Glacier National Park

We spent 2 or 3 days to drive up Montana to Glacier National Park. The drive was pretty monotonous: lots of cow fields, lots of cows, and a sparse few cowboys here and there to take care of them. The park borders Canada (so it was a long way up and across Montana), but it was worth it for the hands-down highlight of the trip so far.

The mountains are majestic and grand, accented by the water-falling streams that run down the sides. Glaciers are scattered throughout the peaks; so are prairie-like meadows bursting with wildflowers. The highlight is driving on Going-to-the-Sun Road through the park; this road is described (quite accurately) as one of the most magnificent highways on the planet.

The Rocky Mountains

A typical glacial lake

Heavens Peak, carved in layered, curvy shapes by glaciers

McDonald Falls

We went on a few hikes during our two days there to explore the area, including hiking to Avalanche Lake, bordered by spectacular peaks and waterfalls.

The waterfalls and streams, often bordered by rock or meadows, are another beautiful part of the park.

We also hiked up to see the Sperry Chalet. This cabin-like lodge has 17 rooms, a separate dining room, no heat or electricity, and is only accessible by hiking at least 6 miles. All supplies and food are brought up the hiking trails by horse.

The view from the Chalet

The Chalet dining room

The entire park is incredible; it was equally interesting to learn how and why it formed the way it did due to glacial action. I’m especially glad we trekked up to Glacier on this trip for another reason – the changing climate is predicted to melt away all of the park’s glaciers permanently by 2020. The effect on the landscape, wildlife, and ultimately the park is largely an unknown. So, it was a good time to visit, and quite an inspiration for gearing up to seeing the rest of the Rockies - including our next stop at Yellowstone National Park!

The Black Hills and Badlands

The first day in the Black Hills, we drove the Peter Norbeck Scenic Drive, a route that winds through much of the region and the views, landscapes, and wildlife. The route was a very slow, windy mountain road; some one-lane tunnels were as narrow as 8 ft.

 An obligatory stop on this drive was Mt. Rushmore. It was neat to see, but not breathtaking. (My opinion may have been swayed by the fact that our federal land pass – which waives entrance fees to any federal park or lands – did not cover the $11 parking fee.) I enjoyed walking through the sculptor’s studio the most, which contained several mockups and information on the monument’s design. The actual monument is smaller than you might imagine, and the entire place strongly resembles an amusement park.

Me (and everyone else) at the monument

The original Mt. Rushmore design

The wildlife was most active through the southern prairies of Custer State Park, which we hit on the way back down from Mt. Rushmore. Bison wandered aimlessly, including on the roads in several places. I spotted antelope, bighorn sheep, prairie dogs, and even donkeys.

Bison in the road!

Huge roadway bison guards

 
Near the end of the drive, we hiked up a fire tower to get another view of the region, and we went on a walk through the prairie that ended when we encountered a rather territorial coyote. It was a long day, made longer by a severe thunderstorm and tornado warning that evening that prompted an evacuation of the campground to the visitor’s center. Fortunately, there was only some rain and marble-sized hail – no wind or damage to anything.

The top of the Rankin fire tower

The next day we hiked up Harney’s Peak, the country's highest peak east of the Rockies. The views were spectacular, and the hike wound around several different kinds of forests and some of the interesting rock formations we had spotted the day before.

The rocky Black Hills

Harney's Peak lookout tower

Harney’s Peak was just a stop in the morning; afterwards we drove east out to Badlands National Park. This area is really intriguing – it seems much more Mars-like than terrestrial. We drove through the park and hiked up one of the massive dirt structures.

That night, we camped at Sage Creek, a campground that consists of nothing more than a road and a few tables in the middle of the park’s prairie.

Afterwards, we were back on the road - this time to Glacier National Park!

Through the Midwest

After leaving Michigan, we traveled across northern Wisconsin to Minneapolis, Minnesota, where we spent one night with another friend of Jenna’s through Barton Malow. The drive was a continuation of forest and farmland; much of it was actually the classic dairy-barn-with-dome-topped silo landscape that I had imagined it to be.

