Student Page - Cycle the Rockies

We woke to the comfort and grandness of Glacier National Park this morning and promptly sat besides the ten-mile long, finger-shaped lake McDonald. With large aesthetically pleasing mountain peaks and pine trees all around, we spent the morning reflecting on the course as a whole. Students read aloud each of the blogs they wrote, a remembrance of our daily activities and learning since Billings twenty-four days ago. Beyond the nostalgic remembering of where we were and what we did, each student’s voice brought out the uniquely individual perspective and interpretation of our experiences.

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I've never been an exceptionally lucky person, but today I considered myself the luckiest person alive. The day didn't start out on the luckiest foot considering the fact that we woke up to find our camp site had been invaded during the night by a pack of stray dogs who ate most of our food. However, it was a small hitch in an otherwise great early day of riding.

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We woke in Choteau to the warmth of another generous host's house, which was especially pleasant after the bad-weather riding we all endured yesterday. Although, I think we might have slept a little too well because it seemed particularly difficult to get out of our sleeping bags this morning. We eventually managed to wake ourselves up, and had a very in depth discussion with our host, Eric Bergman, about ecosystems and how they are being impacted by climate change.

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This morning, we woke up in Helena to snow. As a Midwesterner, during the month of June I forgot that snow existed. This morning it was very real and very cold. We were faced with the choice – do we cycle the scheduled 36 miles to Wolf Creek? Or do we wait out the weather?

Luckily, this choice was made for us. Because visibility was so low, our instructors agreed that we would spend another night in Helena with our gracious hosts, the Ashleys.

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