In this year’s Travel Issue, we have tried to push deep into the unexpected, or even uncomfortable, corners of the West. These are not vacation stories, necessarily. But they are travel stories. They are as much inner journeys as outer, all prompted by the unique features of our great region, places often forgotten or ignored.
Raptors in flight
Enduring relationships begin with encounters.
Relics of Montana’s everyday past
Abstract photos offer an unsentimental beauty.
Sportsmen prepare for battle; NOAA matters; ICE raids
SPORTSMEN ON THE PUBLIC-LANDS DEFENSIVEIn a legislative season full of threats to public lands at the state and federal level, hook-and-bullet groups have mobilized to fight for the landscapes they value. Having convinced Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, to withdraw support for public lands transfer bill HR 621, opponents of the legislation are working to oppose…
The Yaak Valley’s ‘Dirty Shame’
In the infamous Montana saloon, a lesson about home in harsh places.
There and back again
Many years ago, I traveled abroad for the first time, to visit a high school friend from Rock Springs, Wyoming, who had been stationed by the U.S. Army in Germany. On that trip, I nearly froze to death in the Bavarian Alps, lost my passport at a train station, and fell briefly in love with…
Together we pause
Sometimes we need to stop — to think about the ways we wreak havoc in the world.
Wait — this land is my land?
A Southerner revels in the access of Western federal lands.
Your uncomfortable Western corners
Readers respond with unique encounters and uneasy revelations in the region.
A visit from our Bulgarian bureau chief
At the HCN headquarters, young poets and seasoned reporters.
An expedition through the Edgelands
This landscape isn’t always beautiful — but that’s what makes it loveable.
Backpacking the blast zone
At Mount St. Helens, they never say ‘recovery.’
Cowboys with surfboards
How Hanalei, Hawaii, reflects small Western towns.
Go North, young woman
In a place no one can see you, you can see yourself more clearly.
Growing up in timber country
A writer returns to the old-growth forest of her youth.
OR show in CO?; runaway drone; an unexpected backcountry plunge
Mishaps and mayhem from around the region.