I’m back in the Bozeman groove, and gearing up for retreat season. In typical Montana fashion, spring has felt a lot like winter, but the forecast for next week promises a sweet taste of spring. I’m getting back in the saddle (literally), and looking forward to getting to know my new horse Java – aka, my spring fling – better. I’m starting to plan hikes to check out for retreats later in the season. Fellow retreat leader Autumn and I immersed ourselves in a Wilderness First Aid course this past weekend, studying up on things I hope we never have to use (but that I’m definitely glad we know!). And I’ve got that itch that comes at least once a season to visit Yellowstone National Park, and see all the new animal babies (did you know that elk, fox, deer, bighorn sheep, wolves and badgers all give birth between March and June?).

Speaking of Yellowstone, the spring issue of Outside Bozeman included this little gem on the Hidden Paradise of Tom Miner Basin, which is where we hold our fall Yoga & Yellowstone retreats. We visit the Gallatin Petrified Forest on one of our hikes. Here’s another great article from the same issue, Spring in America’s Serengeti.

And on the topic of retreats…The Huffington Post just included us in their list of the 8 Best Yoga Retreats in the U.S. Can I get a Yeehaw and Namaste? This time of year always feels full of anticipation, of the new friends we’ll meet in Montana on retreat soon, and of the many Montana-moments we’ll share.

The sandhill cranes are back, like old friends, their eerie yet familiar call echoing. It will be sunny and springlike this coming week, and then probably snow the next. Ski season is over, so we plot the next season’s outdoor adventures. It’s spring fever, Montana-style.

Image from Intrigue Ink.