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Jon is a great kid. When my grandson Silas invited Jon to join us on a fishing and camping trip I couldn't have been more pleased. Silas is a great kid, too. I knew they'd bring a sense of adventure, enthusiasm, laughter and just enough delightful mischief to keep each other busy. I wouldn't have to do much but direct traffic, pass out chores and enjoy my time with them. Jon and Silas are both 13, and have known each other since they were babies. Their moms are best friends and their children, J...
Fifty years ago, a new law significantly altered the landscape of wildlife conservation in the U.S. The Endangered Species Act (ESA) turned 50 on Dec. 28, 2023, providing an opportunity to reflect on its lasting impacts for species of all kinds, including grizzlies. After two centuries of willful persecution of wildlife in North America, the ESA formalized into our federal structures a counterforce of conservation. Environmental historian Dan Flores, who gave a webinar for Vital Ground last...
It was an interesting start to the morning. I was sitting in the cockpit (back deck of the boat) in the Liberty Landing Marina, just off the Hudson River, looking directly across at Manhattan. The "Freedom Tower," the replacement for the destroyed Twin Towers, dominates the skyline, a magnificent rebuttal to the cheap shot terror vendors of the world. I glanced at my phone-delivered morning news feed, and the lead article related the plea agreement between the 911 perps and the US government -...
SUMEMR SALES ON PACE WITH PREVIOUS YEAR Following four years of a dramatic covid-19 real estate market that saw rapid price appreciation, very limited inventory and multiple offers on many properties, the past two years have seen sales in the local market stabilizing. Locally, we are coming off a real estate run with virtually no inventory, to an increasing inventory. Nationally, active home inventory for sale is 22% higher than it was this same time last year. Properties with unique aspects like creek front, bordering forest service, mountain...
Summertime in Montana is an amazing time of year. Even with storms and fires, it is a time that emphasizes fun outdoors, camps, travel and lots of fun in the water and the sun. Often, this is a time for barbecues, for family dinners, for get-togethers. Unlike the strict schedules of the school year or the cold early evenings of winter, summer seems to invite some rule relaxation. It is a time when we relax some rules around playtime and bedtime and often dessert time. And when we seek the best dessert for summer, we can never turn away from...
As a family medicine doctor at Partnership Health Center, I have helped many people through their pregnancy journeys. While planning for a baby is an exciting time, it can also be challenging and even overwhelming. If you are pregnant or preparing for a pregnancy, meeting with your doctor can help set you up for success. First, starting prenatal vitamins early gives your baby the best chance for healthy growth. These vitamins, especially folic acid, help prevent birth defects and support your baby’s development from day one. Next, your d...
It's a rainy day on the Hudson River, about 35 miles north of New York City. About every 30 minutes our little floating house will be rocked by a wake from the many giant barges that travel the river. Hold on to the coffee maker. The recent discussions regarding the brain function of certain prominent persons has me musing about my own experiences. When I finally finished my surgical training, all of 16 years after high school, I began my adult (getting paid) career in Billings, Montana in...
Well, we had an interesting few weeks in our politics. All the rules seem to be changing. Donald Trump didn’t really have much competition in his primary run, no doubt due to being a former president. As expected, former President Trump was acclaimed the Republican nominee at their recent convention. The Democrats had a proforma primary run with President Biden the presumptive nominee at their National Convention but then the debate happened. For the past two years, at least, we the people could not help notice that age was catching up with P...
Anybody reading this column who is old enough to be a Gordon Lightfoot fan might recognize the title of this column from one of his songs. Like many of you, and without going into the reasons why, I could use a summertime dream about now and over the next few days I might get one. I'm taking a grandson and his friend camping and fishing. They're wonderful kids and at that barely-teen age when the world comes alive with things to wonder at while they're still young enough to see it all fresh,...
As a U.S. Marine and a veteran of the Vietnam era, I appreciate the service of all members of the armed forces, past and current. However, I am seriously disappointed and a bit disgusted with those members of the armed forces in Sheehy’s recent ad. They are standing against the man who has done the most for Montana veterans — brought us clinics, got care for those exposed to Agent Orange, etc. They are promoting what will be a very junior senator over a very senior and powerful one who has done good things for veterans and Montana and will con...
Tonight I am witness, to my surprise, to a waterski exhibition. We have stopped in Amsterdam, New York, on the Erie Canal, and apparently there is a very active waterski academy here. While entertaining, the jumpers and balletic skiers put up prodigious wakes, which rock us continually. Between that and the trains paralleling the Erie Canal every 30 minutes, it is an active place. We have traversed northeast Canada, crossed Lake Ontario and are now transiting the Erie Canal on our way back to...
The Seeley Lake area is no stranger to wildfire and smoke. Both are a seasonal hazard here and can be unpredictable. We never know exactly where a lightning bolt will strike or a campfire will be left to wander, and often the smoke filling our valley comes from hundreds of miles away - beyond our control and reach. While there is a lot about wildfires that we individually cannot control, we can work to be prepared for the inevitability of their occurrence and effects. We know that it is not a...
Our trout streams in western Montana or the Idaho Panhandle have a lot in common. Whether you fish the St. Joe in Idaho or the Blackfoot, Bitterroot, or Rock Creek in Montana, you'll find the same trout species, the same insect hatches, the same general topography, but with infinite local variations that can differ slightly as you move from one run to another on the same body of water, much less into a different watershed. It's theme and variation. Each stream has its own character, its own...
