As I’ve been studying area hikes over the last couple months, I’ve come across some absolutely stunning views over Bozeman and the Gallatin Valley that were definitely taken from the south rather than from the Bridger Range. I eventually figured out that those were taken from the trail up Lower Mount Ellis, a prominent mountain in the foothills of the Gallatin Range with a summit about 2,500 feet above the valley floor. Lower Mount Ellis and surrounding peaks aren’t quite as dramatic a backdrop to Bozeman as the Flatirons are to Boulder, Colorado, but there are many similarities. Maybe the comparison for Bozeman is stronger to Fort Collins than Boulder since it’s not right up against any of the mountain ranges the way Boulder is adjacent to the Flatirons.

Anyway, my hiking guidebook says the 7.2 mile trail with 2,400 feet of vertical ascent should take about four hours – all in a good morning’s work.  Well, not really when you don’t get to the trailhead until 11:15 A.M.  I often wish I could be more of a morning person.

The first mile or so of the trail is sloping up on Meadoes on state land in the valley before you get to the trees with already impressive views back to Baldy Peak and the Bridger Range. From there it must be another mile and a half or so essentially on a grassy but unused road with a very easy uphill grade. But the route switches to a rather narrow and mostly very steep trail for the last mile or so to the summit.  Hmmm, I wasn’t quite ready for this. It’s not that I’m out of shape currently, but the trail here is much steeper than the recent hikes I did.

But the work is worth it because the view is absolutely stunning when you get to the top.  In fact, despite it being a beautiful summer Sunday, I had the summit all to myself.  Or maybe others were just more ambitious and got an earlier start than I did.  It is an option to continue from the summit to go down to a saddle between Lower and Upper Mount Ellis and then climb to the upper peak which is several hundred feet higher in altitude.  Those several hundred feet make a big difference, though. While the trail to Lower Mount Ellis was snow free and dry, I could tell the route to the other peak would involve crossing some deep snow.

As I was finishing my lunch and pretty much dismissing any consideration I may have had to go to the other peak, the start of thunder rumbling cemented my choice not to attempt it.  Hey, not fair, the weather forecasts said there was almost no chance of rain today.  Well, despite the rumbles, I made it back down the trail to my car without getting wet, in almost exactly the four hours suggested by the guidebook.

While it’s something I did a couple weeks ago, I decided to include my visit to the Valhalla Meadery in Bozeman in this entry.  I’ve been a few times already, alerted to its existence by the chef there with whom I became acquainted through a Facebook political discussion group.  Anyway, they were giving tours of the facility that night and having some specials.  So what is mead? Most people actually don’t seem to know.  I probably wouldn’t either except that I had some on some of my trips to Eastern Europe, especially the Balkan countries. Very simply, it’s an alcoholic drink made from honey. And something interesting I learned is that Montana is the country’s third largest producer of honey, something I would never have guessed since it seems like honey goes along with pollinating fruit tress like apples and oranges, but it’s also the case for field crops like alfalfa. Anyway, it’s an interesting alternative to all the breweries, wineries, cideries, and distilleries that are popping up all over the place, and you can’t go wrong with a Viking theme and Scandinavian food in Montana.