Montana 55 July 2013

SUMMER 2013

the magazine for montanans in their prime

wilderness take a walk on the wild side on the road tour montana estate planning “last best� advice

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Summer 2013

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Summer 2013

inside 6

books

montana in print

on the road

tour montana

by diane cochran

Photos courtesy of Northern Rockies Rider

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With summer in full swing, it’s time to haul that motorcycle out of storage and take in Montana’s scenic beauty. Here are five rides recommended by Montana motorcycle enthusiasts.

Lake Koocanusa.

This ride is a favorite for Cole Boehler, editor and publisher of “Motorcycling Montana,” a 500-page book on biking in Big Sky Country. Boehler, a 35-year veteran of Montana motorcycling, looks for remote routes with lots of hills

Cole Boehler

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10 birds

www.montana55.com

Highway 56 between Noxon and Troy along Bull Lake.

and turns, quality pavement and road engineering, and majestic views.

“This ride is a really full day, and you’ll experience every kind of riding there is,” he said.

It starts at Noxon, about 140 miles west of Missoula on Highway 200. A few clicks west of Noxon, head north on Highway 56 toward Troy. This will take you 43 miles along the Bull River and past Bull Lake, where you might see moose, bears and other wildlife.

At Troy, turn northwest onto Highway 2 and ride toward Idaho for 10 miles. Then turn east onto Highway 508, also known as the Yaak Valley/Libby Dam Road. This is where the ride gets interesting.

Summer 2013

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on the road tour montana

a diversity of feathered friends

by diane cochran

getaway

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road to the buffalo

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estate planning

34

real estate

38

heart health

42

heatstroke

heart lake

blackfoot river

“last best” advice

stick to the plan

changing for the better

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Montana is home to more birdwatchers than any other state, and, with almost half the birds in North America sighted here, it’s no wonder.

Of the 900 species of birds on the continent, 427 can be seen in Montana at some point during the year, and 260 of those nest here, said Steve Hoffman, executive director of the Montana Audubon Society.

That variety stems in part from the state’s diverse habitat. Montana is brimming with wetlands, forests and grasslands, all vastly different habitats that attract vastly different types of foul.

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some explanations

Yellow-headed blackbird photo by Steve Pickel

weight loss

Variety is just one factor that makes Montana a great place to be a birder.

Another is how easy it is to find the birds that live in or migrate through the state.

“A lot of bird spots are accessible,” Hoffman said. “You can drive there.”

Forty percent of Montanans consider themselves birdwatchers, according to the U.S. Forest Service. How can you join their ranks?

Getting started. You will need a good bird guidebook, and you don’t have to lug around a paper version.

“All of the most popular field guides are available for your smart phone,” said Kristi DuBois, a wildlife biologist for the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks.

Great horned owl photo by Steve Pickel

Summer 2013

have you chosen a healthy plan?

by dr. jeff engel

www.montana55.com

effective and healthy weight loss program should show a decrease in fat mass while lean (muscle mass) should increase or stay the same.

I often times talk to people who are on a different program who have lost substantial weight, but when they show me their body composition they have lost significant muscle mass. This is by no means healthy. Muscle weighs significantly more than fat and calorie restricted weight loss programs promote muscle loss. Since numerous studies have shown that one of the most reliable factors of longevity and quality of life is the preservation of muscle mass, this strategy is clearly unhealthy.

How can you tell if your weight loss program promotes healthy weight loss? I recommend looking at the following aspects.

1. Any dietary recommendations should not promote restriction of calories.

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Restriction of calories results in starvation causing the body to attack its muscle stores. When this occurs your body will react by giving you irresistible cravings and you will end up gaining the weight right back.

2. Eat real food!

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birds

a diversity of feathered friends

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Many programs contain premade meals, bars, or supplements. Often times these contain preservatives, artificial ingredients, or processed foods. These typically act as hormone disruptors in the body and can actually promote weight gain as well as other ailments including cancer and diabetes.

3. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

Today, weight loss programs can be separated into two categories. Those that promise fast results through supplementation and calorie restriction and those that focus on improving overall health resulting in slower but more permanent results.

Now I understand that the majority of weight loss programs promote fast results with their sexy and appealing advertising with reports of people losing 20-30 pounds in a month, however, do you never hear about that same person who eventually quit the program and ended up gaining all of the weight back? Ha! Why would a company want to do that?

Well, the fact of the matter is the majority of these fast results programs fail for long term results, but because of their appeal and numerous options available we find ourselves jumping from one program to the next.

This brings me to the next question, what is

healthy weight loss? I would describe healthy weight loss as a “side effect” of making lifestyle choices that promotes health. As someone becomes healthier, they will lose weight! It may not be as rapid, but there is a better chance that it will be permanent. As a general rule, losing 1-3 pounds per week is considered healthy. In the first couple of weeks this amount may be elevated due to loss of excess water.

Another simple way to determine if weight loss is healthy is by measuring your waist to hip ratio.

Using a measuring tape, take two measurements: one around your belt line and another around your naval. Next divide the measurement taken at your waist (naval) and your hip (belt line). This ratio should decrease as you begin to lose weight! Seeing a decrease in this ratio show that you are losing inches of belly fat, which is a better indication of healthy weight loss than weight alone.

The best way to determine if your weight loss is healthy is to use a body composition analysis. This analysis will take into consideration measurements such as fat mass, lean mass, and body water. An

The amount of propaganda for weight loss programs is absurd. The truth is lifestyle is the number one factor that determines your overall health and your ability to lose weight.

4. Find a program that takes the previous points into consideration and is supervised by a doctor, chiropractor, or nutritionist.

Another issue I see with weight loss programs is that many programs certify “coaches” through a variety of short educational courses. I went to school for more than 7 years. Decide who you really want to be helping you become healthier.

If you are currently participating in a weight loss program or considering one in the near future I encourage you to take this advice into consideration. Choosing the right program can be stressful, but it can also be very enjoyable when you know that you are making a change to become a healthier person.

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wilderness

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outdoors

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weight loss

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gems

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back pain

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Dr. Jeff Engel is with Optimum Health and Wellness in Missoula.

Summer 2013

take a walk on the wild side

with the montana dirt girls

every color of the rainbow

have you chosen a healthy plan?

does not need to be part of your life

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the magazine for montanans in their prime

FOR THE lOvE OF um

publisher jim mcgowan

editor sherry devlin

marketing manager stephanie bull sales coordinator jacque walawander sales assistant holly kuehlwein graphic designer diann kelly

Mary and Greg Olson’s support of UM runs deep.

Mary grew up in Billings in a working-class family. Greg is from Helena. The two met while Mary was in high school. No one in Mary’s family had gone to college.

“Greg is the reason I decided to come to school at UM and major in business,” OIson says. “He was a graduate and I saw what an impact it had on his career.

He gave me the encouragement that I could succeed.”

Two scholarships made her education financially possible.

“This experience with scholarships was my first encounter with philanthropy, and I realized it was someone else’s generosity and confidence in me that enabled me to get my degree,” Olson says. “I decided I wanted to give back to UM and get more active on campus.”

Olson says the Montana Endowment Tax Credit has enabled the couple to make larger gifts than they otherwise would have been able to give. She says the Foundation helped the couple determine which type of gift would be the best fit, and then helped make the process a simple one.

Montana 55 is a special publication of Lee Enterprises and the Missoulian. Copyright 2013.

For advertising information contact Jacque Walawander 406-523-5271, 800-366-7193, ext. 271, or email jacque.walawander@lee.net

If you would like to learn more about making a planned gift, please contact Ric Thomas, senior vice president, at 406.243.5615 or ric.thomas@mso.umt.edu.

