30 Great Places: Lake Tahoe region

Region: WestActivities: FishingSpecies: Lahontan cutthroat, rainbow and brown trout Where: The crystalline jewel of the northern Sierra Nevadas, Lake Tahoe, is fed by 63 creeks, yet only one river flows out—the Truckee. Leaving the northwest corner of the lake at Tahoe City’s Fanny Bridge (so named for the posteriors of tourists gaping at the huge…

30 Great Places: Montana’s Smith River

Region: Northern RockiesActivities: rafting; fishing, hiking campingSpecies: Rainbow and brown trout Where: The Smith River flows some 120 miles in a northwesterly direction through west-central Montana, emptying into the Missouri southwest of Great Falls. Much of the river borders private lands, but a 60-mile section that flows through Smith River State Park (beginning near White…

Walking the Talk

Photo by Robin Kadet Petey jumped in my lap within moments of sitting down. Phil Monahan rescued the little dog when he found him walking alone down a highway. A few things stand out about the Orvis offices in Manchester, Vermont. First, as Petey demonstrated, their offices are very pet-friendly.Second, their street address is “Conservation…

30 Great Places: Seedskadee

Region: Rocky MountainsActivities: Hunting and FishingSpecies: Brown, rainbow and cutthroat trout; ducks; deer; pronghorn Where: The Seedskadee rests near the southwest corner of Wyoming, in the w estern shadow of the Wind River Range, and northwest of the town of Rock Springs. Most of the refuge protects riparian, wetland and upland shrub habitat adjoining 36…

30 Great Places: Rio Grande del Norte

Region: Southern RockiesActivities: Hiking, fishing, rafting, hunting, mountain biking, campingSpecies: Rainbow and brown trout Where: The Rio Grande Del Norte National Monument is a swath of more than 240,000 acres of protected public land in Taos County, in north central New Mexico. Much of the land abuts about 50 miles of its eponymous river. The…

Voices from the River: A meal from the wild

Chicken of the woods mushrooms. Photo by the author. By Chris Hunt A little over a year ago, I stood up to my thighs amid a thick run of pink salmon in a remote, rainforest stream on Alaska’s Prince of Wales Island, trying like hell to tempt one of the few early cohos that were…