In Minneapolis, we met Jenna’s friend Joe and some of his friends he knew through his summer internship. I enjoyed seeing the city because I have read that it is one of the cleanest in the country and has a highly-regarded park/greenspace system. It was clean and planned well; the layout reminded me somewhat of Richmond – a lot of brick buildings and a river that cuts right by the downtown area. We went to a street festival with live music downtown, and we also took a quick trip up to a rooftop bar to get some neat views of the city. It was good to have a place to stay, but the city’s late nights and expenses were taxing compared to our standard trip routine, so I was glad to then head back out into wide open spaces. We did stop the next day on the way out at the Blue Door Pub where I got my first (and a very good) Juicy Lucy.

We spent 2 days driving to get through Iowa and Nebraska into South Dakota, where we stayed two nights at Wind Cave National Park. The drive finally broke us out of the forest and into corn country, which transitioned into miles and miles of rolling prairie in western Nebraska.

From farm country...

...to prairie country

Wind Cave National Park is in the Black Hills of South Dakota, and area that was recommended by a surprising number of people. It comes almost out of nowhere, generally with the appearance of a much larger version of the Blue Ridge Mountains. However, the entire region is really diverse – these hills hold some staggering rock formations in the middle, and change quickly to open prairie and back. This mix of landscapes is what really made it interesting and pretty.

Michigan

After a rocky trip east, we arrived on Friday in Ann Arbor to stay with Jenna's friend Sheila. Sheila and the roommates were busy much of the weekend except for some time spent together on Friday and Saturday nights, so we were left to explore mostly on our own. We caught up on a lot of writing, reading, and errands, as well as ate at some very good Ann Arbor restaurants including the Jolly Pumpkin, the Prickly Pear, and Stucchi's Ice Cream. We also walked around part of the University of Michigan's campus; it was interesting to see and, like seeing Ohio State, really put Virginia Tech in perspective nationally.

The Bell Tower at U of M

After leaving Ann Arbor, we camped two nights outside of Sleeping Bear National Lakeshore on the Lake Michigan Coast. I was slightly unsure of what would actually be there; I had pictured the Michigan shores as cold and bland from being so far north. However, I was amazed - our first day took us on the famous "Dune Climb" and hike to the Lake Michigan shore, which is astounding. The hike itself was about 1.5 miles through loose sand over large dunes, so it was a taxing hike. The lake water is clear baby blue; the sand is orange-y, clean, and scattered with light, rounded stones. Even for a cloudy day, it was a very pretty sight to see.

Looking back away from Lake Michigan to Glen Lake

The next day, we hiked the Alligator Hill trail before leaving - the lookout at the top was equally impressive, and the water looked like something I would imagine out of Hawaii. After visiting both Maine and Michigan, it's clear that Northern summers are really beautiful - despite the cold weather than dominates the other 8 months of the year.

Looking across Lake Michigan to the Manitou Islands

We camped once near Mackinaw City en route across the Mackinac Bridge and onto the Upper Peninsula. We stayed two nights in Hiawatha National Forest - it was nothing special, but it allowed us a couple slow days to catch our breath. After staying with people pretty constantly, we took the time to get out and be active as well as plan our next steps: we settled on the path and places that will take us through the upper Midwest to South Dakota and the Black Hills for a few days in the coming week!

One of our 'deluxe' dinners!

Up North - For the Last Time

Leaving Ocean Springs, we headed North again - this is where our trip really starts to cover some ground. Having traveled the eastern US pretty extensively for a month, we were finally setting off to head north and west for good. I'm pretty excited at this point - we spent a week in the South, which is good, but it isn't the West. It isn't the totally unknown, new experiences that lay ahead at the Rockies and beyond, and I was ready to get moving and to get to see something truly new.

Monday took us to a campground in central Mississippi along the Natchez Trace Parkway. It was part of a small park at Rocky Springs, MS, a long abandoned town that was the focus of the park. We explored the trails through the town, but all that is left besides a brick church is a few safes and a well. We took some time to explore, hike, and even go on a short run in other parts of the park. It was good to stretch our legs, but sleeping was difficult that night - with no breeze and oppressive humidity, it was the most uncomfortable night of the trip so far.

