In the gorgeous new book Alpenglow, writer Hillary Munro and photographer Lisa Flood capture the joys and the challenges of entertaining mountain guests for all seasons.
One flip through the new coffee table book Alpenglow (available now from Gibbs Smith), and you’ll want to head for the mountains immediately. Forged from a friendship and creative collaboration between two women with plenty of Wyoming grit, the book is subtitled “Outdoor Celebrations for Every Season” and documents just that.
Hillary Munro wanted to apply the lessons of mountain entertaining to all seasons in the book.
Living in the high mountain valley of Jackson Hole, Munro puts her practical entertaining and lifestyle expertise to use when sharing recipes, craft projects, tablescape ideas, and colorful thoughts about each season of mountain life. Flood photographs their home-based projects and activities with an elegant but naturalistic style — think rustic décor created from foraged greenery and simplified dinner menus served on outdoor tables with snowy caps in the distance.
Munro writes in the winter section of the book, “This is the season of social darkness, when a get-together with friends feels rich and meaningful, with fragrant pots of food slowly simmering on the range all day.”
Alpenglow presented photographer Lisa Flood with weather and outdoor lighting challenges aplenty. She says it sharpened her skills.
Paints quite the picture, doesn’t it? And if the words don’t take you all the way, the visuals will. Alpenglow is named after the time of day when the sky turns glorious shades of pink and orange. It’s an hour made even more magical with loved ones around and good times to be had.
Here’s more from Munro and Flood on their inspired new book project.
Cowboys & Indians: Can you guys tell us how you found each other and how this beautiful book happened?
Hillary Munro: I knew Lisa briefly from my stepson and her daughter. We’d spent minimal time together, but we knew a lot about each other. She had been recently dabbling in photography, and I had this idea to create a book on entertaining based out West — very mountain-specific, very Jackson-specific — but that people could incorporate into their lives wherever they live. We wanted a kind of romantic escapism. So, we brainstormed.
Lisa Flood: Hillary used to own an amazing shop called Bet the Ranch, and it was all things Western. It was a little hole-in-the-wall, but everything was just exquisitely curated — books and gifts and old, amazing things. I used to go in there all the time. So that’s how I had Hillary in my mind. Then, when she called me, I was dabbling in photography, but I was more of a writer. I said, “Sure, let’s do this.” I thought it was a pipe dream. I said to myself, “Hillary wants to do a book, and she’s never done a book, and I’ve never photographed anything of significance.”
Foraged finds come together to create a rustic and inviting gathering space.
Hillary: I would consider myself an endless creator, brainstorming new ideas and tablescapes and scenes. I had to take writing classes to learn to write and find my voice, which was a challenge for me initially.
Lisa: Same. I thought, Oh, no. I need to take photo classes! So, simultaneously throughout the entire project, I worked with these two mentors and their company, Two Photographers, and they helped me from the beginning to the end with everything. Hillary came on, too, and they helped us with publishing ideas. But they held my hand a lot on the technical stuff because I was really having to catch up. But it was funny. The first day I went down to [Hillary’s to shoot], I was nervous. I was like, “What am I getting into?”
The book's title and cover image were inspired by a few shots Lisa Flood captured at the end of the day on a whim, when magic hour had begun.
Hillary: We started at my house. It was a safe place where we could gather props if we needed to and have a nice bathroom and running water. Things like that that sometimes don’t happen on photo shoots. And that shoot actually became the cover. In typical fashion, there must have been 10 different scenes or more to shoot in two or three hours.
Lisa: Everything was beautiful. She had tables set up, and we did fire starters, and we did this pretty thing and that pretty thing. I said, “Oh my God, this girl is just a whirlwind of creativity.” At the very end of the day, we were getting tired, and the sun was going down. The moon was coming up, and it was dark. And this was pushing my technical understanding of photography. But I looked at her table as she was schlepping stuff inside, and said, “Well, that’s quite pretty with the moon coming up there.” I shoved myself in some bush in the back. I took two images, and I can’t even believe those came out. And one became the cover.
Décor projects, foraged crafts, hot-drink recipes, and rustic, cozy nooks brighten the pages of Alpenglow.
C&I: You have to be so creative to entertain on a mountain in general, and you have to be resourceful to entertain in the winter anywhere, especially up there. So, how did you develop your individual grit living in those areas? And what perspective do you feel that someone who moves there picks up?
Hillary: We feel the seasons in the mountains deeply because the winters are frigid and snowy, and you have to shovel snow every day, and you’ve got to build a fire to keep warm. I think that just innately gives you grit. It’s not for the faint of heart. It’s a choice you make that you want to commit to the community, the surroundings, your family, and friends, which makes it so special because we all can commiserate. I mean, there’s one thing that people in Wyoming love to bitch about, and that’s the weather. It’s either too hot or it’s too cold or it’s too wet or it’s too smoky or whatever it is.
C&I: The entry point to any Wyoming conversation, right?
Hillary: A hundred percent. If you want to make it work, you have to dig deep and embrace the seasonality and the rituals that come with it, like chopping firewood or going out to the forest to forage if you want to make a homemade garland, for example, for Christmastime. Cutting down your own Christmas tree — which some people think is just so foreign — is something that most people do here.
Alpenglow is available for purchase here. Find out more about author Hillary Munro at grazegardenandhome.com and photographer Lisa Flood at lisafloodphotography.com.
LEAD FEATURED PHOTO: The author demonstrates how to take advantage of the outdoor winter landscapes from a table in a barn or room with a large open doorway.
This article appeared in our January 2025 issue.
