Beehive Basin and Disc Golf (Day 7)

Day 7 began with one of the bike rides that I wanted to do as part of this trip - up and down from the resort to the village.  I knew that we were planning a hike for this day as well so I got up early and was on the bike by 8am.  Unfortunately, I did not realize that it was going to be as cold of ride down as it was.  I reached the village in approximately 16 minutes but was a giant popsicle by the time I got there.  I stopped for a bit to thaw out before making the journey back up the mountain (total elevation gain was going to be 1,578 ft.).  I started back up the mountain and unfortunately, I ended up walking some of the big climbs but made the full 12+ mile loop in 1 hour and 20 minutes.

After a quick breakfast and a change of clothes Mom, Dad and I were off for our hike.  Beehive Basin is very close to the resort so it was a short drive to the trail head.  Fortunately or unfortunately, depending on what your view is on the expansion of the resort, we got to drive through all of the new housing that is going in on the mountain.  These homes are absolutely beautiful but, in my opinion, are such a waste.  These homes are barely lived in, maybe a max of 4 weeks out of the year and are driving up the cost of living all over Big Sky without creating a community in the process.  But enough about my views about my mountain.

We reached the trail head and began our ascent to Beehive Basin.  This trail climbs a little over 1,000 feet from start to finish and provided some spectacular views of Lone Peak and the surrounding Gallatin National Forest.  Along the way we happened upon a yellow bellied marmot chillin' in the sun enjoying the last few warm days of fall before his winter hibernation and was fortunate enough to get a picture of him (and Mom got a few of me).

We reached Beehive Basin, found a nice place to rest and enjoyed our lunch.  The views were pretty amazing.

We then headed back down and true to form, the descent is always shorter (time wise) than the ascent.  We reached the car in half the time and headed back to the condo.  When we reached the condo, Hayley and Hannah roped me into going disc golfing with them on the course down in the village.  I quickly changed and off we headed.  I was assuming this was going to be like most discing that I have done in the past - a leisurely stroll, some adult beverages and good times.  Boy, was I wrong.  This course was nestled into the side of the mountain so the holes were some of the most challenging I have ever done.  Up and down mini canyons, large lodge pole pines and treacherous  terrain was all par for the course.  We played about 9 holes and decided to call it good (running out of beer was really the determining factor).  From there we headed down to the Lone Peak Brewery and enjoyed some snacks and excellent beers.