South Dakota

Entering my first battlefield national monument...

Being at this monument caused me to pause for a moment

The national cemetery reminded me of the
sacrifice that some made for this country.

I found Oregon! I definitely had to show Oregon
representation at the Mt. Rushmore gateway.

Mt. Rushmore: It always seemed larger in the postcards
Still very impressive though!

I found this sign pretty funny considering that
the trail was very short and very paved...

I was sad to leave Montana behind, but I guess I have to keep moving eastward. Today, Jeff and I spent most of the day driving to South Dakota, going through Montana and Wyoming to get there. Along the way though, we made a few stops and tried to make use of my National Park/Forest pass as much as possible.

Our first stop of the day was in Crow country (Crow Indian Reservation). We ended up checking out the Battlefield of Little Bighorn National Monument (location of Custer’s Last Stand). It was a very interesting sight to see. There was a museum and a historical center there on sight, but what made the sight very profound was to see the actual locations where both Lakota warriors and U.S. 7th Cavalrymen fell (there were markers indicating where they died). On top of that, there was a U.S. National Cemetery located just a few hundred feet from the historical center, with U.S. soldiers from Montana and Wyoming laid to rest there from wars spanning from the Civil War to the latest conflicts.

Our final destination was Keystone, SD, which happens to be really close to Mt. Rushmore National Monument. Jeff and I decided to spend the late afternoon and early evening exploring the monument and the adjacent Black Hills National Forest. It was definitely an interesting sight to see and it was kind of neat to learn how it was made from the visitor’s center there. The funniest thing I saw over there was the warning sign at the head of a boardwalk loop around visitor’s area. It cautioned walkers that the trail was “strenuous”. The entire short path (less than one mile!) was either paved or decked. There were no major inclines or declines either. I thought it was pretty funny considering that “strenuous” level trails in Glacier and Yellowstone National Parks usually involve tens of miles with multi-thousand feet elevation changes and are typically hard to find due to the snow covering them.

Tomorrow, Jeff and I will be leaving Keystone and will be heading towards Sioux Falls, SD. We will be stopping by Badlands National Park on the way over and hopefully we will be able to spend some time exploring that park as well. A quick note about Keystone, SD: It is more like a small theme park than a small town. There are tons of tourists running around the boardwalk area (understandable due to its proximity to Mt. Rushmore, but still…) and the stores look like they came out of Disneyland. I just found this funny coming from National Parks and Monuments where commercialization was kept to a minimum or was not as prominent. Anyways, it was still a lot of fun.

More Yellowstone, snow, and cowboys

Picture I took of Old Faithful as it started erupting

Me over at West Thumb Geysers and Hotsprings
(Yellowstone Lake can be seen in background)

Lake Yellowstone Hotel Entrance
(This place has a very nice looking dining room)

Across from the Lake Yellowstone Hotel is... Lake Yellowstone

I found this pretty ironic, although understandable
(fishing on Fishing Bridge was banned due to depletion of trout stocks here)

The road conditions in the east passes were...
Well, at least there wasn't very much ice on the road

Cody, rodeo capital of the world according to its rodeo stadium

I started out the day with eating breakfast standing next to my car. The dining room at West Yellowstone where I was staying was packed! Jeff Briggs and I left for Yellowstone National Park entering the west entrance to go see Old Faithful, the West Thumb Geysers, Lake Yellowstone, and the Fishing Bridge. It was a pretty fun day. The weather was actually clear at the geyser and lake areas! There wasn't much rain like yesterday.

Old Faithful was a bit late today, but that was okay since it gave us some time to wander around and look at the lodge. We ended up hiking around most of the West Thumb Geysers before heading to Lake Yellowstone to check out the historic hotel over there. Massive potholes in the road ended up causing us some troubles though. One especially deep one took out one of my tires. When we arrived at Fishing Bridge, I noticed that one of my tire's sidewalls was about to rupture. Thankfully, there was a service station in Fishing Bridge, so I was able to purchase a replacement tire there before it could blow out on me while we went through the passes. It was definitely snowing on the way out of the park since we were going through the mountains. Thankfully, it stopped as we got into the lower elevations.

We left the park through the east gateway and headed towards Cody, WY. There were some pretty interesting things to see in that town. Lots of cowboy stuff and lots of rodeo stuff (I think it is considered the world's rodeo capital or something like that). We were initially planning on staying here, but a couple days ago, due to roads being blocked, I moved my plans from Cody, WY to Billings, MT. The roads ended up opening yesterday, but I still am glad that I made the move to Billings. My good friend and teammate, Brian, is from Billings, so I ended up going to his dad's restaurant over there. I met his family there and ended up having some of the best, true 12-hour mesquite-wood-smoked BBQ I ever had. If you are ever in Billings, MT, you must try CJ's Bar and Grill, very nice place with really good food and really nice people!

Tomorrow, I will be heading to Keystone, SD. We will be staying just inside the Mt. Rushmore National Monument area. It should be fun. I will see if I can also see the Battlefield of Little Big Horn National Monument. My neighbor recommended that I go check that out, so I definitely will try.

