Bozeman Buzz

A weekly look around the Gallatin Valley and beyond.

Issue 2 - The Hyalite plow deal and the Livingston wind

Hey, neighbor. It's Election Day, so first the useful part: polls in Gallatin, Park and Madison Counties close at 8pm, and Gallatin County lists Election Day registration until 8pm too. When the counting starts, results post on the Secretary of State's site at electionresults.mt.gov, and each county's elections page has its local races. I won't be calling anything. This week I've also got the deal that keeps Hyalite plowed, the reason Livingston is so windy, and a Main Street stretch where you could fill three nights without moving the car.

Results · Gallatin County · Park County · Madison County

What's in this one

1

Hot picks · Six-minute stories at the Ellen, Yellowstone's bison manager at Country Bookshelf and a Belfast songwriter at Tinworks.

2

Field guide · Hyalite Road stays open all winter because three groups split the plow bill. How the deal works and how to drive it.

3

The scrap · The best local posts I found this week, including two very polite shrubs.

4

What's building · Bridger Aerospace opens its Belgrade hangars Saturday, and MSU opens its research labs Monday.

5

Makers · A vintage Christmas market in a garden center barn, and a three-week clay class at MSU.

6

Deep cut · Why Livingston is so windy, according to the Weather Service.

7

Season · Ski movies at the Labor Temple, and a reminder that rifle season is on.

Hot picks

This weekend's best bets around here.

Three good nights on one block of Main Street this week. Park once, eat downtown, and pick your night.

Illustration of the Ellen Theatre marquee reading PechaKucha Night

Artwork: PechaKucha Bozeman (via The BoZone)

Bozeman · Tue Nov 3 and Wed Nov 4 · shows at 6:40pm MT · $9

PechaKucha Night 52 at the Ellen

Locals get 20 slides and 20 seconds per slide, and then they're done. This round at the Ellen Theatre, 17 W Main St, covers what goes into running the Gallatin County Fair, the logistics behind a Bobcat home game, how Livingston folks started a NeighborHole Putt Putt Day, what to look for in our night skies, and a "Rez Dog" adopted from Heart of the Valley. Same lineup both nights, so tonight works if you vote early. Tickets are $9 through the Ellen, and students pay $5.50 at the door. Six minutes and forty seconds is the perfect amount of time to hear about somebody else's dog. BoZone

Country Bookshelf event card for Tom Murphy and Chris Geremia, Yellowstone Bison, Thursday Nov 5 at 6pm

Artwork: Country Bookshelf

Bozeman · Thu Nov 5 · 6pm to 7:30pm MT · free, RSVP appreciated

Yellowstone Bison book night at Country Bookshelf

Chris Geremia, who the store says is Yellowstone's bison manager, and photographer Tom Murphy are at Country Bookshelf, 28 W Main St, with their book Yellowstone Bison: Return of the Last Wild Herd. There's a talk, a Q&A and a signing. It's general admission, so get there early. Can't make it? The store takes signed-copy requests by phone at (406) 587-0166, 24 hours ahead. Finally, a way to learn about bison that doesn't involve sitting in a bison jam. Country Bookshelf

Tinworks Presents Chris Boldt, Live in Montana

Artwork: Tinworks Art

Bozeman · Fri Nov 6 · doors 7pm, show 7:30pm MT · $20 advance, $25 door

Chris Boldt, Live in Montana, at Tinworks at Rialto

Chris Boldt is a songwriter from East Belfast who, per Tinworks, has spent the last two years living in Montana. He plays alt-country and folk at Tinworks at Rialto, 10 W Main St, with Sarah Knight opening. Buy ahead and you save five bucks. Two years in and he's already got a show called Live in Montana, which is more commitment than my sourdough starter ever got. Tinworks

Field guide

One useful guide to living around here.

A plowed road beside a creek through snowy evergreens, with a frozen reservoir and peaks ahead. Hatch illustration.

