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Summer 2013

Montana summer: get it while it's hot. In this issue, we'll help you make the most out of the season. Learn the value of Wilderness areas in our feature on the Lee Metcalf Wilderness, where our managing editor forgoes a ride through Class IV rapids, but gets a dose of wilderness therapy while he's there. In Life, Death, Catch & Release, we offer you a new perspective on an afternoon casting on the water. When it’s time to put down the magazine or turn off the computer, we’ve got a list of programs offered by Bozeman Parks and Rec to keep you learning new skills all summer. What are you waiting for? Dive in, peruse the articles, then get out and make the most of summer while it’s here.

 

 

 

 

 

Features

  • Illustration by Ted Rechlin
    Activities: Miscellaneous

    Swept Away

    A few summers ago, my girlfriend Jo and I were beat up from biking trails beyond our ability and conceived a yen to float the Gallatin from the mouth of the canyon to Gallatin Gateway. We probably got the idea from a couple…
  • Photo by Zack Clothier
    Places: Cities & Towns

    Home to Bozeman

    It sounds corny, I suppose, but I believe that there’s a place for each of us. Call it destiny, fate, or providence—the innate magnetism in all of us that tells us where we fit in the world. Some people search a lifetime…
  • Photo by Austin Trayser
    Activities: Fishing

    One for Luck

    The parking lot promises a crowd. You remember last year, the cars and SUVs at the head of the canyon. You saw the windshields shining before you turned down the dirt road and you gulped. Cars from everywhere, cars from the…

Departments

  • Illustration by Courtney Blazon
    Culture: Humor

    Beauty Scars

    Measuring the wounds of outdoor adventure. For guys, scars are proof of adventure, daring, experience, and ruggedness—unintended tattoos announcing their manhood. But for ladies, it’s a little different. Our outdoor battle…
  • Activities: Fishing

    Tip-Top Trout

    Wrapping a trout in tin foil might be nice when you’re out camping, but when you bring your catch home, try something a little more exciting. Here’s one of our favorite recipes for fresh-caught fish: hemp-seed-crusted trout…
  • Activities: Hunting

    Pre-Season Prep

    For many of us, summer means one thing: hunting season is near. But months of lazy fishing, floating, and summer barbeques do little to keep one’s skills sharp come opening day. Like anything, preparation and forethought…
  • Hollowtop Ski Outside Bozeman Tobacco Roots
    Activities: Backcountry Skiing

    White Lines

    Heeding the call at Hollowtop Mountain. What is it about white lines? Those winding strings of pearl, sinuous rills weaving down mountainsides, carving and cascading through rock like storm clouds harnessed to a rolling…
  • Illustration by Angie Mangels
    Activities: Camping

    False Advertising

    It is day three of backpacking in the Beartooths. I’m authoring from inside the butter-yellow walls of my Marmot tent alone. Not because I’m a misanthrope, for I do like mankind (those who promote American Idol singers as…
  • Activities: Camping

    Stickin' Around

    For most families, the word “exotic vacation” conjures up images of a luxury resort near an azure sea, sipping tropically themed cocktails on a white, sandy beach. Mom is lounging peacefully on a recliner, Dad is off…
  • Photo by Kyle Christenson
    Activities: Miscellaneous

    Coolin' It Down

    On those blazing summer days in Bozeman, sometimes all you want is to grab a swimsuit and some beer and go in search of sweet relief. There are a number of places to swim around Bozeman if you’re willing to look. After all…
  • Photo by Ryan Krueger
    Activities: Hiking

    A Gneiss Easy Hike

    The entire length of the Gneiss Creek Trail traverses 14 miles through the Madison Valley. The trail, which lies mostly within Yellowstone National Park, connects the Gallatin with Madison Canyon and the Madison River. This…
  • Activities: Mountain Biking

    Biker's Bucket List

    With such little time before it starts snowing again, it’s important to do the very best rides around Bozeman. This bucket list is meant to pique your interest to get out and explore new areas by bicycle. For further…
  • Photo by Kene Sperry
    Activities: Mountain Biking

    Sights and Sounds

    Live music is like nothing else. The sound is raw, the lights are blinding, the volume is cranked, and nothing tastes better than an $8 Bud Light after a couple of hours of jamming to your favorite band. To be in a crowd,…
  • Photo by Gwen Morgan
    Activities: Fishing

    Easy Ennis

    Need a two-day getaway, but don’t want to blow wads of dough or spend hours on the road? Then pack a few things, shut off the cell phone, and head south to Ennis, where a laid-back and fun-filled weekend awaits—all within…
  • Activities: Rafting

