Big Sky, Montana

    Summer has been very busy so I've dropped the ball on posting my adventures. I'm going to play a little catch up with the next few posts starting with our late June trip to Big Sky, Montana. I've never been to Big Sky before and I was blown away! It's all very, uh, high end and there is A LOT of money there. Big giant homes with a series of ski lifts that connect to the main ski resorts. I've never seen anything like it. Then again, I haven't traveled to too many other ski towns. But what a production this must be in the winter! The entire town is landscaped and manicured like a blue ribbon show pony. The stores, restaraunts & shops are all seemingly upscale. But I didnt go to Big Sky to shop (I'd rather stick hot pokers in my eyeballs than go shopping). It's an area I've never explored. I barely scratched the surface with the three days I spent there. The climate is pretty much the same as where I live (Teton Valley) so I knew there would still be plenty of snow up high on our hikes. This rang true. We were able to stay on top of the settled snow while hiking. It got a little wet after a while but we're were able to hike to our first destination--the main lake in Beehive Basin. Although we couldn't visually see the lake and it's outflow which turns into the creek--We could HEAR it flowing beneath our feet while we hiked on top of the snow covered water. It's a little unnerving as you would imagine. Plus we had all three of our dogs with us. Leashed. They did expetionally well! It was not an easy hike!  We made sure to stay on the side areas of where the lake was supposed to be & we ate our lunch on a nice flat rock. The ominous looking storm clouds circled us the entire day & somehow never rained on us. It rained all around us though which made for a hasty hike back! 

We discovered that Big Sky has access to amazing hiking & backpacking trails but no campgrounds in the entire town. Since we were day hiking for a few days we just wanted a "home base" to go out of everyday. Luckily, we found a great little campground about 5 miles South of Big Sky called, Red Cliff Campground. We had a large spot right on the River and no neighbors which was nice because our dogs like to beg for food and sometimes climb into other peoples tents to sleep. Weirdo dogs. As if I don't spoil them and give them a warm place to sleep. Sheesh. 

The second day we did a short, and very popular hike to a waterfall. It was pleasant and the waterfall was HUGE! This hike was practically paved the entire way. I have a hard time even calling it a "hike." More like walking the dogs around the block. We opted for a short day since more bad weather was in the forecast that afternoon. Having three muddy wet dogs want to climb into your sleeping bag with you is not my idea of a good time. 

It was a great little trip. I'm hoping to make it out there this winter to see the entire place in full production mode!