Explorer by Independent Publishing

Missoula Independent

Explorer 2011

explorer 2011 Missoula’s summer seems to rush past, so we’ll cut right to the chase: You’re in Montana (welcome), itching for some outdoor adventure and hoping for an idea or two that’ll scratch

it. You’re in luck, friendo. This guide offers a collection of excursions both in and out of town that are, in general, a little different than the usual recommendations. We’re suggesting newly mapped hikes in the Bob Marshall Wilderness over another trek through Glacier,

switching out your kayak for a stand-up paddleboard, spending the night in a forest lookout instead of your tent, and experiencing Johnsrud Park on a bike rather than in an inner tube stuffed with beer. There’s more, of course, but we don’t want to delay any longer. Time’s a wastin’.

Photo by Chad Harder

Explorer 2011

Missoula Independent

Explorer 2011

PUBLISHER Lynne Foland EDITOR Robert Meyerowitz PRODUCTION DIRECTOR Joe Weston CIRCULATION & BUSINESS MANAGER Adrian Vatoussis ARTS EDITOR Erika Fredrickson ASSOCIATE EDITOR Matthew Frank PHOTO EDITOR Chad Harder CALENDAR EDITOR Ira Sather-Olson STAFF REPORTERS Jessica Mayrer, Alex Sakariassen CONTRIBUTING EDITOR Skylar Browning COPY EDITORS David Loos ART DIRECTOR Kou Moua PRODUCTION ASSISTANTS Jenn Stewart, Jonathan Marquis ADVERTISING SALES MANAGER Carolyn Bartlett ADVERTISING REPRESENTATIVES Chris Melton, Sasha Perrin, Alecia Goff, Rhonda Urbanski, Steven Kirst SENIOR CLASSIFIED REPRESENTATIVE Tami Johnson CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING REPRESENTATIVE Teal Kenny FRONT DESK Lorie Rustvold Missoula Independent P.O. Box 8275 Missoula, MT 59807 Phone number: 406-543-6609 E-mail address: independent @missoulanews.com PRESIDENT Matt Gibson

Table of Contents Stand-up paddleboarding rides a wave of popularity . . . . . . . . . . . .7 Glacier’s got nothing on Bob Marshall Wilderness . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14 Leave the beach scene behind on the Road to the Buffalo . . . . .20 Hubris and humility on the Bitterroot River . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .26 A night in a forest lookout is about more than just a view . . . . . . .34 Patience and practice prove key when casting for the first time . . .42 The gas-free guide to getting out in Missoula . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .46 The Indy calendar of summer events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .52 Cover photo by Chad Harder

Advertising Focus Pages Hip Strip . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Explore Montana . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Downtown Missoula . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 Sustainable Living. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 Sportin’ Life . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 Art, Antiques & Collectibles . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 Bitterroot Valley . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51 Mission Valley . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57 Whitefish . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58 Glacier Park . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59 East Glacier . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63

Seeley / Swan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65 Pamper Yourself . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67 Real Estate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71 Play, Laugh, Learn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75 Lodging . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77 Healthy Living . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80 Shopping. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81 Philipsburg . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82 Auto Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83 Dish. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84

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Photo by Chad Harder

Finding balance Stand-up paddleboarding rides a wave of popularity

by Alex Sakariassen lanchard Lake seems like little more than a station stop for trout between Salmon Lake and the confluence of the Clearwater and Blackfoot rivers. I can’t imagine the place gets more than a few picnickers and shoreline fishermen at a time, even though it’s a stone’s throw off Highway 83. More popular lakes farther up the Clearwater, like Seeley and Placid, must draw most of the boat traffic away from these mellower lower stretches.

Good. I could use some readily accessible peace and quiet. It’s a chilly, partly cloudy day in early May as I unlash the cam straps and slide my rented stand-up paddleboard off the top of my car. The thing looks like a surfboard’s chunky, awkward cousin—totally out of place in the canoe- and kayak-centric world of Montana’s waterways. I’m not entirely sure I trust something without a seat and a spot to stash beer. But K.B. Brown from Strongwater in Missoula assured me this would be a blast on top of a good core

“The thing looks like a surfboard’s chunky, awkward cousin—totally out of place in the canoe- and kayak-centric world of Montana’s waterways.”

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workout, and there’s only a trio of fishermen on the far shore to witness my inevitable embarrassment. Stand-up paddleboarding dates back centuries in Polynesian culture. Unlike surfing, it was clearly developed as a means of transportation on bodies of water. You stand, you paddle, you move. According to Stand Up Paddle Global Magazine, cameramen in Hawaii used the technique to snap shots of tourists learning to surf in the 1960s. Brown says the sport’s always been outshined by surfing, but experienced a sudden surge in interest in the Hawaiian islands a few years back. Now standup paddleboarding is sweeping the mainland United States, already building a solid following as far away as the East Coast. “It’s the fastest growing inland water sport in the country right now,” Brown says. “But it still hasn’t really hit Missoula. We’ve been selling boards for three years now. We only sold 20 in 2009, and, like, 30 in 2010. It’s like snowboarding back before it got popular.”

Photo by Chad Harder

Snowboarding this is not. I slip the board into the water, grab my paddle and follow Brown’s simple instructions: “Climb onto the board on your knees, then just stand up.” The board immediately decides it wants to flip right.

“It still hasn’t really hit Missoula…It’s like snowboarding back before it got popular.” —K.B. Brown, Strongwater I correct my weight distribution and nearly get thrown left. The Clearwater’s current takes the board away from shore during this uneasy display. I soon find myself drifting near the center of the lake, my confidence level finally just above the point of “Oh god, I’m going to drown.”

Much of stand-up paddleboarding’s local exposure has been focused on river travel. That’s why I opted to hit Blanchard; Brown says lakes are by far the more popular spots, despite all the photos and videos of folks paddleboarding on moving water. Places like Seeley and Holland Lake make great getaways for families. A lot of people have picked up the sport for the fitness aspect too, Brown notes. “They’re just so versatile,” he says of paddleboards. “You can fish from them, use them for fitness, a leisure paddle…It’s picking up, for sure. Lots of curiosity about it.” Brown’s known around Missoula’s kayak hotspots as something of a resident badass. No surprise then that he’s one of the few locals who have tested this new sport’s versatility by combining stand-up paddleboarding with Montana whitewater. Ian Stokes, a Strongwater employee with a surfing background, had never hit the Gorge before. Then he hit it with a paddleboard alongside Brown. “I don’t see myself ever stopping,” Stokes says.

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Photo by Chad Harder

Brown even tried to give me a few tips, just in case I’d decide to hit a bit of river. I’d seen his latest videos from the Gorge online. I know better. The sun slips behind a cloud as I try to paddle toward shore. A stroke on the left, a stroke on the right, another on the left—I’m zigzagging like I’m anticipating a submarine attack. Then it hits me: My J-stroke works. A standard canoe stroke, it swings me around without having to switch sides frantically. I slip in a few more familiar strokes, get myself moving straight, and head toward an abandoned beaver lodge on the shore. I scare up a pair of grebes. A fish jumps. If it were warmer out, I’d shed the wetsuit for a pair of board shorts in a heartbeat. Only the fishermen

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across the lake are there, mere ripples on my solitude. After another circuit around the lake, I’m feeling pretty ballsy. The bumpy water of the Clearwater just above the lake is calling. I jump out, haul the board upstream a few yards and get squared downriver. I stagger my feet like Brown said I should. I lean a bit on the paddle. I know I’m going to fall. The first wave bears down fast. The board wobbles, but I compensate. Another wave slips under the board, then another. Each time my balance feels steadier. As I bob over the last few waves and back onto the clam surface of Blanchard, I notice I haven’t fallen off the board. I haven’t fallen off at all since I started, even during my misguided attempt to

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stretch out on my back for some rays. Okay, maybe I can see doing a day trip down the Clearwater from Salmon to here; watch for fish, spot an eagle or two. Paddleboarding’s new enough in these parts that any trip can make you feel like a bit of a pioneer. Brown’s bouts with the Gorge still seem a tad psychotic, though. Stand-up paddleboards are available to rent through Strongwater Paddlesports, 612 S. Higgins Avenue, for $40 a day or $15 for a 4-hour rental. The first few tips are free, but you can rent equipment and get river surfing lessons for $45 an hour. The Trail Head also has rental equipment available for $25 a day.

Explorer 2011

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Explorer 2011

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Bobbin’ for adventure Glacier’s got nothing on the often overlooked–and newly re-mapped–Bob Marshall Wilderness

by Matthew Frank odern day exploring can be a hollow experience sometimes—everything, after all, has already been discovered, written about and mapped a million times over. Except, that is, when it’s just remote and rugged enough to miss a modern day update. Until recently, that was the case at the Bob Marshall Wilderness Complex. Over the course of 53 days last summer and fall, Amelia Hagen-

M 14

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Dillon, Jamie Robertson and Jamie’s brother Thomas hiked some 800 miles with GPS devices in hand to create a new—and more accurate— map of the sprawling mountainous backcountry. Along the way, the trio rediscovered some of the best adventures within an often overlooked stretch of Montana’s landscape. “The Bob Marshall Wilderness Complex is comprised of three wilderness areas—the Great Bear, the Bob Marshall, and the Scapegoat—but also it’s intertwined with all the roadless areas around the wilderness, too,” says Jamie

Explorer 2011

Robertson, who runs Missoula-based Cairn Cartographics with Hagen-Dillon. “You shouldn’t discount those areas, because some of the most amazing hikes we did last summer during our 800 miles of hiking were actually in some of those areas just outside the wilderness. Not only do you not have to be in a national park to see cool things and experience wildness, but you don’t necessarily have to be in wilderness proper.” In other words, while everyone and their brother are laying out maps on the kitchen table to plan their next summer trek into the Glacier

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“While everyone and their brother are laying out maps on the kitchen table to plan their next summer trek into the Glacier National Park backcountry, it might behoove you to take the path less traveled.”

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National Park backcountry, it might behoove you to take the path less traveled. The Bob Marshall Wilderness Complex is a sprawling 1.5–million-acre wilderness—the third largest in the lower 48 states—with stunning vistas and no fees or (relatively speaking) crowds. Plus, the complex is generally closer to Missoula, making spontaneous weekend jaunts a bit easier, while still being just as remote as even the most isolated corners of Glacier. Robertson recommends what he calls the “Falls Creek Loop,” a 20-mile, one- or two-night hike with incredible views. The trailhead, north of Ovando on Highway 200, is less than an hour and a half from Missoula. Here’s your itinerary, courtesy of Robertson and Cairn Cartographics: Head east down Highway 200, and when you reach Ovando—about an hour from Missoula—turn north onto Monture Creek

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Road. (Before you turn, though, consider continuing on 200 for a bit and stopping at Trixi’s for a burger). Take Monture Creek Road about eight miles to the Monture Trailhead. Start up the main trail for about 1.4 miles, and then turn northeast onto the Falls Creek Trail, No. 16, immediately after a pack bridge over Falls Creek. “It’s a beautiful trail along the creek there, and there’s a waterfall about a mile up,” Robertson says. Take the Falls Creek Trail 6.6 miles to Camp Pass, where Robertson recommends you camp for the night. In the morning, head north up trail No. 468—“an awesome ridge trail” that circles the Falls Creek drainage—toward Conger Point. Take the path 3.6 miles, past the junction with trail No. 403 coming up from Conger Creek,

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Cartographics’ new map of the southern and you’ll reach a junction with a trail that half of the Bob Marshall Wilderness heads to the 8,503-foot summit of Omar Complex. The map should be dropping Mountain, the wilderness boundary. It’s any day now (check basically a spur trail, “a little scramble,” off www.cairncarto.com). Drawn to a of the main loop. 1:80,000-scale and printed on water“From there you can swing your foot proof, tear-resistant paper, it includes into the wilderness, and it’s just an amazing marked trail and river mileages and view from the top of Omar into the shaded relief. According to Bob Marshall Scapegoat and Bob Marshall Wilderness Wilderness Foundation Director Keagan areas,” Robertson says. “You can see huge Zoellner, the last map of the complex chunk of wilderness.” was drawn in 1990, and was in dire Once down from Omar Mountain, trail need of ground-truthing. 468 will essentially turn into No. 88, which “Technology has improved since you’ll take south, generally, for 4.3 miles. It 1990, so it’s great to have them offers great views of Falls Creek, Robertson out there and doing it,” says Zoellner, says, with side-hill hiking through cliff who coordinated food drops last sumbands. Eventually, the trail drops hard and mer so the cartographers could hike fast, with lots of switchbacks, back to Falls longer distances and minimize backCreek Trail No. 16. tracking. “If it’s huckleberry season, this section Robertson and company plan to is amazing,” Robertson says. head out in June or July to hike the You can camp at Falls Creek if you’re entire northern half of the complex, and knackered, or walk 4.6 miles more back to chart another map they hope to have Monture Creek and the trailhead. Map courtesy Cairn Cartographics ready by this time next year. If your sumRobertson says ambitious hikers can do Falls Creek Loop mer adventures in the Bob take you well the entire 20.3-mile loop—not including the Of course, if you hike the Falls Creek Loop, north of the Falls Creek Loop, maybe you’ll run spur trail to Omar Mountain—as an overnighter, but he recommends taking two nights. consider bringing along a copy of Cairn into them on the trail.

Photo courtesy Jamie Robertson

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From day one.