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SupportUM.org/PlannedGiving | Facebook.com/UMFoundation Summer 2013

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books

montana in print

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As the summer season brings tourists, family and friends to Montana, new books can add to everyone’s knowledge and enjoyment. Several books give more information on our state’s great history and some of the characters in Montana’s frontier.

“Stories from Montana’s Enduring Frontier: Exploring an Untamed Legacy” by John Clayton At the turn of the 20th century, Montana started emerging from its rugged past.

Permanent towns and cities, powered by mining, tourism, and trade, replaced ramshackle outposts. Yet Montana’s frontier endured, both in remote pockets and in the wider cultural imagination. The frontier thus played a continuing role in Montanans’ lives, often in fascinating ways. Author John Clayton has written extensively on these shifts in Montana history, chronicling the breadth of the frontier’s legacy with this diverse collection of stories.

Explore the remnants of Montana’s frontier through stories of the Little Bighorn Battlefield, the Beartooth Highway, and the lost mining camp of Swift Current—and through legendary characters such as Charlie Russell, Haydie Yates, and “Liver-eating” Johnston.

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by barbara theroux

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For some visitors, Montana and fishing are synonymous.

So consider these books for the fishermen in your life.

“Trout of the World”

by James Prosek

“Why I Fly Fish: Passionate Anglers on the Pastime’s Appeal and How It’s Shaped Their Lives” by Chris Santella

First released in 2003, Trout of the World features original watercolors of trout from around the world, ranging from the Oxus trout of eastern Afghanistan to the small golden brown trout of British chalk streams. Each unique painting is coupled with a historical profile of the fish, as well as personal reflections from the author. Prosek savors the beauty of various fishing spots, along with the fate of the species, contemplating man’s role in the extinction of animals. This new edition features thirty new fish paintings and a newly written preface. Both sensitive and informative, “Trout of the World” is a must for the library of the recreational fisherman as ichthyologist.

Chris Santella has compiled an inspirational gift book based on 25 interviews with fly-fishing professionals and celebrity hobbyists alike. “Why I Fly Fish” encapsulates the life lessons fly-fishing aficionados have learned from their favorite pursuit.

Featured contributors include Donald Trump Jr., Bill Ford (CEO of Ford Motor Company), Conway Bowman (host of several flyfishing TV programs), actor Henry Winkler, Lefty Kreh (the world’s best-known fly-fisherman) and many more. With personal photographs by the contributors themselves, “Why I Fly Fish” is an inspirational and intimate reflection on the beloved sport and pastime.

New fiction from favorite authors might help a rainy day seem less dreary.

“Light of the World: A Dave Robicheaux Novel” by James Lee Burke

“The Highway”

by C.J. Box

In “Light of the World,” sadist and serial killer Asa Surrette narrowly escaped the death penalty for the string of heinous murders he committed while capital punishment was outlawed in Kansas. But following a series of damning articles written by Dave Robicheaux’s daughter Alafair about possible other crimes committed by Surette, the killer escapes from a prison transport van and heads to Montana—where an unsuspecting Dave happens to have gone to take in the sweet summer air, accompanied by Alafair, his wife Molly, faithful partner Clete, and Clete’s newfound daughter, Gretchen Horowitz, whom readers met in Burke’s most recent bestseller “Creole Belle.”

When teenagers Danielle and Gracie Sullivan take a clandestine car trip to visit their friend in Montana, little do they know it’s the last time anyone will ever hear from them again. The girls and their car simply vanish. Cody Hoyt, who’s just lost his job and has fallen off the wagon after a long stretch of sobriety, is in no condition to investigate. But his son Justin, who the girls were going to visit, and his former partner, Cassie Dewell, convince him to drive south to their last known location.

As Cody makes his way to the remote stretch of Montana highway where the girls went missing, Cassie discovers that there have been scores of similar disappearances in the state. There’s a serial killer out there roaming the highways, and Cody and Cassie must find him before he takes more lives.

Summer 2013

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books “A Serpent’s Tooth: A Walt Longmire Mystery” by Craig Johnson

“Sweet Thunder: A Novel”

by Ivan Doig

It’s homecoming in Absaroka County, but the football and festivities are interrupted when a homeless boy wanders into town. A Mormon “lost boy,” Cord Lynear is searching for his missing mother but clues are scarce. Longmire and his companions, feisty deputy Victoria Moretti and longtime friend Henry Standing Bear, embark on a high plains scavenger hunt in hopes of reuniting mother and son. The trail leads them to an interstate polygamy group that’s presiding over a stockpile of weapons and harboring a vicious vendetta.

In the winter of 1920, a quirky bequest draws Morrie Morgan back to Butte, Montana, from a year-long honeymoon with his bride, Grace. But the mansion bestowed by a former boss upon the itinerant charmer, who debuted in Doig’s bestselling “The Whistling Season,” promises to be less windfall than money pit. And the town itself, with its polyglot army of miners struggling to extricate themselves from the stranglehold of the ruthless Anaconda Copper Mining Company, seems—like the couple’s fast-diminishing finances—on the verge of implosion.

These twin dilemmas catapult Morrie into his new career as editorialist for the Thunder, the fledgling union newspaper that dares to play David to Anaconda’s Goliath. Amid the clatter of typewriters, the rumble of the printing presses, and a cast of unforgettable characters, Morrie puts his gift for word-slinging to work.

As he pursues victory for the miners, he discovers that he is enmeshed in a deeply personal battle as well—the struggle to win lasting love for himself.

Finally, a book that views the life and work of a unique man who calls Montana home, for as much of the year as he can.

“In the Shadow of the Sabertooth: A Renegade Naturalist Considers Global Warming, the First Americans and the Terrible Beasts of the Pleistocene” by Doug Peacock Our climate is changing fast. The future is uncertain, probably fiery, and likely terrifying. Yet shifting weather patterns have threatened humans before, right here in North America, when people first colonized this continent. About 15,000 years ago, the weather began to warm, melting the huge glaciers of the Late Pleistocene. In this brand new landscape, humans managed to adapt to unfamiliar habitats and dangerous creatures in the midst of a wildly fluctuating climate. What was it like to live with huge packhunting lions, saber-toothed cats, dire wolves, and gigantic short-faced bears, to hunt now extinct horses, camels, and 8

mammoth? Are there lessons for modern people lingering along this ancient trail?

The shifting weather patterns of today-what we call “global warming”-will far exceed anything our ancestors previously faced. Doug Peacock’s latest narrative explores the full circle of climate change, from the death of the megafauna to the depletion of the ozone, in a deeply personal story that takes readers from Peacock’s participation in an archeological dig for early Clovis remains in Livingston, MT, near his home, to the death of the local whitebark pine trees in the same region, as a result of changes in the migration pattern of pine beetles with the warming seasons.

Barbara Theroux is manager of Fact and Fiction Bookstore in downtown Missoula.

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Summer 2013

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on the road

tour montana

Cole Boehler

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by diane cochran

Photos courtesy of Northern Rockies Rider

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With summer in full swing, it’s time to haul that motorcycle out of storage and take in Montana’s scenic beauty. Here are five rides recommended by Montana motorcycle enthusiasts.

Lake Koocanusa.

This ride is a favorite for Cole Boehler, editor and publisher of “Motorcycling Montana,” a 500-page book on biking in Big Sky Country. Boehler, a 35-year veteran of Montana motorcycling, looks for remote routes with lots of hills

www.montana55.com

Highway 56 between Noxon and Troy along Bull Lake.

and turns, quality pavement and road engineering, and majestic views.

“This ride is a really full day, and you’ll experience every kind of riding there is,” he said.

