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| Sunset from atop my horse, Colt 45, at Deboo's Ranch |
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| The view from atop Pitamakin Pass |
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Crossing a suspension bridge on the Red Eagle Trail beyond Triple Divide Pass   |
Friday, August 17, 2012
Montana Memories
Here are a few photos that begin to capture my two weeks in Montana. It is hard to believe I'll be heading home tomorrow.
Back from the Backcountry
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| Fields of wildflowers near Triple Divide Pass |
Just finished our four day backcountry camping trip. Ray,
Alan, and I trekked 34 miles through mountainous terrain that was teeming with
wildflowers and wildlife. It was refreshing to be amid the greenery that I had
seen from a distance while I was in Browning, and quite remarkable that the
forest was so lush despite the lack of rainfall over the last several weeks.
Still on a slow internet connection, so more photos later.
We stayed at three different campgrounds along the way.
Each one had four small campsites, a food hanging, and a food preparation area.
In order to keep campgrounds less appealing to bears and other wildlife, people
must be vigilant about containing their food and keeping it out of tent sites.
This gave us an opportunity to chat with many intrepid hikers as we prepared
and ate dinner each night.
We met several families with grown children, and some groups
of close friends who were hiking together. We noticed just as many women as men
on the trails, but we did not see any young children. While we were having
lunch one day, a group of two young men and two young women sloshed through a
nearby creek carrying shovels, axes, and helmets. One of them said they were
setting up for a nine day work camp. Not far behind them were a team of horses,
one of them leading a train of seven pack mules. They were huge!
Nathan, a National Park Service Backcountry ranger, and his
volunteer companion, Dave, were at our campsite for two nights. We took comfort in
having Nathan close by throughout much of our trip, and it was fascinating to
learn more about the park from his perspective. He told us that of the 300+
days he has spent in the backcountry over the last four years, he has only seen
two bears. Phew! He also warned us to be careful when viewing moose, because
they can be just as dangerous as bears.
There was a female moose at the Red Eagle Lake campground
who came out for dinner and breakfast while we were there. She ambled right by
our campsite and into the lake, seemingly unaware that any campers were there.
We stayed quiet and kept our distance while she ate. As we were leaving, the
moose trotted out of the water, right across our trail, and into the nearby
woods. Alan had a perfect photo op.
Our trip brought us Pitamakin Pass and Triple Divide Pass.
This meant we would gain and lose a significant amount of elevation within each
of two day’s hikes. We were happy that the climb for each of these passes came
at the beginning of each hike. The view from the top of Pitamakin was
spectacular. We could see four shimmering lakes from one spot that looked like
gemstones plucked from the earth. We hiked to Triple Divide in the rain. By the
time we got to the top, there were frozen droplets collecting on our gloves, so
we scurried quickly down the other side. Fortunately, the skies opened up and
we were treated to beautiful views as we hiked through wildflowers and bear
brush for the rest of that day’s hike.
Tuesday, August 14, 2012
Katy's Post - The End
My, oh my! What adventures I have had traveling through Europe. I must start this post with a huge THANK YOU to Abby for encouraging me to apply for and take this trip! Also, it was Matt's (Mr.G's) talk about Global Education at our teacher meetings last year that sparked me to dream up this amazing trip and apply it to the first grade curriculum. Without both of their help and support, this trip wouldn't have happened so...THANK YOU!
I am writing this post from Vermont...I drove up this morning after arriving back to Providence yesterday evening. I've reunited with Stella (She's ignoring me! I think she's a little mad I left her for a month!) and I've been sharing stories of my travels with anyone who will listen!
The last few days of my trip were spent in Nice, France. I loved the beaches in Nice, because they are all stone - no sand all over your body or in your sandwich! It is like a hot stone massage to lay on them! I loved it! One day, I took the ferry to St. Tropez and enjoyed the glitz and glamor of this hot-spot. I also went to the Henri Matisse museum, as Nice is one of the places where Henri lived. Do you remember in the book "Bonjour, Mr.Satie!" about the competition between Picasso and Matisse? I saw some of the actual paintings that were illustrations in the book! I've posted some pictures of Matisse and Picasso work - some from the museum, some not!
