The Hyalites of Missoula and Bozeman

Day 35 (August 28, 2021)

We drove back into Missoula and headed to the farmers market. We stocked up on a bunch of fresh veggies, and then wandered through the downtown streets. There was quite a bit of activity as we passed a flea market, what looked like a small music festival getting set up, a family festival with all sorts of fun booths, and a second farmers market!

After a quick bite to eat from a Japanese food stand at the second farmers market, we headed out to get some WiFi. We considered heading to a cafe, but then realized that Missoula has a fantastic public library. The building is modern, and filled with many lovely spaces to hang out and use their free internet. We found a sunny spot on the third floor and wrote our last blog post.

That evening we found another awesome free campsite out by some dirt bike/atv trails. Using our freshly purchased vegetables we spent some extra time making a pasta sauce with eggplant, tomatoes, red wine, Tuscan herbs, and cream. We paired our pasta with Great Harvest bread topped with olive tapenade, some fresh sweet corn, and the rest of the red wine. What a dinner!

Day 36 (August 29, 2021)

Based on a recommendation from Tamara, we headed to Lewis and Clark State park to explore their caverns. We really weren't sure what to expect! After paying for our tour tickets, we walked the short hike up to the entrance of the caves, passing by some lovely views of the rest of the park. 

After a short introduction from our guide Cassandra, we headed into the caves. We were both blown away. These caves have an incredible collection of fascinating features. Stalagmites, stalactites, cave popcorn, cave bacon, and rare formations called helictites that form when water is pushed with high pressure through the rock. 

Both of us were amazed every time we entered a new room. 

At some points, the path travelled through some small areas forcing us to duck while we walked. At one point we even needed to sit down and slide!

The whole tour definitely exceeded our expectations. Many thanks to Tamara for the suggestion!

After the tour we got back in Blue and drove over to Bozeman. Along the way we stopped at a local hot spring that also serves delicious food. It was a pretty hot day, so the warm pool didn't sound too appealing. But the pizza with home grown tomatoes, basil, and garlic aioli definitely did!

That evening we celebrated our one year would-be-wedding anniversary with an elaborate dinner. We finished off our Japanese eggplant from the Missoula farmers market in a tofu eggplant stir-fry, and served it with sides of rice and a peanut sauce coleslaw.

Day 37 (August 30, 2021)

Today, based on a recommendation from David Ayala we decided to hike to the top of Hyalite Peak. This 14.5 mile trail has an elevation gain of almost 4000 feet so we were both a bit apprehensive. If we completed the hike it would be the longest trail either of us has ever done in one day.

One of the striking features of the hike is the numerous waterfalls along Hyalite Creek.

Around 5 miles in we came to Hyalite Lake and stopped for lunch.

After the lake we began the strenuous climb to the top of the peak. This was the section we were worried about before starting. Amazingly, both of us felt relatively unaffected by the altitude (~10,000 feet), and while the climb was certainly not easy, we both felt in good shape. All this hiking is paying off!

At the summit we had views of miles of mountains and valleys in every direction. We were standing on the highest peak in sight!

After returning from our hike we checked out a paid campground at the base of Hyalite Peak. Sadly, it was all full. However, while we were filling up our water jug at the campground's pump we struck up a conversation with a couple. It turned out they were about to leave because there was a fire ban. After talking to them for a few minutes, they offered us their reservation, and effectively paid for our stay!

Since neither of us had showered in a few days, we decided to take a refreshing swim in Hyalite Reservoir. A man in his truck was amused we were going to go in, warning us it was very cold. He was surprised and impressed that we actually stayed in for a bit and went for a real swim rather than a quick jump in jump out. Since we've only been showering every 1-2 weeks, we actually felt very clean (though in reality we were only camping clean).

Day 38 (August 31, 2021)

We decided to spend the morning separately. We've been spending a lot of time together, so it felt good to go our own ways for a while. Monisha wandered around town exploring cafes, bookstores, coop, and other shops, and Nolan spent a couple hours at Bozeman's public library. After a while, we met back up and headed to Wild Crumb bakery, which has been recommended to us multiple times. It certainly lived up to its reputation. 

After having lunch in a park, we walked over to the play structure to work out a bit. Monisha was excited to discover she can do pistol squats! Then we checked out a used book store and bought three books. The man working there was quite friendly, and ended up giving us half off our purchase after we talked to him about traveling for 10-15 minutes.

In the afternoon, we visited Becky (Monisha’s mom’s freshman roommate in college) and her husband Dave. We went for a walk around the farm, then enjoyed crackers with cheese and jam along with a bottle of South African wine. It was so nice to get to spend some time with them! And they sent us off with a tray of fresh veggies from their garden: big tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, green peppers, and a couple of heads of garlic (which turned out to have the hugest cloves we’ve ever seen).