Buffaloes, Snow, and Yellowstone

North gateway into Yellowstone National Park

Mammoth Hot Springs in the upper basin section

Jeff and I in Norris Geyser Basin
(picture taken by Ron and Meg from LaGrande, OR)

Picture I took up at Artist Point
Overlooks the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone and Lower Falls

These two guys held up traffic for at least 5 minutes

This is the line of cars due to the two guys above

Today, Jeff and I set out for Yellowstone National Park from Bozeman, MT. After a biscuits and gravy breakfast, we entered the park through the north entrance from the town of Gardiner. We were able to see a lot of north and west sections of the park including Mammoth Hotsprings, Norris Geyser Basin, and the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone (we also visited the visitor centers in those areas as well). There was also some pretty interesting hot springs we found just off the sides of some of the roads. We had a chance to get out and hike around each of these great areas for a decent amount of time before heading out of the park in the evening to West Yellowstone (actually in Montana, not Wyoming).

We definitely had some pretty interesting weather in the park. I see why most visitors come in July and August. It was either raining or snowing for most of the time we were there. Thank goodness I am an Oregononian. It didn't feel too cold at all too. I noticed that the majority of the people in the park at that time were mainly from the western states (a lot of Washington, Colorado, Montana, Wyoming, and Utah license plates). Very few were from elsewhere. I guess only those used to the cold and wet were willing to brave the weather. I found it somewhat of a coincidence though that the first people I talked to there were also Oregonians (from LaGrande!). It is a small world!

This is the second time I have visited the park, so I was able to see some of the changes that have occurred in about a decade or so. A lot of things were similar (like the high prices in the cafeterias and shops), and some things have changed (Mammoth's hot springs are not really hot springs anymore, and are more like hot ground spots that used to have water in them). I did a lot of driving in the park today. I spent a lot of time dodging potholes and cars stopping in the middle of the road to look at the bison sitting on the side of the roads. It was a lot of fun and tomorrow, I hope to see the rest of the park including Old Faithful and Yellowstone Lake.

On another note, due to heavy snow and a few avalanches, the two eastern routes in and out of the park are now closed, and I had to change my plans a bit. Initially I was hoping to go through Wyoming to get to South Dakota (to continue my journey to Maryland), but I due to the closures, I decided I would go through Montana instead. This is good, since I will be able to check out Billings, MT, where my teammate Brian is from. I hear the restaurant that his dad part-owns has some pretty good eats! I will find out tomorrow.

Glacier National Park and Montana

Heading into Glacier National Park

Jeff and I at Lake McDonald

Lake McDonald Lodge

At the tip of Rocky Point overlooking the lake

Some scenery off of Highway 83 en route to Bozeman, MT

Additional scenery found off of Highway 83 en route to Bozeman, MT

Jeff and I started the day off around 8AM with Super 8 coffee and muffins. After that, we headed off to Glacier National Park where we spent the day looking around the Lodge at Lake McDonald, hiking around Rocky Point, checking out the visitor centers and hanging out by Lake McDonald itself. We would have liked to have gone to the visitor center at Logan Pass, but the "Going to the Sun Highway" was closed due to snow in the passes. It was still a lot of fun. After lunch at Lake McDonald Lodge, we headed out towards Bozeman, MT.

One of my teammates at Oregon State from Montana (thanks Brian!) gave me some good advice about which routes to take. Taking Highway 83 was probably one of the nicest, most scenic drives I have ever done. Brian also recommended one of the local restaurants on the way to Bozeman. Sir Scott's Oasis Steakhouse located in Manhattan, MT had some of the largest portions I have seen in awhile. The finger steaks (essentially a 20 oz. steak cut into strips and deep-fried) were extremely good (could not finish and will have it for breakfast tomorrow). By tomorrow morning, I will hopefully be on my way to Wyoming and passing through Yellowstone National Park.

Day 1 - Out of Oregon

Well, I spent my last day in Oregon for the next several months. Today, my roommate, Jeff Briggs, and I made it through Eastern Oregon, Eastern Washington, Idaho and Northern Montana. We finally reached our first destination of White Fish, MT. Only 12 hours in the car today! Not too bad. We ended up driving with a few cars for a long distance on the way, and we referred to them as travel buddies. There was a truck with a couch in the back that we ended up following (or being followed by) for about 100 miles! We ended up naming it the "couch truck".

The drive was very scenic, but we also saw a lot of rain for much of the way. It actually snowed a few times while we were in the passes going through Idaho and Montana. I am very thankful for a safe trip over (thank you for your prayers!). I actually had a good time on the road. We definitely saw some very interesting things on the way over in Idaho and Montana.

Starting the Trek

Well, this is my first entry. I am leaving Oregon tomorrow and tonight will be my last night in Oregon for the next 8 months or so. I will be heading towards Montana soon and supposedly, there will be some pretty bad weather. I am very glad I still have my rain gear with me. Most of my stuff has already been sent to Maryland. I hope I can make to Idaho by lunch time. My good friend and roommate Jeff Briggs will be traveling with me. It should be a lot of fun.