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Johnsrud journey Leave the beach scene behind on the historically inspired Road to the Buffalo by Erika Fredrickson hen you usually turn off Highway 200 to Johnsrud Park, it’s for one reason: to play in the Blackfoot River. In summer the campground beach is thick with swimsuited folks stretched on beach towels, kids running through the sand into the shallows, daring youth flying from cliffs into the water and sun-soaked inner-tubers with beer barges in tow. More recently, in fact, it’s become a little Spring Break-ish—all summer long. But if you skip the beach and take a righthand turn on Corridor Road, away from the campground and fishing access site, it’s a much more secluded scene. The gravel road hugs the river for about seven miles through a couple of hairy turns before crossing the Whitaker Bridge—a structure that once straddled the Clark Fork where the current Higgins Avenue bridge is now. About 100 yards past the bridge and you find yourself at a trailhead with a curious sign: The Road to the Buffalo Trail. On bike trails, the only way is typically up. Popular trails around the Missoula Valley go up through the Rattlesnake Wilderness, up to the trails in Pattee Canyon, or up above the city on Blue Mountain. You can ride your bike up along Mount Sentinel and take on some really steep climbs across the face of Mount Jumbo. That’s why it’s called mountain biking, of course, and

Photo by Chad Harder

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so pedaling up and out of the valley is, in most cases, exactly what people are looking for. The Road to the Buffalo Trail is something different. The flat, six-mile dirt trail is a leisurely trek—but one that still feels like you’ve left civilization behind. The trail is a former railroad track, but unlike so many rails-to-trails projects that pave the way with asphalt, this dirt path feels a little more rugged. Still, it’s Photo by Chad Harder suitable for families with younger children, for biking More than being a lower-gear trail, it pronovices and for those who are out of shape or, vides a stunning view. The path cuts its way to put it bluntly, just a little bit lazy. You gotta through the Blackfoot corridor—Blackfoot start somewhere, right? River on one side and nothing but greenery

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Explorer 2011

and mountain on the other. Late in the afternoon the sun reflects on the surface of the river and it’s easy to take note of fishing holes where almost no one else is bound to be. Around one corner, you’ll encounter rocky cliffs with cleanly cut faces like giants walls. Every once in a while you might encounter a few animal bones, bleached by sun. In one clearing stands an old corral. Around another corner the landscape opens up into grassy meadows peppered with trees. You can’t have a fire there (the fire rings you do see are illegal, according to the Bureau of Land Management) but you could host one hell of a picnic, losing all sense of time—not

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just because of how much fun you’re having but because, once you’re in a mile or so, the place is mostly unmarred by the modern world. Except, of course, for the trail. The trail is relatively new, but the corridor has a deep history. The Road to the Buffalo was what American Indian tribes traveled to go east and hunt buffalo on the prairie. It’s also the route that Meriwether Lewis used on his return trip from his expedition out west after splitting from William Clark and others in the Corps of Discovery. In his journal, Lewis says the Nez Perce showed him the well-beaten track that ran alongside the Blackfoot River (or “Cokahlarishkit”) so that he would not get lost. The route proved to be an easy one to follow: Lewis’ group took only three days to travel 70

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miles, including getting over what’s now called Lewis and Clark Pass. The current trail isn’t necessarily in the exact location of that route, but it follows the corridor in the same way. This trail was first a railroad that carried logs to the mill in Bonner. According to Maria Craig, a recreation manager with BLM, there was a train changing station near Johnsrud in the late 1890s and early 1900s. “The loggers would float logs down the river to that point,” Craig says. “There they’d take them out of the river, load them onto the train and haul them down to Bonner.” In the early 1900s the Chicago-Milwaukee railroad built a line on the other side of the river that could haul logs from farther up the

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corridor and on to the mill—all of which changed when logging trucks became more economical. Craig says that Plum Creek, who owned the land at the time, turned the old train track into a road, and it’s when BLM bought it that it became the somewhat secret trail it is today. The agency named it the Road to the Buffalo as a tribute. “It’s really nice,” says Craig. “You don’t see a lot of people there.” That’s the beauty of it. Good biking trails abound in and around Missoula, but Road to the Buffalo is the road slightly less traveled—a solitary place to be in the natural world for those who want something in between hardcore biking and riverbank lounging.

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Photo by Skylar Browning

Lesson learned Hubris and humility on the Bitterroot River

by Skylar Browning t’s rarely a good sign when you end a canoe trip wearing nothing but your underwear, a pair of women’s tennis shoes, a pink ski cap and a shirt that’s only dry spots are the tops of the sleeves. I look like a cross-dresser in the world’s worst wet T-shirt contest. The stares from the fly-fishermen along the banks of the river suggest I would’ve been laughed off the stage. Even worse, I couldn’t care less about my appearance: I’m too worried about regaining the feeling in my frozen feet. Things never should have come to this. My early season float down a scenic and calm stretch of the Bitterroot River, accompanied by two seasoned paddlers, was supposed to be

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“It’d require a tight approach to the left of one sweeper, then a hard right turn past the second, and strong paddling to shoot the gap. What the hell, I thought.”

about as eventful as a stroll through the woods. The weather was still cold—flurries greeted us that morning, and the mountain peaks were covered in snow storm clouds—but everything

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else was pristine. We scheduled a put-in at Bell Crossing, just 40 minutes south of Missoula. Our shuttle car was parked in Stevensville, about seven miles downstream. The whole day would last roughly three hours, but deliver maximum exposure to the gorgeous Bitterroot Range. We planned on seeing some wildlife, practicing our strokes, basking in the simple pleasures of preparing for a day on the river. In short, we wanted to soak in the scene, not soak ourselves. We started fine. I sat in the bow of one canoe, with my friend Steve in the stern. Karen, the most experienced of our trio, launched in a solo canoe and, being a stickler for details, reviewed some paddling basics since it was our first time back on the water after last summer. J-

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Photo courtesy Karen Kauffman

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Explorer 2011

stroke, sweep, draw, what to watch for downstream—Steve and I took it all in diligently, and then we worked to create some room between our boats and the throng of fishermen getting ready to put in behind us. We chose this stretch of the Bitterroot for its exquisite views, beginner-friendly pace (no white water here) and because, for whatever reason, explorer hasn’t covered a southern canoe trip in at least seven years. None of that, of course, makes this a secluded float. Fishermen almost always line the banks and their boats meander slowly from prime spot to prime spot. We saw at least a dozen anglers casting—and, it should be noted, often catching—trout during our brief trip. But “crowded” in Montana is a relative word. Within minutes of hard paddling, our two boats had put anyone in waders in the rear view and left us with nothing but seemingly flat water ahead. At least one Bitterroot River guide makes special mention of that serene

water. “Although the Bitterroot River may look placid from the road,” warns a section titled “Floaters Beware,” “it has the potential to present life threatening hazards around every bend…snags and logjams are the hazards most frequently encountered.” Funny about that last part. Our two boats expertly navigated a few snags—aka sweepers, or downed trees laying across the river—early in the trip. Seasoned paddlers see these as little more than traffic cones on a racecourse, opportunities to practice handling the boat. Steve and I especially felt nothing but confident, even as we approached a tricky little one-two snag around a shallow bend. “Eddy, eddy,” shouted Karen. We stopped short of the bend, pulled into an eddy and assessed the situation. It didn’t look easy, but Steve and I felt we could work our way through. It’d require a tight approach to the left of one sweeper, then a hard right turn past the second, and strong paddling to shoot the gap. What the hell, I thought.

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“We can do it,” Steve said. “We got this.” “I don’t know,” said Karen, who ticked off a couple alternatives, including walking the boats around the trouble. No fun in that. Steve and I insisted all would be fine. Karen, to her credit, said she wasn’t so sure. It was too late. Steve and I were already heading around the first sweeper, hitting our line perfectly. We turned at just the right moment, as well, and from the bow I could see we were in an ideal position to make it through. But the river saw things differently—the current pushed us against the second sweeper and, top heavy in the canoe, Steve and I went overboard into freezing waters. It was right then that I regretted about a million different decisions, the first of which was the arrogant choice to wear cotton—not something, say, waterproof—on an “easy” float. Here’s what I didn’t regret: trying. Safely on shore, Steve and I took inventory of our drenched belongings and emptied the canoe of gallons of water, piecing together what went wrong. We both realized, incredulously, that we should have been kneeling in the boat—not sitting high on our seats—during the whole ordeal. I should have drawn away from the sweeper once we made contact. He wished he’d held the turn longer. Karen, meanwhile, apologized for not talking us down from our overly confident, too

proud, male stubbornness. We drank yerba maté and stripped as a boat full of fishermen stopped in the same eddy and decided to walk their boat along the opposite shore. As I was peeling off my 500-pound cargo pants, shirt and jacket, I was strangely energized by the blunder. Sure, I was cold with about four miles of river left to paddle. Sure, my digital camera was now nothing more than a heavy bath toy. And sure, there were infinite ways we could’ve avoided the situation. But there was something invigorating about such an immediate and relatively harmless reminder of what’s at stake on the water. “At least I have something to write about now,” I said. The rest of our float played out exactly as we had originally hoped. We paddled past Canadian geese, ducks and trout literally jumping out of the water at stoneflies. In the trees along the river we spotted two bald eagle nests, both inhabited by iconic birds staring down at us. Farther in the distance we saw what looked like osprey condominiums—dozens and dozens of nests built on neighboring branches. Our technique in the boat also improved. At one point, we successfully performed an upstream ferry to avoid danger and hit a safer channel of the river. Later, Steve and I found ourselves approaching another tricky squeeze and, this time on our knees, tiptoed around a rock and sweeper like a running back hitting an open hole. We never got wet again. Once we reached the take-out, the sense of accomplishment over a lesson learned outweighed any concern for my internal temperature. The only thing I’d change next time would be no cotton and a better check of my dry bag—I’m still not sure how I ended up driving home wearing my mother-in-law’s Asics.

Photo by Skylar Browning

Downtown Missoula

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Downtown Missoula

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Downtown Missoula

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Photo courtesy Lee Mickelson

Above the rest Spending the night in a forest lookout is about more than just a view

by Jed Nussbaum he howl of the wind outside and the low hum of the propane lantern overhead are the only sounds that fill the small cabin on top of Lolo National Forest’s West Fork Butte. My three friends and I sit around the card table silently enjoying our post-dinner afterglow, poking at the coals in the woodstove and occasionally passing the bottle to stir up conversation. I’m by no means

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the quintessential wise man on top of a mountain, but the sheer fact that I’m “up here” instead of “down there” makes me feel wiser than most. Despite being just more than 20 miles outside of Missoula, the 80-year-old lookout cabin offers a solace that seems worlds removed from the rest of society. I’d reserved the cabin (online at recreation.gov, for about $40, including fees) after seeing pictures of the 14by-14 abode, as well as the breathtaking views

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into the Bitterroots and Lolo drainage. It sounded like the perfect destination for a night away from Missoula’s hustle and bustle. Forest Service cabin rentals are the perfect compromise between overpriced lodges and resorts and traditional tent camping. Generally, these cozy little spots are well maintained and comfortable enough to offer reprieve from the elements, but rustic enough that one still gets the sense that nature is the presiding factor in the experience. The cabin

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Pick up your reading folder at Missoula Public Library starting June 1. The whole family is encouraged to participate! Read books & collect coupons to use at Dairy Queen, Del’s Place, the Good Food Store, or Civitella’s Espresso Bar Summer Activity Programs are planned for school-age children (completed Kindergarten) and older! Tuesdays at 2 p.m., June 14-July 26 Thursday afternoon at the movies is open to the whole family. Movies show June 16-July 28 at 2 p.m.

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not only provides a home base for outdoor the mountains through the cabin door window. Poking around the lookout cabin produced adventures, but also becomes a destination in some interesting treasits own right. ures left by past guests. The trip in to West Most entertaining— Fork Butte, however, was “Despite being just more excluding the bottle of a little longer than tequila tucked away in expected. Normally, you than 20 miles outside of one cabinet—are the logcan drive to within a half books, chronicling years mile of this particular Missoula, the 80-year-old of visitors and their own lookout, but winter has satisfying experiences at held on so firmly this year lookout cabin offers a solthe site. The entries paint that most of the road was a nostalgic history of the still covered in snow. We ace that seems worlds cabin’s various inhabihad to park at the bottom tants, from romantic wedof Forest Service Road removed from the rest of ding anniversary getaway #37 to start the hike, trips to family outings tacking on an additional society.” boasting of wildlife sightseven miles to our jourings and cabin-cooked ney. meals. The considerable Far removed from such entries was our amount of snow on the ground did serve to highlight the cabin’s desirability in early-season own adventure—just four college boys taking a recreation, as there was no way we could have step away from our busy schedules and the pitched a tent to enjoy our stay. We hustled fire- looming graduation date to play around in the wood from the stack below the lookout into the mountains. The card table came out, the woodstove before taking a rest on the wooden whiskey bottles got lighter, and the stars made bunks and watching the sun disappear behind the hike worthwhile all by themselves. We 36

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cooked dinner on the cabin’s propane stove by the light of the provided lantern, carefully crafting our camping specialty: The dirty burrito. Who knew chili, mac ’n’ cheese and hot sauce wrapped in a tortilla shell would taste so good? I was the late riser of our party the following morning, greeted by a bowl full of instant oatmeal and geysers of brown water shooting through the hole in the top of the coffee percolator where the glass knob was missing. Nothing really compares to waking up and stepping out the front door with a cup of coffee in hand, only to be reminded that you’re on the top of a mountain. At around 6,200 feet I was hardly on top of the world, but it would be hard to tell me otherwise. It’s easy to understand the inspiration writers like Edward Abbey and Jack Kerouac drew from their experiences as fire lookouts. The expansive natural vista is breathtaking—mile upon mile of thick forest punctuated by mountains rising up from the valley

floor, such as Lolo Peak, nearly 3,000 feet taller than our cabin at the top of West Fork Butte. The views, combined with the uninterrupted isolation of the mountaintop abode, create a peaceful atmosphere perfect for reflection and relaxation. As the time came to depart from our mountain cabin, we gathered more wood for the wood box, washed the dishes and cleaned up the cabin for the next guests to enjoy. Just as crucial as the Forest Service’s attention to cabins like these is the upkeep maintained by guests. It was a pleasant surprise to find the cabin in the condition we did, and we did our best to leave it in the same fashion. These Forest Service cabins provide more than a distinctive overnight experience; they also offer a window into a different era, a taste of the attractive simplicity that existed before a world of push-button luxury. It beats the wind chill and busted tent zippers, but still connects you with nature and Montana’s rich past.