It starts at Noxon, about 140 miles west of Missoula on Highway 200. A few clicks west of Noxon, head north on Highway 56 toward Troy. This will take you 43 miles along the Bull River and past Bull Lake, where you might see moose, bears and other wildlife.

At Troy, turn northwest onto Highway 2 and ride toward Idaho for 10 miles. Then turn east onto Highway 508, also known as the Yaak Valley/Libby Dam Road. This is where the ride gets interesting.

Summer 2013

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on the road

The landmark Dirty Shame Saloon in Yaak

Experience every kind of riding there is.

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“It’s very remote country,” Boehler said. “You need to be conscious of your motorcycle’s fuel range and where fuel is available.”

Riders also should be comfortable with the limits of their bikes.

Navigating the Yaak Valley/Libby Dam Road is technical and tricky, but that’s what makes it fun, Boehler said.

After about 40 miles, the road comes out at Libby Dam on the south end of Lake Koocanusa, a 90-mile-long body of water that stretches into Canada.

Below the dam, at the junction with Highway 37, head south on Highway 530, which follows the Fisher River back to Highway 2. Boehler recommends stopping for sustenance

at Happy’s Roadhouse Inn, just east of the junction of the Fisher River and Highway 2.

Beartooth Highway.

Known to locals as Beartooth Pass, this 68-mile stretch of road in southwestern Montana and northwestern Wyoming is a National Scenic Byway. It also is the highestelevation paved highway in the Northern Rockies.

“In my estimation, it’s the most spectacular ride in the nation,” said Tim Buckstead, owner of Bone Daddy’s Custom Cycle in Red Lodge.

“It’s just the perfect package.”

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Riders can access the Beartooth Highway south of Red Lodge. Its switchbacks climb to 10,947 feet before dropping down into Cooke City, Wyo. The ride takes two to three hours depending on weather and traffic.

Deep Creek and King’s Hill Pass.

The 142 miles between Townsend and Belt offer up two challenges for motorcyclists: the steep and curvy run through Deep Creek at the Townsend end and the 7,393foot King’s Hill Pass at the Belt end.

“It’s a sporty road,” Boehler said. “You can have some fun. But it’s a relaxed sporty road.”

The route passes through White Sulphur Springs, where riders can stop off at the Spa Hot Springs Motel to soak in natural hot springs.

Going-to-the-Sun Road.

Visitors to Glacier National Park don’t want to miss this stunning stretch of highway, which spans 50 miles, crosses the Continental Divide at Logan Pass (elevation: 6,646 feet) and offers riders the chance to see a real glacier.

“You can’t overstate the beauty of it,” said Jerry Archer, manager at Glacier Harley-Davidson in Kalispell.

The road is busy, so expect to ride at a leisurely pace, Archer said. Luckily, there is a lot to look at, including waterfalls and the park’s infamous mountain goats.

Traveling from east to west puts riders on the inside of the highway, which hugs the mountains on one side and abuts a sheer cliff on the other.

“A lot of people get a little apprehensive when they can look over the edge of the road and can look down thousands of feet,” Archer said.

Pioneer Mountains Scenic Byway.

Access this spectacular ride from Butte. Boehler takes Interstate 90 west to Highway 1, and then follows Highway 1 for about 12 miles to Mill Creek Road. Mill Creek Road, which changes to Deep Creek Road, carries riders past Mount Haggin State Wildlife Management Area.

It dumps out onto Highway 43, where riders should hang a right and head east for 10 miles to the junction with the Pioneer Mountains Scenic Byway at Wise River.

“The byway is just stunning,” Boehler said. “As you approach the summit, it gets twistier and twistier and twistier. Talk about beautiful. It is just awesome.”

The byway ends at Highway 278, where riders can turn east for a 29-mile ride to Dillon or, if once wasn’t enough, backtrack over the byway to Wise River.

Summer 2013

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birds

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a diversity of feathered friends

Great horned owl photo by Steve Pickel

by diane cochran

www.montana55.com

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Montana is home to more birdwatchers than any other state, and, with almost half the birds in North America sighted here, it’s no wonder.

Of the 900 species of birds on the continent, 427 can be seen in Montana at some point during the year, and 260 of those nest here, said Steve Hoffman, executive director of the Montana Audubon Society.

That variety stems in part from the state’s diverse habitat. Montana is brimming with wetlands, forests and grasslands, all vastly different habitats that attract vastly different types of foul.

Yellow-headed blackbird photo by Steve Pickel

Variety is just one factor that makes Montana a great place to be a birder.

Another is how easy it is to find the birds that live in or migrate through the state.

“A lot of bird spots are accessible,” Hoffman said. “You can drive there.”

Forty percent of Montanans consider themselves birdwatchers, according to the U.S. Forest Service. How can you join their ranks?

Getting started. You will need a good bird guidebook, and you don’t have to lug around a paper version.

“All of the most popular field guides are available for your smart phone,” said Kristi DuBois, a wildlife biologist for the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks.

Summer 2013

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birds

Bald eagle photo by Steve Pickel

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www.montana55.com

Forty percent of Montanans consider themselves birdwatchers.

Birdwatching applications also work on other devices, such as tablet computers, DuBois said. In addition to helping to identify a bird’s physical features, many apps play bird songs.

For birders using such apps in the field, DuBois recommended listening with headphones to avoid harassing birds. Birds can be distracted from important mating and feeding rituals if they perceive a recorded call as a threat.

Once you have a guidebook, consider enrolling in a beginning birdwatching class. Chapters of the Audubon Society across the state regularly offer fieldtrips led by expert birders, and the group hosts a traveling Wings Across the Big Sky conference every June. Audubon also offers education materials by mail or e-mail.

More information is available at www. mtaudubon.org.

Where to go.

Birds often nest near along river

bottoms, so a fun way “Any float trip along any major river will get you a lot of birds,” Hoffman said.

The state’s national wildlife refuges are another great place to look for birds, especially water fowl. Hoffman’s favorite is Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge in the Centennial Valley near West Yellowstone, where birders can see trumpeter swans.

“It’s very remote, and it’s just a really spectacular place to go birding,” he said. “It’s so scenic and hardly anyone goes there.”

Hoffman also recommends Benton Lake National Wildlife Refuge near Great Falls, Ninepipe National Wildlife Refuge near Ronan, and Bowdoin National Wildlife Refuge near Malta.

For high mountain forest habitat, try Glacier National Park. Driving across Logan Pass will put you in the habitat of white tail ptarmigans, great gray owls, gray-crowned rosy finches and northern hawk owls.

For a real treat, plan a trek to Freezeout Lake south of Choteau in mid-March. That’s when 100,000 to 300,000 snow geese stop over on their migration to the Arctic.

What to look for.

With so many birds out there, picking a first quest can be overwhelming. Make it easy -- start with one you already know, said Dan Casey, Northern Rockies conservation officer for the American Bird Conservancy.

“Pay attention to a common bird, like a robin,” Casey said.

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You will be amazed how little you’ve noticed about a robin beyond its red breast. Look carefully at its other markings, watch its behaviors and listen to its song, Casey said. This will help you practice your observation skills and give you a baseline bird with which to compare others.

After that, try spotting these recommendations from Casey:

• Goldeneye duck. These whiteand-black water birds are quite entertaining during the spring mating season. Males attract females by throwing theirs heads all the way onto their backs and uttering a grunt whistle.

• Ruddy duck. This diving duck with the funny name also has a quirky mating ritual. Males pound their bills, which are electric baby blue, on their chests at the surface of the water to create bubbles.

• Eastern kingbird. Easy to spot without binoculars or a spotting scope, this bird a talker. “They’re very vociferous, very loud,” Casey said.

