The Story Behind the "M"

The "M" is 620 feet above the Missoula Valley floor. It is 125' feet long and 100' feet wide. University of Montana forestry students cut the switchbacks into the side of the hill in the early 1900's. The first "M" was assembled out of whitewashed rocks in 1909, and given a fresh coat of paint by freshmen every year, until 1968, when all those rocks were cemented together with concrete.

Photo by Nelson Kenter, kenterphotography.com

Archive for the ‘Blogs’ Category

Get Outta Town…

By ELKE GOVERTSEN. Sometimes the very best way to love a place is to get the heck outta there. This is consistently the case for me with Missoula.... more

Maiden Missoula Product Review: Eventyr Woodworking

By LEAH LEWIS. Maiden Missoula Product Review: JEWELRY ORGANIZER. I am so lucky to know so many awesome crafty gals who make very cool jewelry. I have a few favorite pieces that have been made for me or gifte... more

How to REALLY Save on Your Summer Utility Bills

By PAUL WHEATON. Learn more than 20 great tips to save energy and save on summer utility bills too. Cooking, cooling, lighting tips and more -- all for REAL utility bill savings.... more

Bike Me Out to the Ballpark

By RYAN NEWHOUSE:This week marks the opening of the Missoula Osprey baseball season, and I’m here to tell you how to get some crazy good deals on seats. All it takes is a riding your bike and joining the Miss... more

What’s Happening This Week

IT'S MAKE IT MISSOULA MONDAY. Here's what's happening the week of 6/20/11.... more

10 Ways to ‘Save-It’ Without Coupons

By ERIN TURNER. Many people just don’t have the interest or the time to clip coupons or match them up to the various sales, yet they are still interested in saving money. Guess what? It is possible to still... more

Gift Guide for Liquid-Loving, Missoula Dads

By RYAN NEWHOUSE. This Sunday is Father’s Day. If the man you are recognizing is anything like me, a gift that honors his devotion to the art of imbibing is warranted. So below I’ve crafted a short list of ... more

Missoula Back-of-the-Pack Runners Rock n’ Roll

By PAM GARDINER. Runners were arranged in order of pace, the racehorses and the plowhorses. We were running the Rock 'n Roll Half Marathon. I asked myself, "Why have I done 13 miles 13 times, and why am I look... more

Water Damage: 8 Ways to Dry Out and Move On

Thanks to heavy snow pack and a wet spring, many of our Missoula neighbors have been dealing with water. While severe cases of flooding will most likely require professional assistance, homeowners can take step... more

Missoula Restaurant Owners & Chefs:
Abe Risho – The Silk Road

By BOB ZIMORINO. I met Abe Risho (The Silk Road) on a Thursday morning in his restaurant kitchen where he was dismantling a stove to replace a thermal coupler. Like so many restaurant owners, Abe understands t... more

Ben Afraid of Thunder

ALL NEW blog by PAM VOTH--DOGTOWN MISSOULA. I approached slowly, and beckoned. He came towards me. “Do you want to go for a ride?” All dogs have magic words that make them happy. Being a Missoula dog, I gu... more

Preventing Shoulder Injuries When Kayaking

By JASON SHREDER. Kayaking is a demanding sport regardless of how hard you paddle. Whether you paddle everyday or you’re just a weekend warrior, we have to take care of our shoulders. The kayakers that are ... more

Missoula’s Clark Fork River Market

By KRISTEN LEE-CHARLSON. This weekend I hit the motherlode at the Clark Fork River Market. My bags were overflowing - the coolers too. Even with all of this rain and little sunshine, our farmers and ranchers ha... more

Maiden Missoula Product Review: Big Dipper Ice Cream

By LEAH LEWIS. Maiden Missoula Product Review: BIG DIPPER ICE CREAM. If summer ever decides to stick around Missoula for more than a few hours, you know the first place everyone in town will run to is Big Dip... more

A Sterling Horse Husband

By SUZANNE MILLER. Being smitten with horses is akin to being plagued with a disease–-a disease of obsession. Like most married horsewomen, this disease called horses has further complicated an already compli... more

