Onward

Guess where I am?  McDonalds!  Im in the playplace though, where there are plenty of noisy sub 4 foot tall children running about screaming and yelling.  And it’s McDonalds, so I feel kind of weird here.  Point being, Im in Grand Junction Colorado, and I’ve just left Colorado National Monument.  I only spent one night there, waking up very early to get in some good birding before the sun began to make hiking unbearable.  I really wish I could spend another night- the area is full of interesting wildlife:  lizards everywhere, Black-throated Gray Warblers, and dive bombing White-throated Swifts, plus incredible sculpted rock formations.  But I have to be in Flagstaff by the first of July.  I will be staying there for a few days with friends Tim and Kate from Ithaca.  Although Flagstaff is only a day’s drive from Grand Junction, and I could take my time lollygagging around here, there are some really neat national parks in Utah that I want to see.  The next 5 days will be a whirlwind trip of 5 national parks.  If all goes well I will see Arches, Capitol Reef, Bryce Canyon, and a bit of Grand Canyon National Parks.  It’s going to be exciting, but at the same time, disappointing that I can’t stay longer at each spot.  But it’s either spend lots of time at one place, or a little at all of them.  And a lot of this trip is just about seeing the country.  I gotta be a road warrior here.  Go big or go home.  I’ll sleep when I die.  Alright enough of that.  Point being, if I see it all now, then later in life, I’ll know what I want to come back to see and what I don’t care to see.  I have to get moving.  Don’t think there’s much internet between here and flagstaff, so I’ll check back in when I can.

Early morning birding in Colorado NM

Monument Valley, Colorado NM

Altitude training

Leadville, CO is an old mining town 30 miles off the interstate in the middle of Colorado.  It’s high altitude has also given it claim to the site of the highest and most difficult ultra marathon in North America.  I am not an ultra athlete by any means, and even my running capabilities would be stretched to the brink to complete a marathon.  But I figured I would head to Leadville to see what all the hype is about.  Most of the way there, the road climbs and climbs, and my little Prius was working hard to get up those mountains.  I felt like a bum simply driving there, as I passed insane road bikers who were pedaling hard to crest the next hill in the road.  Hills that reached over 11,000 feet.  I was blown away by their abilities.  I eventually reached Pbville (get it! Check your periodic table).  I tried to show my own personal toughness by doing a run, real easy, more or less just to say that I did it.  The town itself is located at 10,200 feet….so did it hurt?  Was it the worst run of my life?  Oh no, I’ve had far worse.  The town itself is fairly flat, and although I was definitely breathing hard for a flat run, the whole run was well within my abilities.  Plus I only went for 35 minutes.  Great town though.  Bought a few souvenirs, and moved on my way.  

probably the highest Pizza hut in america

Leadville with 14-ers in the background

Found an antique shop selling old beer cans for $15.  Worth a purchase?

My goal was to drive from Rocky Mountain National Park- on the front range of the Rockies- to Colorado National Monument, located just east of the Utah border.  I was a lot of driving for one day, but worth it.  The surroundings of Colorado NM are vastly different from the subalpine habitat I’d become accustom to so far in the mountainous west.  This part of western Colorado give you your first taste of the American Southwest.  Red sandstone canyons, dry arid plateaus, and more drought resistant trees like juniper and pinyon pine.  And the sun is always scorching.  So very much like the southwest that many folks think about. 

