ALDER, MONTANA – Standing at the foot of the mountains, I look to the east. It’s still early and I have hiked up here alone to gather my thoughts. I can see why they call this “Big Sky Country.” The tree-covered foothills of the mountains behind me give way to rolling scrubland. Stunted trees mark the edges of dry creek beds cut into the soft rocks below. This is southwest Montana, and I’m here to hunt.
Go behind the scenes with paleontologist Sam Heads as he hunts for fossils in Montana in this article from the U of I News Bureau.