A few years ago I was interviewed for an article in NationalGeographic.com about the five must-do local activities for outdoor enthusiasts visiting Montana in spring. Living in Montana, I never liked spring. While the rest of the northern hemisphere is…
In the opening to “A Charlie Brown Christmas,” Snoopy skates onto a pond and grabs the hand of a child and skates with a bunch of them in single file. He slides on the ice on his belly. The children…
Nestled into a valley between the Mission and Swan mountain ranges in western Montana, Seeley Lake is one of the more scenic spots in a spectacular state. The Mission Mountain Wilderness is on one side, the Bob Marshall Wilderness on…
In the early 1960s two schoolteachers from California vacationed in West Yellowstone. Like many people who explore the conifer-filled mountains, beautiful Hebgen Lake, and stunning Yellowstone National Park, the Thompsons wanted to stay. In 1964, they bought property where the…
There used to be a website called New West, which I would occasionally write for. It closed up shop several years ago, but recently this essay –Back on the Horse: What It Means to be a Westerner–popped up somehow. I…
We are wrapping up an incredible ten days. We’ve been in three time zones, six airplanes, a subway, a taxi, a rental car, and my sister-in-law’s SUV. We’ve spent the night in a casino on the California/Nevada border, my brother’s…
Livingston is known for its winter winds. Cold air rushes up the Paradise Valley from Yellowstone National Park, tosses trash cans around, catches plastic bags in trees and knocks over small children. But there is much more than wind in…
Montana Banksy on secrecy, inspiration, the Livingston, Montana art community, and why the ephemeral rock art will continue. Don’t you love finding something special and creative? Something that makes an already gorgeous place that much more interesting? Me, too. I’ve…
A Stone’s Throw Bed and Breakfast A couple weeks ago, Henry and I had an in-town getaway to A Stone’s Throw Bed and Breakfast. We dropped the kids with Big Henry and Mogie and walked 3.5 blocks from our house to…
A few days ago our local newspaper posted photos of rock art along the Yellowstone River. A fish with scales in pink, blue, and orange; a bison with a steely eyeball, concentric circles stacked on each other…it all looked very cool,…