“They’re very cantankerous. They like to chase off crows and magpies and hawks.”

• Rough-legged hawk. You’ll see these birds of prey as you’re driving down the highway in the winter.

They will be sitting on fence posts or hovering in the air as they hunt.

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Summer 2013

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wilderness

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take a walk on the wild side

Marge Porter and Chuck Webber traverse a suspension bridge over Rock Creek, near a popular access point to Welcome Creek Wilderness, on October 21, 2012. Photo by Kate Walker

by kate walker

www.montana55.com

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Marge Porter carefully sidestepped across a one-log bridge, her arms encircling the guardrail. Chuck Webber followed close behind, one hand grasping the rail and the other a cane.

Looking up, we saw a sign posted high on a tree, marking the edge of Welcome Creek Wilderness, part of Lolo National Forest near Missoula.

The hike we were about to embark on would take us farther off the beaten path than any trip Porter, 86, or Webber, 91, had taken in recent memory, including a leaf-peeping tour with Grizzly Peak, the independent living facility in Missoula where they are next-door neighbors.

“People don’t ask us to go with them as much as they used to, thinking, ‘Oh, they wouldn’t be able to make it,’ ” Porter said, her body cloaked in thick fleece and jeans, a bright orange hat concealing her gray hair. Her face was beaming, while Webber, bundled in a blue parka, was moving with great care, his mouth serious and his blue eyes alert.

I had invited the couple to take a hike in Welcome Creek, to explore how accessible Wilderness is for American seniors.

Wilderness areas, established through the Wilderness Act of 1964, preserve land in a state “untrampeled by man.” Any motorized transport is forbidden, although

wheelchairs designed for indoor use may be used, according to the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.

Welcome Creek’s eastern boundary nearly touches a road, but neither Porter nor Webber drives any more. They share several walks a day around Grizzly Peak, in a neighborhood of big box stores to the east and south and housing developments to the north and west.

Neither is particularly outdoorsy, but Webber ran track as a teen and spent 22 years in the military. Together he and his wife raised five children. One of his daughters, Peggy, was disabled. She and another daughter have died, and Webber’s wife of 66 years passed away in 2008. Porter had seven children from her first marriage; her third husband died in October 2011.

I had walked some of the Welcome Creek trail the day before, to gauge whether I thought Porter and Webber would be able to navigate safely. While they eagerly strode forth, the narrow swaths cut through fallen trees took some negotiation. Webber had brought his cane, though he usually can do without it. He has macular degeneration, which is bringing on blindness, and had to drop back several paces from Porter and I, so he could survey the trail and plan his steps.

“It’s when people relax and stop paying attention that they fall,” he said, explaining why he spent most of his time looking at the ground, rather than taking in the

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wilderness scenery. But Webber wasn’t all serious concentration. Porter was there as his seeing-eye dog, he joked.

Porter told me of their lives while she proceeded through the pine forest, pulling her fingers into the palms of her wool gloves. Her pace failed to provide the body warmth that exertion would for someone able to move faster. Frequently she would glance over her shoulder, to ask Webber if he’d like to go ahead of her, but he preferred the distance between us to secure his footing.

After a short cobbled rise, the creek grew fainter in the distance, and decaying pine needles provided a soft foot bed. A relatively recent fire had blackened the lowest eight feet of the tree trunks, occasionally causing enough damage to bring one down altogether. No animals stirred, and we had the forest to ourselves.

P

orter and Webber both have complete mobility, something

many seniors do not. Near Grant, Colorado, a group called Wilderness on Wheels has built a fully accessible boardwalk sandwiched between Lost Creek and Mount Evans Wildernesses.

Iris Arnick, 85, who’s been working at the site for 26 years, believes people with disabilities need “the sense of being out from the inside of four walls all day long” that only sites designed for accessibility can provide. “Where you and I can go, anybody else can go,” she said.

“The prevailing philosophy has been to, you know, make people work hard to have a wilderness experience,” said Derrick Crandall of the American Recreation Coalition, a nonprofit representing over 100 recreation interests.

For Peter Landres, an ecologist and Program Leader for the Aldo Leopold Wilderness Research Institute, providing accessible trails in Wilderness Areas for people with limited mobility is incredibly

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important. “The impact on Wilderness quality is so small, that to me it’s just a non-brainer,” he said. That doesn’t free Landres from ensuring that wilderness provides solitude and opportunities to learn about humility and self-restraint.

So while boardwalks can be built where the land can accommodate them, wheelchairs designed for offroad use are not allowed, nor are ATVs. Even if people are using these devices to reach more solitude, “we have a whole lot of lands that they can do that on, and the area that we have for wilderness is a lot smaller,” Landres said.

Porter and Webber agreed that some areas should be protected for people who want to walk rather than drive. “If this is something you want, why, you find yourself able to do it,” Webber said. “The more facilities you put in, the further you’re getting away from wilderness.”

“They’re making other places

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too commercial-type,” Porter said.

Wilderness can “bring people down to earth, instead of thinking of just Internet and all that.”

After 45 minutes of walking, Porter and Webber took a rest on a log before deciding to head back. We retraced our steps, and as we approached our starting point, Porter gave a little hop on a suspension bridge, the first she’d ever crossed, while Webber grasped the handrails.

All around them, the creek was a Pointillist painting, with cottonwood and aspen leaves fluttering above and stones lining the river’s channel below.

When I gave Webber a call a few weeks later, he brought me up to date on his and Porter’s news: they would be getting married on November 16th.

Kate Walker is a master’s degree candidate in environmental science and natural resource journalism in the University of Montana’s School of Journalism.

Marge Porter and Chuck Webber. Photo by Kate Walker

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outdoors Each ride or hike typically splits into two groups based on ability

with the montana dirt girls

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But a lot of women do, and that’s why, a few years ago, Huck helped launch a women-only mountain biking and hiking group in Missoula.

“It’s non-competitive,” Huck said of the Montana Dirt Girls. “If someone needs help, it’s no big deal. It’s just a comfortable environment.”

The Montana Dirt girls are one of several Missoula groups that focus on outdoors activities. Another club, called the Rocky Mountaineers, formed more than 50 years ago and maintains a cabin for public use.

“We try to incorporate all types of non-motorized adventure sports,” said Rocky Mountaineer Steve Niday.

That includes rafting, hiking, skiing, climbing and cycling.

Members of the Thursday Night Ride group, which started as a cycling group but recently added winter hiking, range in age from late 20s to early 70s.

“A lot of us have become good friends,” said member Ed Stalling. “It’s a network. Everyone’s really different, but it’s the love of mountain-biking that brings all of us together.”

The Montana Dirt Girls is open to women of all ages and abilities and meets on Tuesday nights year-round.

In the spring and summer, members

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bike for 8 to 10 miles on trails in and around Missoula. In the fall and winter, they night-hike for two hours.

Each ride or hike typically splits into two groups based on ability, and women don’t have to commit to an entire outing. Potential members often want to know in advance if they will be able to keep up with the others, but Huck said the best way to find out is to try it.

“You don’t have to do the whole thing,” she said. “We have a lot of people come for the first hour and then head back.”

Thursday Night Riders get out their mountain bikes when the snow melts, and that’s the best time to join the group if a person is not an experienced

rider, according to Stalling. As the spring and summer progress, members’ skill and endurance increase.

“We start out pretty easy,” Stalling said. “But if you join in July, you need to be in good shape.”

Members ride for three or threeand-a-half hours and then head to The Bridge restaurant, which they call their clubhouse, for pizza and beer. In winter, they hike or ski by headlamp.

