One of the great benefits of living and working in a resort town like Big Sky, Montana, is the off-season.  After the cross country trails at the ranch clear out and the lifts at the resorts close down, all of the year round residents get the chance to relax, recharge and recreate before the summer season is in full swing.  While most take this opportunity to seek out warmer weather or sandy beaches, others choose to chance the unpredictable spring weather of the Rockies and explore the various world-class trout streams around Montana.  After working a year-round

Looking for the perfect meal for Mother's Day? Enjoy this recipe created by Chef George here at Lone Mountain Ranch - Braised Bison Short Ribs with Kamut and Morel Mushrooms While Morel mushrooms may be quite expensive, with a few quick google searches you can go out and forage your own!  With the arrival of warmer weather and waning snow, Mother’s Day Weekend is the perfect time of year to start hunting for these earthy, delicious treats.  Morels especially like to grow where there has been a forest fire within the last year.  Make

Spring Time Crust Cruising! Bears: 2; Elk on the ranch: 60+ the Small Rag Horn Bull with only 1 Antler; Mule Deer: 10 or so; Moose: 4; Bison: hundreds of cows and newborn calves!  This is my total for the day in the Yellowstone ecosystem.  Yes, the day, not the year.   The local wildlife is coming out of winter’s deep freeze and enjoying the sunshine, sprouting grasses, and the longer days just like me.  Robins, mountain bluebirds, and red tail hawks returning to Big Sky always tell me that spring is here. Don’t get me wrong-I

We are learning that just because the calendar says “Spring” does not mean our Montana weather will cooperate.  We’ve had 10 days of snow and you can still ski our upper trails.  But summer is coming! Also coming on July 3rd is:  “A fiery horse with the speed of light, a cloud of dust and a hearty "Hi Yo Silver!" Return with us now to those thrilling days of yesteryear. The ______ rides again!”  If you can fill in the blanks, I can pretty well guess your age.  From September 1949 to

Our Interview with Lisa Marie, new Ranch OYA Manager We were fortunate to spend some time with our new OYA Manager, Lisa Marie Wirchansky, who has been at the Ranch for 13 seasons.  She has helped run the horse program and the sleigh ride program over the past 9 years and is very excited about her new role here at the Ranch. Tell us a little about what the kids are going to be doing this summer. There will be so many activities, that I am certain there will be something for everyone.  This summer, we have our ropes course,

It was the grandparents’ idea.  After staying at Lone Mountain Ranch during the winter, they knew that they wanted to bring the family.  We were excited to join them on a vacation and agreed to try out Lone Mountain Ranch in the summertime.  Boy, were we in for a surprise! All three generations had an equally fantastic time.  We were able to enjoy so many activities together: fishing, horseback riding, canoeing, hiking, white-water rafting, dancing, and more.  On the days when we had separate activities planned, we all knew that we would meet later

Living in Montana provides amazing opportunities to explore the natural world in which we live.  We are also fortunate enough to have many local farmers and ranchers nearby that provide us with our food.  In an effort to learn more about where our food comes from, we contacted Teton Valley Creamery in Driggs, ID to find out about their cheese making operation since we use it in our beet and raspberry salad. We contacted Lindsay Klaunig with the Teton Valley Creamery and here is her story: I grew up in the suburbs, so when I started volunteering at

As our snow pack levels hover around the 100% mark, we are gearing up for another fantastic fishing season in southwest Montana!  If our spring weather and the run-off cooperate we should have excellent dry fly fishing by the middle of June on all of our local fisheries.  Even before that we should have some great Midge, Beatis and March Browns hatches on our rivers around the area.  Here are a couple of maps that show the snow pack for the area: http://nris.mt.gov/Nrcs/snow/watersheds/ShowMap.asp?month=3&year=2013 http://www.wrcc.dri

A group of students were asked to list what they thought were the present “Seven Wonders of the World.”  Their list, with some disagreement, was as follows:  Egypt’s Great Pyramids, Taj Mahal, Grand Canyon, Panama Canal, Empire State Building, Saint Peter’s Basilica, China’s Great Wall.  There was one girl who was having some trouble with her list.  The teacher asks if she would mind telling the class what she had.  The girl hesitated, then read:  “I think the Seven Wonders of the World are: 

The saying goes”a picture is worth a thousand words.” That’s exactly how I feel about Yellowstone National Park. If you’ve never been into the Park in the winter season, put it on your list of Big Sky adventures and you won’t regret it. Alpenguides Snow coach is the original coach company that started in the Park in the 1950’s.The bug-like Bombardier coach is the real deal and their guides are the best, friendly and very knowledgeable. When we go to YNP, we often plan to do a back country