    Family Floating

    “Dad, there’s a rock at the bottom of the ‘V,’” said Jesse, age seven. She knew that we would follow the deeper, glassier water into the steeper gradient. She made sure that we avoided the boulder as well as a likely…
  • Photo by Ginny Holt
    Activities: Fishing

    Chasing the Cat

    A little thumbing your nose at convention is good for the soul. Especially at times like this, when a nine-foot Heddon #35 bamboo fly rod made 85 years ago is used to fling a large weighted Woolly Bugger soaked in chicken-…
  • Painting by Laura Blue Palmer
    Culture: Arts & Culture

    The River's Edge

    From time to time the river would expel a pronounced “gurgle” as water rushed into a pocket created by the infinite droplets moving in their mysterious ways. She listened from the bank and watched the water pass by. Where…
  • Photo by Denver Bryan
    Activities: Fishing

    Trout Rustling Gone Mad

    Greed, selfishness, and a plain-ol’ “I got mine, screw you” mentality is making itself more and more apparent in Montana when it comes to fishing. The situation often involves big-money yahoos locking up land access to…
  • Places: Cities & Towns

    Letter of the Land

    History of the "M". One thing’s pretty certain this spring: If your story takes place in Bozeman, there’s a big, whitewashed letter decorating the mountains that serve as your backdrop. At least, if those mountains include…
  • Photo by Michael Francis
    Places: Yellowstone Park

    A Day in the Park

    Perhaps you’ve come to Montana to stay at a local resort for a week, attend a family wedding event, or possibly you’re a “local” with out-of-town friends visiting. In each case, you’ll probably consider going to Yellowstone…
  • Illustration by Maggie Slepian
    Culture: Dogs

    Tie a Yellow Ribbon

    Most of our outdoor adventures are enhanced with a canine companion, and options for dog-friendly recreation seem limitless. A well-intentioned owner can take a dog for a run around Peets Hill, a hike up Triple Tree, or a…
  • Culture: Dogs

    Lost and Found

    Bear was having a good day. He was finishing a late-afternoon jaunt along the Nordic ski trails in Hyalite Canyon on Friday, March 22 with Mandy Woodmansee and her boyfriend Grant Ellison. The eight-year-old black lab / pit…
  • Photo by Craig Hergert
    Training: Workouts

    Follow Your Nose

    While the blooming green landscape around town is beautiful in the summertime, it invariably means that allergy-inducing pollen will assault us until fall. We breathe in pollen, and it triggers our immune system which tries…
  • Photo by Ryan Krueger
    Activities: Running

    All Night Wrong

    The last of the sky’s bruised-purple tint has faded to black, and now it’s anywhere from eleven at night to four in the morning. The miles and hours pile on top of each other until it’s impossible to tell what time it is.…
  • Photo by Moe Witschard
    Training: Workouts

    Mixin' It Up

    The season of barbeques, boating, tanning, and floating is finally upon us. Summers in Montana are priceless—we’re surrounded by endless beauty and are lucky enough to call this home. Since I’m a personal trainer and a gym…
  • Training: Skills & Safety

    Primitive Schools

    Want to improve your primitive skills? Look no further. Here are a few local schools that can help you survive when the economy finally collapses for good.PAST Skills Wilderness School – Bozeman. These classes promote the…
  • Illustration by Catalin Corrigan
    Culture: Humor

    Potpies and Woodsmoke

    Author’s note: what follows may possibly be viewed as veering into the realm of the apocalyptic, conspiracy-theory-ranting lunatic. If it is taken that way, it is outside of the intent of the author—or maybe not.Let’s say…
  • Photo by Megan Paulson
    Activities: Camping

    Chirping Salt Vultures

    There are a lot of annoying critters out there, both wild and domestic—packrats, mice, magpies, roosters, raccoons, possums, porcupines, and poodles to name a few. But as far as sheer destructiveness goes, nothing in my…
  • Photo by Ryan Krueger
    Activities: Canoeing

    New Town Treats

    The beloved Bozeman summer… are you stand-up paddleboarding yet? Kayaking? Fly fishing? Going to beer and food tastings with other happy Bozemanites? If your answer is no, we can help. With so much happening in your Bozeman…
  • Photo by Jim Klug
    Activities: Fishing

    Treat Your River Right

    Catch this! Over a quarter of the state’s angling occurs here in Region 3 with seven premier wild trout streams, more than 90 fishing access sites (FAS), and some splendid high-mountain lakes. As the peak of fishing season…
  • Photo by Craig Hergert
    Training: Photography

