America. Cliff Jacobson has gathered his friends together to produce a…

Bear books may all seem the same, and indeed the thinking may overlap quite a bit, but the variety of philosophies, yarns, and themes offered by books in this genre keep it from getting tired. For example, Tim Rubbert’s…

First comes the Nalgene bottle, then the North Face jacket, the backpack full of organic granola, the socks and sandals, and finally the retriever, often at its owner’s side. Be it yellow, red, brown, or black, this type of…

Author of several short stories, poetry, and a guidebook on canine first aid, Montana native Sid Gustafson is well-known for his practice of natural veterinary medicine. The Bozeman resident is continuing to grow his…

Compiled by the Montana Center for the Book, Eat Our Words: the Montana Writers' Cookbook is a collection of recipes from 92 of Montana’s hottest authors. Like the writers, the recipes are worldly yet homey, creative yet…

Bonnie Buckley Maldonado, a fourth-generation rancher from Sweet Grass, wrote From the Marias River to the North Pole: A Montana History in Story Poems to recall and celebrate her family’s history in the harsh, magnificent…

In the West, triangles have a certain “Come and get it!” quality, as any hungry cowpoke at the end of a long day can tell you: the clang of the metal triangle—the dinner bell from the chuckwagon--was music to his stomach.…

Late September through mid-November is my favorite season. The brown trout get their deep, darkened spawning colors, and become overly territorial and predatory. The old adage “big fish, big fly” is no more true than at…

If you spend much time in the backcountry, you know that Mother Nature has a twisted sense of humor. You also realize that things don't always go as planned—can’t get a shot on the trophy bull, the trout aren't hungry, or…