The Sunday after the Fourth we learned that our “You Are Loved” rainbow flag had been stolen from the church, along with the pole and mounting bracket. The flag’s symbolism is very broad. It encompasses our response to God’s call to love all people, all races, colors, nationalities and our LGBTQ+ siblings, friends and neighbors. We have no idea who might have done this, nor why. Perhaps it was someone who really liked the flag and decided they had to have it. Perhaps it was someone who disagreed with what it stood for and wanted it gone. W...
Congress must do more to protect vulnerable patients from the Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMs) who threaten access and put smaller, local pharmacies out of business. Living in Seeley Lake my husband and I, as well as my elderly mother-in-law, all rely on our local pharmacy to access the medications we need. The last thing any of us needs is to lose access to our local pharmacy because of the unfair policies being pushed by PBMs to control patients and boost profits. As you may know, the all-too-common underhanded business practices allow PBMs t...
It’s been just over six months since I started as the editor of the Pathfinder. I wanted to write here to explain a couple of things, introduce a new intern and offer some gratitude. As I’m sure many of you have noticed, our office hours and responsiveness in some ways have been wacky. We’ve been without a working computer for a month, which has made our office manager’s job quite difficult. I’ve been so grateful to Jessi for continuing to do as much as she possibly can without a computer. As of last week, we have a new computer, and Jessi wil...
The Summer Reading Program is in full swing. If you haven’t already signed your kiddos up, there’s still plenty of time to join in the fun. We kicked off this year’s program with the All Under One Roof Road Show on June 20. Many thanks to the Seeley Lake Elementary School’s Outdoor Education program for partnering with the public library to make this event a success. Kids participated in fun events with the spectrum Discovery Area, Families First, MCAT, UM’s Living Lab and additional staff fro...
With cloudy skies threatening rain, the Clearwater Valley Bear Smart event kicked off the Dogtown Bear Fair on Sunday, June 29 hosted at the home of Cheri and Steve Thompson. More than 100 neighbors gathered from the Dogtown community for a delicious picnic and to learn about bear behavior and safety tips from several organizations. Gathering together with friends made for a fun way to learn and explore all things bear. Here are a few highlights from the fair: Are you smarter than the average...
Last week, water temps in the upper Bitterroot crept into the low and mid-60s and the East Fork and West Fork held in that range. Insect hatches are abundant at those temperatures, trout of all species feed actively, the angler can have a great day and all can appear to be well. But that was last week. This week and for the foreseeable future, day temps in the 90s will push water temperatures skyward by mid-day. As I write, hoot-owl restrictions, no fishing from 2 p.m. until 10 p.m., have been...
We have been up the Champlain waterways, through the Chambly Canal, down the St. Lawrence River to Montreal, up to Quebec on a train, and now on the Rideau canal, having passed through Ottawa. The foliage is verdant, the sky alternately weeping or dazzlingly blue, the churches ancient and towering, and the towns along the way quainter than quaint. There are a plethora of monster vacation palaces with 200K wake boats along the way, but they don't quite fit the narrative. This adventure is way...
There are days that depth of spirituality looms massively. There are other days that there is just a steady stream of awareness that God is good and present in day-to-day living. As the country song reminds us, “some days a diamond, some days a stone.” Diamonds and stones both have value, it just depends on where you find them and what you do with them. A Christian faith is like that as well. It is stony times that build foundations for us. Try building anything with a diamond but try carrying a foundation stone on your finger. Neither wor...
The Nature Conservancy (TNC) has been doing forest conservation in the Blackfoot and Seeley-Swan Valleys since the mid-1970s and when we heard the announcement of the Pyramid Mountain Lumber mill closure this spring, like for so many in the community, it was a gut punch. Local Montana mills and all the contractors they support are a vital part of reaching our collective forest restoration and conservation goals, and we recognize that the economics of running a mill in Montana have gotten harder and harder. There has been nearly no change in...
"I'm not a quitter, grandpa!" Seven-year-old Chance was not about to give up. His older brother had caught a couple of trout on his own and his four-year-old younger brother had caught one too, with some undivided assistance from Grandpa Chuck. Now it was Chance's turn. He was standing on a narrow strip of gravel between a current seam on the West Fork of the Bitterroot and a strip of willows behind him. I had been watching from downstream. As his casts neared the point where some small fish...
Looking back, I can recall and reveal glimpses of my journeys that ultimately connected me to the straight path leading to the narrow gate of life through the one, true Church. There are no coincidences; nothing happens without God within His Divine Providence in which He gives us free will while subtly guiding us to receive and embrace His numerous gifts such as faith and cooperation with His abundant, beneficial grace. Attending elementary Sunday school with the Methodists, I memorized numerous Psalms being especially thankful for Psalm 23...
There still might be some leftover "super hatches" here and there; I remember one year when there was still major salmonfly activity well into late July on the Blackfoot. And then there was the year that green drakes, which might be done by mid-June most places, persisted until after the Fourth of July on the Bitterroot. And I don't mean occasional sightings. When I fished both of these hatches, years apart, they were the major happening on these rivers. The "super hatches," as they're called, a...
