Spring 2008

Features

  • Tailwaters Near and Far

    As a year-round angler, there are always a few things I look forward to—and saying goodbye to snapping the ice out of my guides with frozen fingers is definitely one of them. In early spring there a lot of great rivers to…
  • Crank Up Your Cast

    Tips for better fishing. During the frenzy of the hatch, trout can become very selective. Finding the fish and figuring out what they’re eating is only half the battle—now you’ve got to present your fly to them properly.…
  • Montana Weddings

    Getting hitched under the Big Sky.Face it: no outdoors enthusiast worth his salt readily and without profanity cancels a sunny, spring-weekend excursion to pack into a church and watch a twitterpated twosome tie the knot.…

Departments

  • By the Numbers

    730 billion: dollars spent on active outdoor recreation in U.S., 200624 million: number of Americans who paddle every year6 million: number of Americans who play soccer15.9: percent of men over age 30 who have been married…
  • Smoked-Salmon Hash

    A meat-less alternative to a breakfast classic.  One of my fondest memories in life is wild-salmon fishing in Sitka, Alaska with my 93-year-old grandfather in 2003. We caught so much fish that I found myself with a huge…
  • Champs & Chumps: Spring 2008

    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:Sparse Miller, owner of Sun…
  • The Sky Crows

    Black birds circling the sky are a common Western motif. But if they’re flapping more than soaring, it’s not buzzards you spy, in all likelihood, but the ubiquitous raven, or its cousin the crow. These raucous avians are…
  • Sunstainable You

    Here are suggestions for things to try as you head down the road to greener living. 1) Reduce. The first, and for some of us the toughest, of the 3 Rs. Ask—Do I really need that new whatever-it-is? Will it last? Will it be…
  • Polarizing Candidates

    If you have a camera that allows you to change the lens—a single-lens reflex (SLR) camera—specialty filters will improve the quality of your photographs. So before you head out to take photographs in high mountain country…
  • Going Native

    How and why to landscape more appropriately in Montana. Every so often an existing word gets revived. Like an old rock & roll star returning to the stage, it becomes popular and brings a newfound respect and a fresh…
  • Bears, Bozeman, and Beyond

    Spring has sprung, and we aren't the only ones waking up from a long winter. All over Montana, warmer weather is bringing grizzlies out of their dens. When bears awake, they are sort of in a daze, and their only intent is…
  • Codger Tour #3

    Codger Tour #3: The Castle Mountains.It's not just the young and fit—the climbers of frozen waterfalls, the runners of Bridger Ridge—who long to get out and experience what makes Montana special. I’ve been making sure that…
  • The Fungus Among Us

    The slopes of the Mill Creek drainage, near the Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness boundary, look bleak and dark. Blackened torsos of burned trees contrast the clear blue sky. Gushing water rips deep cuts in the soft, fire-…
  • West Side Story

    It's tough being a Bozemanite sometimes. Which coffee shop am I gonna frequent? Which one of these Suby Outbacks is mine? Grab a jacket, a Nalgene, those never-ending out-of-town guests, and get back into the boonies for a…
  • Our Endless Variety

    I have a good friend who chides me mercilessly when I don’t ski enough. This year was particularly bad. “You’re the freakin’ editor of an outdoor magazine,” he cried, incredulous, “and you only skied 12 times this year?…
  • Pita the Wonder Dog

    A miraculous recovery.Twelve years ago on a backcountry adventure my two sisters, me, and our mama crossed paths with Pita the Wonder Dawg, or PWD for short.One day, in search of new biking challenges we found a little…
  • Rotten Snow and Rum

    The fire was burning down. Luckily we still had a pint of rum left and nothing else to do but throw more wood into the hole. You see, the fire was literally burning down—into a reflective snowy cavern that grew deeper with…
  • A Moveable Feast

    Dancing around Bozeman. At its most basic level, dancing is entertainment; hence the insane popularity of Dancing with the Stars, So You Think You Can Dance, and similar shows. For most of us, dancing is just plain fun,…
  • Uncovered

    Insurance can be a totally boring topic until you're looking at a thousand-dollar bill to fix the lung you punctured with your buddy's ice axe. That's when you realize that gear isn't the only expense thrillseekers have to…
  • Paradise Found

    Our guide to Livingston's big back yard.It’s easy to extol the virtues of Bozeman’s unequivocally badass back yard—but don’t rave too loudly, lest ye drown out the sweet, seductive song of our wind-scoured neighbor 22 miles…
  • Sports vs. Spa

    When you think of massage, what comes to mind? It may simply be relaxation, or you may expect a more clinical experience. You may want to work out the knots, release the tension in your lower back, or get rid of a headache…
  • Wet Blanket

    A sensitive natural area at risk. Wetlands compose less than two percent of the land in Montana, but there's some right here in Bozeman—for now, anyway. As co-owner of 33 acres of marshy ground behind the Village Downtown…
  • To Bike or Not to Bike

    “Wilderness is recognized as an area where the earth and its community of life are untrammeled by man, where man himself is a visitor who does not remain; wilderness areas are devoted to the public purposes of outstanding…
  • Stuck in a Rut

    Last August, we hit a particularly bad bison jam on the road that cuts through Yellowstone National Park’s Lamar Valley. Humans rarely have the right-of-way in this bison-packed section of the Park, and our bus wasn’t going…

Gear Reviews

  • Review: Pro Bar Superfood Slam

    There’s no shortage of energy bars on the market today—my local grocery store, for example, devotes an area bigger than my closet to them—but most have only subtle differences in flavor, shape, etc. Like energy drinks, you…
  • Adventure Hat - SUNDAY AFTERNOONS

    Even if a thick mane of hair protects your head, you may still need a little extra coverage when exposed to the elements. The Adventure Hat from Sunday Afternoons should be an essential part of all outdoor enthusiasts’…
  • Review: OUTA WARE Norris Pants

    Three Forks-based Outa Ware has built a watertight reputation for burly technical clothing that outlasts everything else in one’s outdoor wardrobe—and their new Norris Pants are no exception. In addition to Outa Ware’s…

Additional Articles

  • Hotsquatch

    Finding home in Montana. After wandering the mountains of the Pacific Northwest for most of her life, a happy bipedal hominoid named Hairy Ann has finally settled down in Missoula, Montana. “I’m ready for a more urbanized…
  • Tying One on for Mom

    Sometime between the end of April and the middle of May something spectacular happens. Depending upon the air and water temperatures, as well as the ever-volatile spring weather, little moth-like insects emerge from local…
  • Skate or Die!

    Bozeman’s skateboarding population is booming. And desperate for more elbow room. The skatepark is busy and crowded. “If someone like yourself (read: never-skated-before-in-my-life) wanted to learn, there’d be very few…
  • On a Roll

    Kevin Connolly's trip on two wheels.  An MSU honors program senior completing a double-major in media and theatre arts, Kevin Connolly is one helluva rolling exhibition. With digital equipment funded by his silver-medal…
  • The Run-up to the Runoff

    It's be easy to pick out boaters across Montana in the winter. They’re the ones with the shit-eating-grins plastered across their mugs after every cold smoke dump leaves its calling card. And that’s not just because most of…

Book Reviews

Outside Bozeman Spring 2008

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