Rocky Mountain National Park tribulations

I arrived in Estes Park last night around 9.  I had thought of staying the night for free at Ashley's in Denver, but the logistics of the trip didnt make it possible.  No worries! I'd find a place in the National Forest and just pitch a tent.  But on the drive into the mountains, all pull-offs were marked with either private property signs or "no overnight camping" posts.  What's the point of having all this great federal land if you can't camp there.  If I didn't have my car, I could have camped anywhere in the forests and nobody would give a hoot.  The park services is just forcing us into paying campgrounds within the national forests.  I take pride in being frugal, so this does not sit well with me. 
  Initially I set my tent up at one of these illegal sites, I wised up and continued on to 3 campgrounds between me and Rocky Mountain NP....all were completely full!  So I continued to Estes Park, where one campground had zero tent sites left, and only a few $37 RV sites.  I passed that up initially, drove to the park entrance, hoping to camp inside the park.  But all sites were full there as well.  I sure chose a hell of a time to arrive in the Rocky Mountains.  I went back to the site charging $37, very pissed, drove around in the dark til I lucked upon a tent platform at the back of the campground that wasnt even a registered site.  I took it anyway.  This all took about two hours to sort out.  I was very much on edge at that point, having gone through all the trouble for some measly plot of land to set up a tent.  I dared anyone to come up to me and tell me I couldn't camp there....

I departed in the morning before the camp office opened, initially dodging the $30 (!) to camp for one night.  But my conscience got the better of me later in the day, as I had thoughts that maybe they came around in the middle of the night and took down my license plate, and would somehow fine me for dooping them.  I went back and paid the $30.  The office was completely oblivious to my previous nights camping.  The lady at the desk said they appreciated my honesty in coming back to pay.  I tried to smile at her, but just walked out disgusted at throwing away my money.  I shouldn't complain.  I have the money, and I know it was the right thing to do, but as I've already expressed, excessive charges to camp when I should be able to sleep for free anywhere in a national forest really upsets me.
Thank goodness for McDonald's internet, the only thing that seems to be free on my trip.
AGain, sorry for lack of photos.  Somethings slowing down my computer.  One of these days Ill update stuff.

Ithaca is Boulder....or is it the other way around

I finally made it to Colorado, and it met me with wonderfully sunny weather.  I spent my first night there in a campground out on the prairie, allowing me to wake up early Friday morning to go do a birding tour loop around the Pawnee National Grassland, where I found lots of unique birds including the Burrowing Owl, a small owl that lives underground in abandoned prairie dog holes.  Afterward, it was time for me to drive to Boulder to meet up with my friend Ashley who works at NCAR (National Center for Atmospheric Research).  And what a place to work!  The facility itself sits above at the foothills of the Rockies, with plenty of hiking trails surrounding the area.  And supposedly the weather there is always sunny.  We did a hike up into the hills behind the research center to a known bat cave.  We didn't see any bats, but the whole hike was very enjoyable, just chatting about our lives and plans.  Simply seeing a familiar face was a real joy (I hope she felt the same way.  At the very least I gave her an excuse to finish work early on a Friday).  I only wish we could have done more, but our schedules didn't quite jive, so I left Ashley in the late afternoon and headed into downtown Boulder, thanks to Ashley's directions.  I drove through the University of Colorado, home of the Buffaloes, and the setting for the famous running story, Running with the Buffaloes.  I gotta say, CU is probably the only school I've ever seen that made me want to go there just based on it's looks.  The place was amazing.  All tan buildings which fit in perfectly with the arid mountain scenery.  And it's situated just a mile or so from downtown....very similar to how IC is to the commons.  Speaking of Commons!

A familiar face!  Ashley and I atop the NCAR building. 

Boulder has one.  It's setup is nearly identical to that of Ithaca's.  Lots of independent shops, street vendors, a fair share of hippies, and on the day of my visit, even a magician (I truly felt like I was in the Ithaca Commons in summer watching that guy amaze us with the $20 bill inside a lemon).  No hemp shops though, not that I could see.  But this commons was a bit higher scale than ours.  For one thing, it was a full two blocks.  There was a Cheesecake Factory, and few other high end restaurants.  And things seemed more expensive.  The gelato I bought ran me 3.75 for a single scoop.  I made up for that with a visit to DP Dough.  Yup, you read it correctly, Boulder has a DP Dough!  I had no idea it was a chain.  I guess they know the business is good close to colleges where drunk kids will call in at 2 in the morning to make unnecessary purchases.  I got myself a calzone (Buffer zone for those who know what that is) and a small drink.....for $5!!  We're getting jipped in Ithaca.  I made quick work of my meal while sitting on the curb, taking in the sights and sounds of Boulder.  Lots of outdoorsy folks here- runners, bikers, you know the type, real fit people.

