“Was that a fish?” I ask with a confused look on my face. “Yes, Jeff. That was a fish,” the guide responds, shaking his head. “Are you sure?” I ask. “Yes,” he replies confidently. “I didn’t see it.” “I did.” He sees them all. He knows what to look for, what...
The elk checked into my yard one snowy winter evening as if they were entitled to one-night accommodations with all the benefits. At dawn, I discovered three snow-blanketed cows under my ponderosas, their ears idly monitoring the early morning quiet. As light filtered beneath the...
A thick column of black smoke rose downriver, cooling into a thin layer across the horizon and contrasting starkly against the late October Montana sky; a good metaphor for the splitting headache that was hammering in my otherwise clear head. The smoke distracted me for...
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...
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...
On the night before my son Jaren’s 18th birthday, I went online to buy him a fishing license. But I wondered if I would regret it. How annoyed would I be if he only used it once? Or more honestly, how disappointed? Worst case, I’d be...
Just south of McCall, Idaho, at what’s known as the McCall Activity Barn, my family and I stepped into our cross-country skis and glided into a gray ocean of fog. Our 12-year-old son Anders took the lead, keeping his skis in the tracks so he...
IF YOU LIKE A CHALLENGE, TRY TO SPOT AND STALK THE ANIMAL WITH THE FASTEST HOOVES ON EARTH There are easier ways to kill a pronghorn antelope. The spot-and-stalk approach forces hunters to sneak up on the animals, mano a mano, typically in wide-open country, pitted against...
It’s hard to get people fired up about chunks of ice, but that’s what scientists and officials in Glacier National Park are trying to do as the park’s namesake glaciers melt away. They face a tougher sell than folks who can broadcast, say, images of...
Finding solace in a secret fly-fishing spot Dust hangs over the forest road, settling visibly on a dark SUV parked halfway up the mountain. A guy wearing a bleached-out Michigan T-shirt stands by the vehicle’s cargo compartment strapping on a waist pack. He glances over his...