Late August summit panic grips valley hikers

Fri, 21 Aug 2026 13:05:47 +0000

The calendar turned to August 21 and the valley collectively realized it had only bagged three peaks since Memorial Day. The self-imposed quota was twelve. Twelve felt reasonable in April when the snow was still on Bridger and the summer stretched forever. Now the forever has three weeks left and Saddle Peak has not been touched.

“It’s not the elevation gain that bothers me,” said Darren Kessler, 34, checking his watch at the Sourdough trailhead at 6:15 a.m. “It’s the math. I have four Saturdays and a wedding in Livingston. The numbers don’t math.” Kessler moved here from Missoula in 2019 and considers himself a local. He has summited Hyalite Peak once, in 2021. He counts it every year.

Peak Bagging on The Bozeman Daily Bee

Late August summit panic grips valley hikers