I've included some other pictures from my journey. It's been wonderful sharing this trip with you! Thank you for your comments and emails! I'll see you soon! Enjoy the last few days of summer vacation!
Signing off -
Your Lovely European Blogger,
Katy
I am writing this post from Vermont...I drove up this morning after arriving back to Providence yesterday evening. I've reunited with Stella (She's ignoring me! I think she's a little mad I left her for a month!) and I've been sharing stories of my travels with anyone who will listen!
The last few days of my trip were spent in Nice, France. I loved the beaches in Nice, because they are all stone - no sand all over your body or in your sandwich! It is like a hot stone massage to lay on them! I loved it! One day, I took the ferry to St. Tropez and enjoyed the glitz and glamor of this hot-spot. I also went to the Henri Matisse museum, as Nice is one of the places where Henri lived. Do you remember in the book "Bonjour, Mr.Satie!" about the competition between Picasso and Matisse? I saw some of the actual paintings that were illustrations in the book! I've posted some pictures of Matisse and Picasso work - some from the museum, some not!
I've included some other pictures from my journey. It's been wonderful sharing this trip with you! Thank you for your comments and emails! I'll see you soon! Enjoy the last few days of summer vacation!
Signing off -
Your Lovely European Blogger,
Katy
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| This is the St.Stefano Church in Venice! (This one's for you SP) |
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| Messi jerseys were all over! (This one's for you JD) |
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| Enjoying the Matisse Museum! |
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| Guess who this is painted by! |
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| A signed jersey of my favorite (former) Italian soccer player - Roberto Baggio! |
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| I saw an opera being performed on the Spanish Steps in Rome. |
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| Me inside the Colosseum! |
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| Inside the Pantheon in Rome. |
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| I got to meet Olympian Clement Lefert, who got two medals! He is from Nice and was visiting while I was there. |
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| Enjoying a little time on the vespa in St.Tropez! |
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| This is what greeted me as I went to the Dublin airport to go home. It's an advertisement for Barretstown! It brought me back full circle to the reason I came on this trip - to volunteer at this wonderful organization! Love it! |
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| Time to go home!!! |
Katy's Post - Through Different Eyes
While in Europe, I kept thinking about the Diversity Workshop I did with
Laura last year. We did a workshop for first through third grade
talking about visual impairment and blindness. Together with the
children, we learned about braille and thought about how we might include children
with visual impairments in everyday activities. Here are some
interesting pictures that I took around Europe of how museums, towns and
businesses are including people with visual impairments.
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| In Dublin, to cross the street, you can "read" with this raised map of the street, which is on the street post. It shows you how many lanes of traffic (3 in each picture), which way the cars are coming from, and the best route for you to cross safely. |
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| The Uffizi Museum in Florence had what was called a TOUCH TOUR. Since people with visual impairments might have trouble seeing through their eyes, the museum provides a touch copy paintings. It is an imprint of the picture made out of plaster so people can "see" it with their sense of touch. See the example below. |
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| Actual picture of The Birth of Venus |
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| Touch tour copy of The Birth of Venus |
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| At the museum I visited in Fiesole, outside of Florence, maps were raised so people could touch and feel where the different rooms were. They were also labeled in braille and raised lettering. |
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| The descriptions were done in braille and raised lettering. |
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| The ruins of the amphitheater were shone on this raised map. People could touch the map and "see" where all the ruins were located. The labels were done in braille. |
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| Actual theater ruins |
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| It might be hard to see, but this vitamin box is labeled in braille. Can you see the dots up near the top? |
Sunday, August 12, 2012
On to Glacier National Park
Hello All,
Internet access has been hard to come by in Montana. It is Indian Days, a four day holiday celebrating Indian culture so the Blackfeet Community College, where I last was able to gain access, was closed. Life just moves at a different pace in these parts! I found a little internet cafe in the back of the tading post cafe in St. Mary near the park. Pictures take forever to upload, so I will have to add them another time.
I am really pleased to have met the goals I had set at the beginning of my week with Global Volunteers - to learn about the Blackfeet culture, serve the community, and make connections on the reservation and with my Global Volunteers team.