The Rocky Mountaineers formed in 1960 as a hiking and climbing group that put out a newsletter to inform other outdoorsy types of places to go. Now its longtime members are a repository of information about recreation opportunities in Western Montana.

“We’re a great resource,” Niday said.

“That’s the good thing about us being old is we know the area.”

The group hosts speakers on outdoors topics on Tuesday nights during fall and winter at The Trailhead outdoors store. Members also organize outings through an e-mail network and put on the Glacier Classic, an annual weekend of events in the Glacier National Park in August.

The Rocky Mountaineers’ cabin is in the Bitterroot Mountains. It’s rustic – no running water or electricity – but there is a woodstove and room for 12 people to sleep. The group hosts a maintenance trip to the cabin every fall, and then opens it to the public for the winter.

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gems

every color of the rainbow

These Montana sapphires were harvested by sorting through buckets at the Gem Mountain Mine. Photo by Jesse Brockmeyer

W

Who knew a bucket of dirt and a pair of tweezers could be so much fun?

24

by diane cochran

At Gem Mountain Mine near Philipsburg, anyone can be a miner for a day and a successful one at that. Tweezers, plus a screen and some water, are the tools of the trade.

Guests can pay $20 for a bucket filled with 2 1/2 gallons of gravelly dirt and up to 20 karats of sapphires. The sapphires occur naturally here, so there is no guarantee how many will surface in any given bucket or what size or color they will be.

But there are so many of the stones in the ground that everyone is certain to discover some.

“People found 500 stones last year that were three karats or greater,” said Chris Cooney, who has owned the mine for the past 13 years. “Gem Mountain is the quiet giant of sapphire mines.”

The alluvial sapphire deposit stretches over six square miles of the Sapphire Mountains southwest of Philipsburg.

“The sapphires are about 50 million years old,” Cooney said. “Volcanic activity brought them to the surface.”

They rest within the frost zone, or no more than about four feet deep. Cooney uses a loader to scoop up sapphire-laced dirt at a rate of an acre a year. He washes it to remove big rocks and clay. Then it goes into buckets for sale to the public.

In addition to offering single buckets for $20, the mine has a “lucky seven” deal, which earns customers who buy six buckets a seventh one for free, and a “dirty dozen” deal, or 12 buckets for the price of ten.

It can take a couple of hours to work through one bucket. You start by ladling scoops of dirt onto a screen and washing it by hand in a water trough. Just the right washing technique, which Gem Mountain employees will demonstrate for you, separates the sapphires and collects them at the center of the screen.

When your screen is clean, you dump out the contents and go to work with your tweezers. On a sunny day, the wet sapphires glint in the light and are fairly easy to spot.

“Most of the stones are a light pastel,” Cooney said. “They come in every color of the rainbow depending on what metal impurities are in the stone.”

Pale green is the most common color,

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but they can be pink, red, orange, yellow, or purple, among other shades. Heat-treating, which Gem Mountain offers, intensifies the color. The mine also offers faceting, or cutting the stones for jewelry.

Sapphires were first mined at Gem Mountain in the 1890s. Back then, the gems were used as instrument bearings in watches.

Most of them were sold to jewelers in Switzerland, although some large specimens were displayed at the World’s Fair, Cooney said. The mine began offering its dirt to the public in the 1960s.

Gem Mountain Mine is open from Memorial Day weekend to the first weekend of October. For information on how to get there or to order mine dirt, visit www. gemmountainmt.com.

Two kinds of sapphires are found in Montana: Montana sapphires and Yogo sapphires.

Montana sapphires, which are mined at Gem Mountain Mine near Philipsburg, are found in alluvial deposits and require heat treating to gain jewelry-quality color.

Yogo sapphires are mined from a hardrock vein near Lewistown. They are much harder to mine but do not require heat treating before being sold as jewels. They are brilliant in natural and artificial light.

“Yogos are a superb cornflower blue,” said Lee Woodward, a geologist who recently co-authored a book about Yogos called “Yogo Sapphire Mine: The History of World Class Gem.” Woodward called the Yogo deposit in Central Montana world class.

“Nearly every woman in town has a Yogo sapphire, and, if she doesn’t, she wishes she did,” he said.

Dale Pfau, owner of Don’s Store in Lewistown, said demand always outstrips supply for Yogos.

“We have people come from all over the world to buy them,” he said.

Summer 2013

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getaway

A

Heart Lake

A short drive outside Lincoln, a dusty trail awaits. But a little dust is a good thing when you’re heading into the woods to absorb the scenic attractions found in the Scapegoat Wilderness.

Heart Lake may be first among them. The little gem of a lake gets its name from its shape, though it’s the arctic grayling swimming the cool mountain water that makes this a destination worth placing on your summer bucket list.

Spring flowers are abundant the right time of year. Waterfalls cascading over moss-covered boulders surrounded by ferns are a pleasing attraction any season that doesn’t include snow.

For the angler in the family, the creeks make for good fishing, and the expanse of the Bob Marshall

26

Wilderness lies just beyond. Bears, moose and other large North American mammals are included in this day-long adventure.

To get there, look for Landers Fork Road around seven miles east of Lincoln on Highway 200. It’s hard to miss — it’s there where Landers Fork crosses under the highway.

Drive north on Landers Fork Road for three miles until you reach Copper Creek Road. Head north on Copper Creek for another four miles until you reach the trailhead; it’s well marked and includes accommodations for livestock (think pack animals).

Once you find it, strap on you pack. Heart Lake lies roughly three miles down the trail and represents an easy day hike. The hike is largely flat, though it involves a slight uphill gain the last quarter mile, but even that’s no big deal.

Pack water and bear spray, then relax.

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road to the buffalo

T

The bend in a mountain road, the other side of the river … some things beg to be explored.

It’s ironic that the dust-choked road up the Blackfoot River above Johnsrud Park used to be that “other side of the river.” For centuries, native trails, wagon roads, bootleg tracks and railroad beds followed the north bank.

Now it’s off limits to motorized traffic, which makes it the side of solitude for bicyclists and foot traffic - even in those lazy, hazy and, particularly, crazy days of midsummer when all of Missoula and our Carolina cousins get tubular down there on the river.

Johnsrud Park Road crosses the river seven miles away from Highway 200 at Whitaker Bridge.

Two parking areas on the north side of the bridge provide access to what the Bureau of Land

28

Blackfoot River

The Trail of the Buffalo follows the path of the lower Blackfoot River, connecting historic foot paths with views of modern-day recreation. Photo by Tom Bauer

Management has dubbed the Road to the Buffalo Trail.

BLM took over management of a 10-mile stretch of the Blackfoot corridor from Plum Creek Timber Co. in the late 1990s. The land includes a part of the Milwaukee Railroad’s old Big Blackfoot Railway grade that was abandoned in the 1970s. It runs alongside the river and provides an easy, diverse and sensory-awakening path.

From Whitaker Bridge, you can turn left and take off on foot or bike for 5 1/2 flat miles down the river before you reach what used to be the trestle across Gold Creek.

Or you can turn upriver for three miles to Belmont Creek, where the next trestle was.

A network of hikeable, bikeable gated logging roads reaches far back into the mountains. Notso-old timers remember driving these roads into Placid Lake and the Flathead Indian Reservation before the gates were locked.

Solitude doesn’t mean pristine.

Remnants of the valley’s logging, mining and railroad past are everywhere. But as you make your way up or down the river you’ll encounter unexpected stands of old-growth ponderosa and surprising meadows that unfold around you.

“Road to the Buffalo” was the name local Indians gave to the route that stretched up the Blackfoot and over the Continental Divide to the eastern plains.

