For a gorgeous tour of the ABW in winter, complete with the risks and rewards, Click here … Read More
The Mighty Absaroka/Beartooth Wilderness
When introducing the bill that created the Absaroka – Beartooth Wilderness, Sen. Lee Metcalf referred to this area as, “a magnificent primeval expanse of nearly a million acres … a land of jewel-like lakes, clear cold streams and picturesque waterfalls.” Charles Kuralt called the Beartooth Highway, “the most beautiful drive in America,” and this spectacular highway just touches the edge … Read More
Peaks and Legacies
Of the 496 summits greater than 9,000 ft. in Montana, 104 are located in the Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness Area. These summits form a vast wall, particularly for visitors traveling to Yellowstone National Park through Paradise Valley, or paralleling the Yellowstone River along I 90 from Livingston to Billings. Sometimes, dispirited by the increasingly urban-centric nature of American society, I wonder if … Read More
Of Persistence and Perseverance
So, you think you’ve had a hard commute today?! Consider this for the Yellowstone cutthroat trout. From the Pacific, up the Columbia to the Snake, then up the Snake to its Headwaters where the rivers change direction across the Great Divide , Down the mighty Yellowstone over two great falls, and on to the confluence of the East Fork (aka, … Read More
The Mighty Yellowstone
Every flake of snow that falls in the Absaroka Beartooth Mountains, every drop of rain, eventually finds its way to the Mighty Yellowstone River. The Absaroka/Beartooth complex is a magnet for winter storms. Last year (2017-18) the SNOTEL site on the south-central boundary recorded almost 600 inches of accumulated snow. Winters are long and summers are short. It is no … Read More
Of Bison and Locust
Here in Yellowstone country, we are justifiably proud of our bison, the last remaining continuously wild of the millions that once roamed the Great Plains. At the time of European occupation, there were an estimated 20 to 30 million bison, which amounts to an astounding biomass of, perhaps, 21 million tons! The great buffalo herds, however, were not the most … Read More
Crystalline Beauty, Terrifying Force of Nature, or Both
Easy access, by human power or snowmobile, to designated Wilderness from Cooke City, MT Is both a blessing and a curse. The blessing is access to some of the most spectacular and wildest mountaineering opportunities (summer or winter) to be had anywhere. The curse is that easy access means less experienced, and perhaps naive, aspiring mountaineers are quickly into serious … Read More
Nutcrackers: Voyagers of the High Mountains
Whitebark pine and the Clark’s nutcracker have a special relationship with each other, and both with the Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness. You can read about the reasons why this relationship is so special, and the important role the Absaroka-Beartooth plays in this intimate association, in my essay with William Macfarlane, Whitebark Pine in the Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness. However, we are just beginning to … Read More