Scary's Bozeman is not frightening...

Sypes Canyon

By Scary, 9-06-08

Atticus and I discovered Sypes Canyon about a month ago, when it was still ninety degrees and the rock walls trapped the heat. Even at seven thirty in the evening it was a furnace.

Now that the weather has changed, the canyon bottom stays very cool and I can keep walking without stopping to drink every five minutes. So far, we haven’t made it much beyond the first lookout, where a sign helpfully informs me with one word, “Trail” - in case I forget, I suppose. There is a fantastic view of Bozeman and the valley beyond.

We have only made really good use of the canyon the last couple of weeks. Last month, Atticus was ill with a painful, polymiositis (inflammation of all his muscles) of unknown cause. At the time of writing, we are waiting to hear the results of a blood test for toxoplasmosis.

But I digress. Sypes Canyon has been great for us. It takes about ten minutes to drive to the trailhead from my house and I can let Atticus run loose on the trail - since there is nothing to spark his interest off the path, he is good about following.

At some point soon, I’ll go beyond the useful trail sign and make it to the M or to the top. But there are always horses to feed or letters to mail or laundry that makes going down the mountain more of a priority than going up.

To get to Sypes Canyon, turn right at the tippy top end of nineteenth, where it intersects with Springhill Road. A couple of miles up, Sypes Canyon Road is on the right. Turn onto that and drive to the end. Dead easy. See you there.

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