We drove a long way on Tuesday, all the way across the Mississippi River and into the Mark Twain National Forest in southern Missouri. This drive along the river delta was a vast change of scenery; the gently rolling forests of the Southeast were replaced with flat fields and agriculture on a huge scale. Soy, cotton, and corn dominated the view and slowly transitioned to sorghum and rice as we headed north. (I was surprised at the scale of rice production we saw: Arkansas, of all places, is planted with rice for miles on end.)

Our campsite in the National Forest bordered a small creek: the water was vastly different than rocky eastern rivers; everything is flat, muddy, and sandy. A thick fog covered the campsite during the evening and the following morning, making it impossible to dry out our shower towels, dishes, or anything else. Since Katie's A/C hadn't been working in Ocean Springs, humidity, at this point, had been our toughest enemy for about a week and a half - all we wanted was a sunny, dry day.

A foggy, muddy creek at Mark Twain NF

Wednesday we drove through St. Louis at lunchtime and got an obligatory picture with the Gateway Arch. The structure is massive, much taller than I imagined, and even has a lobby, museum, and theater in a big underground complex beneath it. The Arch marks the starting point of Lewis and Clark's journey, so the museum was all about that journey. It was really interesting and exceptionally well-done; it's a place I could go back and take hours to read every plaque and quote, which is a rare feeling for me.

The Arch - probably more impressive on a sunny day.

The drive into Illinois was a majestic reminder that corn is king (along with corn's new comrade, wind energy.) There is corn everywhere, and to think that this was only just Illinois - nevermind Iowa or Nebraska - is almost scary. After staying Wednesday night at a wildlife preserve west of Chicago, we headed into the city for lunch and to say goodbye to Brett as he took the train back to Virginia.

It was a beautiful day in Chicago, and we first walked to see Cloud Gate at Millennium Park. This was a feat in its own - almost the whole place was a logistical mess since we unfortunately visited on the Thursday before Lollapalooza. This giant reflective bean is almost as strange as the life-size Parthenon in Nashville; it's one of those things that's neat but still bewildering. The intense blue and white contrast in the sky made for a really pretty and remarkable sight of the Windy City.

The bean

The obligatory 'mirror pic'

Clouds on Cloud Gate

After eating lunch beneath the Chase Tower, we said farewell to Brett, who was heading back home to get ready for VT in August - leaving just Jenna and I again until we meet up with my high school friend Drew later on in August.

We left Chicago but immediately ran into trouble - it took us five different roads and at least a couple extra hours to find an Illinois state welcome sign. For some reason, Illinois doesn't put up many signs, and even the one we settled for was half-hidden behind a bush.

After the sign ordeal, we hit the road to Ann Arbor, but we were stopped again by car troubles. The alternator failed that evening, meaning the van's battery wasn't charging and that there was no way we could run the lights to make it to Ann Arbor. So, we stopped, purchased a new alternator, and had to make our first impromptu motel room stay since there wasn't enough daylight to fix it on the spot. Although this was a hit budget- and schedule-wise, I swapped the bad alternator for the new in the motel parking lot at 7 AM, and we were back on the road the next morning with the electrical system working just fine. We made it to Ann Arbor on Friday, ran some errands, and met up with Sheila, Jenna's best friend from her Michigan-based internship last summer.


It was tough to hit car troubles, although we should be constantly expecting them - and this one was relatively minor. The alternator quitting was a hit for us, but it was made worse by the repair situation. It was early and in a parking lot, not to mention I lost a nut and had to walk to go buy a new one - all on top of the fact that it rained all morning. After a couple hours of cold and wet repairs, our spirits were falling pretty low. But, as it goes, the bad was balanced by some fortunate good: we were able to clean up and shower after fixing the van; the new alternator fixed the issue; and most importantly - we took a picture at the Michigan welcome sign. It was special because it was number 24 - halfway through the states. It was also special because it was August 1 - one whole month down and two to go.

Ultimately, that's what motivates me and inspires me, even with the big risks faced every day: despite having a long way to go, I have come so far already.

Ocean Springs, MS

Our camping trip through the South brought us to Ocean Springs, MS, where we spent a long weekend staying with Katie, a mutual friend from the MVs. Unfortunately, Katie's A/C had broken just before we arrived, so sitting around the condo all day in the Mississippi heat was more or less out of the question. So, we took some time to plan our next steps and explore on Thursday and Friday while Katie worked.

