In June, seven enthusiastic birders joined me for my first Off the Beaten Path in Magical Montana tour. From the towering Bitterroot Mountains to the sweeping plains around Great Falls, we tallied 152 bird species while enjoying beautiful landscapes, vibrant wildflowers, and abundant wildlife. Birding highlights for participants included memorable looks at American Dipper, Tundra Swan, Lewis’s Woodpecker, Upland Sandpipers (with chicks!), and Burrowing and Short-Eared Owls, to name a few, but we were also excited to encounter black bears, elk, badger, prairie dogs, and even a prairie rattlesnake.

While I didn’t plan the tour with the idea of incorporating the history of the Lewis and Clark and the Corps of Discovery, I realized after reading Stephen Ambrose’s Undaunted Courage this spring that the tour route would overlay with several places that Lewis and Clark mentioned in their journals during their quest to reach the Pacific Ocean, places inhabited by indigenous Americans for thousands of years before American settlers set foot in them. The tour itinerary presented a unique opportunity not only to incorporate a bit of American history, but also for participants to consider what it would be like to travel across, or live in, these often harsh and unforgiving places without modern transportation and conveniences.