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View from the top of Baldy It was a great season, it was a tough season, and it was all too short. Summer arrives late in the high country surrounding Bozeman. With about 17 hours of daylight at the summer solstice, the heat builds, the snow melts and the last of the passes open by mid-July. The melting snow floods mountain meadows releasing a nuisance of summertime bugs. So we get up as early as we can muster to head out running; cool early mornings and constant movement kee

Mounts Jefferson and Hollowtop As we reached the top of the peak the cloud mass that had already built to the north closed in on us: there would be no views. It was late summer 1984, Terry and I were out with Cindy and Peter, another couple of Bozemanite buddies. We had made it to Hollowtop Lake in the Tobacco Root Range the evening before. I remember the weather as having been stormy, so we never got a good view of peaks in the area; now that we were on top, we didn’t have a

Sperry Chalet with Lincoln Peak (center) “Look they stuffed another mountain in over there,” was a common refrain in the years I spent exploring the Glacier National Park backcountry with my buddy Huk. In the 1990s, Huk lived in Whitefish about an hour outside of Glacier, and he was in the park as much as possible during every short summer season; I visited for at least a few weeks each summer. We hiked many of the trails in the park: lots of day hikes and multiday backpackin

Outside Bozeman, Fall 2025. They changed the name--I prefer "Chasing John Colter," but they left the rest of the story pretty much as I...

Leaving Landmannalaugar As was often the case, Oolav was angry. He was the high priest of the elves living around Landmannalaugar in the heart of the Icelandic backcountry, and he was tired of all the human activity in the area. He had elves redirect rivers across the road, but the humans kept coming in buses and trucks big enough to manage the crossings. They came to bathe in the elves hot springs, they came to hike the Laugavegur Trail through elfen lands and to sleep in hu

Runners heading south down the shoulder of Naya-Nuki Early morning, August 9, 2025. Runners are making final preparations for the 40th running of the Ed Anacker Bridger Ridge Run put on by the Big Sky Wind Drinkers: Jonah is bouncing around holding his privates. “Man I miss the old days. Few runners, no lines at the John.” The young guy in front of him turns around. “Would you like that Jonah? Would you like to go back to the old days?” “Uh huh.” Jonah says as he continues bo

Blaze Mountain and Spanish Peak I have done at least a dozen backpacking and trail running trips into the Spanish Peaks over the years—not counting hikes to Lava Lake—but I have never made it all the way into Spanish Lakes.  I can count five times that I’ve been in the South Fork drainage of Spanish Creek, I even turned onto Spanish Lakes Trail in the summer of 1980, but I didn’t make it all the way to the lakes. The plan on that trip was for my buddy Huk and I to spend the f

West ridge of Hyalite Canyon in early morning light The peak of summer is slow in coming and doesn’t last long in the Montana high...

I first ran the Devil’s Backbone Relay, an event put on by the Big Sky Wind Drinkers, in July 2021. I ran it north to south, from Hyalite trailhead along the Gallatin Crest to Windy Pass Cabin. At the pre-run meeting the evening before, the run director told us about a directional arrow and posts on the course.  At the time, I envisioned paint stirrers stuck in the ground, possibly with plastic pink ribbons tied at the top. What I found sparked my imagination. Summer, Circa 1

Outside Bozeman, Summer 2025. This story works through two Granite Peak attempts 40 years apart. There are two versions of this story on...

Outside Bozeman Summer 2025. I like how the story came out. As is often the case, their pushing me to make edits helps bring the story...

Pre-race instructions In a race like Old Gabe, put on by the Big Sky Wind Drinkers in mid-June each year, I have to believe that our psychological ids are in control.  Running an Old Gabe route satisfies cravings that few who aren't out there can understand.  You have two choices, 30K or 55K—pick your level of insanity. The start for both routes is at 6 AM and they trek 9.5 miles from the Middle Cottonwood Trailhead over Saddle Pass to the Truman Gulch Trailhead, then turn a

Atop Baldy with Forest This is more introspective and melancholier than what I usually write; just mixing it up a bit. I never wanted to...

Mount Baldy looms left of center in the background The Baldy Blitz, has a 30ish-year history.  The Blitz is a race up and back down Mount Baldy in the Bridger Range in mid-May each year.  It was started by a group of climbers.  Timing was basic the way timing was not too many years ago.  The “Race Director” would put his watch around the antennae of his car, and a clipboard on the hood.  He’d yell go to the 10 or so people that had gathered; he’d join the race to the top of B

Mid-March 2025: There are places on the planet that have a mythical feel to each of us; which places have that feel are different for you...

Kiener's Route on Longs Peak in red; Green dot is our perch: picture courtesy of Summit Post September 2nd, 2010: It was getting late. ...

February, in Bozeman, is my favorite time of winter.  It is cold; the chill is inescapable.  The world is white; the land is buried;...

Outside Bozeman Spring 2025. The title at the top is my name for the article. The article, as it appears in Outside Bozeman, has a...

This is an old story, both because it took place more than 40 years ago and because I wrote it more than 20 years ago. It's also the...

Outside Bozeman Winter 2024-25. They did a good job editing my article. The AI generated art is spectacular. They got everything...