Category Archives: Outdoors

Looking Back: The Best Outdoor Moments from 2012

Posted on December 20, 2012 by westerner54

You know those perfect moments when it feels like time is standing still?  When you are totally immersed in your surroundings and nothing exists but the sounds and smells and sights of the “right now”?    For me, capturing that moment … Continue reading →

Posted in Hiking, Life, Montana, Nature, Outdoors, Yellowstone | Tagged , , , | 22 Comments

Winter Morning

Posted on December 14, 2012 by westerner54

Wintertime weather inversions are a common occurrence in Montana’s mountain valleys.  As high pressure builds, the cold air sinks into the valleys and stays there, resulting in cold, foggy mornings.  Usually you have to climb  two or three thousand feet … Continue reading →

Posted in Montana, Nature, Outdoors, Photography | Tagged , | 6 Comments

Mexican Lime Jerky, Sweet and Spicy Jerky, and Snowshoeing in the Cold

Posted on December 10, 2012 by westerner54

8 below zero this morning, which meant that my plans for a long snowshoe along the Continental Divide might need rethinking.   So instead of subjecting my husband to hours of whining, I suggested a shorter trip and an afternoon making … Continue reading →

Posted in Food, Hiking, Montana, Outdoors | Tagged , , | 20 Comments

Countdown to the the Solstice

Posted on December 3, 2012 by westerner54

The dark, cold, windy days of November and December are hard to love.  I crave the light, and these days that keep getting shorter and shorter are a true test of my resolve to live in the moment.    I count … Continue reading →

Posted in Hiking, Life, Nature, Outdoors | Tagged , , , , , | 23 Comments

The Most Lovable Turkey in the World

Posted on November 21, 2012 by westerner54

I’m not a fan of poultry.   I know folks who keep chickens, and they love the little buggers.   But really, they’re not cute.  And turkeys…well turkeys definitely fall in the not cute category as well. But there was this one turkey…. … Continue reading →

Posted in Birding, Camping, Montana, Nature, Outdoors | Tagged , | 12 Comments

OK Ira Glass, This is Not a Guilty Pleasure. But it’s Still Embarrassing.

Posted on November 3, 2012 by westerner54

Ira Glass, in the New York Times Book Review, August 16 2012: “I don’t believe in guilty pleasures, I only believe in pleasures. People who call reading detective fiction or eating dessert a guilty pleasure make me want to puke. … Continue reading →

Posted in Hiking, Humor, Outdoors, Wildlife | Tagged , , , , | 19 Comments

Bear Trap Canyon: After the Burn

Posted on October 22, 2012 by westerner54

Bear Trap Canyon is a swell early or late season hike: it warms up early in the spring, and stays warm longer in the fall than hikes up in the mountains.  The hike follows the Madison River through the Lee … Continue reading →

Posted in Hiking, Montana, Nature, Outdoors | Tagged , , , | 7 Comments

Geese in the Eagle’s Nest

Posted on October 10, 2012 by westerner54

Last spring I hiked out to an eagle’s nest high on a cottonwood near the shore of a nearby lake.  The nest had been home to a pair of bald eagles for the past three years, but this year a pair of  Canada geese … Continue reading →

Posted in Birding, Montana, Nature, Outdoors, Photography, Wildlife | Tagged | 8 Comments

Highland Mary Lakes

Posted on October 2, 2012 by westerner54

The Highland Mary Lakes in the San Juans of southwestern Colorado are a great introduction to the high peaks of the Weminuche Wilderness in Colorado’s San Juan Mountains.  The wildflowers are bigger there than anywhere else I’ve been, the trails are higher, … Continue reading →

Posted in Backpacking, Hiking, Nature, Outdoors | Tagged , , , | 13 Comments

The Sanctuary of Open Spaces

Posted on September 18, 2012 by westerner54

During a bad fire year a few summers ago, the Forest Service closed all of the Forest Service lands in western Montana.  Totally.  No access, even for hiking.  I was dumbfounded.  It had never occurred to me that they would … Continue reading →

Posted in Life, Nature, Outdoors | Tagged , | 10 Comments