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Blodgett Canyon's Horsehead Arch

Roger Lynn

"Blodgett Canyon," written by Ben Johnson, read by Caroline Kurtz.

"Beyond the mouth of the canyon, tucked behind rocky ridges and overshadowed by the sheer granite faces and spires of the Bitterroot Mountains of Western Montana lies a geologic anomaly. You might not see it the first time you explore Blodgett Canyon, or even on the next visit: a granite arch, high on the southern wall of the canyon. Like every arch or window or land bridge I have seen, the sight still makes me stop, stare, and shake my head. How did it happen? Erosion created the sandstone arches of the Colorado Plateau, a process that took thousands of years. But a granite arch, and the only one around, high on the canyon wall above a glacial valley in Montana? What are the chances?"

(Broadcast: Fieldnotes, 8/10/14 & 8/11/14)

Beth Anne Austein has been spinning tunes on the air (The Folk Show, Dancing With Tradition, Freeforms), as well as recording, editing and mixing audio for Montana Public Radio and Montana PBS, since the Clinton Administration. She’s jockeyed faders or "fixed it in post” for The Plant Detective; Listeners Bookstall; Fieldnotes; Musicians Spotlight; The Write Question; Storycorps; Selected Shorts; Bill Raoul’s music series; orchestral and chamber concerts; lecture series; news interviews; and outside producers’ programs about topics ranging from philosophy to ticks.
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