Capt. Meriwether Lewis and nine soldiers followed this trail on their return trip of discovery in 1806, with Lewis’ Newfoundland, Seaman, wagging his tail behind. A century and change later, the Big Blackfoot Railroad came steaming up and down the canyon, hauling lumber to the Anaconda Co. mill in Bonner and eliminating the need for treacherous log drives on the river.

by kim briggeman

www.montana55.com

Thibodeau Rapids

Highland Loop

Road to the Buffalo Trail

Proposed bridge over Belmont Creek

Sheep Flats R

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Gold Creek Loop Proposed bridge over Gold Creek

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Whitaker Bridge

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To Missoula

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Johnsrud Park

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estate planning

A

A long time ago, a client had an unusual and refreshing spin on my regular inquiry at a client meeting about what she wanted to accomplish in her estate planning, and she really caused me to think and feel.

That client asked me for the last advice that I’d impart to her - if I were on my deathbed.

She said that in constructing her estate plan, we’d start with that most important advice, and then work back from there. In other words, she was asking me for the nuggets of advice that I would consider so important that I would

30

“last best” advice

expend my final breaths on that advice-My “last best” advice.

Wow! I had to think about that carefully.

The last advice that I would give? Ever?

I wouldn’t really have the luxury of time in which to give my final advice (I’m dying after all). I only have about 750 or so words to spare here.

Final words?

Here goes.

Involve your family!

Involve your family directly in your estate planning decisions. Your estate and financial planning decisions have ramifications and impacts upon your family and loved ones

by paul hood

(including key employees in your company). These impacts can be financial, social and financial, and your decisions can and will affect their social relationships, jobs and even health.

Since your family and loved ones probably are going to be changed by the results of your estate plan, why not involve them in its formulation? Even if someone is not going to get what he or she wants (or feels that he or she deserves), it usually is better for the other survivors to have had everyone know your plans while you are still alive.

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Otherwise, a complainer might deny that this was your real intention.

Or they might accuse the survivors who fared better of plotting against them. The prospects for challenge or acrimony increase dramatically when bad news is sprung on people who then feel trapped and without an option other than to attack.

One of the biggest problems in estate fights is that the “star of the show� has already departed this great world’s stage. The job of the litigants and the court is to ferret out, often with only indirect evidence, which usually is colored by the position or

Since your family and loved ones probably are going to be changed by the results of your estate plan, why not involve them?

Summer 2013

31

estate planning feelings of the giver of that evidence, what you really intended and whether you were of sound mind and free from undue influence when you did it.

Avoid planning paralysis:

I offer the following as a possible explanation for the avoidance of doing estate planning “planning paralysis.”

Planning paralysis is a feeling of helplessness or a fear of feeling helpless about the estate planning process. It also is a feeling that arises when people are dazed by the staggering number of estate planning options and decisions. We all like to be our own persons. We each want to control our own destiny.

I suspect the real reason that most people are slow to either begin or follow through on estate planning is a fear of loss of control. Individuals fear the unknown, the “ride” the advisor

will put you on once you get started with estate planning. I firmly believe that people’s fear of loss of control manifests itself in procrastination.

Someone may feel that he or she lacks the requisite knowledge of the “bricks” of estate planning to intelligently debate, discern and decide with them.

There is no question that your estate plan should be much more important to you than to your estate planning advisors. Advisors can and indeed should push a client only so far.

However, an advisor should at least assist a client with drawing a clear picture as to why the client has not made progress with an estate plan. Once a client understands the real reason why he or she has not progressed, the client should at least be able to begin the process of dealing with his or her obstacles in the way of the estate plan that the client actually wants and understands.

ONE MORE TIME:

• Get family members informed and involved.

• Make sure you are listening - as well as talking - to each other.

• And don’t let planning paralysis stop you. Do what you need to do to make intelligent and caring decisions.

Most of all, don’t delay, because time IS of the essence - and no one knows if your time may be up - soon.

Like mine is.

Godspeed.

Paul Hood is a “recovering” tax lawyer with over 25 years in tax law and estate planning. He received undergraduate and law degrees from Louisiana State University, and an LL.M. in taxation from Georgetown University Law Center.

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real estate

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stick to the plan

O by joy earls

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One of the most exhilarating feelings in real estate is when a buyer and seller agree on a contract and sign a deal.

Just to get to that point can take so much time and extreme effort. But what comes next is even more important and must be carefully thought through. The actions that occur between the time of signing a real estate contract and finally moving into a new home can sometimes destroy a deal if not worked through methodically. The buying and selling process can happen as quickly as a week, which doesn’t happen frequently. It can take thirty to forty days, which is common. Or buyers and sellers can agree on a year or more. However, whatever is agreed upon is critically important and must be discussed carefully. The sales price of a home is extremely important but focusing on only that one aspect, can be detrimental. If the other details are downplayed a real estate deal can easily and quickly erode. The following

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story happens more often than it should. And that previously sweet feeling of moving forward can quickly turn sour and head the other way.

A professional moving assistant, Mandy called recently. She was hired to help an elderly gentleman clean out his home filled with a lifetime of belongings. Mandy has done her work over and over and knows how to do it right. She arranged for an estate sale, moving of unwanted items and a timely preparation of the home for the new owners. The home was under contract with some buyers. After she was informed of the contract closing date, she scheduled her work accordingly. As anyone knows who has emptied a home filled with a lifetime of possessions, this is no easy task. Her schedule was set when she received a call from the sellers that the buyers needed to move two weeks earlier than planned.

The stress began to mount. The buyers were selling their home. They now needed to empty their own home for their buyers. I have seen

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real estate It can all work smoothly, but just like dominos, the pieces have to be perfectly aligned. this occur where the buyers of the buyer’s home also have a buyer.

Everyone plans to move on the same day, simultaneously. As confusing as it sounds, it happens often and I started calling this “The Domino Effect”. It can all work smoothly, but just like dominos, the pieces have to be perfectly aligned.

Mandy was dragged into the middle of this dispute. Mandy was worried and

stressed. At one point she was even asked to take possession of the home and call the buyers when the house was ready for them to move in. As we talked it over, she quickly realized this was outside of her responsibilities. She was doing a great job and performing as she was instructed in her contract.

The buyers and sellers had to get together and look at options. But one of those choices could not involve putting Mandy, in a role outside of her contractual responsibilities.

There are always options. When I was first out of college I moved to Colorado. I applied for a great paying job at a gold mine. They hired me under the conditions that I had a place to live. This was a very small town and it was difficult to find housing.

I immediately said that wasn’t a problem, even though I had no idea where I would live. The manager grinned (I think he knew I didn’t know where I would live either) but he hired

me. I was young, I lived in a tent by the creek for a month, woke up to frozen water that had to be thawed to make coffee and was fine until a house came open for rent. I was also only twenty two and my possessions all fit in my car. It was an adventure. Some buyers may be okay with that scenario, too.

They can move their possessions into a storage unit and then rent for a while.

They may choose to camp, as I did, although it might include a camper.

But usually that isn’t what most buyers have in mind. They want to live in their new home immediately.

So why does this happen over and over in Real Estate deals? Buyers want to get into the home they are purchasing earlier than the contract allows. Sellers can’t move as quickly as they thought they could, so they need more time. Things change. Once a purchase agreement is already signed, it can be difficult to back track and make new demands. The old saying

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that an emergency on your part does not constitute one on mine applies here. I strongly advocate that parties work together for a common goal. But it is much easier to do that when you are working on the contract before it is fully signed. In addition to negotiating price, be sure to look carefully at dates and the process that will ensue as you work your way to the closing table.

