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B Bar Gazette – April 2025
B Bar Gazette Issue #23 April 2025 Hello friends of B Bar, At 6,600 feet in Tom Miner Basin, April is a month of contrasts - one day offering the warm promise of summer, the next reminding us that winter's grip hasn't fully loosened. While patches of grass emerge beneath melting snow, our mountains hold a generous gift - snowpack measuring ~113% of median water equivalent. Like nature's savings account, this moisture will soon transform into rushing creeks, vibrant meadows, a...
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B Bar Gazette – March 2025
B Bar Gazette Issue #22 March 2025 Hello friends of B Bar, March roared in like a sun-drenched grizzly this year at B Bar Ranch. As 150 guests gathered for the inaugural Ramshorn Classic, Mother Nature delivered mid-fifties temperatures and brilliant sunshine that transformed our winter wonderland into something resembling a June day on Beartooth Pass. The abundant snowpack held firm, preventing mud while providing ideal skiing conditions. Ramshorn and Twin Peak as the backd...
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B Bar Gazette – February 2025
B Bar Gazette Issue #21 February 2025 Field Notes: February at B BarIn Tom Miner Basin, where our 9,115 acres meet Yellowstone's northern border, the land tells its own story. Our recent work with range, forest, livestock, and wildlife expert Matt Ricketts shows just how rich this place is - grizzlies and wolves share the high country with mountain bluebirds western tanagers and white bark pines, while elk raise their calves in spring meadows, moose browse winter willows, and wo...
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B Bar Gazette – January 2025
B Bar Gazette Issue #20 January 2025 Hello friends of B Bar, When Maryanne first glimpsed Tom Miner Basin in the winter of 1978, the B Bar Ranch was accessible only by snowmobile. That record-setting winter painted a vivid picture of life at 6,600 feet. The county wouldn't plow the road for years to come. Originally seeking a small getaway spot in the Greater Yellowstone area, Maryanne found herself drawn to something far more expansive. As she viewed the land from above in her...
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B Bar Gazette – December 2024
B Bar Gazette Issue #19 December 2024 Hello friends of B Bar, As winter nights lengthen in Tom Miner Basin, we find ourselves embracing both rest and purpose. These fifteen hours of darkness offer time for stargazing, reading by the fire, sharing meals, and finding peace in the quiet season. Daylight brings its own rhythm - tending cattle, preparing accommodations, maintaining equipment, and grooming our cross-country trails. As Mark Rose trades his saddle for a snowmobile, the s...
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B Bar Gazette – November 2024
B Bar Gazette Issue #18 November 2024 Hi B Bar friends,I'm writing to you from our ranch's Great Room as snow clouds blanket the upper Tom Miner Basin. On our mountain tops, snow is here to stay, establishing a foundational layer of our winter snowpack that will nourish the soil come springtime. As the days grow shorter, nature embraces winter’s quiet as we prepare for another season of sharing this remarkable place beginning December 15th. To celebrate a successful gues...
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B Bar Gazette – October 2024
B Bar Gazette Issue #17 October 2024 Hello friends,As the aspen leaves flutter in golden hues and the cool wind whispers of winter's approach, Tom Miner Basin finds itself in a moment of transition. The land breathes with the rhythm of change, a sacred dance between seasons that we're privileged to witness. Jackson's flight over the basin revealed a tapestry of beige and brown, punctuated by the vibrant yellow of turning aspens and emerald oases of irrigated pastures. From ...
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B Bar Gazette – September 2024
B Bar Gazette Issue #16 September 2024 Hello friends of B Bar, As we ascended the Elk Loop trail on Headquarters Ridge, heading north toward Upper Reed Meadow, our group of hikers eagerly quickened their pace to reach the best wildlife viewing spots. From our vantage point, we were thrilled to spot 13 grizzly bears with the naked eye, binoculars, and a spotting scope. Despite being lifelong Montanans, none of the 11 guests attending the Mountain Mindfulness Yoga Retreat had e...
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B Bar Gazette – August 2024
B Bar Gazette Issue #15 August 2024 A dreary tone set by thick smoke clouds the Paradise Valley Floor. Fumes from fires across Montana have blown in over the last few weeks. One was the Shank Basin Fire, a 345-acre burn that Mihail was called on to help contain as a neighbor in Big Timber. Adding to the moody afternoon, a storm front from the West begins to plop acorn-sized raindrops on my windshield. I pray that this hyper-localized storm reaches the active burns in desperate nee...
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B Bar Gazette – July 2024
B Bar Gazette Issue #14 July 2024 Howdy B Bar friends and family, The drive up Tom Miner Creek road cuts through a purple sea of lupine. A slight breeze gently sways the flowers like tides pulled by the moon. Recently, under a magnificent starscape, the new moon brought about the three-week-long increase of insect life that Montanans anticipate each year. Remembering the bone-chilling temperatures from last winter, we’re grateful for the warmth of 90-degree weather...
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