A jaunt With Pat Clayton into the high country in search of the natives

Idea for publication on Yellowstonian!?

Mountain ranges, each unique in its geology and character, emanate likes spokes of a wheel from the Yellowstone Plateau. Towering Spires, Rocky high alpine Plateaus, glacial cirques, and forested haunts dot the landscape. Amongst this landscape wend crystal clear streams and lakes fill the high alpine cirques. During the abbreviated summer season, this is where Patrick Clayton plies his trade. The last refugia of our once sprawling population of native Cutthroat, Grayling, and Bull trout. Above the crowds and invasive species, the original species still persist. Utilizing backcountry skills, biological information, and sheer willpower Clayton chases these fish where few go. See Claytons work on his website or visit his studio in Philipsburg, Montana. More than a store, his art gallery is a geographic inventory, a celebration of first light in the backcountry, and a photographic record of the last best Native fish. The wildest places, the craziest weather, the coldest cleanest waters, and the wildlife he bumps into. Here is a photographic potpourri of the landscapes and species that inspire one more trip up.