Montana and the Dakotas

         After my mom and I got back from Alaska, our next big destination was Glacier National Park in Montana.  This stop had been on my mom's bucket list for a couple of years, and wow was it an amazing park!  The snowy mountains, rushing waterfalls, summer wildflowers, and abundant wildlife made this one of the most beautiful national parks we've visited this year. 

Inside Lake McDonald Lodge, built in 1913-1914. 

The water at Lake McDonald was literally clear as glass.

With a name like Glacier National Park, you'd expect a bunch of glaciers right? This informational panel showed how the glaciers have melted and shrunk in size since the park was started. 

We saw a total of five bears during our time at Glacier NP! 

Glacier's famous Going-to-the-Sun road is a jaw-dropping drive 

We spotted our first bear in Glacier on a hike up at Logan Pass, the end destination of Going-to-the-Sun road. 

Weeping Wall along Going-to-the-Sun road

The trail to Upper Two Medicine Lake in the quieter section of the national park was a pleasant, easy hike without the crowds that frequented the park's other trails. 

Upper Two Medicine Lake was such a pretty color!

Before we even started the trail, the Two Medicine area's peaceful beauty was a nice contrast from the park's other, busier areas.

 

As we hiked, we snacked on wild huckleberries. 

As we were nearly back to the beginning of the trail, we saw this tree that bears had evidently used as a claw sharpener--yikes!

The 3.1 mile hike to St. Mary Falls & Virginia Falls was a rewarding trek. 

St. Mary Falls

Upper Virginia Falls

Upper and Lower Virginia Falls

Grinnell Glacier trail was my favorite hike we did here. 10 miles long with 2576 feet of elevation gain, this trail went from a stroll through the forest alongside a lake to a high-altitude glacier nestled in the peaks. We were pretty beat after this one, but it was so worth it. 

See the two blond spots at the low center of the photo? That's two bear cubs we came across while hiking! We never saw the mama bear (thankfully), and we kept a safe distance. 

Just about every trail will have a couple of squirrels begging for handouts.

Can you see all three glacial lakes? I love their vibrant blue hue!

We had a slight delay due to a bighorn sheep blocking the trail. We were literally a few yards from him--it was amazing! He just casually munched on plants like we weren't even there. 

This is how close we were to the bighorn sheep!

Grinnell Glacier-wow! I didn't even get this close to a glacier when I was in Alaska! We all got in the water and it was so cold it hurt. 

This looks like it should be a Ricola ad--bighorn sheep grazing on Alpine grasses with towering mountains and a glacial lake in the background--stunning!

Another bighorn sheep, much farther away. He blended into the rocks so well!

Avalanche Lake Hike--this looked so much like another lake that we went to in North Cascades National Park.

        Next we were on to North Dakota's Theodore Roosevelt National Park! This park is named for our country's 26th president, who spent several years of his life in this part of the West, hunting, ranching, and healing after the loss of his beloved wife and his mother. The prairie landscape of the national park made me feel nostalgic --I grew up reading and watching the Little House on the Prairie series--and it was fun to see a part of the country I'd never visited before. This national park is also home to a variety of animals, from prairie dogs and grasshoppers to bison and wild horses--and we got to see them all! The wild horses were especially spectacular--they have a sort of magic that I can't put into words, something about their graceful gallop, the way they toss their manes restlessly and whinny to their herd, their fearless spirit as they roam the plains--they are amazing. 

We had a one-night stay on our way from Montana to North Dakota, and this friendly little cat hung out with us the next morning while we packed up to leave. I named him Carlisle because I'm a Twilight fan. 😄

These three horses literally ran toward us, then stopped and watched us like, "Wow look at those humans!" 

On one of the trails we found some dung beetles doing their duty--sorry for the pun, I couldn't resist. 😆

See the bison at the bottom of the photo? He startled us, we were just taking in the view and didn't even realize he was there for a minute. 

        From August 18-30, I attended a Christian student conference/summer camp in Manitou Springs, Colorado.  This was the longest amount of time I'd ever been away from my family, and it was also my first time going to a summer camp. Needless to say, I was crazy excited but also pretty nervous. I flew out from a small airport near Theodore Roosevelt National Park, connected in Denver, and from there flew into Colorado Springs. Oh, did I mention this was also my first time flying alone? 

The airport I flew out of in North Dakota was literally so small it only had four gates. 😆

I always choose the window seat 

Landing in Denver!

They gate-checked my luggage 😞

Waiting for my second flight to Colorado Springs!

        From the moment I arrived at Summit, everyone was so kind and welcoming. I got in a bit late to orientation, but I found my desk in the classroom (I sat on the front row of the balcony, in what they called the 'peasant section' 😆 which is where the younger students sat) and then had my first small group! I got to meet my roommates (I had three) and they were all amazing--we all came out of our shells and were joking with each other after about ten seconds.  Lights out was at eleven, and the next morning we had our first set of lectures! 

The conference took place at Summit's headquarters in the historic Grand View hotel. 

