Coyote Coffee: 528 Highway 200, Lincoln, MT

Kristin and Aaron Birkholtz don’t have much of a commute. This husband and wife team live within shouting distance of Coyote Coffee, a small drive-through place with a big reputation for coffee, ice cream treats and smoothies in Lincoln, Montana.

With a customer base that’s split about 50/50 between tourists and locals, Kristin says she still gets inquiries about Lincoln’s most infamous resident, Ted Kaczynski.”People want to get directions to the Unabomber’s cabin,” Kirsten says, “even though it was moved out of Montana years ago.”

Kristen’s favorite part of the family business is her customers. “They make my day, when they pull up and talk to me.”

Shelley Newbury Hoovestal

Text by Claire Baiz • Photography by Jacqui Smith

Even if Shelley Newbury Hoovestal is running around Helena in jeans, a blouse, and a scarf, people ask, “Why are you dressed up?” It’s not just what she wears, it’s Shelley’s flair for design: there’s no denying, from the carpool to the courthouse, this busy paralegal knows how to put together a winning look.

Text by Brian D’Ambrosio  •   Photography by Crystal Nance and Jim Wells

Montana Bladesmiths Rick Dunkerley & Ed Caffrey

Rick Dunkerley is fascinated by the flames of his forge and all of its twisting, searing possibilities. With more than 25 years of knife making practice, the forge is more like an invitation from an old friend. What comes out of it still leaves him breathless.

 “I provide a knife that will be passed down as a cherished family heirloom,” said Dunkerley. “You hope that such a knife becomes an honored and loved piece of art. There is a large collector-base of the Civil-War era, and I feel like that is like what I’m making now, if taken care of and passed down.”

Damascus steel is his favorite step of the bladesmithing process.

“I enjoy manipulating the patterns and controlling the pattern development,” said Dunkerley. “There are multiple ways to accomplish that, bending steel a certain way. I am also looking at it three-dimensionally. I usually have a pretty good idea of what I want in a finished piece. I leave my mind open to what the materials seem to want to be, rather than always forcing my idea.”

Text by Claire Baiz  •  Photography by Phil Procopio

It figures that a guy who graduated from the school of hard knocks wound up working with wood, and the gal who hired him, years ago, is now splitting time between two careers.

Chris and Susan Crocker’s business, The Good Wood Guys, located in the old Hodges Plumbing complex off 8th Ave. North, serves contractors, hobbyists and homeowners.

Chris, a trained millwright, machinist and fabricator, palms a photo of a bulbous, barky lump. “Production mills don’t want this wood…It will make spectacular oak burl,” he beams. “We specialize in the unique and different, mill direct.”

Susan, who worked in advertising and retail management, met Chris when she hired him as an archery expert at Scheel’s. Years later, they reconnected and re-educated themselves. Susan still teaches English at Great Falls High, but Chris is too busy to teach college chemistry.

With ash, cherry, oak, hackberry and other hardwoods stacked and leaning against every wall, wrapped chocolates in an open jar, and a mahogany-brown mascot, this is the best treehouse in town.

Lawton, Oklahoma to Great Falls, Montana

Text by Claire Baiz  •  Photography by Phil Procopio

A basic primer on Cold Weather Camping

Text and Photography by Shane Klippenes

The idea of a winter backpacking adventure had borne so much promise, excitement, and intrigue while hatching the plans back home, next to a piping hot, cast iron wood stove with a steaming cup of Seattle’s finest at hand. Two weeks later, hunkered in a flimsy tent, tied off with 550 cord to multiple trees, bracing against 50mph wind gusts carrying chill factors far below zero, the challenge was no longer theoretical, but palpable. In retrospect, I did almost everything wrong on that trip. I brought a tent that wasn’t up to the task, carried too much food and clothing, and learned the hard way how ineffective melting snow as a water source can be. However, I walked away from that first adventure with a desire to get it right and the sense of satisfaction that comes from passing Mother Nature’s impromptu, high consequence tests.