I live in an inland rainforest in the northwest corner of Montana, the wild Yaak Valley where — it’s true — in June, one is often bloodstained with the smear of mosquitoes that hover and swarm in sheets and waves. For so many of us...
Scenery and lifestyle are twin drivers behind many of the homes in Big Sky, Montana, which is known for being a world-class ski area and a summer playground for outdoor enthusiasts. For a structure that was to be located at 8,000 feet in elevation, those...
The artwork of Sara Joyce (1923-2011) embodies her own personal language, a rich organic response to the Idaho landscape that was familiar to her, and a deep investigation of color. Her abstracted compositions in oils, fabric, and clay — derived from her dream journals —...
Nestled between the Teton and Big Hole mountain ranges in Teton Valley, Idaho, Alexandra Paliwoda’s Backcountry Blacksmith shop is aptly named, with a nod to both her chosen profession and the natural themes that her metalwork embodies. Elements of the journeys she’s experienced in the...
You might eat the best steak in Montana at the Buffalo Block Prime Steakhouse in Billings. It depends on how you like your meat, but at this establishment, most steaks are aged for a month and some cuts are dry-aged for another 40 days. The...
A high-mountain breeze sweeps across Tom Miner Basin, whispering across the purple petals of the common shooting star flower and larkspur and dancing into the sky. Billows of clouds hug tight to the serrated edges of Sawtooth Mountain, still crisp with winter snow, and aspens...
On the east end of Main Street in Bozeman, Montana’s thriving downtown, where boutiques and galleries mingle with hip bars and restaurants, there’s a diner that still functions — as if untouched by time — as a relic of the Old West. Here, at The...
There exists a word for the way the air smells after a rainstorm, or at least that’s what a friend told me. An amusing piece of data, perhaps, but I have to wonder whether anyone would mention the word while stepping into a spruce thicket...
When artist Meagan Blessing was 9 years old, she filled an expedition-style backpack and walked out the front door of her family’s home in Seattle, Washington. It was summertime, school was out for the year, and she was ready for a great adventure. Her plan:...
In the summer of 1910, Idaho and Western Montana suffered one of the most devastating fires in the nation’s history. It was a conflagration that historians refer to as the “Big Burn,” which killed 87 people and turned 3 million acres of trees — an...