Missoula Running Buddies

By JENNIFER SAUER. Last year, I suffered one of the most tragic fates to befall a runner: My training partner moved away. A new job took him away a few weeks after we ran our second marathon together. I knew t... more

20+ Things to Do for Kids Visiting Missoula

By PAUL WHEATON. Paul has family coming to visit. He could go on and on about how great Missoula is, and this post lists some of his top attractions!... more

What’s Happening This Week

IT'S MAKE IT MISSOULA MONDAY. Here's what's happening the week of 6/13/11.... more

Building an Urbanite Retaining Wall or Path

By LISA HENSLEY. As anyone who has had to buy retaining wall stones can tell you, the cost of those projects adds up very quickly. But there’s one way to get low walls, paths and patios for nothing but sweat ... more

Drugstore Couponing 101

By ERIN TURNER. Before I started couponing, I hardly ever set foot in a Walgreens or a CVS. Now, I am a frequent shopper at both of these stores and have a true love affair with them! These are the stores whe... more

Missoula Restaurant Owners & Chefs:
Adam Belarde – The Montana Clubs,Hoagieville & Zimorino’s

By BOB ZIMORINO “Owners and Chefs” is a restaurant section with a twist. To fill either position, chefs and owners must be able to wear many hats: Cook, server, human resource manager, repair person, neg... more

Missoula Dogs About Town

ALL NEW blog by Danielle Lattuga--DOGTOWN MISSOULA. I’ve never known life in Montana without dogs. At 22, I drove a U-haul from Vermont, my white, blue-eyed, punk rock husky riding shotgun. (He was punk rock... more

The Season for Single-Track Minds

By RYAN NEWHOUSE: Missoula--are you ready for some mountain biking? As our very wet spring starts to give way to sunny, summery skies it can only mean that those beautifully-carved single-track trails in the h... more

Maiden Missoula Product Review: Happy Hoppers

By LEAH LEWIS. Maiden Missoula Product Review: Happy Hoppers! What's a Happy Hoppers you ask? It's a slip-cover for your Growler that protects your brew from light to avoid ‘skunk beer syndrome’. ... more

Missoulians Appreciate the Prefontaine Classic!

By ANDERS BROOKER. This year’s Prefontaine Classic in Eugene, OR was full of Olympic stars and world record holders! If you're a track and field fan, there's not a better venue or a better experience in the ... more

Caffe Dolce: Where Price and Passion Meet

By RYAN NEWHOUSE. Ninety-nine bottle of beer on the wall, they say, but at Caffe Dolce it’s wine you’ll see, beautifully arranged on the wall behind the counter. Under the guidance of Jerod Peitsmeyer, Caff... more

Time to Lose It On the Lochsa River

By JASON SHREDER. The Lochsa hands down is one of the best rivers in the world and I don’t know of anyone out there that would disagree. It has miles and miles of class III-IV rapids, epic surf waves, sweet ... more

June Photo Caption Contest

Photo Caption Contest: Give us your best photo caption and you'll be entered into a drawing to win a Missoula print by Mark Mesenko. Enter to win by Sunday, June 5th 2011.... more

Homesteading with the Coupon Queen

By ERIN TURNER. Some of you asked me to share about my family’s “homesteading” activities. It’s a deviation from couponing but it does dovetail with our frugal lifestyle. And since I’m intensely foc... more

Missoula Gardens = Personality, Plants & Space

By BILL CARAS. The best gardens in western Montana were not created overnight -- they've evolved over time. These gardens often reflect the owner’s personality and the plants and spaces within them have their... more

Gaited, Not Gated

By DANIELLE LATTUGA. “I don’t do gates, I gait.” I imagine this is just one of the things Smoke would like to tell me while we’re out on the trail. Ideally, he would tell me this in the context of a co... more

I Think I’m Gonna Like This Town

ALL NEW blog by PAM VOTH--DOGTOWN MISSOULA. The first time I met Missoula was exactly 3 weeks before I moved here permanently. My plan was just an out-and-back. Just attend the International Wildlife Film Fest... more