    Big, Wide, & Open

    With the landscape around us so vast, and a world of technology and information at your fingertips, why constrain your composition to a tiny rectangle in your camera viewfinder? At this point in your photography obsession,…
  • Photo by Mark Weber

    Outlook - Summer 2013

    Enter the outdoors: a timeless arena. Where the unswayed earth reveals itself by sunlight on stone and wind sweeping through wooden fingers.Climb up through forested mountainsides. Dance in the summer heat and mingle under…
  • Photo by Ryan Turner
    Culture: Season Opener

    Montana Connections

    One touch of nature makes the whole world kin. ~William ShakespeareIt was like a bad first date. Someone should say something, but nothing comes out. We’d covered all the basic topics of conversation—what do you do for work…
  • Yellowstone Llamas
    Activities: Hiking

    Llama Therapy

    The summer sun beats down on us on this early July morning in the parking lot. The trail sign reads “Daily Creek.” Four- and two-legged companions mill around the stock trailer, getting ready for the hike. Those with two…
  • Montana Conservation Corps
    Culture: Around the Bozone

    Common Ground

    Dorms were a luxury that evening, muddy floors and all. My hankering for the last Hershey Bar in camp led to desperate things: 100 push-ups later, it was mine—a simple pleasure hard-won through sweat equity, perseverance,…
  • Photo by Ryan Turner
    Culture: Around the Bozone

    Montana Music

    Is there anything better than sipping a cold one, kicking back with your favorite people, and enjoying an outdoor concert as the summer day draws to a close? Montanans love to celebrate life, and outdoor concerts provide…
  • Activities: Running

    Mud, Road & Water

    The sun is shining, the birds are singing—and Bozemanites everywhere are warming up at starting lines around the state. To help you decide how to spend your speedy summer, here are three of our favorite races.BozeMonster…
  • Photo by Amy Shertzer
    Culture: The New West

    Saving Water

    We Montanans have a lot to be proud of when it comes to contributing to our nation’s conservation legacy: Montana is home to two of America’s most beloved national parks—Glacier and Yellowstone. Adjacent to these parks are…
  • Gallatin Vs. Bitterroot
    Culture: Face-Off

    Gallatin Vs. Bitterroot

    From the roaring whitewater of spring to lazy, late-summer floats, rivers help narrate the story of Montana. They define our landscape, irrigate our crops, and protect our wildlife; they’re a primary source of recreation…

Gear Reviews

  • Big Sky Rod Box
    Activities: Fishing

    Big Sky Rod Box

    Over the years, many attempts have been made to keep rods fishin’-ready, while still safe from common catastrophes. PVC, rubber-snubbers, magnets, and all other manner of safe-keeping have been contrived to protect these…
  • Gear: Apparel

    Bare Access Arc 2

    Barefoot running had always seemed to me like a way for companies to sell us creepy hybrid glove-shoes, so I stayed loyal to my cushy sneakers… until I slipped into a pair of Merrell’s Bare Access Arc 2. These shoes are…
  • Gear: Apparel

    Hike-Trek 1/4

    Let’s face it: a girl can never have too many socks. And if you’re an avid trail runner like me, the Hike/Trek 1/4socks from Darn Tough are sure to stand out as you rummage through your overflowing sock drawer. They provide…
  • Gear: Apparel

    Mauria GTX

    Just because you like to climb mountains, your athletic capabilities don’t necessarily carry over to solid footfalls on a steep, scree-heavy descent. Thankfully, Lowa’s Mauria GTX mid-rise hiking boots have your back—and…
  • Gear: Equipment

    Yaffbar

    You’re on a hike with your canine buddy and you bust out an energy bar. Buster stares at your snack, eyes begging for a bite. But it’s people food, and you down it despite the desperate gaze of your hungry pup. Well now you…
  • Gear: Equipment

    Air Collar

    Dogs love it when you pull off their collars and let them run light and free, as nature intended—especially when said collars are sopping from a dunk in the river. Alas, those pesky leash laws necessitate a quick return to…
  • Gear: Equipment

    SB140

    After 11 years in a 13.5-foot, standard-floor raft, I had a good idea of what I wanted in a new boat. It had to be a self-bailer, have removable thwarts, and since my family was bigger, it needed to be longer and wider.…
  • Gear: Equipment

    GO Bag

    “We are what we repeatedly do,” said Aristotle—and unless you like being a pre-pubescent pansy-ass, ditch that glorified purse of yours and start hauling around a GO Bag by Gerber. This stalwart satchel comes loaded with a…

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