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Missoula Independent

Learning to fly Patience and practice prove key when casting for the first time by Jessica Mayrer rooks Jessen has the patience of a saint. The Montana native grew up fishing near Ennis and now works as a guide for Classic Journey Outfitters. He’s used to working with rookies and teaching them the art of casting. He’s got his work cut out for him with me. “You throw the weight of the line,” he says. With waders on and rod in hand, he moves his

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wrist as if painting a wall. “Flick, flick,” he says. “See how I’m doing that?” It looks simple enough. But actually casting with any kind of finesse, I quickly figure out, is an entirely different matter. Despite the fact that my budding technique is distinctly flawed, I want to learn. My drive is fueled by the reverence and romance that surrounds the sport. Fly-fishing is much more than just a way to catch dinner. In fact, Montana regulations require many fish species

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be released after they’re caught, meaning today’s effort is more meditation then pragmatism. It’s clearly not the utilitarian aspect of flyfishing that’s enamored modern culture. Writers like Ernest Hemingway and Norman Maclean speak of the sport in redemptive terms. For them the sport is a spiritual experience. “In our family, there was no clear line between religion and fly fishing,” Maclean

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writes in A River Runs Through It. Jessen says there’s no clear line because you don’t simply commune with nature when fly-fishing—you interact with it. “You come to the place where trout live,” Jessen says. “It’s pristine. They’re beautiful fish.” I keep that in mind as my cast falters and it starts to rain, leaving dimples across the river. An integral part of the art of fly-fishing, I learn today, is tying flies. Organic lures are made of deer hair and pheasant tail, among other things. Manufactured lures, made with synthetic materials like 44

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foam and plastic, are also available, but not recommended by Jessen. Inorganic ties just don’t feel right, and fly-fishing is all about the feel. And so we use Jessentied nymphs to lure trout on the Blackfoot. We only see one other group of anglers during our two-plus hour adventure on the Blackfoot. But Jessen says this stretch of water is more popular as the weather warms. If you’re looking to get away from other anglers, he offers a list of relatively unknown nearby fishing spots. The St. Regis River, for one, is smaller than the Blackfoot and much less traveled. It runs along Interstate 90 from

Lookout Pass before emptying into the Clark Fork River. There’s also Flint Creek, which begins at Georgetown Lake and flows near Philipsburg. And Skalkaho Creek, accessible from the Skalkaho Highway Scenic Byway in the Bitterroot Valley, south of Hamilton, also offers optimal trout habitat. “A lot of people don’t fish those too often,” Jessen says. The Blackfoot suits us just fine on an overcast day. In fact, the weather works to our advantage. Jessen explains that fish don’t like bright light. That means today’s weather is prime time for casting a line.

“The fish are less inhibited,” says Jessen, who steers our boat toward a “seam,” or a stretch of quiet water that’s ideal for catching trout. “The fish will lay right at the bottom of this island.” As we float by the red willows that blanket the Blackfoot’s banks, I feel a tug in my line. “Set,” Jessen says, giving me the signal to pull up my line. “Let it run,” he says, grabbing a net. I pull a small white fish out of the river. It’s far from a prize trout. Nonetheless, I caught something. Maybe it’s a step toward learning to meditate with a rod in hand. Jessen’s knowledge is much appreciated, but it’s easy, even for a novice, to cast without assistance. Fishing poles run roughly $200 and adults over 12 years old need to buy a fishing license, which are for sale at Fish Wildlife and Parks, local tackle shops and online. Montana residents pay $27.

Photo by Elizabeth Costigan

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Take a hike The gas-free guide to getting out in Missoula by Chad Harder o you’re wanting, in the worst way, to explore Montana’s beautiful places, but $4 gas prices are keeping the car parked. What do hike-hungry locals do? Before you go dumping dollars into your tank just to drive past mountains in search of other mountains, consider charging up one of the many trails in Missoula’s front, back and side yards. For instance, the trail starting at the University of Montana and leading up, up, up Mount Sentinel can be completed (roundtrip) in a little over an hour, even by couch slugs, and once you’re atop this landmark, options abound. If you head left you’ll find a switchbacked trail known as the Hellgate Canyon Trail, leading down to the Clark Fork River (and eventually the Kim Williams Trail, see next page). If you continue up the ridge, you’ll climb a steep, un-maintained singletrack to University Mountain, also known as the “true” summit of Mount Sentinel. And if you take a right, you’ll find yourself in the well-maintained net-

Photo by Chad Harder

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work of Pattee Canyon trails, which are fun (and well-used) in and of themselves, but which also lead into the Deer Creek Drainage or onto the duffy, well-shaded Sam Braxton Loop. While these routes share their bottom third with hikers walking to “The M,” most yokels turn around there, and you’ll likely find yourself alone for the rest of the steep grind to the summit. Ride your bike to the UM trailhead and you’ll have a completely gas-free jaunt with excellent views of the Missoula and Bitterroot Valleys, Mount Jumbo and beyond. Lovebirds should consider making a picnic out of this hike, timing it around sunset and pulling out a bottle of wine once you reach your nook of choice. Another excellent option is the Kim Williams Trail—a nearly-in-town out-and-back named after the late naturalist and public radio commentator. Starting at Jacobs Island at the UM campus, this all-flat trail follows the Clark Fork River directly into the maw of Hellgate Canyon, providing cool breezes and pleasant shade among the cottonwoods on hot summer 48

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days. Find the trailhead near the Van Buren footbridge and head east along the 2.5-mile former railroad grade toward East Missoula. Dogs, cyclists, joggers and the occasional horse share this popular trail with the locals, like great blue herons, bald eagles and osprey.

Just across the Clark Fork lies Sentinel’s northern sister, Mount Jumbo—colloquially known as “The one with the L.” Multiple steep options get you started up, but they funnel nicely into a strenuous trail to the concrete blemish gracing this mountain’s western rampart.

“Lovebirds should consider making a picnic out of this hike, timing it around sunset and pulling out a bottle of wine once you reach your nook of choice.” Easy striders will be content to stay on the trail; gung-ho types might choose to head up the Hellgate Canyon Trail linking this route to the top of Mount Sentinel (see above) and the Pattee Canyon trail network.

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You won’t have to worry about it in the summer, but during winter months much of Jumbo’s upper flanks are closed to human traffic to provide wintering elk and mule deer with an undisturbed place to munch grass and

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What next? So you’ve bagged Mount Sentinel and Mount Jumbo, you’ve run up and down the North Hills and you’ve jogged your dog along the Kim Williams Trail more times than you can remember. Now it’s time to head to Missoula’s most impressive trifecta: The Blue Mountain Recreation Area, Pattee Canyon Recreation Area and the Rattlesnake National Recreation Area— or “PBR,” for short. These areas provide even the most go-get-em an opportunity for years of new experiences, and the deeper you go into each, the better the gettin’ gets. All three areas offer multiple trailheads, miles of trails and far greater diversity than the trails listed in this story. They’re also a couple of miles further afield and most folks choose to drive to the trailhead in their cars. But while it can be impractical if you’re bringing your dogs, high-energy types with a bicycle and just a bit more time can two-wheel it to the trailhead, lock up and head out into the woods. Either way, you’ll be there in no time flat. It’s worth noting that no other city in the U.S. has a federally designated wilderness area as close to its borders as Missoula, with its very own Rattlesnake Wilderness. And although there can be scores of cars at the main trailhead on sunny days, if you just get up the trail a couple miles you’ll find that scoring your own personal piece of Montana is never more than a short walk away. To learn more about hiking opportunities in the Missoula area, contact the following agencies: Bitterroot National Forest: 363-7161 Lolo National Forest: 329-3814 Missoula Parks and Recreation: 721-7275 Missoula Chamber of Commerce: 543-6623 50

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Photo by Chad Harder

avoid the deeper snow of the still-higher country. If you’ve never been up this not-as-popular mountain, put down this magazine, slip on your tennies and head over to the Poplar Street trailhead in the Lower Rattlesnake. Set a mellow pace up the steep face, continuing on well past the “L” until you crest the broad summit. Here you’ll have options: head north along the wellworn trail past the Jumbo Saddle and into the Rattlesnake Mountains; take a right and descend (steeply!) into Hellgate Canyon until you emerge at the same trailhead at which you started; or just turn around and trot back down the route you just climbed. Regardless of your descent route, take a moment to enjoy the unique perspective on the broad valley. If you’re looking for something a bit more aerobic than the Kim Williams Trail but not as intense as a direct attack on Jumbo or Sentinel, consider hitting the North Hills, also known as Waterworks Hill or, by locals, as the former home of the peace sign. Find it by heading north under I-90 on

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Duncan Drive and look for the first nondescript gravel drive leading up to the left. Park at the trailhead and immediately you have multiple options, none overly strenuous. Since the hillsides here are devoid of trees, it’s next to impossible to get lost. Cyclists aren’t welcome on Waterworks, but dogs are, and the rolling terrain makes for excellent trail running. Years ago, a relay tower owned by communications giant Qwest was positioned near the highest point of Waterworks Hill, and its broad, flat, billboard-esque façade was a natural place for peace activists to paint a giant peace sign. It eventually came down when Qwest no longer needed the panels, and the nine squares that composed the sign are now scattered about the Garden City. Today, the windswept hillside sports a rare low-elevation alpine flower community. Look for blooms amidst the rocks and dog droppings immediately adjacent the trail. But time’s a-wasting, so watch your step, grab your water bottle, slip on your comfortable shoes and go take a hike!

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months of fun

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JUNE Once upon a time, not too long ago, summer in Missoula didn’t involve a whole heck of a lot—a farmers’ market, some river fun and whatever else you could make of our precious few smokeless sunny days. Today is a different story entirely, what with festivals at Caras Park nearly every weekend, multiple farmers’ markets, a wave park right near downtown, a new summer concert series at Big Sky Brewery and more. More? Really? Yes, but don’t take our word for it. Simply read on and appreciate Missoula’s summer renaissance. Thursday 9 June It’s time for dinner and music with hundreds of your friends when Missoula’s Caras Park 52

hosts Downtown ToNight, from 5:30 to 8:30 PM, featuring food, drinks and tunes this week from Kenny James Miller. Free. Visit missoula downtown.com. Friday 10 June

Your youngin will no doubt be hummin’ Oingo Boingo’s hit “Weird Science” when UM’s SpectrUM Discovery Area presents its annual Weird Science Dance Party, which features live music, science demos and raffles, and begins at 6:30 PM at Missoula’s Caras Park. $3/$20 for a family pass. Visit spectrum.umt.edu. Keep it local and crafty with some fine art during Kalispell’s Think Local Summer’s First Art Blast, a

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three-day juried art fair and designer craft show that kicks off today and features 60 booths for your perusing pleasure, plus food and music, all at Kalispell’s Courthouse Lawn. Free. Call 261-3874. Have an art attack during the Montana Professional Artists Association Show and Sale, which begins with a Friday night reception at 6 PM at the Bitterroot River Inn and Conference Center, 139 Plaza Drive in Hamilton. Then, on Saturday and Sunday at 10 AM each day, stick around to see painting and sculpture demos, plus plein air painting near a pond and by the Bitterroot River. Call 961-3887 or visit montanaprofessionalartistsassoc. com/shows.html.

Tip your hat to the original homesteaders and settlers during Hot Springs’ annual Homesteader Days Celebration, which takes place through Sun., June 12, and offers rodeos, music, a powwow, 3K and 6K runs, arts in the park, and other activities. Call 741-2662 or visit hotspringsmtchamber.org. Whitefish’s Alpine Theatre Project offers up a heartwarming musical journey about a husband and wife, and their ups and downs through marriage, when the company begins its 10-day run of I Do! I Do!, with Tue.–Sat. shows at 8 PM, and Sun. shows at 6, at the Whitefish Performing Arts Center, 600 E. Second St. $18–$37. Call 862-SHOW or visit alpinetheatreproject.org.

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Saturday 11 June Communities around western Montana host farmers’ markets, which feature local produce, flowers, baked goods and crafts—in Missoula at Circle Square (missoula farmersmarket.com), on Pine Street (missoulasaturday market.org) and under the Higgins Avenue bridge (clark forkrivermarket.com), in Stevensville at Third and Main streets, in Hamilton at South Third and Bedford streets, and in Kalispell at Center Street and Fifth Avenue. Hours for each market vary, but 8 AM–1 PM is the total span. Rev your internal engine at the Montana Benefit Car Show, which runs from 9 AM to 4 PM at Karl Tyler Chevrolet, 3663 N. Reserve St., and features hot rods, muscle cars, plus music and food. This also doubles as a benefit for Children’s Charities. Visit montana benefitcarshow.org. Scope out seven innovative abodes around Missoula during homeWORD’s ninth annual Sustainability Tour, which runs from noon to 5 PM at various locations in Missoula. $10–$25. Visit homeword.org for details or call 532-4663 Ext.16. Sunday 12 June

Yet another option to feed your locavore need comes during the Carousel Sunday Market & Festival, which offers local veggies, fruits, arts and crafts and other items, and occurs every Sun. through Oct. 16 from 11 AM to 3 PM at the New Park parking lot near A Carousel for Missoula. Call 549-8382 or visit carrousel.com/ carousel-sunday-marketand-fes. 54

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Get tangled up in someone else’s smooth dance and performance moves during the inaugural Missoula Summer Carnival, which runs from 3 to 10 PM in Missoula’s Caras Park and offers spectators the chance to soak up an array of performances by local dance troupes, aerialists and other performers. Cost TBA. E-mail missoulasummercarnival@g mail.com or search Facebook

American Flute, which is dubbed as the “premier workshop for Native American Flute in the country” and runs until June 18 at the Feathered Pipe Ranch near Helena. Call 726-3353 or visit aoflutes.com/rnaf.htm. Leave the road kill where you found it and chill with an evening of folk rock and Americana when Graham Lindsey plays the Badlander

Chug the aural smoothie when Oakland’s Antioquia plays a style of music described as “psychedelic rock meets AfroColumbian rhythm” at 10 PM at the Top Hat. Cost TBA. Thursday 16 June Bust a sustainable move during the fifth annual Love Your Mother Earth Festival, a

They’re wondering how to jump that fence. Electronic trio Signal Path headlines the fifth annual Love Your Mother Earth Festival June 16–18 at Ryan Creek Meadows. $35–$40. Tickets at love yourmotherearthfestival.com.

for “Missoula Summer Carnival.” Make it hurt real good when Minneapolis’ Jon Wayne and The Pain plays reggae rock and dubstep at 10 PM at the Top Hat. Cost TBA. Tuesday 14 June Flute fans unite at the sevend a y c o n f e r e n c e The Renaissance of the Native Explorer 2011

with TBA local openers at 9 PM. $5. Wednesday 15 June Food, frozen lactose and fun converge downtown at Missoula’s Caras Park for Out to Lunch, which runs from 11 AM to 2 PM and features music this week by Zeppo. Free. Visit missouladown town.com.

three-day music and enviro/sustianability fest, which kicks off at Ryan Creek Meadows—30 miles east of Missoula off I-90 Exit 130—at noon and runs through Sun., June 18. The weekend fete features over 30 musical acts—including former Missoulians Signal Path, Portland, Ore.’s Eastern Sunz and New York City’s Sister Monk—on three stages, plus

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Steve Earle has never lost a staring contest. See for yourself when the legendary troubadour plays the Wilma Theatre Saturday, June 18. $27. Tickets at vootie.com.

free camping, local and organic food, workshops and more. $40 at the gate/$35 plus fees advance. Visit love yourmotherfestival.com or griztix.com. It’s time for dinner and music with hundreds of your friends when Missoula’s Caras Park hosts Downtown ToNight from 5:30 to 8:30 PM, featuring food, drinks and tunes this week from Codi Jordan. Free. Visit missoulad owntown.com. Get your fresh produce up near Glacier National Park, if you choose, every Thu. from 5 to 7:30 PM until midSeptember, as the Columbia Falls Farmers’ Market overtakes Nucleus Ave. and offers live music as well. Free. Call 892-0318 or visit firstbest place.org.

