It’s been a wonderfully wet and green summer here in the San Luis Valley. I’m hearing regularly these days that, even in the north end of the valley, “it’s as green as I can …

Looking back over my lifetime, I can recall some first dates I’ve had, and I must admit that I really failed in selecting what to do. If you look online there are always suggestions of things to do on a first date and all of them seem to require a substantial outlay of cash.  As a reader of this column, you know that Ol’ Dutch has that old Scottish blood that makes us tighter than bark on a tree, and my first dates suffered because of it.  

More frequent wildfires in the West can turn hiking through beautiful, high-elevation country into a dangerous game for hikers. In July, seven friends from Idaho, Colorado, Washington and Montana took off for a week of backpacking in southwestern Montana. Everything went off without a hitch their first night. A rainstorm passed through but it wasn’t a big deal. 

It is with tremendous sadness that I must tell you that my dearest friend and companion, Mr. Cooper, has passed to the great beyond. He was my constant companion and a friend like no other, so my missing him is the greatest understatement of the century.

I suppose it’s the human thing on a hiking trail to acknowledge one another when passing. But on a well-used trail, the same comments come up time and time again.

This past weekend Ol’ Dutch got a coveted invitation for a bear hunting trip down into the storied State of New Mexico around Cimarron, which in name alone has always been connected to stories …

Tim Sheehy, the Republican seeking to unseat Montana Democratic Senator Jon Tester, is a business executive born and raised out of state. That same description applies to Troy Downing, a Republican running for one of Montana’s two Congressional seats. Same for Montana’s Republican Governor Greg Gianforte and his challenger, Democrat Ryan Busse­.

Readers will remember Colorado Division of Wildlife’s Tom Beck, our state bear biologist working at the time citizens voted to no longer send dog packs out to chase bears in spring, sparing cubs and Colorado from unfair, unethical practices.

You don’t have to have lived as long as Ol’ Dutch to have heard the phrase “Is your cup half empty or half full?” It’s a storied line used by psycho-babble people of …

The coal mining industry reacted with outrage when the Bureau of Land Management recently announced plans to stop issuing new coal leases on the eastern plains of Wyoming and Montana. From its headquarters in Washington, D.C., the National Mining Association predicted “a severe economic blow to mining states and communities,” while the industry’s political allies likened the move to declaring “war” on coal communities.

Voters in November will again be asked to become biologists and decide if all hunting of mountain lion, bobcat, and lynx should be forever prohibited.  If you want the pros at Colorado Parks and Wildlife, many of whom hold advanced degrees in wildlife biology, to manage these cat species, then you should vote no!

Just when we thought the threat of the latest variant of COVID-19 was not much of a threat, cases have been growing again across the San Luis Valley and nationally, particularly since early July, …

Ol’ Dutch comes from a long line of rock collectors so it only stands to reason that he would also find pleasure in studying and finding rocks of different kinds. Rockhounding started way back …

The goal of the Wilderness Act, now celebrating its 60th birthday, was to set aside a small proportion of public land in America from human intrusion. Some places, the founders said, deserved to be free from motorized, mechanized and other intrusions to protect wildlife and wild lands.

All during the time I was growing up and continuing into adulthood, I’ve enjoyed reading a newspaper. Even in High School I would spend my lunch hour reading two of the larger papers in the state instead of eating lunch.

It's hard to believe but the summer is half over for most of us, and more so, I guess, for those who have kids in school.

The sun flashed through the rustling aspens as we quietly hiked a short downhill section of the trail. Reaching the bottom, the sky appeared a dazzling blue above the ridgeline on the short uphill slope in front of us. We anticipated an amazing view as a little spring in our step pushed us up the last 50 feet of the slope.

This month finds Ol’ Dutch and Miss Trixie still in Texas building on the house, going to grandkids’ ball games, selling cattle and yes, you guessed it, seeing the total eclipse of the Sun.

This month finds Ol’ Dutch and Miss Trixie still in Texas building on the house, going to grandkids’ ball games, selling cattle and yes, you guessed it, seeing the total eclipse of the Sun.

It appears that Spring has sprung at least in Texas where Miss Trixie and Ol’ Dutch have taken to spending their winters of late. You always can tell when it's close as the Big Box Stores load up on flowers and vegetables by the pallet load. It must be lucrative as the dickens as those same box doors often catch a late frost which kills every plant they have in stock. Regardless of the risks, the stores all rush and hurry to be the first with tomato and pepper plants on the shelves.