‘Volume XU
3s5IU I
Scptemkr 27, 20/0
J2^trcd,
Montreat Coffee’s Student Mice
KarhySpallingcr
Ever wcukIct wliui s s)
jrrand jb’nr the Grand
Gaiivnii- t'l”"' glacial
water really is? Ever hear
alwiir Crarer hake? Or
wonder what iiiakcs tJie
Badlands so bad? Just ask
sonienite who has rakoii
American Ecosystems attd
rhev will rell yon muTliing
y„,i cmikl possibly w-onder
:,[,oiit this trip. We had
rhe chance ro embark on a
joiirtiev i>ni west not only
to "ENperieiue America"
Biir to rediscover otirselvvs.
'Ihe class iiselFis an op-
noriimitT h>r sriidems to
Jriidv rhe tnany dilferenr
ecosysiems of America and
see just how itniqne rhey
trtjiv .rrc. Each sttideiu
taking the class is tis-
si^ned a National Park ro
losearch, investigate, and
ohm a cLiy of exploring
in, so everyone can get a
taste of what tiuit park is
all aboiir. Stirring with
Sagnaro Nariotial Park in
iyrrroiia we made a renmd-
iBoiir trip and ended tip
finishing in the Badlands
of South Dakota. We
saw rhe Grand tianvon,
blown tor its unbelievable
geolog)', and the Hoodoos
o( Bryce Caiivoti on nmle
back. We then spent two
days in Zii.m National
P.irk, where some oi us
roni.piered angels land
ing, explored rhe hidden
canyon, and visited the
emer.ild pools. We drove
into Netada and .saw rhe
s.iii f! ol I'teath ^'’allev,
rhe lowest, hottest, and
diiest place in .America.
a\ little dried out and in
seaich of some tnoi.stiire,
we departed tor Galitor-
nia.
Wo were able to .see rhe
wrcfld’s l.irgest tree (bv
voliitiie) in .Secjiioia and
tiot long alter tli.ic the
lalle.st trees in the world in
Redwoods National P.iik.
Alter that excitement we
discovered the mvsreriotis
N.rater L.ake in (..hegon,
one ol the cleanest .iiid
ptiresr lakes in the cvoi ld.
Another cool lact for
Cutter l.ake is the lieedotii
ot lishing w'ithotir a license
or catch litttit. Mvjotirtial
entry tor that dav, June
..ltd, iOlO. slates that there
was a least 7 or 8 feet ol
snow on the gioitnd, bur
it was probablv mote
like 1 5 leei. We later
cro.s,sed over into Wash
ington .Stare to see the
inlajiiotis Mt St. Helens,
but due ro poor visibility'
we didn’t actually sec it.
We were able ro learn
and .see .some ot the
cLiiiiage that it caused
iti 1980 and see how God
used .1 di.saster to c reate
some beautitul lutd utiic]ite
landscape's. .Some ol tts
.vaw' a glacier lor the first
little as we hiked again
ov'er iO teer ot snow at
Ml. Rainer. Ihtis volcano
actuallv li.is a bad reputa
tion tor claiming people's
liies every c'e.u'.
We m.ide it to rhe west
coast ot W.ishingtoii to
check out Olvmpic N.i-
liotial Park, a temperate
iainloie.st. Pe e never seen
.s> many shades ot green
in one place... or .so many
iiiiussice .slugs. Atler chec Ic
ing oiii the r.iintoresr. we
experieiiced the inrerridal
'ionc-s/ticle pools where we
w-ere able to see star Rsli,
sea .tnc'tnones, and othei
astonishing creatures. We
then ferried to the .Sail
Jii.iii Islands and went sea
kayabiig, hoping to see
orcas (we didn't, unlortu-
iiatelv). But bv then we
were .s.iiiirated with rhe
Pacific .N'orili VC'est ,ind we
sr.iried oiir long ioiirney
back east.
W'e dried oil .iricl drove
to Montana where we
entered die wilderness ot
Glacier National Ptuk.
We stopped in Wyoming
more than once', in fact
we sto[)petl quite Ire-
cpienrlv in Yellowstone to
chcc k our the hot .springs,
artistic points. Old Faiili-
tiil, and Grand Prismatic
■Spring. liLst south ol there
w'c camped in the Grand
I'eions with an early
wakeiip call Irotii a p.ick
ol lov'otc'S. 1 have ro admit
the leioiis were my favtu-
iie. riierc’s just something
about gl.icial moraines and
fitilied moiint.iitis th,it
rakes my breath av-wiy... ot
coiir.se, it .ilvvays lieljis rt>
.see a Irienclly marmot and
a gorget.'us .sunset'.
.)n the eiLStern side of
the state we witnessed
llie Dev il’s Tower .iiid
the signilicance it had to
the nativ e people, and
rhe m.i.ssive prairie dog
V illage right next to it.
On our w.iy ro rhe Black
1 nils in .South Dakota,
we stopped ro see Ml
Rushmort", they were
crying as vve lelt them
out in the rain. It wasn’t
much ot a drive to the
Black Hills, which were
formed by batholirhs.
A little further east and
we loiind ourselves in
the Badlands. The Bad-
l.ind.s get to,' much rain
to be consideivd a desert,
not enough rain to be
considered a torrst, tmd
enough erosion to gradu
ally c h.inge rhe land.scape;
it issh'wlv disappearing
altogether.
So what does it all come
down to? Truth be told,
this class is more than
jikSl an epic field trip; it’s
the journey of ,i lifetime.
It’s more than just learn
ing about ecosystems; it's
learning to face challenges
we nev'er w'oiild have
in our everyd.iy life, It's
■seeing a world you never
would have dreamed ex
isted, It makes you wonder
what else God creared on
this planet that vve don t
cv'ctt blow about. I guess
there’s only one way ro
find our!
■:J,
“So do not throw awtiyyanr confidence; it will be richly rewarded. You need to
peneoere iu that when you have dune the will of God, you will receive what he has
promised. ”
. Hebrew's 10:35-36(XIV)