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Friday 17 June Keep the fun between your legs when Montana Harley Davidson presents Hot Harley Nights, which features an evening of motorcycles, music, food and libations, starting at 6:30 PM in Missoula’s Caras Park. Free. Call 721-2154 or visit mtharley.com.

Slap on those cowboy chaps and get into the western groove during Stevensville’s annual Western Heritage Days, which runs today and tomorrow and features a parade, a chuckwagon cookoff and other food for purchase, as well as historic tours, wagon rides, music by Voodoo Horseshoes and Rob Quist and Great Northern, plus other activities. Call 7773773 or visit mainstreetstevensville.com. Explorer 2011

Get a crafter’s high at the Under The Big Sky Fine Arts & Crafts Festival, which features over 100 American artisans and runs for three-days at the Western Montana Fairgrounds, 1101 South Ave. W. Visit underthebigsky.net. A case of blue ears isn’t a must when Reno, Nevada’s Buster Blue plays Americana and folk at 10 PM at the Top Hat. $5. Saturday 18 June Keep it as local as can be when western Montana hosts several farmers’ markets, which feature local produce, flowers, baked goods and crafts—in Missoula at Circle Square (missoulafarmers market.com), on Pine Street (missoulasaturdaymarket.org) and under the Higgins Avenue bridge (clarkforkriver

market.com), in Stevensville at Third and Main streets, in Hamilton at South Third and Bedford streets, and in Kalispell at Center Street and Fifth Avenue. Hours for each market vary, but 8 AM–1 PM is the total span. Can you smell that smell? You surely ought to at the 32nd annual Bitter Root Days celebration at the Ravalli County Museum in downtown Hamilton, which runs from 9 AM to 1 PM and offers arts, crafts and food, as well as several blossoms of Bitterroot, our state flower. Visit brvhsmuseum.org or call 363-3338. Mark your territory during Deer Lodge’s 22nd annual Territorial Day, which begins at 11:30 AM with a Rod Run of classic cars down Main Street. Activities follow throughout the day including

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a “Jaywalkers Jamboree” with vendors, food, refreshments, a street dance and other family-friendly fun. Free. Visit powellcountymontana.com/ territorial-day.html. Have a countrified time with the man who played your favorite sobriety sponsor in HBO’s “The Wire” when Steve Earle plays country, rock and folk at 8 PM at the Wilma Theatre. The Dukes and Duchesses featuring Allison Moorer opens. $27, with advance tickets at Rockin Rudy’s and online at vootie.com. Legendary bluesman Taj Mahal will probably face the audience— not the wall—when he plays the Wilma Theatre Monday, June 27. $28–$32. Tickets at ticketfly.com.

Missoula Independent

Explorer 2011

Sunday 19 June Yet another option to feed your locavore need comes

during the Carousel Sunday Market & Festival, which offers local veggies, fruits, arts and crafts and other items, and occurs every Sun. through Oct. 16 from 11 AM to 3 PM at the New Park parking lot near A Carousel for Missoula. C a l l 54 9 - 8 38 2 o r v i s i t carrousel.com/carousel-sun day-market-and-fes. LOL and bang thine head to some “humorcore” when Tempe, Arizona’s Psychostick plays metal with a heavy dose of humor at 8 PM at the Dark Horse in Missoula, 1805 Regent St. Locals Undun, Mageddon and Beefcurtain open. $12/$8 advance at Missoula’s Adam and Eve store, or through the local bands.

Monday 20 June Get serenaded by your favorite Ray Ray when Ray LaMontagne and The Pariah Dogs play with special guests Brandi Carlile and The Secret Sisters, at 7 PM at Missoula’s Big Sky Brewery, 5417 Trumpeter Way. $34, with advance tickets at Big Sky Brewery, Rockin Rudy’s or online at ticketfly.com. Get buzzed with your lactose lover from another mother when Humboldt County California’s Moo-Got-2 plays “psychedelic funktronica” at 10 PM at the Top Hat. $3. Wednesday 22 June Food, frozen lactose and fun converge downtown at Missoula’s Caras Park for Out to Lunch, which runs from 11 AM to 2 PM and features

music this week by the Ed Norton Big Band. Free. Visit missouladowntown.com. Hold onto your meatstick, Missoula Osprey f a n s , because tonight kicks off a season-opening, two-game series against the Helena Brewers at 7:05 nightly. Call 543-3300. Thursday 23 June Those in Kalispell get down in downtown during Thursday!Fest, which features food, a beer and wine garden, farmers’ market, arts and crafts, kids activities and music by blues rockers the Kenny James Miller Band, from 5 to 8 PM on Third St. East, between Main St. and First Ave. E. Free. Visit downtownkalispell.com. It’s time for dinner and music

with hundreds of your friends when Missoula’s Caras Park hosts Downtown ToNight from 5:30 to 8:30 PM, featuring food, drinks and tunes this week from the Big Sky Mudflaps. Free. Visit missouladowntown.com. Friday 24 June See what the vroom is all about at the Garden City River Rod Run, which features around 200 classic and hot rod cars at Missoula’s Caras Park with a show and shine from 5 to 9 PM on Fri., and again from 11 AM to 4 PM on Sat. A parade of rods down Higgins Avenue also occurs on Fri. at 9 PM. Free. C a l l 54 3 - 4 238 o r v i s i t missouladowntown.com. Just don’t horse around when the Western Montana

Explorer 2011

Quarter Horse Association Horse Show hits the Sapphire Event Center in Corvallis today through Sun., June 26, and features contestants from five states and Canada. Call 531-3522. Run for cover from the impending zombie apocalypse when Seattle’s The Crying Shame plays its selfdescribed style of “post-war, garage folk” at 9 PM at the Badlander. Cost TBA. Saturday 25 June Sweat it out by running through beautiful forests and sprinting near Packer Meadows—a famed historical site—during the Mountainto-Meadow Half Marathon and 5K FunRun, which begins at 7:30 AM (PST) at the Lolo Pass Visitor Center

Missoula Independent

This band is trouble…trouble, trouble, trouble. Let Ray LaMontagne and the Pariah Dogs explain that joke when they play at Big Sky Brewery Monday, June 20. $34. Tickets at ticketfly.com.

near the Montana/Idaho border. $25/children under age 12 free. Visit runlolopass.org. Another option to let your soles pound the ground comes during the annual Whitefish Lake Run in Whitefish, which offers the chance to hit up a 5K or 10K and begins at 8 AM at Whitefish Lake. Call 8623111 or visit sportsman skihaus.com. Communities around western Montana host farmers’ markets, which feature local produce, flowers, baked goods and crafts—in Missoula at Circle Square (missoula farmersmarket.com), on Pine Street (missoulasaturday 60

Missoula Independent

market.org) and under the Higgins Avenue bridge (clark forkrivermarket.com), in Stevensville at Third and Main streets, in Hamilton at South Third and Bedford streets, and in Kalispell at Center Street and Fifth Avenue. Hours for each market vary, but 8 AM–1 PM is the total span. Go the way of the clay when the Missoula Art Museum, 335 N. Pattee St., hosts a “Persistence in Clay Tour” with Alison Reintjes at noon. Free. Call 728-0447 or visit missoulaartmuseum.org. Keep those frogs in your pockets when the Missoula Children’s Theatre presents a Explorer 2011

performance of The Frog Prince, at 3 PM, and again at 5 PM, at the MCT Center for the Performing Arts, 200 N. Adams St. $9/$7 seniors and students/$5 children. Call 728-7529 for tickets or visit mctinc.org. Forget the slumber party in your pants and get down to some Midwestern Americana w h e n R a c i n e , W i s c .’ s Folkswagon plays with local o p e n e r s Ve r a a n d Th e Magpies, at 9 PM at the Badlander. Cost TBA. Sunday 26 June Yet another option to feed your locavore need comes

during the Carousel Sunday Market & Festival, which offers local veggies, fruits, arts and crafts and other items, and occurs every Sun. through Oct. 16 from 11 AM to 3 PM at the New Park parking lot near A Carousel for Missoula. C a l l 54 9 - 8 38 2 o r v i s i t carrousel.com/carousel-sunday -market-and-fes. Get into the DIY spirit by checking out a number of alternative arts and crafts from over 65 local and regional artists during the annual Missoula Made Fair, which runs from 11 AM to 6 PM at Caras Park and is “family and hipster friendly.” Free. Visit missoulamadefair.com.

Large Gift Shop, Snacks, Sodas & Ice Cream Guided Tours Daily 10AM - 5PM

406-892-1210 www.montanavortex.com

Explorer 2011

Missoula Independent

Thursday 30 June Those in Kalispell get down in downtown during Thursday!Fest, which features food, a beer and wine garden, farmers’ market, arts and crafts, kids activities and music by classic rock, country and swing band Smart Alex, from 5 to 8 PM on Third St. East, between Main St. and First Ave. E. Free. Visit down townkalispell.com. It’s time for dinner and music with hundreds of your friends when Missoula’s Caras Park hosts Downtown ToNight from 5:30 to 8:30 PM, featuring food, drinks and tunes this week from Russ Nasset and The Revelators. Free. Visit missouladowntown.com. Moisten your boots with the tight Americana and country sounds of Portland, Ore.’s Lana Rebel when she plays with openers Tom Catmull & The Clerics at 9 PM at the Palace. Cost TBA.

Keep those frogs in your pockets when the Missoula Children’s Theatre presents a performance of The Frog Prince, at 3 PM, and again at 5 PM, at the MCT Center for the Performing Arts, 200 N. Adams St. $9/$7 seniors and students/$5 children. Call 728-7529 for tickets or visit mctinc.org. Monday 27 June Hold onto your dirty boxers, Missoula Osprey fans, because tonight kicks off a two-game series against the Billings Mustangs at 7:05 nightly. Call 543-3300. Go on blues patrol with one of the world’s foremost blues musicians when Taj Mahal performs with openers Patrolled By Radar at 9 PM at the Wilma Theatre. $32/$28 advance at Rockin Rudy’s and online at ticketfly.com or knittingfactory.com. Swap seeds, but not spit, with your undercover lover on the dance floor when Appleseed Cast plays indie rock at 9 PM at the Badlander. $5. Tuesday 28 June Soak up photos of contemporary American Indian celebrations and culture from across the American West during a talk and artist’s tour of Sue Reynolds’ acclaimed exhibit Understanding Native American People, from 5 to 7 PM at The People’s Center Museum, 53253 Hwy. 93 in Pablo. Free. Visit peoples center.org. Kick the grime off your shoes and get brassed up when The Dirty Dozen Brass Band plays a mix of jazz, funk, soul and jam with openers 62

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It was a simpler time when Nicolas Cage had hair and his arrests were fictional. Relive the glory days when Raising Arizona screens Saturday, July 16, during another season of Missoula Outdoor Cinema. See the full schedule at missoulaoutdoorcinema.org.

Orgone, at 8 PM at the Wilma Theatre. $16, with advance tickets at Rockin Rudy’s or online at ticketfly.com. Wednesday 29 June Food, frozen lactose and fun converge downtown at Missoula’s Caras Park for Out to Lunch, which runs from 11 AM to 2 PM and features music this week by G r e e n s t a r. Fr e e . Vi s i t missouladowntown.com. Hold onto your armpit hair, Explorer 2011

Missoula Osprey f a n s , because tonight kicks off a three-game series against the Great Falls Voyagers at 7:05 nightly. Call 543-3300. Let deep bass tones tickle your bones and your nose hairs when Los Angeles producer Skrillex plays a mix of electro, dubstep and glitchy electronic music with openers Porter Robinson and Zedd, at 8 PM at the Wilma Theatre. $25, with advance tickets at Rockin Rudy’s and online at ticketfly.com and knittingfactory.com.

JULY Friday 1 July Peruse and buy art—including sculptures, paintings and photos—from several artists across the country when the 32nd annual Whitefish Arts Festival begins at 10 AM, and runs through Sun., July 4, at Depot Park in Whitefish. Free. Visit whitefishartsfestival.org. The galleries, shops and restaurants of downtown Missoula, Hamilton and Stevensville celebrate First Friday with art exhibits, bands and refreshments, beginning at 5 PM. Free. Visit first fridaysmissoula.blogspot.com. Dance in a trance to a slew of DJs, producers and bands on two stages while surrounded

by the Bitterroot Mountains during Manifest, a three-day music and art festival featuring sets by headliners Mexicans with Guns and Splatinum, along with locals Kung Fu Kongress, Miller Creek and others, starting at 7 PM on Friday at the Lolo Hot Springs Resort, 38500 Highway 12 W. $40 at the door/$35 advance until June 30 at Ear Candy Music and Rockin Rudy’s. Visit manifestmt.com. Do the shortbread shuffle with a reggae, hip hop and Afro-funk band when Spokane’s Real Life Rockaz plays the Palace at 9 PM. $5.

Saturday 2 July

Communities around western Montana host farmers’ markets, which feature local produce, flowers, baked goods and crafts—in Missoula at Circle Square (missoula farmersmarket.com), on Pine Street (missoulasaturday market.org) and under the Higgins Avenue bridge (clark forkrivermarket.com), in Stevensville at Third and Main streets, in Hamilton at South Third and Bedford streets, and in Kalispell at Center Street and Fifth Avenue. Hours for each market vary, but 8 AM–1 PM is the total span.

Watch stars under the stars during another season of Missoula Outdoor Cinema. The season opener features George Clooney’s voice in Fantastic Mr. Fox, starting at approximately 9:30 PM, at the Headstart school on the corner of Worden and Phillips on Missoula’s Northside. Free, but donations accepted. Sunday 3 July

Yet another option to feed your locavore need comes during the Carousel Sunday Market & Festival, which offers local veggies, fruits, arts and crafts and other items, and occurs every Sun.

