Summer places, part 1 (ND-MT-ID-UT-CA-UK)

A mix of pictures from our travels this summer. (Travels are not yet over--the kids all have various camps this month.)

Theodore Roosevelt National Park (southern unit--there are three unconnected parts to this park) in western North Dakota. It smells very nice, of grasslands!



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Summer places, part 2--CA to Grand Teton

A few southern California pictures. Up in the hills above Santa Barbara, looking down towards the ocean, and also the inside of a Chumash painted cave up there:





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Summer places, part 3 (Darby Canyon)

We did a couple of hikes in Teton Valley. One was up Darby Canyon, where in the 1950s, a group of hikers from a nearby girls' camp got hit by lightning and died. We hiked to the monument and then up to the Wind Caves, which are kind of cool--a waterfall comes out a cave in the side of the mountain. We tried this hike when our oldest kids were toddlers, and let's just say that it's a lot easier to hike when you don't have to carry everyone! It was slightly hazy and buggy, but the wildflowers were gorgeous on all the hillsides.

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Summer places, part 4 (Table Rock)

Table Rock is what everyone calls it. Table Mountain is what's on the official map. The trail starts at 7000 feet and ends at 11,109 feet, spitting you neatly out right under the nose of the Grand (as in Grand Teton). It's a GORGEOUS hike--and straight up! We all felt the altitude hit at some point. And once it starts to "level out" (haha), you're so high up that the easiest stroll really does take some effort. But it was so beautiful!! Especially for those of us who have been mountain STARVED all year (and that is all of us).

I don't know who strung the banner. It's been there a while.



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After this point there were not so many pictures, as a few waves of a storm came up (it caused HEAVY flooding in nearby Rexburg), and we were trying not to get hit by lightning. We had to ford a fast-moving river and get back before we got torched and/or our relatives called search and rescue. But we all made it back and it was quite the hike!