CURRENT AGENDA - AS OF 7-12-16

MONTANA 2016 SCHEDULE

(As of 7-12-2016)

Saturday 7/30
Official check-in 4:00 pm
Dinner at Gallatin Riverhouse Grill or grill at home on deck

Sunday 7/31
Free day - Possibly zip lines,1.6 mi Ousel Falls Trail, rafting, disc golf, explore area
Catered dinner at house - Beef Ribeyes and Asian Halibut
 Appetizers 5:45 pm / Dinner 7:00 pm

Monday 8/1
Excursion to top of Lone Peak (2.5 hours) - Tram & 4-wheel vehicles (all 16 of us)
Meet at Big Sky Activities Center in the village by 7:30 am
Family group pictures - approximately 5:30 pm

Tuesday 8/2
Hike Beehive Basin Trail in morning ?
Dinner reservation for 8 adults at 6:45 pm at Olive B’s in Big Sky Village
Eight young adults will pick their restaurant choice in Big Sky Basin: 6:45 pm

Wednesday 8/3
Yellowstone Vacations-Buffalo Bus Touring Co-Yellowstone Lower Loop (+ some)
Leave home by 6:30 a.m. in 3 vehicles
Meet in lobby of bus Company by 7:30 am in West Yellowstone
Dinner on drive home, possibly at Corral Bar and Steakhouse

Thursday 8/4
Fishing or other activities, as desired
Catered dinner at house - Enchiladas
 Social hour on deck 5:45 pm / Dinner at 7:00 pm

Friday 8/5
Free Day - possibly drive to Ennis- pretty drive and fun town
Dinner ?

Saturday 8/6
Check-out 10:00 am

Good Web Information!

This is a great travel reviewer summary of Big Sky fun.  Good picture of the tram we will be riding to Lone Peak:  http://matadornetwork.com/trips/12-ways-make-big-sky-montana/

This is the website I found when I was checking to see what knowledgeable people did for hiking footwear... pretty good site about more than hiking: http://www.bigskyfishing.com/

IF THERE ARE OTHERS WE CAN ADD THEM TO THIS LIST - MAKE COMMENTS

Alright - assignment for everyone.  Watch "A River Runs Through It" before the trip.  Movie set in the Big Sky area.

If you want extra credit - check out the Clint Eastwood film from the early 70's called "Thunderbolt and Lightfoot" - also set in the mountains of Montana (though a bit north of Big Sky).

BEAR INFO!!!

My Montana friends all offer similar advice regarding bears while hiking:

1. Stay in groups of at least 4, and 6 is better.

2. Stay close together. Don’t get spread out!

3. Make a lot of noise.

4. Each person should have bear spray. But none of my friends want to get close enough to have to use the spray. We (or Dad) might try to buy a quantity of cans.

5. Hike on trails that are heavily utilized

CHECK OUT THIS VIDEO:

The Right to Arm Bears

YELLOWSTONE - from Tom's PDF

YellowStone

There are five major entrances to the park. Our closest entrance is the West Entrance (the Park’s most popular entrance) which is 53 miles from Big Sky, then the Upper Geyser Basin in Old Faithful Village is another 30 miles. There are two major ring roads in the center of the park. Grand Teton National Park is immediately south of Yellow Stone Park.

Best sites in YellowStone: **= Don’t Miss *=Worthile 

Great Fountain Geyser **

Old Faithful Geyser **

Grand Geyser **

Riverside Geyser **

Fountain Paint Pot *

Firehole Lake Drive *

Midway Geyser Basin Loop Walk **

7 other Geyser and Basin Walks *

Inspiration Point **

Firehole Canyon Drive *

Artist Point ** 
(short walk to incomparable view of the Lower Falls and the Grand Canyon of the YellowStone River.)

Tower Fall *

Old Faithful Inn **

Lake Hotel *

Norris Geyser Basin **

Madison picnic are has drinking water & flush toilets.

HIKES - from Tom's PDF

Hikes

Beehive Basin Hike

Fox News reported on 4/11/2013 on the world’s 10 greatest hikes:

1. Mooney Falls, Grand Canyon AZ

2. Exit Glacier, Seward, Alaska

3. Fira to Oia, on Santorini Island, Greece

4. Wapati Trail, Yellowstone, WY

5. Beehive Basin, Big Sky, MT

6. Salkantay Trail, Peru

7. Athabasca Glacier, Alberta, Canada

8. Angels Landing, Zion Park, Utah

9. Glen Nevis, Scotland

10.Luguna Capri, Patagonia

The Beehive Basin Hike is 6.4 miles round trip to the lake or 7.1 miles

round trip if you go part way around the lake to another vista. The hike

has 1,650 ft of vertical. www.montanatrailbriefs.com/hikes/beehivebasin

. See 55 nice pictures on the website. The lake at the top basin is

beautiful and the vistas spectacular. Go early to avoid late afternoon

summer thunderstorms.