DP Dough for $5.

The commons in Boulder

Honestly, along with Banff, Boulder is the other place where I wish I could have spent a lot more time.  There seemed like there was so much to do.  And with a culture similar to that of Ithaca, I felt right at home.  A revisit may be in order at some point in the future.

Dear Wyoming visitors

-mountains here have snow all the time
-yellowstone is amazing, but watch out for the summer tourist rush....and bears
-'blame it on the tetons' by modest mouse is a great title for a song, because the tetons will blow your mind
-most people from wyoming are republican
-if you travel through dubois, Wy, look out for the giant bear statue, the jackelope located outside the town gas station, and the National bighorn sheep interpretive center
-always travel with a full tank of gas
-watch your footing, youre in rattlesnake country now, and they like to hide where birders like to wander
-There's more wildlife than there are people
-til date, I've identified over 230 bird species on the trip, 10 of which are from wyoming, and birds that I'd never seen before.
Thanks Wyoming for the great time.

Also, gas is 'cheap' in Wyoming

I think i've been here before (part 2)

Six years ago, I came with some people from my church to scrape and paint the house of a poorer family of the Arapaho Nation.  We left that week having finished our house with a few coats of cream yellow paint, feeling quite accomplished.  Today, my main goal, even more so than birding, was to find that house and see how it looked after all this time.  I started off by driving to Ethete, to the high school where we stayed during our week of service.  That was easy enough to find.  It's a pretty big high school and it stands out in the desert-like landscape of the surrounding area.  I hiked around the building, reminiscing a bit on my previous time here, noting how the weather was nearly the same...hot.  But I liked it.  Finally working on my farmer's tan.

A wyoming republican

Next, I headed off to find that house.  There werent many roads in the area, and I could recall doing our work in a community called "Arapaho" something.  The town of Arapaho was only 15 miles down the road, so I figured I'd head there.  Landmarks began to look familiar and it was all coming back to me.  Sure enough I found the development of houses where all of us volunteers did our painting.  And there it was, the yellow house.  Still yellow too.  I swung into the development, and parked in front of the house.  I was tentative as to whether or not I should get out and say hi.  I wouldn't have much to say to the residents...."hi, I'm just passing through, but I painted this house 6 years ago and just wanted to see how it looked."  I figured I'd go for it.  I rang the doorbell twice and nobody answered.  I remembered the family that lived there when we worked on the house was very secluded, and didnt really communicate with us too much.  Perhaps they didn't want to open the door to a complete stranger.  Maybe they weren't home.  Either way, it was nice to see that for the most part, besides some finger paint work laid down by the neighborhood kids, the yellow paint was mostly still on and looking good.  Satisfied, I continued to where I am now, in Casper, WY.

It took some time to get here, with stops along the highway at Hell's Half Acre, Boysen State Park, and Goldeneye Wildlife and Recreational Area, all of which were interesting places.  Really, these are the only public access points between Riverton, WY, and Casper, a 100 mile stretch of nothing but cattle lands.  There are a few "towns" along the way, which arent more than 2 houses and a gas station.  I saw more Pronghorns than I did people this afternoon.  If it seemed desolate driving through southern Saskatchewan, it doesnt compete with that of the central Wyoming landscape.  Literally everywhere you look is sagebrush and rocky outcrops (It's actually quite unfortunate that its all fenced off and private.  You could easily hop one of the fences and walk for 50 miles in any direction before you hit another road or saw another person).  But like I said, I've made this drive before, so I knew what to expect.

How do you get a town named for 10 people.  We need one of these for the Moontower.

Desolation in central Wyoming

I plan on spending the night in a small state park about an hour south of Casper, and then making my way to the Fort Collins, CO area tomorrow.  I am finally going to be seeing a familiar face on Friday.  Ashley, a friend and recent grad from the bio department at Ithaca is entering grad school out in Boulder, and is working out there for the summer.  It will be nice to finally talk to someone besides myself for once.

