Our first 3 weeks on the road

Teddy Roosevelt National Park, ND

Prarie Dogs

Bison

The Maltese Cross Cabin with Ranger Nate

Teddy Bear Picnic

Getting my Badge in Theodore Roosevelt National Park with Ranger Phil

At Teddy Roosevelt it was really hot and we were supposed to stay there for four nights but it was too hot for us so we stayed for 3 nights instead. The park was great because I got to see a lot of bison, hear rattlesnakes, and go around this loop that had Bison, prairie dogs that were so cute who live in teeny holes that they stick there heads out of and squeak at you. We also saw wild horses and deer. Oh, did you know that prairie dogs have 4 toes in the front and 5 toes in the back? We met two rangers named Phil and Nate. Phil tought me about boyscouts and Theodore Roosevelt, and Nate taught me about a cabin that Theodore Roosevelt had built and he lived in North Dakota. Nate also dressed up as Smokey the Bear and even though there are no bears in Theodore Roosevelt National Park, he taught us about forest fires and we went to a teddy bear picnic.

We also went to a musical called the Medora Musical and all these people came to watch, we took a tour around the set and their dressing rooms are underneath the stage. We saw elk and singers and dancers and horse back riders and did you know that they used treats to herd the two elk up on the mountain for the beginning of the show.

We went horse back riding, and I met a new friend that went with us. She was second in line on the ride and I was first. I talked with the guide on the whole ride and my horse was named dynomite and he was really fast and he ran to catch up and slowed down without me making him. He was a bay. My mom was riding on a paint named thunder. He did not want to break the rules. But my horse kept eating when we stopped.

When we left North Dakota, we went to Montana. Driving through Montana was really beautiful and warm. There weren't very many cars and most of the cars we saw were trucks. It took 2 days to get to Glacier National Park.

Glacier National Park, MT
We started in East Glacier and we stayed in a cabin behind a restaurant, that day we went to Two Medicine on a boat ride and a hike to Twin Falls. I learned about plants and bears and porcupines and bear spray. She taught us a lot of signs of animals so that you know if a bear is close by.

The next day we went to our campsite in Rising Sun. The ranger told us that in our campground we have a mamma mountain lion with 2 baby cubs and a mamma grizzly bear with 2 cubs. My mom was worried because she is scared of mountain lions. We never saw them. That same day we took a bus to a place called Logan Pass and I was so happy to go there because it was covered with snow and I played with new friends again, playing snowball fights with their dad. My mom took me inside to look around and we saw a stuffed pica and a some other stuffed animals. On the way back to our campground, we saw a baby grizzly bear on the side of the road and I was happy and my mom took a picture. Then we went back and we made a new friend named Maureen who lives in Washington and she said that we can come over when we get to Washington. That day we said it's okay it's fine we can come she also said she has Orca's near her house in Washington state and you have to take a Ferry to the Orca watching place from her house. It makes me excited because I want to see Orca's!

The next day we went hiking in Many Glacier with Maureen and tried to go to Grinell Glacier, but someone said there was a grizzly bear on the trail so, we turned around and went back because it's the smart thing to do. That night we went to the ranger talk in our campground and it was a singer that was a Blackfeet Indian named Jack Gladstone. We went to a lot ranger talks there and my four favorite ones were about, Wolverines, Beavers, Osprey's, and Mountain Goats. We also saw an astronomy thing about the starts, something about traders and trappers in the olden days.

We went on a hike with a ranger named Ellie Bash. In the beginning of the hike she made me lead the group and she was in the back because I am a Junior ranger in Glacier National Park. She wanted me to lead the group because I had to be loud and warn the bears that we were coming. After that we got on another boat to our trailhead and we hiked as far as we could go to Grinell Glacier. There was a sign that said caution because there was a snow hazard with a picture of a guy falling off of a cliff. We stopped at that sign and had lunch. We saw three people go past us with ice axes and all prepared for snow climbing. But, when we were heading down someone near us told the ranger and me that one of the guys fell. The ranger went to help him and I led the group back down. The next day we found out that the man did not survive. It made me feel sad for him. Ellie was the ranger that gave me my badge and she showed us two glaciers on the trail and I said that it looked like a monster. Their names were Gem Glacier (the monster) and Salamander Glacier was the one that looked like a salamander.

We're in Washington now and I'll write more later.

Grinell Glacier Hike

Snow Snow Snow

Getting my badge in Glacier

Big Horn Sheep

Grizzly Bear!