West Road Trip - Post 1

I hadn't decided whether I would post this here or not since it isn't exactly related to the AT hike. But, I figured I should let everyone know what I am up to, even if the posts aren't as frequent or as detailed as when I was on the AT. For those of you who don't know, I am not going back to work until the beginning of October, which gave me about a month free. Rather than waste the time off, I decided to do a road trip out West and go to as many of the National Parks as I can in the time I have. It is kinda a slow transition to civilization. I am using a car and every now and then staying in hotels, but it isn't exactly in the heavily populated areas. My plan is to do a mix of day hiking, biking, trail running, photography, backpacking, car travel, car camping, hotels, etc.

I started last Saturday (9/4) and am currently in Montana. Here is how I got here:

- Day 1: Drove through New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois on my way to Wisconsin. I visited my friend Katie there.

- Day 2: Hung out in Milwaukee (saw Inception) and again stayed with Katie.

- Day 3: Drove through Wisconsin, Minnesota (wow, lots of wind generators!), and South Dakota to reach the Badlands National Park. Camped at the campground in the park.

- Day 4: Did a lot of hiking and trail running in the Badlands. It was like I was walking through someone's giant sand castle. It was so different from anything on the AT. I then drove through the park. I saw bison, antelope, mule deer, prairie dogs, and a ferret but missed the big-horn sheep. I stayed at the campground at the other end of the park (a bison wandered into the campground at night and in the morning).

- Day 5: Drove to another part of the Badlands then down a very long dirt road (if I knew I would have gone the much longer but paved route around...it would have been quicker). I went to Wind Cave National Park and went on a cave tour (currently the fourth largest cave network in the world according to the ranger). After that I went through Custer State Park (I wish I could have spent more time here) and on to Mt. Rushmore (I had to visit since I was in the area, but it is way too much of a tourist attraction). After that I proceeded Northward to Wyoming. I stayed in a hotel somewhat close to Yellowstone National Park.

- Day 6: I drove through Wyoming and Montana to get to Glacier National Park. I camped at one of the campgrounds.

- Day 7: The clouds partly cleared in the morning. Wow! These mountains are awesome! I biked from the campground part way down the Going-to-the-Sun Road (I think I covered about a third of it by bike). It was raining a bit. I then hiked up a trail (I now have hiked part of the Continental Divide Trail!) and back. I went through my first snow storm of the season (it is cold here, especially at elevation). I then biked back. I knew I had climbed a bit, but I didn't realize how much until I was returning. Without peddling I was catching up to cars. I didn't have to peddle much all the way back to the campground where I am staying a second night.

That's it for now.