We made another beach trip, but it was far less exciting than the Florida beaches were. On our way, we drove through Biloxi, MS, a casino town made famous after being the point of landfall of Hurricane Katrina. The scars of the hurricane persist in very visible and depressing ways - entire blocks of the town sit vacant now, void of any buildings, covered in weeds and for-sale signs. Foundations, parking lots, and even stairs mark the locations of old houses and businesses that were wiped completely flat and have not returned.

A typical Biloxi block

We also visited a local restaurant called The Shed on Friday night. This joint is a BBQ joint that not only scored a spot on Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives, but it is even getting is own show on the Food Network starting this fall. To its credit, it is an interesting creation; it is literally a shed that has grown and now covers probably 3 acres, including three bars and a stage. Rumor has it that the place has burned down 3 times. The problem with The Shed, like most "famous" dives, is that your mind (and the Food Network producers) have convinced you that one meal there will change your life, when in reality it won't. Keeping my expectations in check, the food was very good, but again, like most famous places - you don't get much chow for your buck.

Just one small part of The Shed

Late Friday night, Matt flew in for the weekend to join us, and Saturday we went into New Orleans to spend the weekend. It's a place where I had to take the good with the bad - the city is so unique and interesting, but it is also extremely filthy; you feel grimy just walking around. We ate a Willie May's, a famous fried chicken joint, and then spent the evening walking Bourbon Street, which was actually more fun than the first time when I was there for the Sugar Bowl with the MVs. This time, it was far less crowded and crazy, so it was easier to take in the variety of interesting people, street performers, and even brass bands that dot the street.

On Sunday morning, we started with breakfast at Mother's (a must in NOLA) and explored the French market and French Quarter - more things I didn't get to see with band, but I'm really glad I was able to see now. This is where so much history and charm of New Orleans sets it apart from other cities; the market, people, and architecture in that section are very unique. We went on to explore Uptown and the Tulane area, where the money, cleanliness, and house sizes all increased dramatically - making it a fun part of the city to see.

Bourbon St. from above

The French Market

French Quarter style

After dropping Matt at the airport Sunday evening, we headed back to Katie's and on Monday morning set off on another camping journey up to Chicago and Michigan!

Through the Deep South

I know it has been a while since an update - we have had a very busy couple weeks recently but are now camping more and staying busy less, meaning a little more time to devote to writing.

Jenna, Brett and I left Nashville and camped down through Alabama for 3 days, staying once at the Tuskegee National Forest and then two nights at the Conecuh National Forest. At Conecuh, we stayed in a newly renovated campsite called the Open Pond Rec Area, complete with gravel driveways, a myriad of running water, and even showers! These more developed sites, we've learned, are good to stay at at least every other night or so - it keeps us fresh and our gear cleaner and nicer.

The campsites and forests were radically different in Alabama than we dealt with up North - here, everything was sandy and almost every tree was a pine. I took some time and explored Tuskegee during the evening we were there to take in these regional differences.

Our first day at Open Pond was rainy all day, so we retreated to a McDonalds to get some computer work and planning done. The next day, however, we took a short drive down to Destin, FL to both check Florida off the state list and get in a beach day!

The beach was beautiful - I have never been to a beach with such white, fine sand, clear water, and great weather. It really is the "Emerald Coast" - we had a great time there in the warm water and sun, and I will not forget my first 'real' beach experience.

The early evening took a turn for the worst though; a line of thunderstorms came through and blew away the tent. Jenna and Brett were in the shower cleaning up after our beach day; fortunately, I had just finished my shower and was there to witness it. The following scene probably looked ridiculous enough to be Hollywood-worthy: I, alone, was fighting the tent the 50 ft. back to our site while trying to pull the poles out to shove it in the van. 50-mph wind gusts persisted the whole time. I was eventually successful and somehow did not damage the tent in the process, but it was a memory and lesson for sure.

(Re?)setting up our site at Open Pond

After a good but wet few days on the road in the South, we finally made it to Ocean Springs, MS to stay with Matt and Katie!