Explorer 2011

through Oct. 16 from 11 AM to 3 PM at the New Park parking lot near A Carousel for Missoula. Call 549-8382 or visit carrousel.com/ carousel-sunday-marketand-fes. Monday 4 July

Happy Freedom Day, er, I mean Happy Independence Day! Cool your jingoistic and uber-patriotic tendencies with a barbecue and some brews, and follow it up with Southgate Mall’s annual celebration beginning at 9 PM, with fireworks at 10:30. Free.

Missoula Independent

Wednesday 6 July Food, frozen lactose and fun converge downtown at Missoula’s Caras Park for Out to Lunch, which runs from 11 AM to 2 PM and features music this week by Cash for Junkers. Free. Visit missoula downtown.com. Thursday 7 July Those in Kalispell get down in

Montucky gets an artistic shout out when the Missoula Art Museum, 335 N. Pattee St., presents an opening reception for the exhibit Expressing Montana—featuring social, political and environmental commentary from artists like Drummond’s Bill Ohrmann—from 5 to 8 PM. The reception also includes a talk, plus music by Ray Jacobs and others. Free.

tunes from Secret Powers. Festivities begin at 5:30. Free. Visit missouladowntown.com. Hold onto your bloody ears, Missoula Osprey f a n s , because tonight kicks off a two-game series against the Helena Brewers at 7:05 nightly. Call 543-3300. Wear some headgear and prepare to rock during a night of metal and other heavy music styles with

Montana Folk Festival in Butte—a locally produced continuance of the National Folk Festival that occurred in the city for the past three years. The event features music, performances and demos from over 250 artists. Free. Visit montanafolkfestival.com for a complete schedule. Cowboy art, birdhouses and stuffed animals abound dur-

Fingers will fall from the sky when Slightly Stoopid’s Seedless Summer Tour takes a smoke break at Big Sky Brewery Thursday, July 21. Rebelution and Shwayze & Cisco Adler open. $32.50–$37. Tickets at ticketfly.com.

downtown during Thursday! Fest, which features food, a beer and wine garden, farmers’ market, arts and crafts, kids activities and music this week from Missoula’s favorite roots rockers Tom Catmull and The Clerics, from 5 to 8 PM on Third St. East, between Main St. and First Ave. E. Free. Visit downtownkalispell.com. 64

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C a l l 728 - 0 4 47 o r v i s i t missoulaartmuseum.org. You know you’ve been waiting all year for this night: It’s the Missoula Independent’s Best of Missoula party during Downtown ToNight at Caras Park. This year’s winners will be celebrated in an atmosphere full of food, drinks and Explorer 2011

Washing ton’s Burning Twilight, along with Idols, Boldly Stride the Damned and Lb!, at 9 PM at the Palace. Cost TBA. Friday 8 July

Bust out your folksiest dance moves in front of other folks for three days during the

ing the Artists and Craftsmen of the Flathead Summer Outdoor Show, which offers an array of locally produced arts and crafts to gawk at, and takes place each day through Sun., July 10, next to the courthouse in Kalispell. Call 881-4288.

A Get-Away in Paradise Retreat ~ Reunions ~ Workshops

For Information & Reservations call 406-754-2891, 406-754-2894 or 800-922-5255 7079 Highway 83 North, MM 44 1/2 Condon, MT 59826

Seeley Lake

Montana

Explorer 2011

Missoula Independent

Saturday 9 July Communities around western Montana host farmers’ markets, which feature local produce, flowers, baked goods and crafts—in Missoula at Circle Square (missoula farmersmarket.com), on Pine Street (missoulasaturday market.org) and under the Higgins Avenue bridge (clark forkrivermarket.com), in Stevensville at Third and

Fairgrounds, 1101 South Ave. W., today and tomorrow with shows daily at 2 PM, and again at 5. Cost TBA. Call 543-6623. Sweat out the details when the Missoula Marathon Registration and Expo hits Missoula’s Caras Park all day today, from 8 AM to 6 PM, and features a kid’s marathon at 10 AM. Then, on Sunday, July 10, at 6 AM, your soles

around Whitefish. Visit theglacierchallenge.com. Hold onto your boxers, Missoula Osprey f a n s , because tonight kicks off a three-game series against the Billings Mustangs at 7:05 nightly on Sat. and Mon., and at 5 on Sun. Call 543-3300. Bring a picnic and a barley soda, or whatever beverage you prefer, and get ready for an aural treat during Summer

Missoula Outdoor Cinema. This evening’s screening features the Talking Heads in Stop Making Sense, starting at approximately 9:30 PM, at the Headstart school on the corner of Worden and Phillips on Missoula’s Northside. Free, but donations accepted. Let someone else go on funky odor patrol and get funked up when Portland, Ore.’s Philly’s Phunkestra

Cowboy? Really? See if Ronnie Dunn—as in, the “Dunn” from Brooks & Dunn—has learned the lesson of “show, don’t tell” when he plays the Lumberjack in Lolo Friday, July 22. $39.25. Tickets at griztix.com.

Main streets, in Hamilton at South Third and Bedford streets, and in Kalispell at Center Street and Fifth Avenue. Hours for each market vary, but 8 AM–1 PM is the total span. Blow your top during “the biggest Big Top circus on Earth” when the Carnson & Barnes Circus h i t s t h e Western Montana 66

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pound the pavement for the 26.2-mile full marathon, or the less intense halfmarathon. Registration fees v a r y, s o v i s i t m i s s o u l a marathon.org for details. Give it your best shot during the Glacier Challenge, a multi-sport relay race that includes a 10.5K run, canoe race, road bike, mountain bike, kayak and 4K run Explorer 2011

Pops at Rebecca Farm, an outdoor concert featuring “classical pops” tunes performed by the Glacier Symphony at 7:30 PM on the lawns of the Rebecca Farm, 1385 Farm to Market Road in K a l i s p e l l . $ 30 p e r c a r. Visit gscmusic.org or call 257-3241. Watch stars under the stars during another season of

plays funk and soul at 10 PM at the Top Hat. $5. Sunday 10 July

Yet another option to feed your locavore need comes during the Carousel Sunday Market & Festival, which offers local veggies, fruits, arts and crafts and other items, and occurs every Sun.

Explorer 2011

Missoula Independent

through Oct. 16 from 11 AM to 3 PM at the New Park parking lot near A Carousel for Missoula. Call 549-8382 or visit carrousel.com/ carousel-sunday-marketand-fes.

Friday 15 July Just don’t hug a tree when the Darby’s annual Logger Days takes place today and tomorrow at the Ravalli County Veteran’s Memorial, featuring several logging competitions and a parade

Wednesday 13 July Food, frozen lactose and fun converge downtown at Missoula’s Caras Park for Out to Lunch, which runs from 11 AM to 2 PM and features music this week by the Tropical Montana Marimba Ensemble. Free. Visit missouladowntown.com. Thursday 14 July Those in Kalispell get down in downtown during Thursday!Fest, which features food, a beer and wine garden, farmers’ market, arts and crafts, kids activities and music this week from Fresh Ink, from 5 to 8 PM on Third St. East, between Main St. and First Ave. E. Free. Visit downtownkalispell.com. It’s time for dinner and music with hundreds of your friends when Missoula’s Caras Park hosts Downtown ToNight from 5:30 to 8:30 PM, featuring food, drinks and tunes this week from Tom Catmull and The Clerics. Free. Visit missoula downtown.com. Whitefish’s Alpine Theatre Project presents a charming musical about two coworkers who dislike each other in real life, but who fall in love as pen pals, when the company begins its 14-day run of She Loves Me, with Tue.–Sat. shows at 8 PM, and Sun. shows at 6, at the Whitefish Performing Arts Center, 600 E. Second St. $18–$37. Call 862-SHOW or visit alpinetheatreproject.org. 68

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Dam Site, which begins with a no-host dinner at the Thompson Falls Elks Lodge at 6:30 PM, followed by the Show & Shine on Saturday from 10 AM to 3 PM at Ainsworth Field in Thompson Falls. Call 827-4485 or visit rodsnclassics.com.

Rockin Rudy’s and online at jadepresents.com. Saturday 16 July Communities around western Montana host farmers’ markets, which feature local

Never accept a bouquet from a stranger. The Decemberists, featuring former Missoulian Colin Meloy, play under the stars at Big Sky Brewery Friday, July 22. $30. Tickets at ticketfly.com.

through Darby on Saturday morning. Call 821-4151 or visit darbyloggerdays.com. Take your classic hot rod for a spin up in Sanders County during the annual Rods & Classics Show & Shine by a Explorer 2011

Get awed by the ax-manship of a Grammy-nominated singer/songwriter when Sara Bareilles plays pop rock with opener Raining Jane at 8 PM at the Wilma Theatre. $27, with advance tickets at

produce, flowers, baked goods and crafts—in Missoula at Circle Square (missoula farmersmarket.com), on Pine Street (missoulasaturday market.org) and under the Higgins Avenue bridge

Acupuncture Clinic of Missoula Dallas Seaber, MAcOM State Licensed and Nationally Certified Acupuncturist

Oriental Medicine provides a comprehensive approach to healthcare, treating body and mind, all types of pain, stress, allergies, injuries, women's health, mental health, digestion, energy, immune/autoimmune, cancer support, respiratory problems, wellness care.

Free Consultation 728-1600 Located at Health Options Clinic

3031 S. Russell www.AcupunctureClinicOfMissoula.com

Explorer 2011

Missoula Independent

(clarkforkrivermarket.com), in Stevensville at Third and Main streets, in Hamilton at South Third and Bedford streets, and in Kalispell at Center Street and Fifth Avenue. Hours for each market vary, but 8 AM–1 PM is the total span. Tell the present to bugger off at Live History Days, a twoday festival outside of Polson featuring demos by blacksmiths, spinners, quilters, weavers, carvers and other artists—plus live music and the chance to ride in vintage military vehicles and autos— all at the Miracle of America Museum, just south of Polson on Hwy. 93 off

Memory Lane. Visit miracleofamericamuseum.org or call 883-6804. Pop something sweet into your mouth during the twoday Polson Main Street Flathead Cherry Festival, which begins at 9 AM in downtown Polson and offers spectators the chance to taste cherry-inspired foods, peruse Montana made goods, and enter into a cherry pie eating contest, among other activities. Call 883-5969. Hoop it up and have a ball during Missoula’s annual 3on-3 Street Jam, which takes place today and tomorrow in the parking lot of Northgate

plaza, located near the intersection of Mullan Road and North Reserve Street. C a l l 54 3 - 6 6 23 o r v i s i t missoulachamber.com. Watch stars under the stars during another season of Missoula Outdoor Cinema. This evening’s screening features Nicolas Cage in Raising Arizona, starting at approximately 9:20 PM, at the Headstart school on the corner of Worden and Phillips on Missoula’s Northside. Free, but donations accepted. Get rid of the faux hawk and get foxy when San Francisco’s The Stone Foxes plays rock at 10 PM at the Top Hat. $10.

Sunday 17 July Yet another option to feed your locavore need comes during the Carousel Sunday Market & Festival, which offers local veggies, fruits, arts and crafts and other items, and occurs every Sun. through Oct. 16 from 11 AM to 3 PM at the New Park parking lot near A Carousel for Missoula. Call 549-8382 or visit carrousel.com/ carousel-sunday-marketand-fes. Tuesday 19 July Irie vibes will pulse through your veins when reggae legends Steel Pulse plays the

The perfect condiment for Leftover Salmon is a jam. Spin yourself silly when the venerable “polyethnic cajun slamgrass” band headlines this year’s River City Roots Fest in downtown Missoula Aug. 27 and 28. Free. 70

Missoula Independent

Explorer 2011

Missoula Independent

Wilma Theatre at 8:30 PM. $24/$22 advance at Rockin Rudy’s and online at ticket fly.com. Wednesday 20 July Food, frozen lactose and fun converge downtown at Missoula’s Caras Park for Out to Lunch, which runs from 11 AM to 2 PM and features music this week by The Hay Rollers. Free. Visit missoula downtown.com. Thursday 21 July Residents of Kalispell get down in downtown during Thursday!Fest, which features food, a beer and wine garden, farmers’ market, arts and crafts, kids activities and music this week from Raymond Charles and the Caribbean Authentics, from 5 to 8 PM on Third St. East, between Main St. and First Ave. E. Free. Visit down townkalispell.com. It’s time for dinner and music with hundreds of your friends when Missoula’s Caras Park hosts Downtown ToNight from 5:30 to 8:30 PM, featuring food, drinks and tunes this week from Locust Street Taxi. Free. Visit missouladowntown.com. Those of you yearning for some equestrian action ought not miss the four-day Event at Rebecca Farm, a horse competition that features dressage, cross-country, and stadium jumping today through Sun. at 1385 Farm to Market Road near Kalispell. Call 253-4666 or visit rebeccafarm.org. Hold onto your soybeans, Missoula Osprey f a n s , because tonight kicks off a four-game series against the 72

Missoula Independent

Casper Ghosts at 7:05 nightly, with the Sunday game at 5. Call 543-3300. The smell of something dank will be in the air when Slightly Stoopid makes its way to Big Sky Brewery at 6:30 PM. Rebelution, Shwayze and Cisco Adler open. $32.50–$37. Tickets at ticketfly.com.

Daly Days in Hamilton, which occurs today and tomorrow and features a street dance on Friday night, plus a slew of activities on Saturday including historical reenactments, a pine wood derby and a vintage car show. Call 363-2400 or visit bitterrootvlley chamber.com.

Those in Hamilton who enjoy art gawking can check out the Bitterroot Arts Guild-sponsored Art in the Park, which features a number of fine arts and crafts and runs at 9 AM each day on Fri. and Sat. at Hamilton’s Legion Park, across from City Hall. Call 821-4678.

The downtown master plan includes more color—lots more color. The Dana Gallery hosts a First Friday reception Friday, Aug. 5, for its annual Paint Out, an exhibition of plein air paintings like this one of downtown Missoula by Caleb Meyer. Find the gallery at 246 N. Higgins Avenue. Free.

