Location: Montrose, CO 

Car Mileage: 232,749 

Trip Mileage: 22,458 

What do you wanna be when you grow up? The last time I had an answer to that question was in middle school when I had goals to be a benchwarmer in the NBA. When I moved into public school and saw how athletically ill-equipped I was, that dream evaporated, and I have been trying to figure out my next move ever since.  

I have had four months and 22,000 miles to reflect, ponder, and pray but feel like I did walking into basketball tryouts freshman year. Historically, a clear path forward has frightened me. When a friend got his dream job, bought a house, and had a long-term relationship, I wasn’t envious. The thrill and possibilities of the unknown that I sought weren’t compatible with the phase of life my friend was in. I didn’t want to see my future set out in front of me. I’ve only sketched out my next two weeks for this reason, as I’m afraid of writing it in pen. 

Huntington is now only 1,600 miles away.  I am trying to fully embrace the ongoing adventure while simultaneously create a semblance of a life plan for when I reach the finish line. The past two weeks have been a good reminder that life plans and adventures are not mutually exclusive. I visited Glacier National Park, Yellowstone National Park, Grand Tetons National Park, and also took a round-trip flight to San Antonio to celebrate a nephew turning 3. 

I picked up my friend Daniel from the airport in Missoula, and we immediately drove to Glacier to maximize our park time. Daniel is likely my last visitor on this trip, and I’m glad I had his company because these are three of the most highly touted US parks. 

Glacier has a very simple park layout. There are two primary roads to access different trails. The more famed road is the “Going to the Sun Road” which took close to 2 hours to maneuver 50 miles of tight turns near the top of the mountain range. We made our way up and down this road multiple times, primarily to take in both sunsets on the nights we were there. 

Wildlife didn’t disappoint. We were only in the park for five minutes before we saw a black bear. Daniel will tell you it was a Grizzly Bear, but I am pulling rank on this one. In his defense it was the largest black bear I’d seen (but still a black bear). There were also loads of Big Horn Sheep and Rocky Mountain Goats (my first RMG sighting) licking the asphalt and stopping traffic.  

Our hike proved to be the highlight of the park experience. Grinnell Glacier Trail. This viewpoint is only about 3 miles and 1,000 feet of elevation from the parking lot. I’d consider it a must hike if you make it to Glacier. The perfect view of melting snow waterfalling down a steep rocky backdrop into an emerald lake. 

 The theme of Montana is undoubtedly “Huckleberry”. They have huckleberry flavored everything in Montana. I partook in the huckleberry ice cream, beverages, licorice, and a huckleberry barbecue sandwich. Huckleberry for the win! 

 The next park, Yellowstone, became the first National Park when it was founded in 1872. It also probably has the most hype around it of any spot in the National Parks System. I don’t say this as click bait or strictly to be controversial, but the park did not match the hype FOR ME.  

 In the park’s defense, we only had two days. And with those two days you want to see all the things the brochures tell you to see. This meant the Grand Prismatic Spring, Mammoth Hot Springs, The Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, and of course, Old Faithful.

This took up our time and didn’t leave much opportunity to hike off trail. For many things in nature, like the actual Grand Canyon, a picture will never do justice. We’ve all seen Old Faithful online before, and honestly it kinda captures it.

Another note to the pioneers that named these spots: don’t call it the “Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone” when it looks like a sidewalk crack next to the actual Grand Canyon. I feel like that was really set up to disappoint. Crowds were also a real damper. Obviously, we went during one of the busiest weekends of the year(second weekend of July), but the park could do a lot more to catch the park up to its crowds. 

Yellowstone is still great! The bar was just so high. If you’re a geothermal nerd then please disregard my entire opinion because this place will knock your socks off (or melt them into your skin if you choose to get in the water).  

 Wildlife was a 9/10, carried heavily by the vast number of Bison. The only way it could have been improved was if we’d seen the famed wolves of Yellowstone. No such luck. The hordes of people that blocked traffic to photograph a bear 400 yards away was insane. Six months ago I would have been one of them, but I’ve seen so many that I was just frustrated that I couldn’t move forward. 