    A typical day at Summit began with breakfast at 7:15, morning foundations (we recited the Apostles Creed, Pledge of Alleigance, and sang Amazing Grace), lectures, lunch, free time in the afternoon (some days we went to the park, or hiking, or we could sign out and go to the quirky downtown of Manitou Springs), open forum (where we could ask the guest speakers questions, sort of like a Q&A), dinner at 5, worship, and more lectures. We ended the night with small group, and as I mentioned earlier, lights out was at eleven PM. The days at Summit were busy, but I had so much fun and learned a ton!  It was a great opportunity to form new friendships as well, and I met people from all over the country. Summit's student program lasts 12 nights, and on the last night we had a graduation! I was sad to say goodbye to my new friends, but we promised to stay in touch and I hope to meet up with them again sometime in the future!

Waking up to the sunrise!

Breakfast time! The kitchen staff at Summit whipped up some delicious food, from pancakes and cinnamon rolls to sandwiches and tacos, we ate well at Summit. 

My friends and I sat on the balcony over the back porch, and from there we had a view of the Manitou Incline (the orange strip running vertically up the hill). 

Two of my roommates 💖

This adorable little cat showed up one day on the front porch and decided to hang around. 

We took a school bus to all the off-campus activities, here we are on our way to do a Walmart shopping run. 

Goofing off at the arcade in downtown Manitou Springs. 

My roommates were all extroverts if you can't tell. 😂

Enjoying free time at the park! I took this picture right after me and one of the girls rolled down a grassy hill. 😋

Hanging out in downtown Manitou! This one store had a bunch of fun sunglasses. 

Natural mineral springs are located at various locations in downtown Manitou, and I actually drank from a couple of them--they each had their own flavor, neither of which I would exactly call tasty. 

One morning we got up before sunrise to have breakfast and a morning devotional at Garden of the Gods. 

The sunrise!

Can you tell we're sleep-deprived? 😆

Garden of the Gods is so pretty. 

Heading back to the hotel from the park after a cook-out!

At an open forum (all the open forums took place on the front porch).  In this particular one, one of the speakers and his wife were discussing dating. 

This was on a hike a friend and I did!

One afternoon during our free time, my roommates and I hiked the Manitou Incline.  Composed of 2744 steps, it's up the whole way. This used to be a cable car track, but is now a hiking challenge for people from all over. We actually met somebody from Switzerland as we were huffing and puffing our way up. 

The views both on the way up and at the top were vast. 

Coming back down the Incline was pretty as well. 

Graduation was the last night of Summit, and some students' families came to watch--including mine! It was fun to introduce my parents and Mia to my new friends. The picture above is of me and Mia, my roommates, and our small group leader. 

Waiting for graduation to begin!

Post-graduation dance party! 

Me and my small group leader. 😊

Late-night stairwell hangout. 

       In conclusion, I would highly recommend Summit if you are a Christian student between the ages of 16-22 who wants to strengthen their Christian faith and learn how to defend a Biblical worldview. Just a few of the topics we covered included the problem of evil, abortion, different worldviews, entertainment culture, economics, and discerning God's will for your life. In addition, I also made new friendships, hiked the Manitou Incline (it's a kicker, but I did it!!), visited Garden of the Gods, explored the colorful town of Manitou Springs, and worshiped with fellow believers. It was definitely a wonderful two weeks. 

        You may be wondering what my family was up to while I was at Summit. Well, since I wasn't there to experience it, I'll let someone who was share her adventures with you--my first guest writer, my sister Mia!

        Hi everybody! I'm excited to share our travels in the Dakotas with you (especially one of my favorite stops, Wall Drug), and I hope you enjoy all the pictures! 

    

    

I had been looking forward to Mount Rushmore for a while, and was so excited when we finally made it there!

Walking to the monument, you passed through all of the state flags, plus some from the US Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, and places like that. 

We came back another day for the lighting ceremony that night, and it was very entertaining---a movie played, a ranger gave a presentation, and then America the Beautiful played as they lit the monument. It was very magical---but cold, too!

This petrified log at South Dakota's famous Wall Drug store was one ton!

The Traveler's Chapel, inside Wall Drug, was adorable and very pretty

We got both things Wall Drug is known for: free ice water and five-cent coffee, which was very good! It was nice having such cheap coffee, and the refills were also free

The Yellow Mounds in Badlands National Park were very pretty---and also similar to Mustard Canyon in Death Valley

The Badlands!

The picture in the background shows a mound of bison skulls from the huge amount of hunting that occurred to the species in the early days of America. 

At Custer National Park, wild burros roamed around on the Wildlife loop. You could pet and feed them---they definitely weren't shy! My dad was happy, he loves burros and donkeys

The lake in this photo---and the two before it---was of Sylvan Lake in Custer State Park. It was super pretty, with a short trail around the perimeter of the lake. 

If you look closely, you can see the black tailed prairie dogs standing upright. They have adorable little barks that warn each other of danger, and as they bark their tails flick up!

Though we've seen bison before at Yellowstone, Theodore Roosevelt National Park, and other places, they are still amazing to see. 

This tunnel was the namesake for the Needles Highway---it was so thin that, though our huge truck made it, we could reach out of the window and touch the stone walls. 

South Dakota had some crazy storms!

In addition to burros, bison, and prairie dogs, we saw pronghorn, the fastest land animal in North America

        And that's a wrap on our time in the Dakotas!  We had a great time, but we missed Kate while she was at Summit, and were happy to have her back.  Stay tuned for Kate's next blog where she'll write about our family adventures in beautiful Colorado!  Thanks so much for reading, I hope you enjoyed it!