Clear the cobwebs from your cochlea and get dusty with Austin, Texas’ James McMurtry when he plays rock and Americana at 10 PM at the Top Hat. $15/ $13 advance plus fees at Ear Candy Music and online at seafarerent ertainment.com. Friday 22 July Celebrate the life of copper magnate Marcus Daly during Explorer 2011

Tune in and rock out when Missoula’s Caras Park hosts the Trail 103.3 birthday party, which begins at noon. Visit trail1033.com for details. Freak the folk out in the heat with your favorite indie folk rock band when Portland, Ore.’s The Decemberists plays with special guests Typhoon at 7:30 PM at the Big Sky Brewery, 5417 Trumpeter Way. $30, with advance tickets at Big Sky Brewery, Rockin Rudy’s and online at ticketfly.com.

Art junkies in Kalispell can get a three-day fix during the annual event Arts in the Park—a benefit for the Hockaday Museum of Art that begins today at 9 AM and runs through Sun., July 24. It includes over 100 booths featuring art by local, regional and national artists, along with art activities for kids, plus food, music and dance performances. Call 755-5268 or visit hockaday museum.org.

Explorer 2011

Missoula Independent

Saturday 23 July Communities around western Montana host farmers’ markets, which feature local produce, flowers, baked goods and crafts—in Missoula at Circle Square (missoula farmersmarket.com), on Pine Street (missoulasaturdaymarket.org) and under the Higgins Avenue bridge (clark forkrivermarket.com), in Stevensville at Third and Main streets, in Hamilton at South Third and Bedford streets, and in Kalispell at Center Street and Fifth Avenue. Hours for each market vary, but 8 AM–1 PM is the total span. Do it for the clay when the Missoula Art Museum, 335 N. Pattee St., hosts a “Persistence in Clay Tour” with David Scott Smith at noon. Free. Call 728-0447 and visit missoula artmusuem.org. Have a tasty microbrew or three at the Bitterroot Microbrew Fest, which coincides with Daly Days and begins at 3 PM on Bedford Street in Hamilton, and features over 30 microbrews to taste, plus food, non-alcoholic beverages and music by Joan Zen and Portland, Ore.’s Keegan Smith & The Fam. $20 for three tastes plus a glass. Visit bvchamber.com or call 363-2400. Wear your bulletproof spurs and get ready for a night of hot country licks when Ronnie Dunn—formerly onehalf of Brooks and Dunn— plays country at 7 PM at The Lumberjack Saloon, off Hwy. 12 and one mile up Graves Creek Road near Lolo. $45/$35 advance at The Adams Center box office, Southgate Mall, The Source in the University Center, 74

Missoula Independent

Explorer 2011

Worden’s Market and online at griztix.com. Watch stars under the stars during another season of Missoula Outdoor Cinema. This evening’s screening features the classic Dr. Strangelove, starting at approximately 9:15 PM, at the Headstart school on the corner of Worden and Phillips on Missoula’s Northside. Free, but donations accepted. Sunday 24 July Yet another option to feed your locavore need comes during the Carousel Sunday Market & Festival, which offers local veggies, fruits, arts and crafts and other items, and occurs every Sun. through Oct. 16 from 11 AM to 3 PM at the New Park parking lot near A Carousel for Missoula. Call 549-8382 or visit carrousel.com/ carousel-sunday-marketand-fes. Monday 25 July Hold onto your DNA sample, Missoula Osprey f a n s , because tonight kicks off a three-game series against the Idaho Falls Chukars at 7:05 nightly. Call 543-3300. Wednesday 27 July Food, frozen lactose and fun converge downtown at Missoula’s Caras Park for Out to Lunch, which runs from 11 AM to 2 PM and features music this week by Marshall Catch. Free. Visit missoula downtown.com. Thursday 28 July Those in Kalispell get down in downtown during Thursday!Fest, which fea-

tures food, a beer and wine garden, farmers’ market, arts and crafts, kids activities and music this week from bluegrass, swing and Americana band Barnyard Riot, from 5 to 8 PM on Third St. East, between Main St. and First Ave. E. Free. Visit down townkalispell.com. It’s time for dinner and music with hundreds of your friends when Missoula’s Caras Park hosts Downtown ToNight from 5:30 to 8:30 PM, featuring food, drinks and tunes this week from The Cold Hard Cash Show. Free. Visit missouladowntown.com. Do the paper crane dance with ants in your pants when Denver’s Paper Bird plays folk and Americana at 9 PM

at the Palace. Locals Him & Her open. Cost TBA. Saturday 30 July

Communities around western Montana host farmers’ markets, which feature local produce, flowers, baked goods and crafts—in Missoula at Circle Square (missoulafarmersmarket.com), on Pine Street (missoulasaturday market.org) and under the Higgins Avenue bridge (clark forkrivermarket.com), in Stevensville at Third and Main streets, in Hamilton at South Third and Bedford streets, and in Kalispell at Center Street and Fifth Avenue. Hours for each market vary, but 8 AM–1 PM is the total span.

Keep your kilt on when Missoula’s Caras Park hosts the annual Celtic Festival Missoula, a celebration of Celtic culture that begins at 3 PM and features performances by fiddlers, Irish dancers, plus tunes by The Celtic Dragon Pipe Band and Irish rockers The Young Dubliners. An Irish Road Bowling event also occurs earlier in the day at 10 AM. All events are free. Vist celticfestivalmissoula .com or call 239-0105. Get intimate with the funk deep down in your soul when Denver, Colo.’s Fox Street Allstars plays soul, funk and rock at 10 PM at the Top Hat. $5. Watch stars under the stars during another season of Missoula Outdoor Cinema.

This evening’s screening features Matthew Broderick in The Burbs, star ting at approximately 9:00 PM, at the Headstart school on the corner of Worden and Philips on Missoula’s Northside. Free, but donations accepted. Sunday 31 July

Yet another option to feed your locavore need comes during the Carousel Sunday Market & Festival, which offers local veggies, fruits, arts and crafts and other items, and occurs every Sun. through Oct. 16 from 11 AM to 3 PM at A Carousel for Missoula. Call 549-8382 or visit carrousel.com/carouselsunday-market-and-fes.

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Explorer 2011

Missoula Independent

Rock me, Amadeus: The Glacier Symphony and Chorale offers classical music hounds a full week of music by Mozart, Beethoven and others during its Festival Amadeus, which features guest artists like pianist Roberto Plano and classical saxophonist Ashu, and runs today through Aug. 6 at Whitefish’s O’Shaughnessy Center plus another TBA venue. Call 257-3241 for more info. Leave no funky dance move behind when Los Angeles’ Orgone plays funk at 10 PM at the Top Hat. $7.

90 exit 126. $15, with ticket prices subject to change. Call 825-4868. Chillax to the max with a classic play when Montana Shakespeare in the Parks presents a performance of Much Ado About Nothing, at 6 PM at River Park in

anklebiter alliance when Caras Park hosts the annual KidsFest Children’s Festival, which runs from 11:30 AM to 3:30 PM and features games, crafts, music, most likely a bounce house, plus food and beverages. Free. Call 721-7275 or visit missoulaparks.org.

when Missoula’s Caras Park hosts Downtown ToNight from 5:30 to 8:30 PM, featuring food, drinks and tunes this week by Blue Collar. Free. Visit missouladowntown.com. Hear songs by a composer who’s responsible for writing some of the biggest hits on

AUGUST Tuesday 2 August

Get winded by your favorite old-school bard when Montana Shakespeare in the Parks presents a performance of The Merchant of Venice at 6 PM at Philipsburg’s City Park. Free. Visit www2.montana. edu/Shakespeare or call 994-1220. Wednesday 3 August Food, frozen lactose and fun converge downtown at Missoula’s Caras Park for Out to Lunch, which runs from 11 AM to 2 PM and features music this week by Bad Neighbor. Free. Visit missouladowntown.com. Have a ball and enjoy five nights of revelry, plus twoand-a-half tons of Rocky Mountain Oysters—aka bull testicles—during the epic party known as the Testicle Festival, which runs from 10 AM to 2 AM each day through Sun. at the Rock Creek Lodge Restaurant, 22 miles east of Missoula off I76

Missoula Independent

It’s all thumbs up when comedian Daniel Tosh—of Comedy Central’s “Tosh.0”—brings his brand of off-color humor to the University Theatre Thursday, Aug. 11. $45. Tickets at griztix.com.

Hamilton. Free. Visit www2.montana.edu/Shake speare or call 994-1220. Hold onto your malt liquor, Missoula Osprey fans, because tonight kicks off a three-game series against the Billings Mustangs at 7:05 nightly. Call 543-3300. Thursday 4 August Get your kid to join the Explorer 2011

Those in Kalispell get down in downtown during Thursday!Fest, which features food, a beer and wine garden, farmers’ market, arts and crafts, kids activities and music this week from Moonshine Mountain, from 5 to 8 PM on Third St. East, between Main St. and First Ave. E. Free. Visit downtownkalispell.com. It’s time for dinner and music with hundreds of your friends

Broadway—including Guys & Dolls and How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying—when Whitefish’s Alpine Theatre Project unveils its new concert series with An Evening of Frank Loesser, at 8 PM at the Whitefish Performing Arts Center, 600 E. Second St. $18–$37. Call 862-SHOW or visit alpine theatreproject.org. Friday 5 August

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The galleries, shops and restaurants of downtown Missoula and Stevensville celebrate First Friday with art exhibits, bands and refreshments, beginning at 5 PM. Visit firstfridaysmissoula. blogspot.com. Ceramics coalesce with photography when the Missoula Art Museum, 335 N. Pattee St., presents an opening reception for its exhibits Pat Hoffman: Polar Opposites and Wendy Red-Star: My Home Is Where My Tipi Sits (Crow Country), from 5 to 8 PM. The opening also includes a gallery talk at 7 PM. Free. Call 728-0447. Leave your lactose intolerant friend at home during the 99 th annual Stevensville Creamery Picnic, which runs through Sat., Aug. 6, and features live entertainment, the Montana State Barbecue Cook-off and other activities. Call 777-7210 or visit creamerypicnic.com. Aim your sights on the perfect rifle during the annual Missoula Gun and Antique Show, which starts at 10 AM today and runs through Sunday at UM’s Adams Center, and features 800 tables with a number of firearms and other items to scope out. Call 549-4817. Saturday 6 August Bag a bushel or five when communities around western Montana host farmers’ markets, which feature local produce, flowers, baked goods and crafts—in Missoula at Circle Square (missoula farmersmarket.com), on Pine Street (missoulasaturday market.org) and under the Higgins Avenue bridge (clark forkrivermarket.com), in

SPOTLIGHT

t o t a l a t te n

Total Fest’s organizing committee despises the thought of headlining bands. The whole concept of a headliner rips at the democratic, DIY, communal fabric that’s helped build this grassroots music festival into one of the Northwest’s best over the last 10 years. But even the organizers would have to admit this year’s lineup makes it tough not to zero in—at least for a second—on one participant. Big Business is a big deal. Originally founded by Jared Warren and Coady Willis in 2004, the band’s sound was described as “pulling the pins simultaneously on 73 hand grenades.” That type of sonic assault helped lead to Warren and Willis getting picked up in 2006 by a little band called The Melvins. International tours with a seminal punk band would normally leave a side project by the wayside, but Big Business has perse-

Missoula Independent

vered. The band—now a quartet with guitarists Toshi Kasai and Scott Martin—returns to Missoula for the first time in years, thanks in part to sponsorship from college radio station KGBA 89.9. Big Business deserves special attention, but Total Fest is still mainly about depth and discovery. The full lineup was being set as of press time, but already Fest favorites Akimbo, pictured, and The Pine Hill Haints, as well as newbies like White Mystery (wait until you see their hair) and White Shit (wait until you hear…well, just wait) have been confirmed. By the time the entire three days of music is finalized, you’ll have the chance to hear more than 40 bands at four different venues. One may be stealing headlines now, but surely dozens of others will steal your attention once the weekend’s over. —Skylar Browning

What: Total Fest X Who: More than 40 bands

Stevensville at Third and Main streets, in Hamilton at South Third and Bedford streets, and in Kalispell at Center Street and Fifth Avenue. Hours for each market vary, but 8 AM–1 PM is the total span. The Flathead Valley’s artisans head to Bigfork this weekend when throngs of artists display and sell their work from 9 AM to 4 PM at the 33rd annual Festival of the Arts in Bigfork, which also takes place on Sun., Aug. 7. Visit bigforkfestivalofthearts.com. Keep it artsy but not fartsy during Polson’s 40th annual Sandpiper Outdoor Art Festival, which coincides with the Cruisin’ By the Bay Vintage Car Show and features a number of art pieces to check out including jewelry, furniture, pottery and other items, from 10 AM to 5 PM on the courthouse lawn, 106 Fourth Ave. E. Call 883-5956 or visit sandpiperart gallery.com. Hold onto your mothers’s bling, Missoula Osprey fans, because tonight kicks off a two-game series against the Helena Brewers at 7:05, with the second game on Sunday at 5. Call 543-3300. Watch stars under the stars during another season of Missoula Outdoor Cinema. This evening’s screening features The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, starting at approximately 8:50 PM, at the Headstart school on the corner of Worden and Phillips on Missoula’s Northside. Free, but donations accepted.

When: Aug. 18–20 Where: Badlander, Palace, Zoo City Apparel and the Top Hat How much: TBD. Visit wantageusa.com for details.

Explorer 2011

Sunday 7 August Yet another option to feed your locavore need comes during the Carousel Sunday

Market & Festival, which offers local veggies, fruits, arts and crafts and other items, and occurs every Sun. through Oct. 16 from 11 AM to 3 PM at the New Park parking lot near A Carousel for Missoula. Call 549-8382 or visit carrousel.com/ carousel-sunday-marketand-fes. Tuesday 9 August Shake a carny’s hand, ride on rides ‘til you upchuck, cheer on destruction at a demolition derby, and enjoy tunes by Wylie and the Wild West and the Mission Mountain Wood Band when the Western Montana Fair

and Rodeo kicks off at the Western Montana Fairgrounds, 1101 South Ave. W, today through Sun., Aug. 14, starting at 11 AM daily. Visit westernmontanafair.com or call 721-3247. Whitefish’s Alpine Theatre Project hosts the regional premiere of a musical comedy thriller about a publicity crazed actor turned killer— and the endearing detective who pursues him—when it kicks off a 12-day run of No Way to Treat a Lady, with Tue.–Sat. shows at 8 PM, and Sun. shows at 6, at the Whitefish Performing Arts Center, 600 E. Second St. $18–$37. Call 862-

SHOW or visit alpine theatreproject.org. Wednesday 10 August

Food, frozen lactose and fun converge downtown at Missoula’s Caras Park for Out to Lunch, which runs from 11 AM to 2 PM and features music this week by ShoDown. Free. Visit missouladowntown.com. Laughter and a tale about a bride and a lecherous count hit the stage in aria form when the Montana Lyric Opera presents Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro at 7 P M i n t h e U M PA R T V Center’s Montana Theatre. A

Explorer 2011

7 PM show also occurs on Aug. 12, and a 1 PM show is scheduled for Aug. 14. $16–$42 depending on seats. Call 542-7423 or visit mtopera.org. Thursday 11 August

Those in Kalispell get down in downtown during Thursday!Fest, which features food, a beer and wine garden, farmers’ market, arts and crafts, kids activities and music this week from Latin jazz band Cocinando, from 5 to 8 PM on Third St. East, between Main St. and First Ave. E. Free. Visit down townkalispell.com.