 A five-minute drive below Yellowstone is Grand Tetons NP. It is definitely living in the shadow of its northern neighbor, which was a good thing for us when it came to crowds. Fun fact: the French named these mountains “Le Trois Teton” which translates to “The Three Breasts”. The French have a way of adding some glamour. While perhaps still a bucket list destination, “Grand Breast National Park” would likely draw crowds to rival those of Yellowstone, albeit from a different and more disappointed demographic. You can see why they kept it French. 

 Like Glacier, the road system is simple in the Tetons. Everything is essentially built to give you viewpoints of the mountains. You might feel like you’d accomplished the park pretty quickly if it weren’t for the hikes. 

 We opted to end our trip with a true challenge by hiking 11.5 miles and gaining 3,300 feet of elevation, ultimately carrying us above 10,000 feet up into the Tetons. If you turn a blind eye to the middle schoolers and fathers carrying infants on their backs that we saw on our way up, then we  were the mountain men that day. 

 You do it for the views, and these were worth it. We attempted the extension of the hike that goes even higher to Disappointment Peak. Most people don’t bother. We were so exhausted and the altitude weighed on us that we were stopping every 100 yards. Disappointment Peak was a mile further and another 2,000′ up.

We made it close to halfway before we came to a dead end. We went back and forth looking for the lost trail against a cliff wall, when we heard voices above us. We decided to see how these people came down so we could see the path. It turns out there wasn’t a real path, but instead essentially a repel down. It was aptly named Disappointment Peak, and we decided against putting our lives at stake and hiked the 5.5 miles back to the car instead. 

 The epic views are what decided the order of these three parks for me. Daniel and I were at a consensus on these, but I am sure many will feel different. 

1. Glacier  

2. Grand Tetons 

3. Yellowstone 

Yellowstone certainly had the most “must see” places, but it didn’t have a view (that we saw) that could match the green Grinnell Lake of Glacier or the Amphitheatre Lake of Grand Teton. It was still fifty shades of beauty! 

 We booked it to Denver for Daniel’s flight home and my flight to San Antonio. We had brief stops in Jackson Hole, which boomed with tourists, as well as Laramie, WY which I thought had significant small-town Huntington-esque charm. 

 I enjoyed my side-trip to San Antonio, although I am certainly not about to adopt a three-year-old. Free food, a bed to sleep in, and of course, family is a bargain for a $68 round trip Frontier flight. 

 I started last weekend in Cheyenne, WY at the “Daddy of ’em All” rodeo. All alone unfortunately, which will be the case for the next month.

I departed Cheyenne and have been working my way through Colorado ever since. I am less interested in the population centers of Denver, Boulder, Colorado Springs, and more interested in checking off the four National Parks scattered around the state.  

Most recently I have notched Great Sand Dunes National Park into my belt. I spent three nights sleeping in a Walmart parking lot (nearing on squatter’s rights) and exploring the dunes and nearby mountain range. 

These dunes actually contain the highest sand dune in North America at around 750 feet. I set off to summit this barefoot thinking the sand would be cool enough to do so. It was not. I fortunately had flip flops in my pack, but it’s so much harder to climb a mountain of sand while wearing slides.  

It took about an hour to get to the top where the winds provided a free of charge sand exfoliating treatment (video below). Me being ill-prepared is no surprise at this point though. Fact checking the height of the dune; it was humbling to see the world’s largest dune in Argentina is over 4,000’ high. It’s not a competition! 

 The next few days I will drive around to small ski towns and a few more parks. After that I will aim towards North and South Dakota as I zig-zag back to Huntington. Of course this is all written in pencil, so if you have any must see places between Colorado and West Virginia, let me know and I will try to work it in. 

I’ve purchased over 150 postcards so far, most of which I have documented on the postcard tab and sent out to friends. I need to clear some glove compartment space (for more postcards) so if you want one before I start sending them to random strangers, then message me your address in the “contact” page.