Spring 2012

Stretching winter's legs, finally.By mid-March, most Bozeman residents have had just about enough of cold weather. The days are getting longer, and it’s finally time to head outdoors for a little sunshine. Sadly, our…

Swiftwater training in southwest Montana. Arriving at Thumper Rapid on the upper Gallatin, our team spots an unconscious kayaker stranded on a rock in the middle of the whitewater. He’s in a section of river surrounded by…

Student stories from Mount Ellis Academy. There isn’t much that would make a sane person want to go back to high school, but Mount Ellis Academy’s outdoor program might do just that. From bombing down their private ski…

It seems pretty strange that in a beautiful state like Montana—replete with pristine lakes, rivers, and streams chock full of beautiful brown, rainbow, and cutthroat trout—groups of fly-fishing bums would be excitedly…

With ski season on the horizon, it’s time to get those ski/snowboard/nordic legs ready—try these exercises to improve your cardio strength, stamina, agility, and balance before the snow flies. High Intensity Interval…

Looking to get in on the wolf-watching action around Yellowstone Park? Here are some resources to get you started. Yellowstone Safari CompanyOffers private, customized, wolf-viewing safaris from one to five days with…

What happens when you find yourself needing a change of pace, a different outdoor backdrop, or just need to run into some new faces? Satisfy your hunger for variety by heading south, to the border towns of West Yellowstone…

Chasing canines with the Yellowstone Forever Institute. There are wolves in the compound. As I step onto my cabin porch during my first night at the Lamar Buffalo Ranch, one of the volunteers tells me he saw one. While I’…

My friend threw an elbow into my ribs. “Shut up,” he said through clenched teeth. The usual chatter of the crag had ceased and half a dozen people froze to stare upward, jaws hanging limp and eyes unblinking. “He’s climbing…

You wanted it, you got it—a few issues ago, we caved to readers’ clamoring and began publishing a digital edition. Here are the articles that got the most attention at digital.outsidebozeman.com last issue: Top Dogs. We…

1. Read O/B Classics. Check out gems and rarities from the fabled O/B archives—who can forget the Carhartt thong, grumpy old Gramps, indignant immigrant Terry Levine, or the Field Guide to Bozemanites? outsidebozeman.com/…

One of the O/B editorial department’s favorite activities is calling bullshit—on wannabe posers, ridiculous trends, shameless marketing spin, and any other assaults on reason and our collective common sense. Which is…

We’ve all seen them. Like a herd of placid bovines at the feed pile, their Subys line up at the trailhead lot, so caked with dust and mud that you can barely read the Sierra Club, WWF, and “Live Simple So Others Can Simply…

Wild turkeys, not unlike the namesake whiskey, can bring an otherwise sane person to the heights of elation, the depths of depression, or the brink of madness. Fortunately for sportsmen (and their significant others),…

A treasured Montana pastime. Sure, any joker can lay down a pile of bucks to harvest a giant bull on the Flyin’ D, and there are more than enough “grip and grin” shows on cable outdoor channels. However, in Montana, one of…

Climbing the King & Queen. From the interstate, the King and Queen stick out like a wart in the wooded hillside of the Boulder Batholith. With little precipitation and drive-up access, this multiseason crag boasts great…

And they call it puppy love… On May 19, team up with Bozeman Canine Classic for the K9 9K, a dog party, mixed-species footrace, and alliterative palindrome all in one. Participate in a 5.5-mile run or a 1-mile fun run/walk…

Nutrition is rapidly gaining popular interest, and food companies are under pressure to increase the quality of their ingredients. The pet-food industry alone has annual sales over one billion dollars, and, like human food…

As the world begins to sprout and bloom, the days and nights are better for strolling—but watch your step, for rattlesnakes and other wriggly reptiles are emerging from their lairs to sun themselves into activity once again…

Night owls, rejoice! The Southwest Montana Astronomical Society (SMAS), a nonprofit organization dedicated to amateur astronomy and the study of the universe, holds meetings each month at the Museum of the Rockies. Meetings…

Need to know the deal on gear, trends, and outdoor issues? You've come to the right place. Gear guru Johnny Bozeman's got the answers you need.Q: What’s the deal with the whole “barefoot” running craze? And aren’t “barefoot…

With spring in the air, it’s time to look ahead at improving the hunter experience and preparing Montana youth to hunt safely. Application Deadline ChangesThis year, Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks (FWP) instituted a new…

The Cheerio Plugger is a cool carp pattern that is similar, but with a few tweaks and an addition or two, to Jay Zimmerman’s Backstabber. I like this pattern better than Jay’s and it’s great for taking carp in every water…

The hardest part of shooting fishing photos: I would rather be fishing. So if I’m putting my rod down to take pictures, I like to concentrate and take really good ones. Here are some hints to help you make the most of your…

It was the kind of winter that keeps you indoors. A sullen one, with low clouds in the sky, clouds that threaten snow, but do not produce. The mountains were cloaked, buried in fluffy grayness; but down on the valley there…

Finding balance in outdoor adventure. Like many before me, I arrived in Bozeman full of proverbial piss and vinegar: a rabid recreationalist, indiscriminately attacking every outdoor adventure possible. My drive far…

Springtime is back, which means one thing: the fisherman (or fisherwoman) in your life will be coming home with a creel full of fresh fish. Here’s a simple and delicious way to prepare your next meal. Whole Trout Poached…

