Montana Headwall, Headwall

The Root coughs up an early season surprise

Jamie Rogers — Wed, 08 May 2013 11:40:00 -0600

Trout guide Evan Phillippe and I recently hit the lower Bitterroot for an afternoon of hunting slough pike and searching for a March Brown hatch. We caught zero pike and experienced a couple hours of nice dry fly fishing.…

Skiing the Great Bear

Michael Reavis — Sun, 05 May 2013 11:16:00 -0600

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Snocial

Mark Mullendore — Thu, 02 May 2013 09:06:00 -0600

Gear: Head

For the "rad montana skis."…

Skiing the Sawtooths and Lost Rivers, Idaho

John Lehrman — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 16:21:00 -0600

In an effort to stay in the sunshine, leaving our beloved Montana for Central Idaho was the weather forecasted direction we headed.

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Kootenai Creek

Casey Greene — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 10:15:00 -0600

Day hike up the Kootenai Creek drainage on 04/22.

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Who is Hank Patterson, Your Fly Fishing Expert?

Jessica Murri — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 08:04:21 -0600

Montana’s rivers are filled with folks in hip waders and fishing vests, casting fly rods with skill and grace. But none are quite like the fisherman-slash-YouTube-sensation who recently kicked off the first-ever Down the Hatch Fly Fishing Film Festival in Missoula.…

Camas Peak, Bitterroots

John Lehrman — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 15:05:00 -0600

After receiving another round of deep powder, Camas Peak seemed like an ideal place for a mid spring powder tour.

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Sugarloaf Peak

John Lehrman — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 14:38:00 -0600

In keeping with the idea of a highlights season, touring to Sugarloaf Peak made the cut. An excellent approach, very aesthetic line, and a lovely canyon with great views to the south of Trapper Peak and Boulder and Mount Jerusalem distinguish and characterize the Sugarloaf Peak tour.…

An Ill-Conceived Plan

Jessica Murri — Sun, 14 Apr 2013 14:49:00 -0600

With a whole day ahead of us and nowhere to be (the bowl is closed now, after all), my S.O. and I decided to take an impromptu trip to Weir Creek Hot Springs. We shoved towels and beers and Nalgenes into the backpack, loaded up the dog, picked up some sandwiches, and headed down US 12.…

Headwall Ski Contest submission

Bernard Gillespie — Sun, 14 Apr 2013 13:30:00 -0600

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Learning by heart

Jeff Hull — Mon, 01 Apr 2013 04:00:00 -0600

The necessity of spring on the stark plains of eastern Montana by Jeff Hull Spring in eastern Montana is a subtle marvel that traverses the space between needing and wanting. Like most necessities, it’s inevitable and unpredictable; like most desires, it comes and goes.…

Open season

Alex Sakariassen — Mon, 01 Apr 2013 04:00:00 -0600

Clark Fork readies for a possible reveal by Alex Sakariassen In July 2009, then-Gov. Brian Schweitzer floated down the Clark Fork past newly dam-free Milltown with a fly rod in his hand. Schweitzer, along with a fly-fishing guide, the chairman of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes, and a representative of the Clark Fork Coalition, was on the first raft to float unimpeded past the confluence of the Clark Fork and Blackfoot rivers in more than 100 years.…

Chewing the scenery

Ari LeVaux — Mon, 01 Apr 2013 04:00:00 -0600

Smoked kokanee with a heavy dose of salty language by Ari LeVaux “Salmon respond well to the occasional jerk of the pole.” So said my neighbor, a lifetime slayer of lake fish I’ll call Buck.…

Spring 2013

Mon, 01 Apr 2013 04:00:00 -0600

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Homing

Brad Tyer — Mon, 01 Apr 2013 04:00:00 -0600

Making like a goose at Freezeout Lake by Brad Tyer It had been a while since I’d landed. I’d been coasting on out-of-state plates for more years than I’ll admit, relocating every few months, living in eight residences in five states in the four years since I’d last left Missoula, following sustenance.…

