Today is major hike day. Just south of Bozeman is Hyalite Canyon. We got up early – well, around 7, I think – and went into town for breakfast at Nova Café. Breakfast was great – I had sour dough blueberry pancakes – boy were they sour! But I was warned, and they were great. The only hic-up was the hostess assumed we were with the couple who came through the door just before us, who had a reservation for 8 – a natural enough mistake, but it did cause us to wait a bit unnecessarily.
A quick back to the room, then down 19th Avenue all the way to the turnoff for Hyalite Canyon. It’s not a long drive – about an hour. The drive through the canyon to the trailhead, which goes by a reservoir that forms a beautiful lake, is very scenic – one can imagine hiking this before the road was there.
At the trailhead we get going – we’re getting to be fairly good at this, including the boys. The trail starts out very easily – it is suitable for handicapped, although I really don’t see wheelchairs on the bumpy gravelly trail. And they better have a fully charged battery!
One thing that strikes up is the lack of information on the trail. There is no trail map at the trailhead, for instance. The only description we have been able to find doesn’t prepare you for hiking this trail the first time. Between side trails to falls and the handicapped trail and the ‘real’ trail, all with little signage, it’s a little difficult to know that you’re taking the right path. But in the end, all roads lead to Rome, so to speak, and we’re on the primary trail up the canyon.
The trail is, for the most part, a gentle rise, staying fairly close to the large swift flowing creek that dominates the canyon. After a while (maybe 2 hours) we see the first snow. Soon the snow becomes the dominant factor in the hike! There are large deep drifts across the trail, on the trail, and that ARE the trail. There are snow bridges – who will be the unlucky one? To make a long (5.5 hour) hike short, we got as far as Shower Falls. I tried to go further, but it was no fun, and a bit dangerous, so we turned back.
The boys loved the snow. They went crazy in it, frolicking, pulling, if I had ski’s I could have been pulled up the hill – or anywhere else they chose to take me!
At the end of the hike (about 10 miles) we were exhausted. It was a wonderful hike, and I hope to do it again someday, when we can get to the lake, at least. This time, even if we could have gotten to the lake, there was no lake to see – it was covered in snow! (that’s according to a hiker coming back from the top – he had an ice axe) Winter was really late this year – the lake is usually accessible in June!
When we got back to the room we crashed. I haven’t been that tired in a long time. We didn’t set an alarm, but somehow we managed to get it together and get out to eat. I really don’t know how we woke up to do that. We went to Mackenzie River Pizza for pizza and salad. It was pretty good.
After dinner we headed over to the Belgrade Lounge in Belgrade, 8 miles west of Bozeman. There is a jam session there on Mondays, and I thought I might give it a try. Well, you never know what to expect from a jam session, and this is certainly no exception. It was fun, I enjoyed it. I played probably 8 songs that I’ve never played before in keys that I don’t usually use – I was at least familiar with 6 of them – and the band seemed to enjoy my playing.
I put it that way, because there really wasn’t an audience! The place is very nice, and I assume it has a regular clientele, but Monday night after the 4th weekend, there was almost no one there. And it’s a big place. The drummer, Ted, owns the place. Jamel is the lead singer, but tonight he is also the guitar player, because the lead guitar is absent. The keyboard player is also absent, so Mark, the bass, rounds out the three piece group. Oh, sorry Cindy – Cindy sings with the group, and she did a couple of songs. I don’t remember any song that we played – it was just fun. Ted was bummed when he found out I live in Scottsdale….
We stopped around 10pm, drove ‘home’ and crashed. We’re playing phone tag with Doug Alexander, and we hope to have dinner with Doug and Karen tomorrow night.
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