Trip Summary

Well, I'm here in Manhattan, KS. Art has an apartment here while he is attending veterinary school at Kansas State. For those that know him, he seems to be adjusting well after having been here a month or so. From here, it is another 25 hours of driving to be divided up over 2 or 3 days. I don't expect that I'll be making any other stops along the way. At this point, I am excited to get home and thus this shall be my final post.

I figured I would summarize the trip from several different perspectives. By the time that I arrive home, I will have driven nearly 7000 miles over 30 days. I will have passed through 14 states (Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, South Dakota, Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, Kansas, Missouri and Connecticut) and two provinces (Alberta and British Columbia - where I arrived on foot!).

I visited the following national and state parks and national monuments:

Waterton National Park (Canada)
Glacier National Park
Yellowstone National Park
Grand Tetons National Park
Rocky Mountain National Park
Mt. Rushmore National Monument
Devil's Tower National Monument
Custer State Park (South Dakota)

I made 10 different hikes that travelled a total distance of 103 miles and had a total uphill (elevation gain) of approximately 17,000 feet.

My favorite experiences were the incredible hikes and scenery at Glacier, Waterton and the Tetons.

I took over 700 images and my favorite is posted here.

It has been a largely fulfilling, restorative and rewarding experience. I won't say it was the trip of a lifetime because that presumes I will not have similar experiences in the future. I will simply say that I feel that I have grown immeasurably because I took the time to quietly be largely with myself in all of nature's grand beauty and be inspired.