Ousel Falls Trail (just outside Big Sky Meadows Village)

Many short hikes within YellowStone Park

RESTAURANTS from Tom's PDF

Moonlight Basin Clubhouse

They have a fun barbecue one night each week.

http://moonlightbasin.findyourbigsky.com/lodging-and-dining/

Corral Bar & Steakhouse www.corralbar.com

42895 Gallatin Road 406-995-4249

Olive B’s - Big Sky Village (recommended by a few people)

www.olivebsbigsky.com 406-995-3355

Gallatin Riverhouse Grill (from Steve Ellison)

45130 Gallatin Rd (ranked #1 by TripAdvisor

www.gallatinriverhousegrill.com 460-995-7427

Music on Thur-Fri-Sat at 7:00

Beehive Basin Brewery (new)

www.beehivebasinbrewery.com

Rainbow Ranch Lodge Restaurant

www.rainbowranchbigsky.com

Private Chefs - Big Sky Catering

Jen Clayton and Josh Savage 406-209-1154

bigskycatering@gmail.com

ACTIVITIES from Tom's PDF

Moonlight Basin itself has some amenities such as a lake with canoes, etc. We are supposed to have swimming, golfing and dining privilegesat the Moonlight Basin Club. I am told that the Moonlight Basin Golf Course is gorgeous.

Lone Peak Expedition - Tram to the Top

You can stand at the summit of 11,166 peak and view two national

parks, three states, and many mountain ranges. Bring your own camera

but they provide binoculars. We will make a reservation for 16 for this.

Duration: 2.5 hours

Dress: Layers, closed toe shoes

Price: $88./pp (Tom & Marty will pay!)

Groups: Maximum 11. We have already talked with them.

We will essentially be together but be in two separate large 4-

wheel vehicles at the top.

Base Camp: Ph. 406-995-5769 basecamp@bigskyresort.com

Big Sky Resort Activities

Check out all activities at Big Sky at www.bigskyresort.com , then go to

the “activities page.” Activities include:

* zip line tours - two levels - 406-995-5769

* nature zip - $60 pp for 2 hours

* adventure zip $80 pp for 3 hours

* mountain biking (Deedee!!!)

* skeet shooting

* scenic lift ride

* high ropes course $60 pp up to 3 hours

* giant swing 5-7 minutes 1 for $13 3 for $26

* bungee trampoline

* climbing wall

* gem stone mining

* archery

* disc golf

* hiking

* golf

* tennis

* deluxe paintball

* white water rafting

* horseback riding

* Lake Levingsky Marina

* Wildlife viewing

* rock climbing

The VERY pretty Jack Creek road to the town of Ennis is highly

recommended. There is a $25 fee for the road but a discount or free from Moonlight Basin Club. Ennis is a fun old west tourist town and best known as a fly fishing center.

8 PEAKS VIEW DRIVE - Tom's email + PICS + WEB LINKS

The house we will be staying at is located at 8 Peaks View Drive in the

Moonlight Basin section of Big Sky Montana. 

The house name is Peaks

View Lodge (changed from Moose Dreams at the time of our initial

reservation). It is owned by Brad & Melissa Levine from the east coast

of Florida. Brad Levine’s phone # 954-461-8185. The VRBO property is

# 574672 and the reservation # is HA-S1G5NY.

HERE IS A WEB VIDEO OF OUR PLACE IN WINTER:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vvkCT-9wgs8

Moonlight Basin is 40 miles from Bozeman. Check-in is technically 4:00 pm and check-out

10:00 a.m. but this might change a bit if no one is in the day before us.

Directions:

This house is 1020 miles from the intersection of I-94 and 494, therefore

about a 16 hour drive, for those who are considering driving. Directions

to the house are:

I-94W for 835 miles

I-94W becomes I-90W for 146 miles

Take US-191/Main St (exit 309) toward I-90 Bus. for 0.3 miles

Merge onto US-191 toward Bozeman/W Yellowstone for 8.9 miles

Turn left onto Gallatin Rd/US-191 S for 34 miles

Turn right onto Lone Mountain Trl/MT-64 for 10.1 miles

Lone Mountain Trl becomes Saddle Rd for 0.26 miles

Turn right to stay on Saddle Road for 0.23 miles

Take the 1st left onto Diamond Hitch Rd. for 0.18 miles

Take the 2nd left onto Peaks View Drive

8 Peaks View Drive is on the right