I think i've been here before

I spent June 21, the longest day of the year, traveling from Grand Teton NP to Sinks Canyon State Park, just outside of Lander, WY.  I arrived at Sinks around 3, and had finally left all the snow behind me.  I'd also finally found the warm weather, as it topped out around 75, with nothing but blue sky in the park.  Sinks Canyon is a neat place, a little crack in the foothills that opens up to the Wind River Mountains beyond.  From the canyon itself, you can look up the canyon to snow covered peaks, turn around, and look down to the dry,desolate sagebrush wasteland that composes most of central wyoming.  The canyon itself is somewhere in between.  It's dry and snow free, but forested, and temperatures are definitely cooler.

My little baby, in the middle of nowhere, Wyoming

Sinks Canyon State Park

But the funny thing is, I've been here before.  6 years ago, I went on a church retreat to Ethete, WY.  During a day in between repainting a house for the Arapaho living on the Wind River Indian Reservation, we had time to travel to this park and take a hike as a group up the canyon.  I remember that day, thinking it would be neat to come back and do the same hike on my own time, and then some.  I got to relive that dream today.  I hiked the exact same trail as I did 6 years ago.  I took some of the exact same pictures as I did 6 years ago too.  Weather was nearly identical, so I'm sure things looked just the same, especially since rock formations don't usually shift too much in half a dozen years.

I wanted to climb up to that rock so badly

So I did, and this was the result

I did a little more hiking than last time too.  A rocky outcrop at the rim of the canyon beckoned me to top it 6 years ago.  Alas, I was forced to stay with the group on that trip.  This time, I was going to find my way to the top of that rock face, no matter what.  After a hour of grueling uphill climbing, I finally reached the peak, which afforded views of the valley probably a few 1000 feet below me.  I got some nice pictures, and got pretty close to the edge too.  Long fall from where I was.  Wouldn't want to be clumsy or anything.  I was safe enough.  I soaked it all in, then made the hike back down.  A wonderful climb up was capped off with views of a male Williamson's Sapsucker on the way down, as well as White-throated Swifts coarsing along the cliff walls.  I didnt make it back to my car til 7.  Originally my plans had been to continue on to a state park about an hour east.  But I was ahead of schedule, and it was a beautiful location, and the cheap rate of $11/night persuaded me to stay.

I had a great night in Sinks Canyon.  Great hike, great birds, and I even met the camp host, the person who is a permanent camper and makes sure that you pay for your site.  His name was Oliver I think.  Really friendly guy.  So much so that at the end of the night, as I was getting ready for bed, he came up to my tent, and asked if I was still hungry.  I said I'd already eaten, but would take anything he had to offer!  He had just had his fill of baby back ribs which had slow cooked for 8 hours.  Lucky for me, he had some leftovers- a whole rack in fact!  Perhaps it helped that I was just some scruffy looking kid trying to make my way cross country and he knew I'd be hungry.  A huge smile came across my face, as I havent had real meat in some time.  He was only worried I was a vegetarian.  Hell no! I said.  I will now be eating like a king for a dinner quite soon.

Origins of the name Grand Teton

The name "Grand Teton" was first recorded in 1870.  I'm sure the first european explorers to come across these huge obstruction in their path west had been on the road for quite some time.  Assuming that all the explorers were ment, they'd probably been without their wives, girlfriends, or any women for that matter for quite some time.  The longing for a women was probably strong in these trailblazers.  Longing for company of a different flavor, and hey let's face it, probably for sex.

  So when these men came across rocky pointed peaks, so massive as they were, it wouldn't be surprising if the first thing that came to their minds was a woman's breasts.  I'm not trying to be crude, I'm just retelling history.  In french, Grand Teton means large teat.  For such amazing landscapes to be named after a woman's sexual body feature is somewhat comical.  Perhaps that why historians claim that mountains were named after the Teton Sioux tribe of Native Americans.  Pick whichever story you wish to believe.  But I highly doubt that explorers were thinking highly of the Indians when thinking of names for things on the travels.

Blame it on the Tetons, by Modest Mouse.  Good title for a song.