The National Bison Range at Moiese

By MARGIE EWING. The gray rainy Missoula skies makes one wonder if spring will ever get here. Fortunately for zoo town residents the National Bison Range is the perfect place to find spring in all its glory a... more

Norman’s Got Nothing on Missoula

By ELKE GOVERTSEN. The nostalgia of our town is also its future. The ability to take people back to their childhoods, to a time when the grasses were hip-height and adventure called from right outside your door... more

Run Wild Missoula Creates Running Friendships

By EVA DUNN-FROEBIG. I witnessed a friendship influenced by running a few weeks ago at the Run Wild Missoula Trail Running Class—all because I was late.... more

Sunday Streets Missoula

By RYAN NEWHOUSE: Back for its second year, Sunday Streets Missoula will kindly take over N. Higgins Avenue this Sunday (June 5) from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and open it to people-powered activities. Launched last S... more

Natural Creations: Spectacular Summer Grilling Sauces

By LEAH LEWIS Summertime. We grill. Our dining room table becomes a drop-off for swimsuits and soccer balls and we move all kitchen and eating activities outside. I have harbored a not-so-secret crush o... more

Going the Distance

By CC THE TRAINED MONKEY. So here it is, June, already. Not much happens in June. There are no federal holidays. Lots of weddings though. You always hear people talking about June brides. Is that supposed ... more

Getting Fired – The Charlie Sheen Guide

By JENNIFER SHRYOCK. So the first lesson we learn about career transition from Charlie Sheen is one you already knew. No matter how good you are at what you do or even how much money you earn for an organizati... more

Taste It Video Blog – Arroz Tomatera con Carne

TASTE IT VIDEO BLOG WITH BOB ZIMORINO AND EMILY SEITZ. Bob Zimorino and Emily Seitz continue with their series of rice dishes when they whip up a tasty Arroz Tomatera con Carne.... more

Ethical Couponing & Coupon Courtesy

By ERIN TURNER. Photocopying coupons, intentionally using expired coupons and other fraudulent uses of coupons costs companies thousands of dollars every year. I've heard people say, “Well, those companies ca... more

Memorial Day Self-Support Kayaking

By JASON SHREDER. Early last week, I got a group email about someone looking do to a self-support kayak trip. Self-Support kayak trips bring out the minimalist in kayakers because you can only bring what you c... more

In Memoriam. Memorial Day May 30, 2011

There is no payment or Thank You that can repay the ultimate sacrifice of sons and daughters who have given their lives in service to America. These men and women have died for civilians, communities and our pe... more

Reuse It . . . Vinegar and Other Household Products

By LISA HENSLEY. Although “reuse” for most people means turning something old into something new, or just using it more than once, I like to think it also applies to using things for purposes other than th... more

Waters Rising in Western Montana

Every few years or so, it seems that Western Montana is in danger of flooding. Many homeowners combat this problem only when waters start to rise but do little to actually prevent the floods from happening or ... more

Raise Your Glass to Missoula Winery’s One Year Celebration

By RYAN NEWHOUSE. On Friday 5/27, the Missoula Winery and Events Center will celebrate its first year of business. Join them at the winery (5646 W. Harrier) from noon to 6 p.m. This is a “pre-show” to the M... more

Mount Sentinel: the Lushest Farmland in All of Montana

By PAUL WHEATON. Could we convert Mt. Sentinel into a lush hillside? Paul has a plan.... more

Missoula Businesses Show Record Support for Sustainable Transportation

By RYAN NEWHOUSE: Each spring during Bike Walk Bus Week, organizers from Missoula In Motion host a friendly competition between Missoula businesses called the commuter challenge.... more

Follow Your Dreams

By EVA DUNN-FROEBIG. The night before important cross-country meets my college coach would show us a short documentary about 1964 Olympian Billy Mills. ... more

Local Grass-Finished Beef – It’s What’s for Dinner (or Breakfast or Lunch)

By KRISTEN LEE-CHARLSON. Discover the health benefits of Grass Finished Beef, and meet a local producer.... more