Jordan and I had a blast yesterday with our rented ATV. The trail head was down Gallatin Canyon about 6 miles past the turn off to Big Sky. Everything was all ready to go when we got there. We rented the ATV from Summit Motor Sports near Bozeman and they were great. We got our five-minute orientation, a map and off we went. Needless to say, it’s a quick way to get into the backcountry. We stopped counting after passing the 5-mile marker but we were way off the beaten path.
They require you stay on the trail and the trail varies from fairly smooth to ‘hang on to your kidneys!’ In the upper portions they only allow ATVs less than 50 inches wide since the trail is quite narrow in places. In any case, we had a blast. We took turns driving. There were a few other ATVs on the trail but not enough to make it irritating. We were actually by ourselves most of the time.
Lessons learned: It can get very dusty when people pass you or there are multiple vehicles around – have a bandana handy to cover your nose and mouth. I no longer wear contacts so I didn’t have any problems with my eyes but Jordan said her contacts were getting pretty dried out and a bit gritty. Goggles might be a consideration. And, of course, standard equipment when you go into the back country – water, bear spray, etc. Given the noise from the engines, surprising a bear or moose is extremely unlikely. That said, it’s getting towards fall when bears will be fattening up for the winter so it’s always best to be prepared.
And to add a little icing on the cake, I had another letter published in the Chronicle this morning. The text is at the end of this post.
