Summer Is Right Around the Corner!

Hello everyone,

I hope this blog has been a wonderful winter experience for you all. I know I really enjoyed teaching you and receiving your great art projects. You all really helped get me through the long, lonely winter days here in Montana. This winter was not quite what I expected it to be. For starters, December was really the only wintry month that we had this winter. We had a couple of days that got down to negative 30 degrees out in Many Glacier! We also received most of our snow in the month of December. The drifts beside the hotel were near the second floor and the back door of the cabin was completely blocked by a ten foot snow drift! Then, spring seemed to come early. By January, the snow started melting, and we were seeing bare patches of road. The snow drifts remained for quite a while, but days in the upper 40's quickly melted the drift behind the cabin. By far the toughest part of the winter was the wind. The wind was always blowing out at Many Glacier, and it was bitter cold. Even on days in the upper 30's, the wind made it feel like it was well below freezing. On the bright side, there were tons of awesome experiences that came with spending a winter in Glacier NP. I got to see bighorn sheep daily, and often they were right next to the cabin. I also got to spend many, many hours skiing, snowshoeing, sledding, ice fishing, building snow forts, star gazing, and just overall enjoying the beautiful scenery of Northwest Montana. These memories will be with me for the rest of my life!

Now that the winter has drawn to a close, I am preparing to head back to the park for my summer job. This time I will be working on the west side of the park at Lake McDonald Lodge. Things are quite different in the park in the summertime. I will be surrounded by 150 fellow employees and will see over two million tourists visit the park. Some of the trails will be crowded, there will be campers in all of the campgrounds, and wildlife will be all over. I will have to start carrying my bear spray again and be cautious when I hike deep into the back country. Soon, I will be hiking 20 mile days, jumping in freezing cold glacial lakes, and climbing peaks. I can't wait! Like I said last week, I will be heading back to Pennsylvania before I start my summer. My original plan was to visit Yellowstone on my way back east, but I have decided to visit Yellowstone on my way back to Montana. This way, more of the park roads will be plowed, so I can see more of our first National Park. I am really looking forward to seeing the hot springs, geysers, bison, and hopefully a grizzly bear or two! Yellowstone is a geologist's dream with all of the geothermal activity going on there. Every summer scientists flock to the park to collect samples and perform tests. Maybe someday I will get to work there!

Well, I hope that you've learned a lot of cool stuff this winter. I know that I learned a lot teaching you. We covered a lot of topics over the months. Some of my favorite topics were grizzly and black bears, nocturnal animals, avalanches, and of course, the Iditarod. I had so much fun tracking the mushers throughout the race. I cannot believe how quickly the mushers are able to complete the 1,100 mile race! Anyway, this winter was a learning experience for us all. I hope you enjoyed it!

I will be leaving Montana in a week to get back to Pennsylvania. I will be stopping in Minneapolis, MN to pick up my sister and to watch a Twins baseball game. Yay! Once I make it back to Pennsylvania, I will stop in to see you. I can't wait to hear your Iditarod acrostics!

See you soon!