Cya tetons

 I only wish I could have stayed in the Grand Tetons another day.  I spent one night there, and it was fantastic.  It's hard to top an evening run along glistening Jackson Lake with, staring half the time at 13,000 foot Grand Teton, beaming in the fading light.  A much better way to take in all in than, say, driving to a pull out, taking a quick pic, and continuing on your way.  Ah one of the many perks of running.

They come from all over

While walking to the public restrooms in Mammoth Hot Springs in Yellowstone, I took the time to note the variety of license plates I saw between my car and the urinal.  I counted cars from 34 different states, including Alaska.  Multiple cars from Florida, lots from California, and even another fellow PA car.  I can't think of a state plate I didnt see on my time in Yellowstone, except Hawaii.  And maybe Alabama. 

Yellowstone National Park, in a nutshell.

Yellowstone threw everything it had at me....wind, rain, sleet, snow, and fortunately some sun too.  Temperatures never exceeded 60 while I was there, and most days it was in the 40's and 50's, with snow always visible.  The whole park is a mile high, so lots of areas, especially the southern end of the park were snow-locked.  It appeared to be mid-winter in some locations.
But I had a hell of a time. This park literally has everything.... More Elk and free roaming Bison than I've ever seen, 4 new bird species, plus geysers, hot springs, and other geothermal phenomena, amazing waterfalls and canyons, snow covered alpine meadows, forest-fire burned forests everywhere (the whole park basically went up in flames in 1988.  All the trees are only 23 years old, so very few exceed 25 feet in height), oh and did I mention close encounters with a Black Bear and Grizzly, both in the same hike?  Haha, well I won't get into details about that.  I didn't have to use my bear spray, but I was glad I had it in my back pocket during that hike.

Yellowstone atop bunsen peak

Blue Grouse, another one of those chicken-like birds that live in the woods

Eerie burned forests.  These woods burned nearly 25 years ago, but due to the dry air, everything is very preserved.  You would have though the burn happened yesterday. 

I spent 3 nights in Yellowstone.  First day was spent hiking around the northern portion of the park.  I hiked up a mountain, then went and visited the mammoth hotsprings.  The hotsprings have nice boardwalks meandering through them.  You can't afford to go off trail in these geothermal areas.  Most of the ground is thin crust, and the water is literally at boiling point.  Another hike later that evening went through one of those burned forests I mentioned.  Pretty nice hike, until sleet met me at the furthest point out on the trail.  Worth it though.  Saw my first ever Lewis' Woodpecker.

dead trees that couldn't get out of the way of the hotsprings

Mammoth hotsprings

calcite buildup at Mammoth hotsprings

One of hundreds of free-roaming bison.  Eventually you just get tired of seeing them.

Day 2 found me at the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, a massive gorge cut out by the Yellowstone River hundreds of feet wide, with a waterfall at the upper end two times as high as Niagara Falls.  I hiked up to the Artist's Point lookout and had some spectacular views of the gorge and waterfall from there.  The reds, oranges, and yellows of the cliff faces really would suite a painting well.  Although the tourists were a bit overwhelming at this point.  No worries...next I find myself atop Mount Washburn, nearly in the clouds at just over 10,000 ft., searching for Ptarmigan and Rosy-finches.  No luck on either of those, but the views were spectacular.  As was the snow that pelted me when I reached the top.  The road to the top was closed, so I had hiked my way off-trail to the top.  Pretty steep climb, but worth the vistas and the remoteness.  I also tried to get in a run...fail.  The combination of altitude, hills, a day's worth of hiking, and a day's diet of Chewy bars and crystal light gave me the worst stomach ache I've had in a while.  I was spent after 25 minutes.  Unfortunately, my day wasnt done, as the only point in the park at which I had a cell phone signal was a 2 mile hike up the mountain I had hiked the previous day.  Certainly the most effort I've ever made for making a few simple calls.

Traffic on the way to Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone

Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone

View of alpine habitat on Mt. Washburn

A bull elk with fuzzy antlers

Newlyweds emerging from the woods.

PIKA!

