Escaping the Everyday

What a week it’s been here in Bozeman, MT! On Monday it was pretty chilly here and some parts of Montana got some snow. CRAZY!

It quickly warmed back up to the mid 80s. The weather is so beautiful here, it’s sunny almost every day with dry heat. I can certainly see why everyone raves about the summers here. I need to get through a winter though to determine if I really love Montana as much as I do right now!

For now, we are going to embrace the summer here 🙂

Jake and I did three trail runs this week and Cassie joined us for one of them. We signed up for a trail race towards the end of July, Jake is doing the 10-miler course and I’ll be doing the 5k course. I won’t be giving you much detail about this because it’ll be a great post in the future once we’ve completed it.

I’m starting to get excited about blogging because we’ve done enough things so far that I can start recommending our favorites around Bozeman for those that live here or visit here.

Trail Running

South Cottonwood Trail

5 mile out and back | 524 ft elevation

This trail might sound familiar because Jake and I have ran this trail in the past. The great thing about this trail is that you can do as little as your want or the whole thing! The path is also wide enough that it’s easy to pass others and run with a dog especially if you don’t know if they’re going to run next to you, behind you or in front of you.

I ran a little bit further this time and I brought Cassie with me! It was her first trail run and she did so great! I think 3 miles was a good amount for her because I could tell the last 1/4 of a mile she was running right behind me and she’s usually the leader of the pack!

I’ve ran part of this trail before so I knew about a mile in there was a river that I thought Cassie would enjoy.

Oh boy, when we got there, the river was roaring! I told Cassie “maybe next time, pretty girl”.

We still had to cross the log/bridge to continue on, so I let Cassie go first and she gave me a look and body movement like she was going to jump in! I was ready to jump in after her since she can’t swim but I grabbed her collar and lead her across. Everything is an adventure with our Cassie!

On one of our hikes with Cassie, Jake taught her to drink out of our hydro packs like a water fountain. It’s the cutest thing, so that’s how Cassie has been getting water on runs now.

Triple Tree Trail

5.4 mile loop | 958 ft elevation

Triple Tree Trail was a beautiful trail to run in Bozeman. It’s a 5.4 mile trail that takes you through a field to the base of a small mountain that’s a loop. The trail was in great condition with different views along the way. The trail can get pretty narrow at times and there were a decent amount of bikers which is important to take into consideration as you’re running.

There were also signs about ensuring your dog is on a leash as there’s active bears and wild life. This was a trail we decided not to bring Cassie on as she does better off leash.

We didn’t see any wildlife but there were still dogs on the trail on and off leash.

The one thing Jake and I always try to do is find a trail that we can both do even if we are at different fitness and training levels. Jake ended up doing a 6 mile loop and I did a 4 mile out and back.

Drinking Horse Trail

2.4 mile loop | 738 ft elevation

I think Jake and I both underestimated this run. It’s a decent amount of elevation gain in short amount of milage. If you’re up for a challenge, this is a great trail!

We were going to bring Cassie but we decided the 90 degree weather was a little too hot for our Casserole to be running in. She stayed back in the air-conditioned apartment.

Its a short trail that offers some great views, the trail starts out pretty flat and then gets steep.

Banana Bar Recipe

I normally don’t share recipes on my blog but I couldn’t resist not sharing this! It was a recipe I found online that I twisted a little bit to make it healthier. I wanted to make a treat I could have at the end of the day but something that wasn’t like eating a bowl of ice cream.

Recipe

Bake at 350 degrees | 15 minutes

• 4 cups rolled oats
• 1 cup crunchy peanut butter (I like Adam’s all natural)
• 5 smashed bananas (about 2 cups)
• 1/2 cup chocolate and white chocolate chips

There are other recipes where you can add in sugar or maple syrup for sweetness, but I found that adding some chocolate chips and the bananas gives it just enough sweetness to the point where it’s not completely unhealthy.

The crunchy peanut butter gives it a little crunch as well, but you could certainly use regular peanut butter.

I’ve made this recipe twice before, one time with the full recipe and once with cutting everything in half. You want to make sure you bake it until the middle is firm.

Our adventures included a lot of trail running this week but we also got burgers from Liberty Burger that were DELICIOUS! I was so hungry, I forgot to take pictures, so I’ll have to remember next time.

We also took Cassie to the dog park again so she could swim her little heart out! She’s been building up the courage to jump off the dock but hasn’t done it yet. I can’t wait until the day she does it!

Anyways, another week of summer down, many more to come!