Bozeman · Hyalite Canyon Road, south of town in the Custer Gallatin National Forest

Who keeps Hyalite open all winter

Hyalite is where half the valley goes once there's snow on the ground: ice climbing, Nordic skiing, ice fishing, sledding, snowshoeing. What surprised me is that the road up there is a Forest Service road, so plowing it isn't the county's job. Gallatin County plows it anyway with its own trucks, and Friends of Hyalite and the Forest Service pay back 60% of the cost. Friends of Hyalite says plowing runs from mid-November through March 31.

The deal has limits. County roads come first, so a joint column from the district ranger, the county engineer and Friends of Hyalite calls Hyalite's plowing "irregular and often delayed." Friends of Hyalite says there's no plowing on weekends or evenings, so a Friday night storm is your problem Saturday morning. And there's no sand or salt, because Hyalite Creek and the reservoir supply a significant portion of Bozeman's drinking water. That means ice all winter, even right after a plow goes by.

So run snow or studded tires, drive slow, don't pass the plows, and tell someone your plan, because cell service is thin to none. Friends of Hyalite posts a road report on its Facebook page every Friday. The full guide has the whole deal, the parking-lot rules and what's up there once you make it.

Read the field guide

The scrap

The best stuff you missed in the area's social media world.

I scrolled so you could keep your thumbs warm. Shrubs, booms, elk and a pink sky over Livingston.

A pumpkin candy bowl on a stone wall beside two upright shrubs. Hatch illustration.

Illustration by Buzz Artist

Bozeman · a front step

"I have a message for these trick-or-treaters"

Two ghillie-suit trick-or-treaters respected the unattended candy bowl, and one reply just asks "What trick-or-treaters?" Reddit

via u/Ooopsallbeans

Brick rooftops and a water tower with a flock of birds bursting up. Hatch illustration.

Illustration by Buzz Artist

Bozeman · Beall St and around

"No boom"

r/Bozeman heard another boom Sunday night, and one neighbor would like you to know it never happened. Reddit

via u/thepostsmaker

A shuttle bus, a chairlift and a pointed peak. Hatch illustration.

Illustration by Buzz Artist

Big Sky

"What nicknames have you heard for places in and around Big Sky?"

Big Sky's nickname thread is great until somebody decides the "linguistic study" is the CIA. Reddit

via u/topherette

A hillside above a green pasture covered with elk, with on-screen text about Cottonwood Road

Cottonwood Rd, south of Bozeman

"Lots of elk around Bozeman Montana"

A hillside on Cottonwood Road is mostly elk, and he says the other side had four times this. Instagram

via @marcus.fergusson

A pink aurora glow over a dark horizon with distant lights and a power pole

Livingston

"Aurora is strong this morning"

The aurora glowed pink at 3:45am behind snow clouds, because Livingston never does one weather at a time. Bluesky

via @angelbrise.bsky.social

What's building

What's going up, getting paused, or getting fought over.

The planes that fight our summer fires spend the winter in Belgrade, and Saturday you can walk right up to them. Monday, MSU shows off the lab gear the rest of us can borrow.

Photo: Bridger Aerospace

Belgrade · Sat Nov 7 · starts at noon MT · free with a food donation

Bridger Aerospace opens its hangars

Bridger Aerospace flies aerial firefighting planes out of the Bozeman airport, and Saturday it opens up at 90 Aviation Ln in Belgrade. You can see the aircraft, meet the crews who fly and fix them, and hear how they work wildfires. Mo'Bowls and SodaWorx are bringing food and drinks. There are no tickets. Bridger asks each family to bring one non-perishable food item for MSU's Can the Griz drive. It's weather dependent, so check before you head out. I'm bringing a can of beans and way too many questions about flying into smoke. BoZone

A lab bench with a microscope, sample racks and a laptop by a window. Hatch illustration.

Illustration by Buzz Artist

Bozeman · Mon Nov 9 · 9am to 4pm MT · register on the MSU page

MSU opens its research centers for a day

MSU's Centers, Institutes and Core Facilities Day is in Inspiration Hall at Norm Asbjornson Hall on campus. The university's research centers show what specialized equipment and expertise people outside MSU can actually tap. If you run a small business, or you've ever wondered what goes on behind those lab windows, this is the day to ask. Registration is on the MSU page. Somewhere on that campus is a microscope you didn't know you could rent. MSU

Makers

Local makers nights and market tables worth hitting.