Montana’s stealthy stinger

Jack Ballard — Mon, 01 Apr 2013 04:00:00 -0600

On the prowl for the elusive northern scorpion by Jack Ballard A photo of the creature graces the State of Montana’s online Field Guide. The page contains its common and scientific name, paruroctonus boreus.…

Rod ratings

Jamie Rogers — Mon, 01 Apr 2013 04:00:00 -0600

George Anderson makes the grade by Jamie Rogers For the past 34 years, George Anderson has owned and managed the Yellowstone Angler fly shop in Livingston, Mont. During that time his byline has appeared in Fly Fisherman, Trout, Big Sky Journal and Saltwater Fly Fishing, and he’s been credited on the television shows “Fly Fishing the World” and “Spanish Fly.” In 2007, Anderson and his staff set out to do something the fly-fishing world had never seen: a quantifiable ratings-based comparison of the most popular 5-weight fly rods in something Anderson calls a shootout.…

Blow out

Chad Harder — Mon, 01 Apr 2013 04:00:00 -0600

HDR makes your phone smarter by Chad Harder There’s a new kind of picture in town, and you’ve probably seen it: surreal, super-saturated, bursting with incredible detail in the shadows and highlights alike. Once-blah skies pop off the screen, while blacks lose their inky imprecision and blown-out whites gain vivid brilliance.…

Survive and advance

Aaron Teasdale — Mon, 01 Apr 2013 04:00:00 -0600

Thomas Elpel thrives on nothing but nature by Aaron Teasdale When you pull up to Thomas Elpel’s hillside home above the tiny mountain burg of Pony, Mont., you can’t help but notice the deer legs scattered in the driveway. Then you see the solar panels, the roaming chickens, and you notice that the house is made of timber and the same stones that are scattered across the nearby foothills.…

Pipeline

Eric Oravsky — Mon, 01 Apr 2013 04:00:00 -0600

Inland surfing rides a wave of popularity by Eric Oravsky The scene might be confused with a boardwalk in SoCal: Three guys in wetsuits sprint across the road carrying surfboards. But instead of hitting a sandy beach, these three hobble down rocky banks and into the cold water of the Clark Fork.…

Skiing up a storm

Matt Holloway — Mon, 01 Apr 2013 04:00:00 -0600

The weather’s wet. The snow’s suspect. The trek’s treacherous. Other than that, springtime in Glacier is grand. by Matt Holloway Frozen June snow covered the steep west face of Trapper Ridge as I zigzagged between wind-stunted Engelmann spruce and subalpine fir, aiming for the tiny saddle above. With each near-vertical kick of boot and ski, skins hissed up the icy snow, sounding like the rhythmic tearing of silk, and my heart thundered in my chest.…

Cast from the past

Jamie Rogers — Mon, 01 Apr 2013 04:00:00 -0600

There’s not much in Twin Bridges save for three fly rod manufacturers who still believe in bamboo by Jamie Rogers After the Tonkin bamboo arrives from China, it’s eyeballed for the choicest culms, split into strips, roasted in an oven, eyeballed again, re-humidified, measured and milled to exact tapers, re-eyeballed, separated into groups of four or five or six or eight, eyeballed one more time, and then dipped in glue. Now Glenn Brackett is ready to set the strips into poles using an antique-looking pedal-operated contraption.…

Make like Moses

Kou Moua — Mon, 01 Apr 2013 04:00:00 -0600

How to successfully ford a stream by Kou Moua 1. Thoroughly scout the bank for the best place to cross.…

High on cedar

Chad Harder — Mon, 01 Apr 2013 04:00:00 -0600

Alpine strollin’ in the Madison Range by Chad Harder The email from my manager, stern but instructive, arrived Wednesday afternoon. I had too many vacation days, and I had to use ’em or lose ’em.…

Montana Smiles

Pete Byl — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 17:05:00 -0600

Thought I'd share a video of random clips from the last 6 months.…