Montana in September

We had planned a two week hike/bike trip that would hit the Maah Daah Hey, Glacier National Park and Bannf in September.   About two weeks before travel time, the forest fires had reach the western part of Glacier and they didn't think they would slow until snow fell.  

So, we had to make a quick change of plans, but not to worry, I had plenty of help.

Serena helped me reroute our hikes to hit the Tetons and Yellowstone.

Aidan helped me ship out the bikes to Medora, ND, even though it had been raining and we weren't sure if the trail would be rideable.

And Jaydee snuggled........

Our new plan was to fly into Bozeman, Montana then make a circle heading east to ND, south to SD, west to WY, then back to Montana.  

Everett agreed to house/animal sit for us while were were gone and he also shuttled us to the airport.  

When we reached the Bozeman airport is was cozy and quiet and we were sure we were in Montana. 

We rented a Dodge Caravan which has a ton of room and the seats fold down into the floor, and drove out to our first trail head.   The view on the Bangtail trail was breathtaking.  Easy switchbacks has us gaining elevation quickly and we were in the soupy snow drain-off in no time at all.  

After that sweet hike, we headed back into Bozeman and listened to some music at a concert on the lawn in front of the library before grabbing burgers and driving back out to near the trail head where we pulled over to sleep.

 Rolling out of our sleeping bags the next morning, we decided to go for a trail run/hike before breakfast.  There was a trail head (college trail) less than a mile down the road.

The trail sign said "difficult" or "easy" so I headed straight up the difficult climb to the peak with Shey shaking his head behind me.  That was possibly the slowest mile we have ever hiked.  (there was no running)

The trail was very cool and the views were amazing. Just like the day before, we saw so many dogs on the trail.  In town the evening before, we saw dogs everywhere.  Most people had some sort of cattle dog or other outdoor breed of dog with them in their truck/car or running behind their bike as they commuted. It seemed like a pretty cool community.

After our morning hike, we grabbed coffee and pastries at a local cafe then hit the road east toward Medora, ND.

The drive was fun, but we wanted to get in another run or hike before the sun went down, so we stopped at the Makoshika State Park in Glendive, MT.  The description didn't sound like there were many miles of trails, but we thought we could run on the road if needed.  Pit toilets and camp sites right across from a great gravel path to run on.  Perfect!!  And it turns out there are more trails here, than expected, so we can get in a nice run or hike in the morning, too.

FAST miles on a flat gravel path.

Gourmet dinner of Ramen noodles and Rainier beer.  Walt would be proud!

 Sumo was our campsite neighbor and we were told he was grumpy from sitting in the car for 11 hours.  He was happy to waddle around the campground and stretch his legs.  (He was obviously a wizard, so I'm not sure why he didn't just magically whiz he and his person to their destination, but he was probably trying to blend with the muggles.)

Another good night's sleep in the van and up at dawn for a fun hike.  

The change in scenery on the Hungry Joe and Gunner's Ridge trail were pretty interesting.

 We started on the road then jumped on single track that climbed and twisted until we hit the plateau.

 Then we started trekkin across dragon scales and soon there was no trail to follow.

This made for a fun sort of game where we would split up in different directions looking for a trail sign or hoodoo and one of us would yell when we found it.

 It was like a scavenger hunt for the trail and we had a blast.

The terrain changed periodically.

 Soon, some motorcyle tracks (dirt bike) came onto the trail from a side jeep track.  That made it much easier to follow the trail and we marveled at how these guys had made it up some the steep climbs.   I had seen the three young guys on the bikes during my run the last evening and they were totally wide eyed when they finished.  Now I knew why!

We stopped in Glendive for coffee, but the little drive through shop was closed, so we found a cafe by the side of the highway to grab breakfast before finishing our drive on to Medora.

Once we arrived at Dakota Cyclery in Medora, we saw our bikes in the center of the cozy shop.  The lady that runs the shuttle was not there, but had told her husband and son, who were both working there, that she would be back in 20 minutes.  So, we hung out and waited and built the bikes.  When Jenny arrived, she let us know that the original north section was unrideable but we could start from the south terminus where there is more gravel and see how it went.  Shuttling sounded complicated, so we changed our plan and decided on an out and back of the south section.  If it was too wet, we would move down the road.

Dinner at Boots cafe.  Shey was jealous of my bigger beer.  The son who was working at the bike shop, was also bartending at the cafe.  We thanked him again for his help that day.

 It was cold and raining that night, so we got a basic, but clean and nice motel room in Medora and loaded up our bikes.  We were not going to rush to hit the trail in the morning, but we are both early risers, so we wanted to be ready to roll.