Montana tagged posts

Wildfire season has been particularly bad this year in the west.  The smoke is heavy and the ground is dry.  But home in Montana for 10 days we found peace on the river. 

We drove over to Bozeman from Missoula to spend time with my sister, celebrate her new baby and take time to get outside.

After picking up some purple haze flies and rigging up the new rod, we headed to the Gallatin.  As we carefully selected which holes to fish, the smoke remained thick and the mountains looked like distant ghosts.  But the water was cool on our feet, the temperature warm and the breeze on the river was pure the further we waded.  We only had a few nibbles in the hours we were out on the water but our casts got stronger and further as the day passed.

There’s nothing like being outside standing side-by-s...

Three weeks away has been just what the doctor ordered. Three states and three rivers later, I have fished two rivers in Montana, floated another and camped in Virginia’s Shenandoah.  I have helped welcome a new member to our family, spent time with my 95 year old Grandma and inhaled wildfire smoke thick enough it feels like I smoked 10 cigars.  I’ve slip and slid down an adult slip-n-slide, mended a sick dog, ate the BEST elk tacos, celebrated my 30 years on this planet and two years of marriage!  Through all this, I’m reminded nothing does the body and mind better than being outdoors and spending time with good friends and family.  It’s the glue that makes life stick together and worth every minute!  

People are why this blog started...

By Lindsay Persico

Summer is a time for camping, hiking and just enjoying the outdoors as a whole. It is good for the mind, body and soul. What better place to enjoy it than a designated wilderness area? Thanks to some recently redefined wilderness boundaries, this year’s Veterans Outreach Program from the Montana Wilderness Association in partnership with the United States Forest Service, found it’s Veterans and significant others out enjoying some of Montana’s best on their first outing of the summer. The program is free of charge and their goal is to get Veterans and their families out experiencing peaceful, wild places. My husband heads up the program and I was glad to get to go along.

We started out by camping at Wood Lake and doing a couple small hikes right from the campgroun...

By Kascie Herron

I never look forward to the first day of the fishing season. I know, I know, call me crazy, but hear me out. It’s usually a $&*t show and I’m a hot mess. I’m not a super proficient angler as it is, but on the first day out I’m pretty rusty and the whole experience only highlights my status as an amateur. My line gets tangled; I lose about a dozen flies and a few feet of line; I break off nearly every fish that bites (if any bite); maybe a rod gets broken. By the end of the day some tears have been shed and my boyfriend and I pretty much want to kill each other. The first day out fishing is just one we must get through in order to move on and enjoy the rest of the season together.

But this year things went a little differently...

By Jill Alban

It’s May in Montana. And my husband and I have entered what we affectionately call “the crazy season.”

I’m not sure if it’s because of the long, cold nights that have us inside playing Scrabble through most of December and January – but once spring hits, we’re a little giddy. Grant wishes on his lucky star and puts in for the special moose or sheep tag that might just be in the cards later this year. I bike down to the farmer’s market to buy the jaunty, bright green starts that will turn into endless bowls of salad in a month’s time. We pull out the calendar, plan our backpacking adventures, and make grand goals to plant an herb garden or build a greenhouse in the long summer evenings after work.

And, of course, I pull out my fly box...