The ride from Missoula was snowy and rainy, so we took our time. We stopped at Nine Pipes Museum in Montana, near Kalispell. We learned about Native American history in the area.
We got to camp where it was raining, so we set up a tarp village to put the tents and cooking area under. The next day, we went to Lake McDonald to check out the hike we might do. Because of the weather, we decided to leave Glacier a day early. The park is beautiful, but there is nothing much to do in the rain. Our Junior Polar Bear Club members Keith, Nerney, Kayla, Tori, and Brian jumped into the cold Lake on our way out.
We headed near Bozeman, Montana to camp. The morale of the group was lifted due to the sunshine and green grass. We did a small hike the following day to learn about the local geology. The town is very proud Lewis, Clark, and Sacagawea had stayed in this area and ventured down the Missouri River.
We have a hotel in Sheridan, Wyoming before our last national park in the Rocky Mountains.

The drive to Yellowstone was beautiful. Green rolling mountains, blue skies, cool weather. As we got further up the mountain, the flurries started. Snow in June!! We got to our campsite late in the evening and there was at least six inches of snow on the ground. The group works very efficiently together and we set up camp quite quickly. The wet snow was also a big motivator. It it quite intense to go from the desert to snow.
We packed up early to head to our second campsite, where there was no snow on the ground! It snowed and rained the entire time at Yellowstone, but at least it never stuck to the ground at our campsite. We were able to stay pretty dry. We were not able to do as many of the hikes as we would have liked to because of the weather. We saw Old Faithful and hot springs. Bison and elk were very common in the park. As we were leaving, there was a bison walking down the center lane in the road. A female moose was spotted crossing the river.
On to our hotel in Missoula, then Glacier Park.

We got to camp at the North Rim of the Grand Canyon with enough daylight to set up camp and make dinner. The next day, we loaded up our packs with heavy gear and did a ten minute hike up and down the Kaibab trail of the North Rim leading into the Grand Canyon. This was a preliminary hike to prepare us for the real deal. Five students stayed back at camp so they could enjoy other activities the North Rim had to offer and to watch over camp. Because of camping permits, we had to split up into three groups. Two groups did the Rim to Rim in two days, one night and one group did it in three days, two nights.
We woke up at three in the morning to start the hike and get to our first campsite before nine. The heat in the Canyon makes it almost impossible to hike past 11 am. During the heat of the day, we dipped into the Bright Angel and Colorado River and took naps. It was important to keep hydrated and eat salty snacks. Hyponatremia is the loss of electrolytes because of sweating and heat. One doctor recommended 500 mg of salt an hour. Every sip of water had to be followed up by a handful of junk food. A typical dinner consisted of cheez whiz with chips, crackers, beef jerky, and tuna. We discovered that cheez whiz + bacon ranch Pringles = baked potato.
Going up the South Rim was probably the hardest part of the hike. But the immense accomplishment felt at the top of the South Rim made every step of the 23.9 miles worth it. We definitely earned bragging rights and other hikers on the trail were quite surprised we came from the North Rim.
We were all so happy to be reunited!!!
Next stop… Yellowstone!

We stopped at the cool hippie town of Flagstaff, Arizona to grab dinner and a cheap hotel. Then we kept on truckin’ to Bauer’s Ranch Campsite in Utah. We did a short hike in Zion National Park. The next day, while the vans were getting a check-up, the rest of the group spent another day in Zion. We hiked Angel’s Landing, which is over 6,000 feet in elevation and a 5 mile hike. But the spectacular view at the top was worth every step. The tour buses below us looked like ants! We started our hike early, to beat the heat of the day. We were stunned people were going up around noon and with no water! Our group is very good about making sure each other are staying hydrated. After our hike, we packed up camp and headed back to Arizona to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon!!!

 you can reach Professor Davis at :  

 cell phone:  609-317-0055

email:  linda.davis@stockton.edu

I’m packing, I hope I pack the right amount of socks and underwear. I’m probably going to drive everyone nuts: tomorrow (if you are reading this) with the chaos stop and start of the day!

I’ve been reading over the syllabus again and found that I said that ATMs are hard to find on the trip.  It turns out that this isn’t true.  Granted, they aren’t in the parks (except the BIG ones), but you will be able to hit an ATM at least once a week - but wouldn’t count on more than that.

 I am going to have you sign a form Monday that states that you have read the latest syllabus, which is not the one on this blog, but is the one I gave out on Wednesday.  I will also have another form - stating that you are not bringing any illegal drugs, will not use any illegal drugs (this doesn’t mean you can’t use prescription drugs prescribed to you!), and that you are not bringing firearms (yep, it’s happened on one of my trips, and the person was taking heavy duty drugs.  Yep, freaked me right out, but nothing bad happened; the person knew firearms.  Yet, I won’t have a repeat.)

Hi All,

 Guess what?  I got smacked down by FaceBook for Spamming - I’m sending too many messages to the same group of people.  I’m on probation in FaceBook!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hope all that can have paid their tuition.  I’m feeling pretty good about this - even though I didn’t run the 6K on Saturday/Sunday.  It’s Professor Dan Robin’s fault as he told me it was okay to have more of the Zinfandel, and in fact he suggested continuing with the Zinfandel during the race.  Last time I facebook that guy late at night!  You just have to stay away from bad influences!

Of the 6 people registered for GNM2420, 3 did not show today and hadn’t contacted me with any kind of excuse. Now, I have made it clear that you must help with the fundraisers, and you must help with prep. Several cannot come to the sessions on Mondays, but today was a day you could have helped. Why didn’t you help with the tents, seam sealing, fixing, and or the bake sale. I haven’t yet checked the Independent Study list - that’s because I am exhausted from spending my day on the bake sale and tents to help with fees!!!!!

My last messages said that now was the time to show me you could do team work and you failed. So, the question is, are you really the right people for this trip? You will not be allowed to do this: sit back and let others do the work for you. You must be engaged in all chores when possible. I have not seen but 2 paper outlines - they were due Monday and again many of you have not even bothered to talk with me about it.

Believe me when I say you will get on the ball and you will get on the ball now, otherwise you will not go on the trip with us. I may have given POI but that was with the understanding that you were going to join in.

We have plenty of tents to seal, to set up, work to be done. this is an ASAP alert. No kidding around because you can believe after today’s extravaganza we generated interest. We filled the two spots vacated and my email box is getting more and more hits.

Prof. Davis

Linda Lee Davis
Visit. Assist. Professor
The Richard Stockton College of NJ
Jimmie Leeds Road
PO Box 195
Pomona, NJ 08240-0195
609-652-4404

Hi All, I just got a “low enrollment” notice from the college - so, I’ll now ask you to go ahead and register IF YOU CAN, financially. 

The separate, but equally as important $200 deposit cannot be deposited until the accountants approve my paperwork.  I am missing important paperwork from several of you - and I need it Monday - I can get the paperwork in on Tuesday, then an account number.  THEN, with the deposits in, I can start reserving our campsites and hotel rooms.  The sooner the better.  I may have to rearrange the schedule if I cannot get campsites for the schedule as it is now.

See you tomorrow afternoon.  Let’s meet at my office again, and we’ll find an empty room.