Missoula Independent

It’s time for dinner and music with hundreds of your friends when Missoula’s Caras Park hosts Downtown ToNight from 5:30 to 8:30 PM, featuring food, drinks and tunes this week from Cellar Door. Free. Visit missouladowntown.com.

Get buh-buh-bad to your rickety bones when George Thorogood & The Destroyers rocks Missoula with a set of blues rock at 8 PM at the Wilma Theatre. $32/$31 advance at Rockin Rudy’s or online at ticketfly.com.

SPOTLIGHT

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Locally Owned & Operated

Sixty years ago a Helena patron of the arts simply wanted to create an arts center. He ended up building a pottery. Archie Bray’s mission at the time was simple: “make available for all who are seriously interested in the ceramic arts, a fine place to work.” As the saying goes, if you build it, they will come. The first residents at The Archie Bray Foundation for the Ceramic Arts were Rudy Autio and Peter Voulkos. They became, over time, recognized as “two pioneers and brothers in the development of modernist ceramics,” according to University of Montana art history professor H. Rafael Chacón. Since then, more than 200 ceramic artists from around the globe have worked at the Bray, turning Montana into a major international player in the clay medium. The Missoula Art Museum celebrates that proud history and the Bray’s 60th anniversary with a summer-long exhibit titled Persistence in Clay: Contemporary Ceramics in Montana. The traveling show—it’s scheduled to tour to Oregon and Wyoming after its debut in Missoula—features 19 different ceramic artists, including UM professor Beth Lo and former Archie

Bray Director Josh DeWeese. It’s worth noting that although these artists all work in Montana, their work is rarely exhibited in the state. That makes this collection not only a celebration of a rich past, but also an important showcase for those who are following in Voulkos’ and Autio’s footsteps. —Skylar Browning

What: Persistence in Clay: Contemporary Ceramics in Montana Where: Missoula Art Museum, 335 N. Pattee Street When: Exhibit runs through Sept. 10 How much: Free www.tanglesmt.com 80

275 W. Main St • 728-0343

Missoula Independent

Explorer 2011

Friday 12 August I think you’ll have a berry good time at Whitefish’s Huckleberry Days Art Festival, which celebrates that tasty purple fruit with music, arts and crafts, baking contests and more, starting today at noon, and running through Sun., Aug. 14, all at Whitefish’s Depot Park, on First and Central avenues. Visit whitefishchamber.org or call 862-3501. Rock ‘til your ears bleed fun juice during the three-day Rockin’ the Rivers at “The Bridge” amphitheater near Three Forks, where headliners include Leon Russell, Ace Frehley, Pat Benatar with Neil Giraldo, Bachman & Turner and others. Music runs each day through Sun., Aug. 14. Call

(866) 285-0097 or visit store.rockintherivers.com. Hold onto your cheese grater, Missoula Osprey f a n s , because tonight kicks off a two-game series against the Helena Brewers at 7:05 nightly. Call 543-3300. Saturday 13 August Communities around western Montana host farmers’ markets, which feature local produce, flowers, baked goods and crafts—in Missoula at Circle Square (missoula farmersmarket.com), on Pine Street (missoulasaturday market.org) and under the Higgins Avenue bridge (clark forkrivermarket.com), in Stevensville at Third and Main streets, in Hamilton at

South Third and Bedford streets, and in Kalispell at Center Street and Fifth Avenue. Hours for each market vary, but 8 AM–1 PM is the total span. Leave your cleaver at home during the annual Montana Knifemaker Show, which offers the chance to peruse custom knives, plus enjoy forging and sheath making demos, starting at 11 AM today and continuing through Sun. at Missoula’s Holiday Inn–Downtown at the Park, 200 S. Pattee St. $5 per day/free for children ages 10 and under. Visit montanaknifemakers.com. Show your support for Montana’s LGBTQ community during Missoula’s OutFest 2011, which includes vendors,

Explorer 2011

info tables and music, from 10 AM to 10 PM at Caras Park. Free. Visit gaymontana.org or call 543-2224. Watch stars under the stars during another season of Missoula Outdoor Cinema. This evening’s screening features teen favorite Twilight, starting at approximately 8:45 PM, at the Headstart school on the corner of Worden and Phillips on Missoula’s Northside. Free, but donations accepted. Get welcomed into someone’s jungle when Portland, O r e .’ s A p p e t i t e f o r Deception—a Guns N’ Roses tribute band—plays all your favorite tunes by Axl Rose and company at 9 PM at the Palace. Cost TBA.

Missoula Independent

Sunday 14 August Yet another option to feed your locavore need comes during the Carousel Sunday Market & Festival, which offers local veggies, fruits, arts and crafts and other items, and occurs every Sun. through Oct. 16 from 11 AM to 3 PM at the New Park parking lot near A Carousel for Missoula. Call 549-8382 or visit carrousel.com/ carousel-sunday-marketand-fes. It’s not that kind of furry party: Missoula’s annual Pet Fest, which promotes and celebrates responsible pet ownership, hits Caras Park starting 11

AM with a slew of activities including obedience demos and contests for things like best dressed pet. Free. Visit petfest.net. Snag yourself a nice spot on the grassy hill and get ready for an evening of smooth classical tunes when the Missoula Symphony Orchestra presents its annual Symphony in the Park concert at 7 PM at Missoula’s Caras Park. Free. Visit missoulasymphony.org.

Tuesday 16 August Wear your favorite friend’s toga when Detroit’s We Came as Romans plays metalcore with openers Miss May I at 7 PM at the Wilma Theatre. $18/$16 advance at Rockin Rudy’s and online at jadepresents.com.

Monday 15 August Hold onto your least favorite coworker, Missoula Osprey fans, because tonight kicks

Wednesday 17 August Become a carny’s best friend during the Northwest Montana Fair and Rodeo at

off a four-game series against the Orem Owlz at 7:05 nightly. Call 543-3300.

Kalispell’s Flathead County Fairgrounds, which begins today and runs through Sun., Aug. 21. It features rides, 4-H and FFA, a rodeo, horse racing, plus music from the Newsboys and Little Big Town. Call 758-5810 or visit nwmtfair.com. Food, frozen lactose and fun converge downtown at Missoula’s Caras Park for Out to Lunch, which runs from 11 AM to 2 PM and features music this week by Rattletrap. Free. Visit missouladowntown.com. Old-school witticism hits Kalispell when Montana Shakespeare in the Parks presents a performance of

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Much Ado About Nothing at 6 PM at Flathead Valley Community College, 777 Grandview Drive. Free. Call 994-1220. See indigo sparks shoot out of a bluesman’s axe when Jonny Lang plays blues and rock with openers JJ Grey and Mofro, at 8 PM at the Wilma Theatre. $34, with advance tickets at Rockin Rudy’s and online at ticketfly.com. Thursday 18 August Just remember to cover your birthday suit when the

Missoula Art Museum, 335 N. Pattee St., presents Artini: Surprise Party!, another installment of its popular art event that runs from 5:30 to 9 PM. Free. Keep your eyes peeled to missoulaart museum.org for details. It’s time for dinner and music with hundreds of your friends when Missoula’s Caras Park hosts Downtown ToNight from 5:30 to 8:30 PM, featuring food, drinks and tunes this week from Joan Zen. Free. Visit missoula downtown.com. Tear up your senses with a

slew of bands playing rock, punk, metal and other genres over the span of three-days when Wäntage USA presents Total Fest X, which features sets by Los Angeles heavyhitters Big Business, Seattle’s Akimbo, plus several others, at venues in Missoula through the weekend including the Badlander, Palace, Zoo City Apparel and the Top Hat. Visit totalfest.org for updates. Friday 19 August Enjoy a brew and several flicks on a giant screen during

Explorer 2011

New Belgium Brewing’s Clips of Faith Beer and Film Tour, which screens a number of amateur short films and includes a full tasting of New Belgium’s Lips of Faith Beers, starting at 7:30 PM at Missoula’s Caras Park. This event doubles as a fundraiser for the Bike/Walk Alliance for Missoula. Free. Visit clipsoffaith.com. Hold onto your mouth organ, Missoula Osprey f a n s , because tonight kicks off a three-game series against the Ogden Raptors at 7:05 continued on page 90

Missoula Independent

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Bagels On Broadway 223 West Broadway (across from courthouse) (406) 728-8900 Our bagels are made from scratch every day – over 20 varieties. You’ll get a bagel with the traditional hard crust and flavor that nobody can copy. Our bagels contain no fat, preservatives, or cholesterol. We have many sandwiches, homemade spreads, soups, salads, and sweets, as well as espressos and smoothies. Try a bagel for a healthy alternative any time of the day. Bernice’s 190 South 3rd West 728-1358 Whether you need a quick cup o’ joe, slice of quiche, or breakfast pastry, Bernice’s is the spot. Voted Missoula’s best bakery 15 years running it is worth the stop. Finding yourself Bernice’s way in the afternoon? Check out our crazy fresh, delicious, and cheap deli lunch or get a cup of iced coffee and a slice of cake. Then, take a walk by the river. Bernice’s brings you variety and delicious baked goods every day 6am – 8pm. Come see us. XOXO, Bernice.

Missoula Independent

Biga Pizza 241 W. Main Street 728-2579 Biga Pizza offers a modern, downtown dining environment combined with traditional brick oven pizza, calzones, salads, sandwiches, specials and desserts. All dough is made using a “biga” (pronounced beega) which is a time-honored Italian method of bread making. Biga Pizza uses local products, the freshest produce as well as artisan meats and cheeses. Featuring seasonal menus. Lunch and dinner, Mon-Sat. Beer & Wine available. The Bridge Pizza Corner of S. 4th & S. Higgins Ave. 542-0002 A popular local eatery on Missoula's Hip Strip. Featuring handcrafted artisan brick oven pizza, pasta, sandwiches, soups, & salads made with fresh, seasonal ingredients. Missoula's place for pizza by the slice. A unique selection of regional microbrews and gourmet sodas. Dine-in, drive-thru, & delivery. Open every day 11 to late. Buttercup Market 1221 Helen Ave. 541-1221 One block East of the University of Montana between McLeod and University

Explorer 2011

Avenue. Serving breakfast and lunch every day. Eat in or take out. Espresso and pastries. Groceries including a variety of local meats. Fresh, local and friendly. In the heart of the university district. Butterfly Herbs 232 N. Higgins 728-8780 Celebrating 39 years of great c o f f e e s a n d t e a s . Tr u l y t h e “essence of Missoula.” Offering fresh coffees, teas (Evening in Missoula), bulk spices and botanicals, fine toiletries & gifts. Our cafe features homemade soups, fresh salads, and coffee ice cream specialties. In the heart of historic downtown, we are Missoula’s first and favorite Espresso Bar. Open 7 Days. Sunrise Saloon & Dark Horse 1100 block of Strand 728-1559 Every day is a great day at the Sunrise Saloon! Enjoy two happy hours daily, plus daily drink specials. Wednesday is ladies’ night. Missoula's only dedicated country bar with live country music Thursday - Saturday. Play our liberal machines while enjoying great entertainment and friendly service. 21+ only. Open daily 8 a.m. - 2:00 a.m.

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the DejaNu 2100 Stephens Ave, Suite 108 728-DEJA (3352) dejanustyle.vpweb.com Come join DejaNu on the 1st Thursday of every month from 5~7pm for an evening of sales, fun and refreshments at Girls’ Nite Out! DejaNu, Missoula's Unique & Funky Consignment Boutique with a sustainable twist. Fashions and Accessories for Juniors/Misses/ Women sizes 00-3X. OPEN TUESDAY~FRIDAY 10~6, SAT 10~5. In the Stephens Center. Doc’s Sandwich Shop 214 N. Higgins Ave. 542-7414 Doc’s is an extremely popular gathering spot for diners who appreciate the great ambiance, personal service and generous sandwiches made with the freshest ingredients. Whether you’re heading out for a power lunch, meeting friends or family or just grabbing a quick takeout, Doc’s is always an excellent choice. Delivery service within a 3 mile radius. Double Front Chicken 122 W. Alder Downtown Missoula 543-6264 Chicken Dinners are our Specialty! Always

fresh, never frozen. Cooked to order. Our recipe has not changed in over 40 yrs. Don't forget our seafood & grilled specialties. Our downstairs lounge offers a full beverage bar along with pool, music, & gaming. Come find out why we are still the Best Chicken establishment in Western Montana. Call ahead to eat in or take-out/remember “The Best Takes A Little Longer!” Five Guys Burgers and Fries 820 E. Broadway 830-3262 fiveguys.com Five Guys gives you exactly what their name offers. Burgers and fries. But burger lovers come here for the best burgers and fries in town. And if you have a hankering for an amazing burger and world-class french fries, Five Guys is your place. Flippers 125 S. 3rd West 721-4895 Flippers is the Hip Strip's only Bar and Casino. Stop by and enjoy friendly staff, a local atmosphere, and try your luck on our machines. Also, enjoy our twelve domestic and micro beers on tap along with a

deliciouse burger! We are open 8 am. to 2 am., seven days a week. “See you on the Flippside!” Glacier Village Café 304-308 Hwy 2 East, East Glacier Park, MT 406-226-4464 glaciervillagecafe.com The Glacier Village Café has been serving delicious meals, coffees, and baked goods since opening in 1939 as Mike’s Place. In 2008, the Glacier Village Café was bought by the Kellys and extensively remodeled, opening up space for the Last Star Espresso, Ice Cream, and Gift Shop which has a little something for everyone on your list. Grizzly Grocery 447 Hill Street 721-2679 47 Years! That's how long Grizzly Grocery has been at the corner of Higgins and Beckwith. The changes have been many, but we are still here to provide neighbors and friends with great selection, reasonable prices and friendly service. Stop and say hi to the great crew at Grizzly Grocery.

