The last road into the park and who built the M

Gardiner · North Entrance to Northeast Entrance (Cooke City and Silver Gate), by way of Mammoth, Tower Junction and Lamar Valley

The one Yellowstone road that stays open all winter

Sunday, Nov 1, most of Yellowstone closed to cars for the winter. The West, South and East entrances shut, and so did nearly every park road. One road stays open year-round, weather permitting: from the North Entrance at Gardiner through Mammoth Hot Springs, Tower Junction and Lamar Valley to the Northeast Entrance at Silver Gate and Cooke City. For the next few months, if you want to see the park from a car seat, this is the road.

November is a good time for the drive, because the summer crowd is gone and you can see a long way across Lamar. People set up spotting scopes out there hoping for wolves. Know before you go: the park says the Gardner River High Bridge, about half a mile southeast of Mammoth, is down to one lane with waits of up to 15 minutes through Nov 24. Check road status first, keep a full tank, and pack cold-weather gear, because services are thin out there in winter.

The park's rule on wildlife is 25 yards from bison and elk and 100 yards from bears and wolves. If bison are on the road, stay in the car and wait them out. Past Cooke City the road is closed to cars in winter, so it's an out-and-back. The drive home is the same valley at a different hour, and that's the best part. The full guide has the route piece by piece, plus the phone numbers and links worth saving.

I scrolled through way too many local posts so you don't have to. These are the ones that got an actual laugh out of me.

It's Election Day, so this week what's getting built is mostly decided at the ballot box. And Monday, the city shows its draft plan for Bozeman Creek downtown.

Gallatin County, Bozeman and Madison County · today, Tue Nov 3 · polls 7am to 8pm MT

What the local questions on today's ballot would change

Besides the races and three statewide measures (CI-132, CI-133 and I-194), here's the local stuff in plain English. All of Gallatin County gets one question: should elected county offices like commissioner, sheriff and county attorney switch from partisan to nonpartisan elections? A yes switches them, and a no keeps them partisan. Bozeman voters choose between keeping the city's 2006 charter or adopting the amended charter the city's Local Government Study Commission proposed this year. They also get three sub-options that only count if the amended charter passes. Those cover a four-member or six-member commission, at-large or ward seats, and who votes for a ward seat. Madison County voters choose between a new charter form of government and keeping the current commission form. Their sub-options set the board at three or five commissioners, with four-year or six-year terms. Gallatin County's page lists Election Day registration from 7am to 8pm. Your exact wording is on the sample ballot. Gallatin County elections · Gallatin sample ballots · Madison County · Park County

Bozeman · Mon Nov 9 · 4:30pm to 7:30pm MT · free

Bozeman Creek's draft plan gets its open house

The city has spent the last year collecting ideas for the stretch of Bozeman Creek that runs through downtown, and Monday at City Hall, 121 N Rouse Ave, it shows the draft Bozeman Creek Vision Plan. The draft covers flood mitigation, new creekside parks downtown, better connections along the creek and some future policy ideas. The design team will be there to talk it through. It's a drop-in, so you can swing by after work and still make dinner. Engage Bozeman

Friday is tiny paintings with $5 opening bids at the Baxter. Saturday afternoon, Belgrade gets hand-cranked picture shows with live music.

Bozeman · Fri Nov 6 · 5:30pm to 8:30pm MT · free, no ticket

Minis & More, Bozeman Art Museum's miniature art auction

BAM's fourth annual mini auction is at the Baxter Hotel on Main, and this year it's "Minis & More," so some full-size paintings are mixed in with the tiny ones. Every piece starts at $5 and goes up in $5 steps, bidding runs online, and lots close at 8:30pm. A lot of the artists will be in the room. If you want to scout first, the preview is today, Tue Nov 3, noon to 5pm at the museum, 2612 W Main St, Suite B. I've already set my max bid, and I'm already lying to myself about it. Bozeman Art Museum

Belgrade · Sat Nov 7 · 2pm and 3:30pm MT · free, reservations required

Crankie Fest: Out of the Box

A crankie is an illustrated scroll inside a box that gets hand-cranked past an opening while someone tells the story. Random Acts of Silliness brings its fourth Crankie Fest to the Belgrade Library and Community Center, 205 E Main St, with puppets, odd stories and live original music. The shows are best for ages 5 and up, and you need a reservation even though they're free. One of the musicians says his favorite instrument this year is the toy clarinet, and that's all I needed to hear. Random Acts of Silliness

Bozeman · the M, on the lower slope of Mount Baldy at the south end of the Bridgers

Why there's an M on the mountain

Every issue of this thing ends with "See you at the M," so on day one I figured I owed you the story of whose M it is.

I care because a bunch of college kids built it. In the fall of 1915, sophomores from the Montana State College class of 1918 picked a spot on Baldy you could see from campus and town, staked out the letter, and spent a day hauling limestone up that steep slope by hand. They ate dinner around a bonfire in Bridger Canyon after.

They came back on May 8, 1916, and whitewashed it with water and lime hauled up the same hill. The 1916 student paper and the 1918 yearbook both put it at 240 feet tall and 100 feet across, though MSU's own M page today says 250, so the sources differ.

Students have kept it white ever since, and the full story has the frog-pond tug-of-war that came first and the helicopter that showed up a century later.

The snow isn't here yet, but the gear is. Saturday is ski swap day at the fairgrounds, and over at Story Mill the porch pumpkin finally gets what's coming to it.

Bozeman · Sat Nov 7, 10am to 6pm (special early entry 8am to 10am) · Sun Nov 8, 10am to 2pm MT · Sat $5, Sun $2 until noon

Bridger Ski Foundation's 58th Ski Swap

BSF fills the Gallatin County Fairgrounds, 901 N Black Ave, with alpine, Nordic, snowboard and backcountry gear, and the foundation says that's more than 10,000 items. A quarter of sales go to BSF's ski programs and free community trails. Saturday entry is $5 in cash or Venmo, and kids under 12 get in free. Sunday is $2 until noon and free after that. Selling? Register your items online by today, Nov 3, for $1 apiece (it's $3 after), then drop them off Friday. All sales are final, so try the boots on. I'll be there Sunday at 12:01, acting like I'm not just there for free entry. Bridger Ski Foundation

Bozeman · Sat Nov 7 · starts 10am MT · free, all ages

Happy Trash Can's 11th Pumpkin Smash

Two spots this year: Story Mill Community Center, 600 Bridger Dr, on the east side, and Bozeman Sports Park, 4600 Baxter Ln, on the west. Bring your pumpkins and smash, stomp or toss them, and Happy Trash Can composts every one locally so they skip the landfill. My jack-o'-lantern has been slumping on the step for a week, so honestly this is a mercy. BoZone