Day 3 finally found me touring the geyser basins of the southern section of the park, including Old Faithful.  As it was Monday and the day after Father's day, I figured less people would be in order.  An early morning stroll through past steaming hot vents and bubbling pots of mud found few tourists at first.  But by noon, my arrival at Old Faithful seemed to coincide with the largest spectacle of tourists I have ever seen, just to witness hot water shooting out of the ground.  Old Faithful is one attractive lady.  She's got her own highway exit, her own hotel and visitor center and general store, and parking for 1000's of cars and RV's.  Fortunately she's honest to her name, spouting water up 200 feet roughly every 90 min.  I stuck around to watch her blow off some steam twice.  It was an amazing sight both times.  It's funny though, Old Faithful really is just a tourist attraction.  Literally thousands of people stand in a semicircle around the geyser, awaiting the explosion.  The shot of water lasts 2 minutes tops, and then everyone leaves, off to see the visitor center, the souvenir shop, or to some other oddity found in the park.  I guess it's just one of those things people like to say that they've seen...a check off the bucket list.
I felt a little better about myself, watching it go off TWICE.  Although I'm sure the rangers who work there get a kick out of all the visitors who oooow and ahhhh over the hot steam of water.

Steam vent coming out of a geyser

more hot water.  I have way too many pictures of just hot water.

There she blows.  Old Faithful.

I had planned on spending a 4th night at a camp site in the lower section of the park.  But the campground was closed due to heavy snow.  The lake which the campground sat on was still rimmed with ice!  So I moved out of the park and off the escarpment that is Yellowstone, dropping down to Jackson Lake in Grand Teton National Park, which lies south of Yellowstone.  Ended up being a great decision, as the view from my camp site was better than any I could have had in Yellowstone.

Yellowstone is an amazing place.  Definitely the best place in America to see an assortment of wildlife, and such extreme variation in scenery.  At one point youre looking at 10foot snowbanks.  A ten mile drive later, youre walking through a basin full of boiling hot water, a little later you're looking down into a canyon carved out 500,000 years ago.  Crazy stuff.  Just be prepared for the crowds and the multitude of languages being spoken by tourest.  You might just feel like youre in a  foreign country.  Pictures to come....

red and blue flashing lights

I'm trying my man.

Well, they caught me.  After 6 years of driving, probably breaking plenty of traffic laws (innocently enough) and getting away with it, the cops finally caught onto my scheming.  And honestly, it shouldnt have happened at all.

After leaving Missoula, I had just exited the Bozeman, MT area, en route to Yellowstone, and saw a road on the map that looked like a shortcut....

...Ill stop right here and say that shortcuts are rarely a good idea.  You ever seen those horror flicks?  Slasher films like "Wrong Turn"?  The shortcuts never work out for the adventurous youth in those films.  Someone always ends up dead.  But I digress....

The shortcut is a small exit off the main highway, and as I'm approaching the exit, I see the sign that says Trail Creek exit, 1/2 mile.  That's my turnoff!  Somehow I get distracted and blow right past the exit.  Immediately noting my mistake, I pull up to the onramp for the highway....you know...where cars merge ONTO the highway.  In my stubbornness to take this shortcut, I think of going off the exit, via the on ramp, completely illegal.  I can't turn around and go back to the exit that I missed.  And I know there's no turnaround for miles.  I'm in the middle of nowhere, Montana, in the mountains.  I look down the ONramp.  No cars.  I check for cops.  No cops.  So for 30 seconds, I'm traveling OFF the highway, using the highway ONramp.  Illegal, I knew.  But I got to the bottom, turned left, and was on my way, no harm no foul.  Well wouldn't you know it, in that rebellious 30 seconds span, a cop must have come around the bend in the highway, saw an idiot driving the wrong way on a one-way road, and bam....lights flashing.  I couldn't believe my misfortune.  How unlucky!  I shouldn't have missed the exit in the first place, but geez, talk about bad timing!  I actually had to get out of my vehicle and go sit down in his passenger seat while he took down my info.  At first I thought I was being cuffed!  Thankfully theyre not that harsh for a simple traffic violation.  He was nice enough, telling me that my shortcut eventually turns into a dirt road.  Nice enough, that is, for a guy citing you an $85 fine.