Discuss if the buyer is selling their home, how the timing is set up for that process. Talk about the seller and where they are going. Are they moving across town, across the country or overseas. Simple things like arranging for a mover can create havoc. In Missoula, the U of M students relocate in May and if that’s when you are planning on closing, a mover may not be available at all. These are not small details. Even deciding on the date of closing can be overlooked. The day after a long holiday can be a stressful day anyway, so hoping that everything

can fall in place on the Tuesday after Labor Day weekend may be a setup for failure. When buyers have a lender involved, which is often, the financial institution has to fund the loan or send the money to the closing agent.

This may not happen until the next business day, which may be Monday, if closing is scheduled for a Friday afternoon. Or, if it’s a holiday weekend the buyer may not own the home until Tuesday. This can cause some seriously unhappy people that have arranged for friends to help them move over a long weekend, when they have to reschedule. That may involve more than pizza and beer to incentivize your helpers.

While some of these examples seem so simple to avoid, why do they happen over and over? Why do we have “The Domino Effect”?

Why do tensions mount and people start talking about real estate deals breaking down? It can often happen

self lifting fting rrecliner

because buyers and sellers have focused their contracts sales price and not spent enough time reviewing other items such as important dates.

Price is always critical when selling or buying a property, but don’t overlook how serious it will be when you have to move and have nowhere to go because you didn’t pay close attention to the dates in your contract. Enjoy that exhilarating feeling when you are working on a real estate contract and have agreed on a price, but take a breath and then look at dates to make sure you can live with them. The one thing we know for sure as we are in the Fifty Five plus group is that one month can easily feel like a week. And you might not want to be camping by the creek while you wait for your new home to be ready.

Joy Earls is a Missoula real estate agent who writes a regular column for Montana 55.

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37

heart health

38

changing for the better

Dr. Brian Rah

by dillon kato

www.montana55.com

H

Heart problems and cardiovascular disease are some of the leading health issues experienced as a person ages, with heart disease now the No. 1 cause of death in the United States. New medical developments at hospitals across the state are making cutting edge treatments for these health issues available to Montanans aging into their prime.

Dr. Brian Rah, an interventional cardiologist at Billings Clinic, said congestive heart failure is a common condition people begin to experience as they age. It occurs when heart muscles are not able to pump enough blood to supply the demands of the body. For patients with a severe amount of heart failure, open bypass surgery or traditional stenting procedures are often deemed too high a risk.

Rah and the cardiology department at the Billings Clinic have recently started to lessen that risk using a very big development in cardiology treatment. Or, more accurately, it’s a very, very small one.

Last year, the Billings Clinic started began to use a new technology, the smallest heart pump in the world, to aid and allow heart surgery in patients where it would not normally have been an option.

The pump is inserted through a patient’s femoral artery and up into the left ventricle of the heart, and can supplement the amount a heart pumps closer to normal. Surgeons are then able to more safely perform a permanent operation, after which the pump is removed.

Rah said hypertension, heart attacks and strokes are some of the other common issues that he sees. He stressed that diet and exercise are essential preventative tools, in addition to annual exams.

The Mediterranean diet, focusing on foods like nuts, olive oil, fish and other lean proteins, has been shown to be very effective at decreasing the risk of heart attacks, he said.

“Studies have shown these diets can give a 20 to 25 percent decrease in heart attack risk. That’s similar to what we see with heart medications,” he said. “People living in the Mediterranean and in Japan, another place where a lot of fish is eaten, have some of the longest life spans. Clearly diet plays a big role.”

The Billings Clinic has also recently started performing laser lead extractions, allowing removal of obsolete hardware from a pacemaker or defibrillator, and is building a new cardiology outpatient facility with a large cardiatric rehab area that should open early next year, Rah said.

I

n Great Falls, Pam Crisp, registered nurse and coordinator of the CardioPulmonary Rehab department at Benefis Health Systems, said part of her job is encouraging people to be their own best advocates.

“It’s about being able to read what your body is telling you,” Crisp said. That means knowing what your normal numbers are for things like cholesterol and blood pressure, so that you know when something it abnormal.

The important time to be taking good care of yourself, from eating better to exercising, is when you are in good health, and not to wait until something starts to go wrong, she said.

Benefis has made major advances in reducing the time it takes to treat patients suffering from cardiac arrest of heart attack symptoms. This “door to balloon time” is the period from when a patient reaches the emergency room door to when doctors can put a device into a blood vessel.

The national benchmark is 90 minutes. In the last two years, changes in how the hospital works and responds have taken Benefis’ door to balloon time to about 55 minutes. In the last two months, it has had multiple response times of less than 30 minutes.

Summer 2013

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heart health The important time to be taking good care of yourself, from eating better to exercising, is when you are in good health.

Changes include outfitting ambulances with electrocardiograms, which allow EMTs to transfer data back to the hospital while on route, so the ER can make informed preparations. Crisp said the important factor is people calling an ambulance when they are experiencing a heart attack. “Don’t drive yourself, call 911.

We always talk about how time is muscle. Every minute wasted loses valuable heart muscle.”

Benefis also sends cardiologists and nurses on outreach visits to clinics in smaller towns in the area, bringing mobile echocardiogram machines to people who otherwise might have to drive hours to have tests done.

B

illings and Great Falls aren’t the only places in Montana on the medical cutting cutting edge.

Carolyn Bellamah, a nurse with the International Heart Institute of Montana, said a new treatment for a deadly heart disease, aortic stenosis, is now available in Missoula.

Aortic stenosis is a progressive disease where the aortic valve in the heart begins to narrow, primarily through calcification or deterioration around the valve, cutting off oxygenated blood to the body.

The symptoms of aortic stenosis include chest pains, shortness of breath with minimal exertion, and dizziness. Often it can be diagnosed by a physician seeing a murmur in the heart.

Severe aortic stenosis, which affects around 250,000 Americans, can go for years without showing symptoms, but when symptoms do materialize, the mortality rate is very high. Bellamah

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said within 3 years of showing symptoms, half of the untreated victims of aortic stenosis die.

While the symptoms of aortic stenosis can be managed with medication, the only real fix is surgery.

Bellamah said while the gold standard of treatment is still full open heart surgery, that is often not an option for the sickest of patients, who are deemed too risky for that type of procedure. Since March, the IHI has started using a new, far less invasive procedure for these patients.

The procedure, called Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement or TAVR, allows physicians to mount an artificial valve on a catheter, which is inserted through a small incision in a patient’s groin area and up into the patient’s heart. Bellamah is the clinical coordinator of the TAVR program at the International Heart Institute of Montana, a part of St Patrick Hospital.

While TAVR is only currently approved for the highest risk cases, Bellamah said studies are currently being done to see the procedure approved for a more wider range of patients.

“We are very lucky to be in a pretty rural state and have access to this type of advanced care,” Bellamah said.

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41

heatstroke

some explanations

H

Heatstroke, or sunstroke, is the most serious heat-related disorder. Heatstroke is characterized by an internal body temperature of at least 104 degrees Fahrenheit. When an individual first begins to overheat, he or she can develop heat cramps. Failure to cool down leads to heat exhaustion, where one may experience nausea, extreme sweating, and faintness. If body temperature continues to rise, heatstroke occurs. It is important to seek immediate medical attention at this point; untreated heatstroke can result in permanent damage to the brain, kidneys, heart, and muscles, and can lead to death.

There are two types of heatstroke: exertional and non-exertional. Non-exertional heatstroke is generally

Risk Factors

Certain factors put you at increased risk of heatstroke: • Some health conditions • Genetics • Lack of Air Conditioning • Certain medications • Abrupt exposure to hot weather • Old age 42

caused by prolonged exposure to a hot environment that leads to a rise in body temperature, with or without physical activity. Exertional heatstroke is brought on by strenuous physical activity in a hot environment; those not accustomed to high temperatures are especially at risk.

