At first glance, these toothpick forests of the Scapegoat Wilderness in Montana want to invade me with fear and loneliness and hang me out to dry in the sun under identical trees across the hillsides. Their haggard branches reach weakly into the air before sloping downward into submission. They unsettle me with their lifeless stature,

Silence. Lichen spreads between my fingertips like spider webs as the callousness of rock scratches against my hands. It is the first day of WRFI’s Montana Afoot and Afloat course, and I just met my classmates for the next nine weeks. Giddy yet apprehensive about what was to come, I sat on a rock beside

With frozen toes and tired eyes I tread up the hill that rises high above our camp at Halfmoon Park in the Scapegoat Wilderness of Montana. My body is in a great amount of discomfort from the past four days of backpacking, and the fact that it is 6:00am doesn’t do much to relieve that.

 Between talks of “Keep Jumbo Wild” tattoos, endless Shrek references, and renditions of Abba’s finest, there are meaningful moments.  Moments that make me stop.  Moments that make me think, “This just changed my entire perspective in the span of a second.”  It seems to be a daily occurrence for me on this course. We have

Today we met with Lou Bruno an older man who lives in East Glacier who shared his story of becoming involved with different Montana organizations and making a change. Lou joked about how when he was a young adult he didn’t even really know what the difference between a Democrat and Republican meant. I really

Not In My Backyard, not through the oak trees and my childhood playground, not through my favorite fig tree that produces fruit in August, not through the grass that stains my jeans and welcomes my wild running feet, and not through my neighbor’s either. Nimbyism, Not In My Backyard; defined as a term for someone

As I walked through ponderosa pine covered forests, on top of glacial moraines, through snow, and along boulders the size of cars, I began to understand why Jumbo is a place people want to protect. Mount Jumbo and the Jumbo Valley are located in British Columbia’s Purcell Mountains. This range is located in the Ktunaxa

By now, I’d say that our group has pretty much reached pro-status when it comes to ridge walking. It started as a kind of frightening experience, but with every ridge I’ve become increasingly more confident with my footing and comfortable with the heights. This ridge in particular, which we summited on July 16th, may have

After a cold and wet six-mile hike, there was nothing I wanted to do more than crawl into my sleeping bag and go to sleep. However, everyone still needed to eat. Of course that day my course job was to help cook dinner. At home, I am more of a microwave chef. If all else

“Even when I’m a thousand miles away from my roots, I’m home.” -Zac Brown Band Growing up in a small town in Southern New Jersey with not many things to do and always wanting to be elsewhere, it was hard to find a sense of place and home there. Since moving out West four years