Ends up my shortcut was full of potholes.  I turned around about a mile down the road, rejoining the highway via the onramp that caused me my first ever ticket.

Glacier and onward

I just finished two nights in Glacier National Park.  For the most part, it was cold, and wet.  And in comparison to Banff, it simply did not compare.  In defense of the place, there are fewer roads through Glacier, so it's harder to get deep into the park to see the big peaks, unless you're willing to hike in for a few days.  Also, the main road through the interior of the park was closed after about 15 miles because heavy snow in the upper section of the road had yet to be cleared, and large snow packs still loomed above the road, potential avalanche locations that would wipe out cars if the road had been open at this point.  So most of my travels in the park was limited to a few trails and a small section of road.  Still a nice place with lots of cool birds and other wildlife.  Saw 2 black bears.  There is also a large section of interior rain forests, containing >200 year old western hemlocks and red cedars.  Some of the biggest trees I have ever seen!  A few of the cedars were measured at greater than 6 feet in diameter. 
I also went 4 days without showering.  Not my fault.  Glacier does not provide showers for it's campers.  I had to drive outside the park to an RV campground and use their showers. 
Today I left Glacier behind me, in the rain and cold.  Temps topped out today at 50.  I slowly made my way to Missoula, Montana, stopping at Pipestone National Wildlife Refuge and the National Bison Range, where a huge natural prairie still houses something like 200 Plains Bison.  Unfortunately they're not truly wild, as the area is enclosed by fencing to keep the bison from wandering into unwanted cattle lands and farm fields.  But the enclosure must be at least 100sq miles, so there's plenty of room for these big guys to roam.  I saw plenty of bison, as well as a few neat birds, including my first ever Gray Partridge and Western Bluebirds. 
Highlight of the day though was Missoula.  I did a run from the downtown section up through Montana University campus, and up the "M" trail, which follows a bunch of switchbacks up a 650ft elevation gain to a big M on the side of a hill overlooking the valley and Missoula below you.  The M was constructed in the 60s by students to show school spirit.  It's over 100 ft tall and 100ft wide.  And it's one of the most popular hiking trails in Montana.  My pace going up was a bit hot, and I was nearly crawling by the time I reached the M, but I DID run up the entire way.  I took in the sight of Missoula for a bit before scampering back downhill, retracing my steps back to my car. 
I passed through a small carnival on my way back through town, with live music playing and vendors selling all sorts of food.  I decided to take in some of the local flavor.  I arrived too late after my run to enjoy the music, but I did cash in on some good eats:  polish hot dog, deep fried donuts, and baskin robbins ice cream for dinner. 
By the time I got my bearings again, it was after 10.  And there are few campsites in the Missoula area, surprisingly.  So I spent a little extra money, and am staying in a hotel tonight.  The Mountain Valley Inn.  Kinda old looking.  Bed's a little firm.  But television, internet, and complimentary breakfast in the am.  At this point, I kind of need this. 
Tomorrow its off to...yup, it only makes sense....YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK.

Grammatical error?  Not a good first impression, montana.

Every geographical feature?  let me know when you find this in maryland, bickell.  Glacier NP

uprooted tree

Giant Red Cedar

Chipmunk

vista from trail looking down on Lake McDonald, Glacier NP

adult male Pronghorn, National Bison Range

Bison chilling

Interesting speed limit rules.  Makes sense though.  We should all be more cautious at night.

Notes

Today is Monday.  Im chilling in another McDonald’s in Cranbrook, British Columbia.  America needs to adopt the standards of Canadian fast food.  This McDonald’s has it all:  wood pannelled walls, photos of the mountain scenery, a conference room, fire place (gas burning), and a big screen tv with sportcenter on it.  I think I’ll stay and rest for a while.

I just watched the Boston Bruins score four goals in 5 minutes on the Vancuver Canucks in the Stanley Cup finals.  All of Canada just got real quite.

Off to Montana and Glacier National Park tomorrow.