So, you’ve not heard from me yet, but I am the 4th member of grads without borders. (Yes, indeed, I have been going on this adventure, too. You’ll see me in the pictures.)
Day 9 for the Grads without Borders was a long one, filled with lots of excitement and good times. Originally on this day, we were going to continue the push west on to Salt Lake City. For various reasons, we decided it would be more beneficial to slow down and enjoy a day in Yellowstone National Park.
So, this is what it looked like:
We started out the morning at 5:30ish, at which time we awoke to catch the sunrise over Yellowstone Lake in Northwest Wyoming. The views were spectacular to say the least. Our early-morning sight-seeing transitioned into firewood-gathering time. We were quite ambitious this particular morning…
We gathered all the necessary wood and attempted to start our very first campfire as a team. Well, about 20 matches and 15 minutes later, we had a fire! (I hope having matches did not mean we broke the Messiah Community Covenant…)
Faith, our skilled fire-tender, cared for the precious embers while the pancake preparation began. It was tons of fun making whole-wheat-banana-and-honey pancakes over a campfire at Yellowstone. It was even more fun to eat them, as we’d had peanut-butter-and-honey and/or cheese english muffins for the past few days.
After all this, we went out to explore Yellowstone. We had a good amount of time, as it was only about 9:30 (never underestimate the value of getting up early!).
Yellowstone offered us many fantastic options, but our time was limited to one day, so this narrowed our options significantly. The first thing we did was visit the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. This site was recommended to us by Scott, the brother of a Messiah professor. The place was stunning! It is home to one of the most beautiful waterfalls I have ever seen! The whole canyon was colorful and powerful and displayed the glory of God in it.
We spent about a half hour at Grand Canyon before moving on to see many geysers of Yellowstone, including the famous Old Faithful. It was awesome because we approached just as this 100 ft + wonder was beginning to erupt. We rushed over only to find that the wind was not in our favor. Within minutes Old Faithful was misting us with a not-so-refreshing rain of sulfur water, leaving us with the lingering rotten egg smell for which it is notorious. The crowd began to scatter in a movie-disaster type way. It was quite amusing.
Later we decided to hike one of the many trails within the park. The one we chose was called Mystic Falls. I, personally, love waterfalls, so I was intrigued. The hike was a good distance, as well, for the time we had. The trail took was about 2.5 to 3 miles round trip. At the top of the mountain we saw Old Faithful spraying its waters toward the heavens again. Coming down the mountain, we finally encountered the mysterious Mystic Falls that seemed to be ever-present by ear, but hidden from sight. The waterfall was definitely worth the hike.
Later that evening we departed Yellowstone for Grand Teton National Park. For me, it was like the history of my major taking form. I remembered Dave Tanis’ stories of Paul Petzoldt and the Grand Teton and it all became real. The park was beautiful and the mountains so majestic. The campsite we chose gave a splendid view of the Grand Teton. I woke up seeing the beastly wonder towering above welcoming my gaze and haunting me with wonder. It was very surreal.
Phew…what a packed day. This day is typical of our trip–nonstop. I have definitely learned tons about flexibility, communication, and patience. It has been wonderful, tiring, and energizing–all at the same time. I know that I will take from it many skills including relating with others, being organized, and valuing sleep and exercise.
I hope to give you more of my thoughts. For now, I should sign off. Until next time, friends.