Raindrops slither down the window as you stare outside, searching the sky for a break in the clouds. No such luck—it’s grey as whale skin. The thermometer reads a frigid 40 degrees; you can only imagine how much colder it…

As we make the transition from snow to spring runoff, it’s time to get those shoulders in check. The shoulder is the most unstable joint in the body and prone to a variety of injuries, especially if you participate in…

Gone are the days of focusing on just one sport—there are just too many fun things to do in southwest Montana. Instead, good Bozemanites know building a strong athletic base is the best way to enjoy the outdoors, stay…

You’ve run shuttle and you’re sliding into your boat at the put-in. The water level is about what you expected and you can see the entry to the first rapid, remembering that you need to start left and then cut right after…

If you need help fostering a love of the outdoors instead of a fascination with computers, bring the young’uns out to the Bozeman Fish Technology Center for the Watershed Festival. Hosted by Montana Outdoor Science School (…

Learning and growing in nature.Many of us have memories of playing outside as children—my brother and I, for example, loved the old oak tree near our house. Its large limbs bent down to the ground; we’d scoot through the…

Catch the tail end of a bona fide Western tradition and head to Three Forks between May 3 and 6—that should put you smack in the middle of some serious cowboy camaraderie and adrenaline, as riders trail horses thundering…

When weather won’t hold and clouds turn snake down skies too bright to stay, you blame the ducks and think bad ducks then fisting skyward shout bad ducks at Vs that waver but don’t quit coming. When rivers turn dream-side…

Come spring I am starved for a fix. I tremble like an addict fumbling with my head kit: blood knots, surgeon’s loops, clinch knots, longing to get bent, baked, jacked up, amped to find the perfect jolt of energy from a…

Art by Will Pope A young robin stares at the bud of a tree, waiting for it to open. He thinks it will be in the next seventeen minutes. “Wait for it, wait for it...” he sings (not being able to say the words with the…

There are photographers who are born to take pictures of the natural world. Discovering their passion at a young age, they spend hours outside experimenting with their parents’ cameras, idolizing outdoor-photography icons…

In the mid-1970s, a Delaware shoe repairman named Steve Schnee and his wife Jean packed all their worldly possessions into a Plymouth Valiant and headed west, in hopes of acquiring a new business somewhere between Ohio and…

Local author and jack-of-all-trades Greg Keeler has been a busy man: in the past year, he’s published five books, among them his first novel and four volumes of poems, with four of the books featuring Keeler’s own artwork.…

The Bozeman City Commission and the Bozeman Creek Enhancement Project are in the final stages of planning the improvement of Bogert Park and its access to Bozeman Creek. The city’s plans include (re)creating meanders…

Many people in Bozeman live an outside life. Dave Gaillard was one. It was Dave’s passion to take himself and others out to explore the mountains, and it was his life’s work to conserve the wildlife that makes the mountains…

Lingo for Bozemanite-dogs. Few communities are more dog-friendly than Bozeman. Everywhere you look, it seems there’s a dog waiting for the next hike, bike, ski, or float—and that’s a good thing. But with all this dog…

Flanked by the Absaroka-Beartooths and the Crazy Mountains, the town of Big Timber sits at the confluence of the Yellowstone and Boulder rivers, serving as a great starting point for a multi-day adventure. It’s a quiet,…

Let’s say you’ve been kidnapped—God knows why. You’re tossed into a trunk, driven an interminable time, and dropped off in the middle of nowhere with only a jacket, a bottle of water, and two sticks of gum. Night is falling…

Harrison Lake, aka Willow Creek Reservoir, just east of Harrison in the Madison Valley, is now formally an Important Bird Area (IBA)—the 40th IBA in Montana. The Harrison area has a diversity of species, including transient…

It’s not really spring until the birds return.According to the Montana Audubon Society, the official Montana bird list contains 427 species, ranging from birds of prey such as the golden eagle, to shorebirds and waterfowl,…

Interested in getting your Wilderness First Aid certification, exploring the natural sciences firsthand, or fostering your child’s outdoor leadership skills? Fortunately, Bozeman is rich with outdoor-education programs for…

A Three Forks threesome. When Saturday dawns warm and bright and outdoor ambitions rise within you like spring snowmelt, it’s time for a Montana multisport: two or more outdoor activities spliced into a single day of fun…

“Gone fishin’”—that sign has been hanging on my door quite often lately. The complimentary duo of the Sonic Pro waders and Willow River wading boots are practical, yet stylish; durable, yet comfortable. What really makes…

With a clean cut and versatile layering options, the Ibex Shak Full Zip is a 24/7 kind of jacket. Form-fitting but with classic lines, the Shak kept me comfortable in the office during the week and cozy as a mid-layer on…

Every once in a while, you’ll see a cool product and say to yourself, “Why didn’t I think of that?” So it is with TitanStraps, the burly, multipurpose straps engineered right here in Bozeman by outdoor photographer Cameron…

Made with Konnetic technology (whatever that is), the Sage One rod with 4250 large arbor reel and RIO Gold fly line is a sleek and even stylish rod. I used the 590-4, which is a four-piece, nine-foot, 5-weight rod. Matched…

Dozens of books make it across the O/B editorial desk every season—here’s the cream of the crop. These spring selections are guaranteed to get you in the outdoor mood, regardless of how crappy the weather may be. It can be…

Remember the joys of bicycling as a child? Foster that love in other children by giving them a copy of Mike on a Bike in a Forest (Infinity Publishing, $11). In his newest tale, Bozeman author Michael Hickey takes young…