Great Service! Great Food! Great Fun!

Breakfast Served All Day! Best Milkshake 14 Years in a Row!

Call 542-2449 For To-Go Orders!

Famous Homemade Tomato Soup! Downtown Missoula • 120 N. Higgins Ave

Sun-Wed 8-3pm Thurs - Sat 8-8pm

7 Days a Week! Explorer 2011

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Hi-Country Snack Foods of Montana Lincoln, MT 800-433-3916 hicountry.com Explorer Lincoln's Legendary Hi-Country Trading Post, the home of Hi-Country Beef Jerky. Also featuring: food from across the state, regional art & carvings, homemade fudge & confections, quality jewelry & apparel, gift packs galore & home spice kits! Call for our FREE mail order brochure 1-800-433-3916. Holiday Gas Stations 605 Higgins 721-6911 With 3 convenient locations in Missoula, the Holiday is a great place to fuel up on gas and fill up on food. In 2010 Holiday on Higgins won Best Convenient Store in Best of Missoula. Hunter Bay Coffee and Sandwich Bar First Interstate Center 101 E. Front St. 800-805-2263 hunterbay.com Missoula’s local roaster since 1991 - now open downtown in the First Interstate Center! Stop by for hand-crafted gourmet coffees and

espressos plus made-from-scratch, healthy sandwiches and soups. Enjoy the sunshine from our patio! Free Wi-Fi and Free Parking in the upper deck lot. Open Monday through Saturday. Jimmy John's 420 N. Higgins Ave. 542-1100 jimmyjohns.com Jimmy John's – America's Favorite Sandwich Delivery Guys! Unlike any other sub shop, Jimmy John’s is all about the freshest ingredients and fastest service. Freaky Fast, Freaky Good – that's Jimmy John's. Order online, call for delivery or visit us on Higgins. $-$$ MacKenzie River Pizza Co. Downtown: Front Street 721-0077 Reserve Street: I-90 exit 721-0099 mackenzieriverpizza.com Spectacular gourmet pizzas on delicious sourdough, natural grain or thin crusts. Additional flavorful and fresh menu choices include made-to-order pasta dishes, huge salads, signature chicken chili, Montana-sized sandwiches and tasty panini. Choose from a variety of micro brews and fine wines. Open

for lunch and dinner seven days a week.

The Mustard Seed Asian Café Southgate Mall 542-7333 Contemporary Asian Cuisine served in our all-new bistro atmosphere. Original recipes and fresh ingredients combined from Japanese, Chinese, Polynesian, and Southeast Asian influences to appeal to American palates. Full menu available in our non-smoking bar. Fresh daily desserts, microbrews, fine wines & signature drinks. Takeout & delivery available. Oil & Vinegar Southgate Mall 549-7800 Mon.-Sat. 10:00 AM-9:00 PM Sun. 11:00 AM-6:00 PM. With a visit to Oil & Vinegar, you will discover an international selection of over 40 estate-produced oils & vinegars suspended in glass amphora-shaped containers on a dramatic backlit wall. Guests can sample the varieties and select from various shapes & sizes of bottles to have filled with an “on-tap” product of choice.

Innovative & Traditional featuring: organic montana flour fresh, local ingredients seasonal menus artisan meats and cheeses on-site beer & wine

•Eat-in or take-out •Espresso and pastries •Groceries •Fresh, local, and friendly •Variety of local meats •To-go picnic fare •Located in the heart of the University District 1221 HELEN AVENUE ONE BLOCK EAST OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MONTANA BETWEEN MCLEOD AND UNIVERSITY AVENUE

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Open for lunch Monday through Friday; for dinner, Monday through Saturday

241 W. Main Street 728-2579

bigapizza.com

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the Pearl Café 231 E. Front St. 541-0231 Country French specialties, bison, elk, trout, fresh fish daily, delicious salads and appetizers. Breads and desserts baked in-house. Three-course bistro menu with wine $30, Tues., Wed., Thurs. nights, November through March. Extensive wine list, 18 wines by the glass, local beers on draft. Reservations recommended for the warm and inviting dining areas. Go to our website Pearlcafe.us to check out nightly specials and bistro menus, make reservations or buy gift certificates. Open Mon-Sat at 5:00.

Porteus BBQ Columbia Falls, MT 406-471-6622 porteusbbq.com Serving the Flathead and surrounding area. From backyard party to elegant wedding. Whole roasted pigs have been our specialty since the beginning. The newest addition to the fleet of cookers is our Gator mobile smoker straight out of Texas. We can guarantee the tasty rub recipes for chicken, turkeys, brisket and St. Louis-style pork ribs.

Red's Bar 217 Ryman St. 728-9881 Home of “Dead Pecker Row” DPR Inc. Red's has a huge sports memorabilia collection including the largest football helmet collection in the state as well as two full-service bars, 11 plasma TVs, keno-poker games, a new pool table and “Big Buck Hunter” to accommodate our patrons. Come on down and support your favorite team with your friends, family, & acquaintances. Have a good time at Red's Bar, Missoula's Sport's Bar since 1952. Rick's Kustom Kut and Pigasus bar Hwy. 93, Arlee 726-MEAT 726-PIGS STORE: Buffalo jerky, smoked sausage & cheese, barbecue meats: beef, pork and buffalo, local honey, Huckleberry products, off-sale beer. DELI: Chester Fried Chicken, salads, sandwiches, desserts, jalapeno cheese dip, lunch specials, huckleberry lemonade. BAR: On- and off-sale liquor, beer and ice. Free bag of ice with a case of beer! Mention this ad & receive a FREE snack stick!

Not Just Sushi Corner of Pine & Higgins 549-7979 Sushi Hana Downtown, offering a new idea for your dining experience. Meat, poultry, vegetables and grain are a large part of Japanese cuisine. We also love our fried comfort food too. Open 7 days a week for Dinner. Open for lunch Monday through Saturday. Taco Del Sol 422 N. Higgins 327-8929 Stop in when you’re in the neighborhood. We'll do our best to treat you right. Home of the Famous Fish Taco. Crowned Missoula’s best lunch for under $6. Mon-Sat. 11-10 Sun. 12-9. Ten Spoon Vineyard + Winery 4175 Rattlesnake Dr. 549-8703 • tenspoon.com Award-winning Made in Montana organic wines – no added sulfites. Tasting hours: Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays, 5pm-9pm. Soak in the harvest sunshine with a view of the vineyard, or cozy up with a glass of wine inside the winery. Wine sold by the flight or glass. Bottles sold to take home or to ship to friends and relatives.

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Uptown Diner 120 N. Higgins 542-2449 Step into the past at this ‘50s style downtown diner. Breakfast is served all day. Daily lunch specials. All soups, including our famous tomato soup, are made from scratch. Voted best milkshakes in Missoula for 14 straight years. Great Food, Great Service, Great Fun!!! Sun–Wed 8-3pm, Thurs–Sat 88pm

BITTERROOT

Bitter Root Brewing 101 Marcus St. Hamilton 406-363-7468 BitterRootBrewing.com Bitter Root Brewery is open 7 days a week serving delicious microbrews and tasty hand crafted food. Live music EVERY Thursday and Saturday from 6-8:30pm. Check out our website at for upcoming events, menus, and other info to help you “Get Local.”

The Hamilton A Public House 104 Main St. Victor, MT 642-6644 Enjoy traditional pub fare in a warm, comfortable atmosphere. Serving a variety of appetizers, soups and salads and pub favorites of English-style fish & chips, to calamari & chips, to a grand tattie. Open at 11a.m. Monday-Friday and 4:00p.m. on Saturday. River Rising Bakery 337 Main St. Hamilton 363-4552 Hamilton's newest bakery, deli, and espresso bar. Serving all-butter pastries, delicious and nutritious muffins, cream scones, and delectable desserts. Or choose from our selection of home-made soups, salads, and sandwiches found nowhere else. Open 6:30am-5:30pm Monday-Friday, 8:00am4:00pm Saturday, 8:00am-2:00pm Sunday. Weekday local business lunch delivery available 9:00am-1:00pm.

Second Street Sushi 322 S. 2nd St. Hamilton 363-0600 Second Street Sushi is dedicated to providing the finest Sushi experience in the Bitterroot Valley. Daily specials, delicious entrees, and a full beer, sake and wine menu complement a healthy and fulfilling dining experience. Lunch 11:30-2:30; Dinner 5-9 Mon-Sat. Walk in or call ahead. Spice of Life 163 S. 2nd St. Hamilton 363-4433 Spice of Life welcomes you to the Bitterroot’s best locavore dining experience, serving up fresh and fun food in a conscientious manner. For lunch try one of our hand-made burgers from Lolo Locker or one of our fabulous fresh salads. Dinner selections include natural beef which contains no growth hormones or antibiotics ever, sustainable seafood selections and pasta dishes made from Montana wheat from Pasta Montana. Quench your thirst with beer from right here in Hamilton or try one of our reasonably priced yet fantastic wine selections. Children’s menu available. No reservations. So come as you are to Spice of Life! Lunch: Mon - Fri 11:00 to 2:00; Dinner: Tues - Sat 5:00 to 9:00.

217 Ryman St * 728-9881

WWW.REDSBAR.NET

MISSOULA’S SPORTS BAR SINCE 1952 KENO POKER POOL DirecTV Sports Pack NFL Sunday Ticket ESPN Game Plan Mega March Madness

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11 Plasma TVs Montana’s Largest Football Helmet Collection MLB Extra Innings NBA League Pass ESPN Full Court NHL Center Ice

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BUTTERFLY HERBS THE ESSENCE OF MISSOULA

COFFEE • TEAS • HERBS • SPICES • UNUSUAL GIFTS

COFFEE HOUSE ESPRESSO • ICE CREAM • SANDWICHES SALADS AND SOUPS 232 NORTH HIGGINS AVENUE DOWNTOWN MIS SOULA • 728-8780

Since 1972

VOTED BEST BURGER IN MISSOULA! 820 E. BROADWAY

406-830-3262

CALL IN OR ORDER ONLINE WWW.FIVEGUYS.COM

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nightly, with the Sunday game at 5. Call 543-3300.

SPOTLIGHT

Saturday 20 August Be a local yokel when you check out western Montana’s farmers’ markets, which feature local produce, flowers, baked goods and crafts—in Missoula at Circle Square (missoulafarmersmarket.com), on Pine Street (missoula saturdaymarket.org) and under the Higgins bridge (clarkforkrivermarket.com), in Stevensville at Third and Main streets, in Hamilton at South Third and Bedford streets, and in Kalispell at Center Street and Fifth Avenue. Hours for each market vary, but 8 AM–1 PM is the total span. Watch stars under the stars during another season of Missoula Outdoor Cinema. This evening’s screening features a walk down memory lane with The Sandlot, starting at approximately 8:30 PM, at the Headstart school on the corner of Worden and Phillips on Missoula’s Northside. Free, but donations accepted. Sunday 21 August Yet another option to feed your locavore need comes during the Carousel Sunday Market & Festival, which offers local veggies, fruits, arts and crafts and other items, and occurs every Sun. through Oct. 16 from 11 AM to 3 PM at the New Park parking lot near A Carousel for Missoula. Call 549-8382.

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Sunday 28 August Yet another option to feed your locavore need comes during the Carousel Sunday Market & Festival and occurs every Sun. through Oct. 16 from 11 AM to 3 PM at the New Park parking lot near A Carousel for Missoula.

Nothing screams traditional Montana values like show hogs, carnival rides, rodeo events and apple pie contests at the Western Montana Fair. But while this eyeopening spectacle celebrates our rural roots every year, the music has always been a little less tethered to Big Sky Country. Case in point: Last year featured Creedence Clearwater Revisted, a weak spin-off of the original CCR. This year’s festivities correct the issue with the booking of two bands from close to home. The Mission Mountain Wood Band—aka M2WB—has been kicking out bluegrass jams since forming in 1971. Originally comprised of five University of Montana graduates, the much-celebrated band has been the subject of approximately 23 documentaries (well, at least two in the last five years) and been dubbed “a Montana legend.” Their

fan base spans generations, starting with their sets at the old Aber Day keg parties and up to the recent release of their new album, Reboot. M2WB is about as downhome Montana a band there is. Wylie and the Wild West ain’t too shabby itself. Frontman Wylie Gustafson, pictured, hails from Conrad and is best known as the original Yahoo! yodeler. Now, when he’s not running his ranch, he’s playing a blend of Americana and contemporary country with bandmates Rick Bryceson, T. Scot Wilburn and Ray Doyle. Together, M2WB and Wylie and the Wild West bring a little hometown flavor to the fairgrounds’ soundtrack—something that should go perfectly with a Viking and some deep-fried cheese curds. —Skylar Browning

Who: Mission Mountain Wood Band and Wylie and the Wild West What: Western Montana Fair When: Aug. 9–14, with concert on Sat., Aug. 13 Where: Missoula County Fairgrounds

Saturday 27 August Tap into your roots with rootsy music from bands including Leftover Salmon and Acoustic Syndicate, plus a 90

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juried art show, 4-mile run/walk, and children’s activities, during Missoula’s annual end-of-summer party known as the River City Roots Fest, which runs today and tomorrow in downtown Missoula and Caras Park. Free. Visit rivercityroots festival.com.

How much: Fair admission $6/$3 student/$4 seniors/FREE 4 and under. Concert runs $8–$10 and includes fair admission. Visit westernmontanafair.com.

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Tuesday 30 August Old school witticism hits UM’s Oval when Montana Shakespeare in the Parks presents a performance of Much Ado About Nothing at 6 PM. Free. Visit www2. montana.edu/Shakespeare. Missoula Osprey start a twogame series against the Great Falls Voyagers at 7:05 nightly. Call 543-3300. Wednesday 31 August It’s time for round two with Montana Shakespeare in the Parks presents a performance of The Merchant of Venice at 6 PM at UM’s Oval. Free.

We have made an honest effort to scoop up every car show and carnival, fair and festival that could have qualified for this guide of what’s happening in western Montana. If we left you out, drop a line to calendar@ missoulanews.com and let us know what you’ve got going on and when. We’ll put you in the regular paper and file you away for next year. Until then, enjoy the summer.

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Missoula Independent