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Greatheart Mesa, Zion National Park

Mount Jefferson and Hollowtop The little village of Pony feels like the threshold to an earlier age. Populations fade as you head west from Bozeman and approach the Tobacco Root Mountains: Three Forks, a town of 1,600 off I-90, is the largest town in the vicinity of the Tobacco Roots. Pony was once a gold mining town. Legend has it that the town got its name when gold prospector Smith McCumpsey, “Pony,” threw his prospector’s pick into a thicket and found gold right where it

Hyalite Peak and Big Chief Mountain The Hyalite Ultimate Ridge Linkup (HURL) Route is a trek that young fit trail runners work to complete in one long exhausting day. My son-in-law Chris and I have spent two days on it thus far, one in each of last year and this year, and we still have one section to go. We are both fit; we came up short on our first attempt because I slept poorly and I am old. I really wanted to do this route, but nervousness kept me up much of the night bef

Jumbo Mountain Forest and I were committed. It happened much sooner in the day than I expected, but I didn’t want to descend this climb. It was a 1,000-foot ascent up boulders and meadows to gain the ridge above Lava Lake and damn it was steep. I could hear the wind in the trees. High winds were forecast for later in the day. I had hoped that with an early start and fast pace we could crest all the peaks that were ahead of us before the winds slammed us. It took an hour to ga

Black Mountain above Jewel Lake I was on fire. Young and strong, I pushed hard up the five steep miles to Pine Creek Lake, looked around, figured out which peak was Black Mountain and set off. I clambered up steep terrain over lots of loose boulders, then a stretch of meadow and in no time at all, I was on top. Only now that I was on top, did I notice that I wasn’t standing on the tallest mountain in the basin. I had missed it … by a lot. Unnamed mountain I climbed in 1981 Th

Looking south from Naya-Nuki (2025 race) Family, friends, my doctors, heck even the mailman and the guy who picks up the trash have heard me say it: “This is my last Ridge Run.” I've been saying this for years now; none of them believe me anymore. "Sure, sure. You'll get amnesia. You'll be back." It’s the hardest race I do. I spend much of the year prepping for it and stressing about it. At my age and given my diminishing capacity for running up there, I should quit. I know i

Gathering at the start I distinguish between trail races and mountain races. Around the Bozeman area, I classify the Bridger Ridge Run, Baldy Blitz, Devil’s Backbone and Old Gabe as mountain races. These races have rough, rocky trails, brutally steep climbs, and in the case of Old Gabe lots of creek crossings and at least one snowfield. I alternatively categorize the Bangtail Divide 38K as a trail race, and what a trail. Yes, there are a few rough sections, but for the most p

Jim giving pre-race instructions “Grandpa, tell me a story.” “Did I ever tell you the one about the 2026 Old Gabe race?” My granddaughter, Hope, shakes her head. Well, I had a few injuries that year and I barely made it to the starting line. I wanted to race, but my feet were urging caution. I had been debating making a deal with the devil, but I’m an atheist. Can’t trade your soul for a first-place finish—the devil laughed about that possibility—if you ain’t got one. Maybe I

This is my story from the 2025 Old Gabe race with lots of additional pictures. People really seemed to like this tale. It was something that I expect lots of trail runners could relate to. A few folks even stopped me when I was at other races to tell me how much they liked it. The button below takes you to the Outside Bozeman version of the story. Enjoy, Chuck

Sacajawea from Baldy on a training run a few days prior to race day M trailhead, 9:00 am, May 16, 2026. Mark, the race organizer, hands his son the mic. The little guy says "Ready, set, go!" Runners surge forward. The Baldy Blitz, put on by the Big Sky Wind Drinkers, has begun. As we start climbing, my first thought is that a little rain would have been nice. Not during the race, but the day before. Just enough to get the trail wet with enough sun afterward to harden the soil

Cays from Lind Point trail in early morning light January 31, 2026: Stepping outside, I am reminded of a hot sticky morning in a DC summer. It's never cool in St John, the temperatures, even in January, rarely dip below 73 degrees, but this morning's low is 79, the air is thick. Ugh! It's cloudy, the views will be limited, but I still jump out of bed at first light: coffee, stretch and I'm off. This is my last big run here and I'm determined to run my favorite loop down to th

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

Mount 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

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 country. Snow lingers into July: this makes for stunning contrasts with the fresh greens and flowers in the forests and fields below, but it makes high country travel difficult. The long summer days and warming temperatures slowly melt the snow and the high country finally fully opens. It’s time to form an action plan for those adventures we have

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 and then onto Portal Creek trailhead. 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. I found tall woo

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 grow old. It’s not that I wanted to die young, it’s more that, like probably everyone else, I’ve wanted to stay forever young. I’ve been trying. For as much of my life as has been possible, I’ve been outside exercising, I’ve been eating right, and I’ve been conscious of my health more generally. Lately when I’m out trail running, I regul