The simplest approach to packing consists of a pack saddle and a pair of panniers (bags, boxes, or baskets that contain cargo). This French word, often corrupted to “panyard” in the West, has been around since Shakespeare, who used it in one of his plays.
With each mile gained in elevation, the oxygen deprivation distracts your driving as does the granite splendor you behold at every turn. Even in July the snow stays on the ground at this elevation and skiers, sunny skies, swaying wildflowers, and tourists alike indulge in this rugged high beauty and marvel at the ingenuity of the highway.
Montana is infamous for its extremes of terrain and weather. Snowstorms can howl across this state like packs of white wolves, screaming through the streets, burying cars and stranding drivers in white-out conditions. Roads become glazed with ice and ground blizzards destroy visibility.
When I first arrived at Malmstrom Air Force Base, there was only one thing on my mind—fly-fishing because Montana is known for having some of the best fly-fishing in the world.
Rappelling in, you arrive in a large room named the Cloak Room. It is here that you shed your climbing gear; it won’t be needed until you ascend back up the rope to your above-ground home. From here you have fourteen miles of known passages that twist, turn, split, dead-end, and squeeze under rocks to explore.
Sailors across the Big Sky state hoist their sails on Fort Peck Reservoir in the dusty eastern part of the state to the pristine waters of Flathead Lake in the northwest. And, although there truly are many lakes in Montana on which to set sail, we focused on two of the largest—Flathead Lake and Canyon Ferry Reservoir. Both are deservedly popular among the sailing community.
Imagine the adrenaline rush of dashing across the solid surface in one of these ice boats, the freezing wind cutting through that third layer of down, watching the trees whizz by at lightning speeds
If Mother Nature then chooses to fully cooperate, visitors to Glacier National Park may conclude that Montana’s annual autumnal gold rush surpasses even New England’s fabled fall color, given the grandeur of Glacier’s mountains and the stark contrast between color values that characterize fall foliage in the northern Rockies.
Take crisp, cool mornings and sunny, warm days – mix in a little early snow high in the mountains and add some beautiful fall foliage, elk bugling during their rut in the High Country, and you have a recipe for what many believe are the very finest days of the year to get out and enjoy what Montana has to offer.
Ever walked through a cemetery and imagined footsteps behind you, rustling in the leaves, or bony hands reaching up through the layers of the moldy earth?
His heart rate jumped, and gooseflesh rose on his forearms, sending a shiver down his spine. His jaw went slack, and his mind raced as he stared south, baffled by four massive black rectangular objects, each with red lights on them.
Bison play a central, integral role in the cultural, spiritual and ceremonial life of many western Native American tribes in both the plains and the intermountain areas, such as Montana. Their relationship to the bison runs deep and is ingrained into who they are as Native people
Montana is blessed with some of the darkest skies in the country, due to lack of any large light-polluting cities. Couple this with the many wildernesses and other wild and scenic set-aside areas, and one can get far away from even the light of small towns.
I have always been a hunter. Like many Montana boys my age, my father, like his father before him, schooled us in the teachings of the wild. Some kids spent their weekends playing sports, but my family were always sitting beside a lake, camping or adventuring the dirt roads with a small-caliber arms and a packed lunch in the back seat.
A sturdy footbridge across the South Fork a quarter mile from the trailhead provides good views up- and downstream. Afterward, be sure to stop at nearby Lone Mountain Ranch for an après-snowshoe drink in the saloon.
When the temperature begins to dip and the forecast calls for snow flurries and sunsets before work is over, the last thought for many is," where is my fly rod?” However, some still keep their rods and reels in the car for those days in winter that boast great fishing and solitude on the river. For those that want to give it a try, here are our top 5 tips for successful winter fly fishing.
Climbing, whether on rock, ice, or in the mountains, may seem like a death-defying activity only for those who wish to live life on the edge–when in reality, the sport can be enjoyed by anyone in a very safe and satisfactory manner!
