Montana June 2026

June 2026

Intro (work trip)

In June I got the lovely oppurtunity to go to Montana for a work trip. I decided to stay an extra day to get some climbing in with Alex. We hired a guide and were planning on doing the Skyline Arete. Unfortunately the morning of the climb we woke up to a lot of rain, wet rock, and thunderstorms rolling in over the Gallatin Canyon.

Skyline Arete rainout

We made it to the parking lot to meet the guide to inspect the route. We were hopeful that the rain was just around Big Sky, but it had soaked the whole canyon and lightning and thunder were lingering all morning. Alex and I decided on plan b: to look for some boulders in the valley.

Lava Lake boulders

To our amazement, the tree canopy kept a couple of V0s and V1s dry enough to climb. The hike in was beautiful and we almost missed the boulder field somehow. It is marked by the pile of rocks clearly on the left when hiking up. There is a short river crossing over a natural "Montana Bridge" (log). We found some very fun routes. I dried the holds with a towel and some chalk and we had fun scrambling around. I am very glad we didn't risk going up the arete. Even the granite in the valley was still very slick by the afternoon. After the boulders, we made our way back to Big Sky for a bit. The weather was clearing up and we were able to get to the top of the peak via the Kircliff.

Neat Rock scrambling and boulders

We stayed in Bozeman that night so we could get up early the next morning and look for more boulders. Neat Rock did not disappoint! It was quite the maze of a scramble to the top, with plenty of quality boulders along the way. The Wind River boulder was a highlight. I want to come back one day and do some of the easy multipitch routes.

Hot springs

Ten minutes down the road is a truly unique hot spring with delicious food, huckleberry kombucha, and live music at night. It is framed with wood planks, the people are friendly, and everyone has a great story. Some locals explained the politics of Division 1 rodeo to us, and we traded stories about our day at Neat Rock and our bike crashes at Big Sky.

Other trip highlights

I feel very blessed to be able to partake in this trip and we managed to get in quite a few adventures. The whitewater was definitely the first time I experienced that level of rapids. The house rock rapid was wild! We followed it up with huckleberry ice cream from a brewery up the road. Everyone also survived the downhill mountain biking excursion 😅 (barely). Only two of us went over the bars. Alex got a bit cut up. I was definitely sore that evening and the next couple of days. Since finishing Chemo, my knees, back, and neck haven't been the same. No shame in skipping the jumps! I was just glad to be out there doing what I love.

Peace!