Holiday shopping starts in a barn this weekend. And if you'd rather make the gift, MSU has a clay class starting Wednesday.

White Barn Vintage Christmas Market flyer with the Nov 6 and Nov 7 hours and prices

Flyer: White Barn Vintage Market / Phoenix Garden Center

Bozeman · Fri Nov 6, 5pm to 8pm MT ($20) · Sat Nov 7, 9am to 3pm MT ($5) · kids 12 and under free

White Barn Vintage Christmas Market at Phoenix Garden Center

Local crafters, artisans and antique collectors fill Phoenix Garden Center, 1770 Cobb Hill Rd, with handmade, vintage and repurposed goods. Friday is the Sip & Shop preview with live music from Jody & the Woodflowers. Saturday is the cheaper market day. Leave the dog home, because the garden center says no dogs during market hours. I'm going for one ornament and coming home with a 1970s cake tin, like always. Phoenix Garden Center

Photo: MSU Academic Outreach

Bozeman · Wednesdays Nov 4, 11 and 18 · 6:15pm to 8:15pm MT · $160, materials included

Introduction to Relief Sculpture, an MSU night class

Three Wednesday nights on the MSU campus and you walk out with one 6 by 6 inch bas-relief tile you carved yourself. MSU Academic Outreach says it's beginner friendly with no experience needed, and Allison McGree, a professor of art education at MSU, teaches it. All materials are included, and parking is free. The first class is tomorrow, so sign up today. It's cheaper than therapy and you get a tile. MSU Academic Outreach

Deep cut

One local history leftover worth knowing.

Wind-bent grass and a fence line on a bench above a river valley, with mountains closing in. Hatch illustration.

Livingston · the north end of the Paradise Valley

Why Livingston is so windy

If you've driven east over the pass in winter, you know the moment. You come down toward Livingston and the truck starts to lean. Livingston's windy season is starting up again, and the National Weather Service in Billings has a name for it: a gap wind.

The short version: cold, heavy air piles up over the Yellowstone high country, low pressure to the north pulls on it, and warm air up top keeps it from spilling over the mountains. So it drains down the Paradise Valley. Where the valley pinches at the north end, the air squeezes through and speeds up, and Livingston sits right at that opening.

The official record at the Livingston airport is a 94 mph gust on Dec 21, 1978, and two of the Weather Service's top 10 gusts there came in November. The full story has the rest of the record book and how often the wind hits 50.

Read the deep cut

Season

What's in the air right now. Farm stands, orchards, peak harvest.

The lifts aren't spinning yet, so Friday we watch other people ski. And out on public land, it's rifle season.

Freeride Film Tour Bozeman poster with a skier in deep powder

Poster: Pangea Collective / Gallatin Labor Temple

Bozeman · Fri Nov 6 · doors 7pm, films 8pm to 10pm MT · $15, all ages

Freeride Film Tour at the Gallatin Labor Temple

Pangea Collective's tour brings this year's new ski and snowboard films to the Gallatin Labor Temple, 422 E Mendenhall St. There are athlete stories and gear giveaways, and the venue says you can meet some of the athletes and filmmakers. RSVP on the venue page. Watching strangers ski powder is how I cope until the snow shows up. Gallatin Labor Temple

A knit hat and vest hung on a fence post above sagebrush foothills. Hatch illustration.

Illustration by Buzz Artist

Gallatin, Park and Madison Counties · general deer and elk season through Sun Nov 29

Rifle season is on

FWP's general deer and elk rifle season runs through Sun Nov 29, and general antelope season wraps up this Sunday, Nov 8. If you're hiking or walking the dog on public land, something bright on you and the dog helps hunters see you. It isn't a rule for hikers, just good sense. Blaze orange goes with everything anyway. FWP seasons

See you at the M.

Bozeman Buzz · written from around here · Tuesday mornings

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