We usually hike the Bitterroot Mountains. With fall bringing cooler temperatures, we can hike the Sapphire Mountains across the valley and enjoy seeing them in all their glory.

Chaffin Butte is very short but steep and strenuous. The trail is rocky and doesn’t have nearly enough switchbacks; my hiking poles came in very handy on the way down. A little over a mile and 1000 ft up, it has a panoramic view of both mountain ranges and the valley between them.

Really, why would I want to live anywhere else?