Heatstroke and Seniors

One factor that increases an individual’s risk of heatstroke is old age. However, the aging process in and of itself is not responsible for heightened risk.

“The age card gets played way too much,” sighed Dr. Brent Ruby, director of the Center for Work Physiology and Exercise Metabolism at the University of Montana. Age is “not the primary driver” that increases one’s risk of heatstroke; “fitness level is a huge driver,” Ruby explained. “The more aerobically capable a person is, the more he or she is able to deal with heat stress.”

Unfortunately, Ruby noted, “as people age, they choose to be less active,” and inactivity leads to irregularities in ability to tolerate heat. “This means that even small amounts of work or exercise can lead to significant amounts of heat stress” Ruby cautioned.

Heatstroke Symptoms • High body temperature

• Headache

• Nausea and vomiting

• Confusion

• Flushed skin

• Racing heart rate

• Rapid breathing

• Unconsciousness

• Muscle cramps or weakness

by kaitlyn schaeffer

Heat Stroke Prevention Non-exertional Heatstroke

Non-exertional heatstroke comes on gradually as the result of being in a very hot environment for too long and not having enough fluid; these two factors combine to slowly but steadily increase the body’s core temperature. “For an older population that’s not very active, the non-exertional heat related illness creeps on sooner,” said Ruby. Seniors can combat increased risk for non-exertional heatstroke by working to increase their aerobic capacity, and making sure they stay hydrated and have cool, possibly air-conditioned places to rest.

Exertional Heatstroke

Exertional heatstroke occurs when an individual becomes overheated while performing physical activity in a hot environment. “When the body is active, it is producing heat,” Ruby explained. “You have to be able to offload this heat into the environment.” If an individual has difficulty offloading this heat, then the core temperature begins to rise and other heatrelated symptoms begin to manifest. Active seniors need to pay attention to the intensity of their activities; different types of activity require different amounts of exertion – gardening may not require as much effort as going for a brisk walk.

While properly hydrating is essential for preventing exertional heat stroke, “frequent breaks are the most important asset,” Ruby emphasized. “Most people say that hydration is key, and it’s not! You can drink enough water and still not be fully protected if you’re working too hard for your fitness level in the environment that you’re in.”

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What to do when you think someone may have heatstroke • Seek immediate medical help by calling 911 • Take steps to cool the person down: Remove excess clothing Move the person to a cooler area • Put ice packs or cool wet towels on the person’s neck, head, groin, and armpits

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43

weight loss

T

have you chosen a healthy plan?

Today, weight loss programs can be separated into two categories. Those that promise fast results through supplementation and calorie restriction and those that focus on improving overall health resulting in slower but more permanent results.

Now I understand that the majority of weight loss programs promote fast results with their sexy and appealing advertising with reports of people losing 20-30 pounds in a month, however, do you never hear about that same person who eventually quit the program and ended up gaining all of the weight back? Ha! Why would a company want to do that?

Well, the fact of the matter is the majority of these fast results programs fail for long term results, but because of their appeal and numerous options available we find ourselves jumping from one program to the next.

This brings me to the next question, what is

44

healthy weight loss? I would describe healthy weight loss as a “side effect� of making lifestyle choices that promotes health. As someone becomes healthier, they will lose weight! It may not be as rapid, but there is a better chance that it will be permanent. As a general rule, losing 1-3 pounds per week is considered healthy. In the first couple of weeks this amount may be elevated due to loss of excess water.

Another simple way to determine if weight loss is healthy is by measuring your waist to hip ratio.

Using a measuring tape, take two measurements: one around your belt line and another around your naval. Next divide the measurement taken at your waist (naval) and your hip (belt line). This ratio should decrease as you begin to lose weight! Seeing a decrease in this ratio show that you are losing inches of belly fat, which is a better indication of healthy weight loss than weight alone.

The best way to determine if your weight loss is healthy is to use a body composition analysis. This analysis will take into consideration measurements such as fat mass, lean mass, and body water. An

by dr. jeff engel

www.montana55.com

effective and healthy weight loss program should show a decrease in fat mass while lean (muscle mass) should increase or stay the same.

I often times talk to people who are on a different program who have lost substantial weight, but when they show me their body composition they have lost significant muscle mass. This is by no means healthy. Muscle weighs significantly more than fat and calorie restricted weight loss programs promote muscle loss. Since numerous studies have shown that one of the most reliable factors of longevity and quality of life is the preservation of muscle mass, this strategy is clearly unhealthy.

How can you tell if your weight loss program promotes healthy weight loss? I recommend looking at the following aspects.

1. Any dietary recommendations should not promote restriction of calories.

Restriction of calories results in starvation causing the body to attack its muscle stores. When this occurs your body will react by giving you irresistible cravings and you will end up gaining the weight right back.

2. Eat real food!

Many programs contain premade meals, bars, or supplements. Often times these contain preservatives, artificial ingredients, or processed foods. These typically act as hormone disruptors in the body and can actually promote weight gain as well as other ailments including cancer and diabetes.

3. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

The amount of propaganda for weight loss programs is absurd. The truth is lifestyle is the number one factor that determines your overall health and your ability to lose weight.

4. Find a program that takes the previous points into consideration and is supervised by a doctor, chiropractor, or nutritionist.

Another issue I see with weight loss programs is that many programs certify “coaches� through a variety of short educational courses. I went to school for more than 7 years. Decide who you really want to be helping you become healthier.

If you are currently participating in a weight loss program or considering one in the near future I encourage you to take this advice into consideration. Choosing the right program can be stressful, but it can also be very enjoyable when you know that you are making a change to become a healthier person.

Dr. Jeff Engel is with Optimum Health and Wellness in Missoula.

Summer 2013

45

back pain

46

does not need to be part of your life

B

by tammy lussy

Back pain is one of the most common medical complaints and affects eight out of ten people in their lifetime. Aging, trauma, injuries, and poor posture all contribute to back and neck conditions. What can you do?

Educating yourself is a good first step.

There are many natural changes that occur as the body ages. Changes in our backs are part of those alterations. According to experts, some of the changes occur in your bones, spine alignment, and cartilage. As the body matures, its ability to absorb calcium and vitamin D decrease resulting in a loss in bone density. The bones of the spine, called vertebrae, are one of the most susceptible body parts to these changes.

Additionally, as the vertebrae become less dense and the cushions of tissue (disks) between them lose fluid and become thinner, the spine becomes shorter. This is why many people become shorter as they age. (source: http://www.merckmanuals.com) Osteoarthritis is one of the most common diseases of aging and is the result of the cartilage that pads the joints changing with age and wear-and-tear. Osteoarthritis is a common cause of back pain. While it cannot be cured, there are treatments for this condition.

To fight back and neck pain, talk to a physician about treatment options. There are a wide range of therapeutic regimens, from

Aging is a natural process, but back pain doesn’t have to be an accepted part of that process.

www.montana55.com

prescription medication, physical therapy, exercise programs, and weight loss assistance, to surgical treatments. Many health-care centers provide a team approach to back pain. Some hospitals offer a full range of non-invasive/non-surgical treatments with a dedicated spine team in place at the facility.

Whether your situation requires precision surgical procedures, or combinations of therapeutic approaches, look for personalized patient care and customized treatment plans coordinated across the medical team for optimum recovery results.

Aging is a natural process, but back pain doesn’t have to be an accepted part of that process. Don’t let your back keep you from being active and independent. There’s no time like the present, be educated and proactive in your treatment.

Tammy Lussy, RN, works at Community Hospital of Anaconda.

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Summer 2013

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