Category: Chaffin Butte

trail training on chaffin butte. wind, clouds, + sun.

9/27/2020

What do you do on a Saturday after work when you only have a short bit of time before supper? You quickly change clothes, throw your pack together, and head out for a quick training session with an intense uphill hike to see how quickly you can get to the top of Chaffin Butte.

It felt glorious to hustle up and shave quite a bit of time off of our previous hikes up there. A half hour to the top, five minutes to take in the views and a few pics, and then a quick eighteen minute jog back down to supper waiting in the slow cooker. :)

Trail training is fabulous, and so are the views!! :)

The Bitterroot Mountains on the west side of the valley are my usual hiking grounds.

Clouds or sunshine today? How about both? :)

The Bitterroot Mountain Range stretches a long ways. This is only part of it.

Taking in the beautiful mountain view on our way up.

Overlooking a portion of the Bitterroot Valley with an amazing backdrop.

The wind intensified on top as we watched the rain clouds come our way. I love the feel of it all!

The east side has a different landscape than the west side. Great for open views and sunshine.

Fresh snow on St. Mary's Peak and the surrounding Bitterroot Mountains. Winter is coming.

I love coming back out through the sagebrush at the base of Chaffin Butte. It makes a nice, easy finish to a steep hike.

I hope you enjoyed coming along. See you next time "Out Here." :)

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chaffin butte evening hike. june 2020.

6/7/2020

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Chaffin Butte was our destination for this evening hike. Beautiful views await up there any season of the year.

We headed out for this hike in search of Bitterroots (our state flower), but with no success of finding any.

However, we did discover a lovely little orange flower we had never seen before, and had success of finding some photo-worthy scenic views as well.

Enjoy! :)

Scarlet globemallow.

We've never seen these flowers in the Bitterroot Mtns. It's a much different landscape over here on the east side.

View of the Bitterroot Mountains (where we do most of our hikes). This is just a very small portion of them.

The sagebrush is another element that we don't have on our hikes in the Bitterroots.

Up and up we go, with beautiful views behind and around!

The top is still out of view here, but we're getting closer. The shifting clouds added interest to our evening hike.

I love the wildflowers mixed with mountain views along the way! Makes the trudge up well worth it. :)

Looking back at another portion of the Bitterroot Mountains. Como Peaks and El Capitan are visible here.

This little veery beat us to the top. I could use some wings! ;) He was bobbing up and down like a dipper.

It was windy on top, but we enjoyed more beautiful views of the surrounding mountains and wildflowers!

Although a different landscape than the west side of the valley, the views to the east are beautiful in their own way!

Almost back as we come through the trees. The amazing views captured our attention the whole way down and out.

The setting sun was glorious as we finished our evening hike out in the flat part. I love the warm glow!

Chaffin Butte rises in the background. Enjoy the flat part, as this trail is quite steep for much of the hike!

This final photo says it all. Montana -- I love where I live! :)

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december hike up chaffin butte for sunshine + views.

12/29/2019

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Heading east on Soft Rock Road to hike up Chaffin Butte for sunshine and views.

Just enough snow to conceal the "C" in the earlier part of the day.

The clouds stubbornly hung around the Bitterroot Mountains. Full views another day.

Getting up to cloud level on the east side.

As we hike up, the trees become smaller and more scarce, opening up the views.

Looking down on a small piece of rural Montana.

Stopping to enjoy the changing views along the way.

You can see so much along the way up ... it makes for slow progress!

Up and up we went. The actual top remains out of sight from here.

Only a few small trees on the upper portion ... a hot trek in summer!

Getting a bird's eye view of the gentle rolling hills of rural Montana.

Another little glimpse of rural Montana in the middle of open expanses of land.

View looking further east.

So much to see from the top!

A closeup look at some of the mountains as the clouds shift for brief views.

Looking a bit cold back in the canyons. We picked a little warmer place for this hike. :)

Looking west over the valley to the Bitterroot Mountains on the other side.

Heading back down in the warming sunshine.

It doesn't take long for the sun to do its work when the clouds allow.
We started out with early winter...

... and two hours later ended with late fall. ;)
As we got back down, the "C" became visible from beneath the melting snow.

It was another good day for another good hike.

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Thanks for following along on my mountain adventures.
See you in the next post. :)

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trail training on chaffin butte. wind, clouds, + sun.

chaffin butte evening hike. june 2020.

december hike up chaffin butte for sunshine + views.

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