Escaping the Everyday

Another weekend of adventures! It’s been a blast being able to explore our new home with everything being so close. As much as we love Maine and New Hampshire things weren’t always close. If we wanted to hike in the White Mountains, we had to drive 2+ hours to get to a trail head which would pretty much take up the whole day with the hike and the commute.

In Bozeman, we have the mountains in our backyard. Well, more like 20 minutes away but that feels like our backyard!

Baldy Mountain

9 miles round trip | 4,300 feet elevation gain

Last Friday, Jake and I decided we wanted to take on a little bit more of a challenge for a hike. This was a beautiful but grueling hike! We are definitely still learning the ins and outs of hiking out here as it’s quite different than the White Mountains. Things such as what hikes are safe for Cassie, what hikes require our day pack vs our small running packs, etc.

There was an article released a couple weeks ago about a woman trail running Baldy Peak with her dog and a mountain lion ended up attacking the dog. The dog was nowhere to be found, which is just heart breaking. This attack was definitely out of character, but Jake and I were still like there’s no way we are bringing our Cassie.

To our surprise there were a TON of dogs on the trail. Maybe it would have been safe for Cassie, but I just didn’t want to take the risk. Call us overprotective parents! lol

Anyways, back to the hike! Below are the stats from the path we took. As part of the Bridger Ridge, Mount Baldy is a beautiful peak standing at just under 9,000 feet.

• Time: 4 hours 50 minutes
• Elevation gain: 4,275ft
• Miles: 9.25
• Pace: 31:24
• Trail Type: out & back

I was 100% feeling it on the way back but Jake is like a superhuman, he probably could have crushed this hike a lot faster. If I keep working at it though I’ll only get better!

When we were getting towards the peak, I told Jake he could fly up to the top if he’d like since we thought it was in sight.

Let me tell you, it was a false peak! When I got to the “top” I looked up and there was the actual peak and I see a little red spec about another quarter mile away and I knew that was Jake. I would say I’m in pretty good shape myself but he’s just in incredible shape! Bozeman is a very active community, there were a lot of people running this trail and it pushes me to reach my goals!

Cooper Park

Cooper dog park is a beautiful, small, maintained field for dogs to roam and play off leash. I learned that this park was one of the first parks where the community pushed for a leash free space for dogs. Bozeman is truly a dog loving community and it shows with the amount of dog parks there are. Not only are there a ton of different dog parks, the majority of them are very well maintained.

If you ever visit this dog park, just be aware that it is an unfenced open area for your dog to play. Cassie has been doing really well with her recall, so we had no worries!

There has only been one other dog that Cassie has met/played with that could outrun her. Her name was Betsy and they played almost every weekend while Jake and I went skiing. We are hoping to reunite them soon ❤

Anyways, Cassie met her long-lost cousin! I swear besides the coloring, they were exactly alike. From their pity smile, size, body type, speed, everything about them was so much alike! Her name was Bootsy and they played for probably 45 minutes until we needed to bring Cassie to the car to cool down. This girl never knows when to stop!

Montana Ale Works

Montana Ale Works is actually Bozeman’s most award-winning restaurant and bar located downtown on main street.

South Cottonwood Trail Run

We did our second trail run this past Sunday! South Cottonwood trail is a pretty popular for trail runners and families as it has some elevation gain but not a ton with beautiful views. It’s also an out and back route, so you can pick the distance you want to do.

I’m bummed because we didn’t get any pictures, but we definitely plan to go back to this trail. We’re starting to realize that trail running is all about pacing yourself, it’s really easy to get gassed keeping the same pace going up a steep hill.

It’s been a huge adjustment for me because I normally do road running which is much easier to maintain one pace but with trail running it seems to be much different with the different terrains and steepness.

Our trail running continues as we navigate this new activity and hope to find a very small trail race in August to get our feet wet.

So there you have it, our weekend adventures! There just so many places we want to visit and restaurants to eat, so much more to come. 🙂

We hope to get in a visit to Yellowstone soon, Glacier National Park and Vancouver.

Talk soon!