Through my work with a variety of different people on the reservation, I learned things about the Blackfeet that I never could have gotten from books. A couple of highlights for me were chatting with a group of elementary-aged children I was helping supervise as they bowled with a summer enrichment program and reading a newspaper aloud to Bud, a resident of the elder care center who has limited vision. He perked up when I began describing the picture of the rodeo rider who had nearly sweeped a recent competition. This led to stories of his own days in the rodeo. I had to smile when one began with, "Not to brag, but..." Marty, a Blackfeet elder, addressed our group at our barbeque near Two Medicine River. He brought along several Blackfeet artifacts, including a parfleche, beaded belts and hair ornaments, and several warrior headdresses.
On Thursday, a small group from our team went to Browning Elementrary school to help a new administrative team spiffy up the teacher's workroom and storage area. We sorted through seasonal decorations, organized the die cut materials, set up the laminating machine, and organized the tables and chairs so that they would look inviting. The smile on the secretary's face when she saw the fruits of our labor were worth every drop of sweat. I was also able to talk with a second grade teacher who shared information with me about the curriculum and programs she works with in her school.
My team was very productive in the community throughout the week. Several of the hardier souls spent the majority of the week erecting a shed at our Head Start "home." This will be used to store Global Volunteers' supplies during the winter months. Our team leader, Michele, was thrilled to have completed this project, as she used a tipi that is set up in the Eagle Shield Assisted Living common area to store materials last year.
After a day of service on Thursday, we headed to Deboo's Ranch for an evening of riding gentle horses and sharing stories around a campfire. Seeing the sun set over the Montana mountains while sitting in the saddle atop Colt 45 is an experience I will not soon forget. On Friday, I attended a pow wow in Heart Butte in celebration of Indian Days. I saw the grand procession, which included many of the dancers who would later compete. As a non-Indian, some of the traditions were a little lost on me. Fortunately, a group of us were able to ask Darrell, a Blackfeet who served with our team all week, to fill in the blanks.
It was hard to say goodbye to my team yesterday morning. Through our service and cultural enrichment activities, we formed some very strong bonds. Fortunately, I was able to extend one of my connections throguhout the day on Saturday. My new friend, Pam, and I explored the Two Medicine area of Glacier National Park as I waited for Ray and Alan to arrive from Missoula. Waking to the sunrise casting a warm glow over the mountains made me excited to begin the next leg of my adventure.
Internet access has been hard to come by in Montana. It is Indian Days, a four day holiday celebrating Indian culture so the Blackfeet Community College, where I last was able to gain access, was closed. Life just moves at a different pace in these parts! I found a little internet cafe in the back of the tading post cafe in St. Mary near the park. Pictures take forever to upload, so I will have to add them another time.
I am really pleased to have met the goals I had set at the beginning of my week with Global Volunteers - to learn about the Blackfeet culture, serve the community, and make connections on the reservation and with my Global Volunteers team.
Through my work with a variety of different people on the reservation, I learned things about the Blackfeet that I never could have gotten from books. A couple of highlights for me were chatting with a group of elementary-aged children I was helping supervise as they bowled with a summer enrichment program and reading a newspaper aloud to Bud, a resident of the elder care center who has limited vision. He perked up when I began describing the picture of the rodeo rider who had nearly sweeped a recent competition. This led to stories of his own days in the rodeo. I had to smile when one began with, "Not to brag, but..." Marty, a Blackfeet elder, addressed our group at our barbeque near Two Medicine River. He brought along several Blackfeet artifacts, including a parfleche, beaded belts and hair ornaments, and several warrior headdresses.
On Thursday, a small group from our team went to Browning Elementrary school to help a new administrative team spiffy up the teacher's workroom and storage area. We sorted through seasonal decorations, organized the die cut materials, set up the laminating machine, and organized the tables and chairs so that they would look inviting. The smile on the secretary's face when she saw the fruits of our labor were worth every drop of sweat. I was also able to talk with a second grade teacher who shared information with me about the curriculum and programs she works with in her school.
My team was very productive in the community throughout the week. Several of the hardier souls spent the majority of the week erecting a shed at our Head Start "home." This will be used to store Global Volunteers' supplies during the winter months. Our team leader, Michele, was thrilled to have completed this project, as she used a tipi that is set up in the Eagle Shield Assisted Living common area to store materials last year.
After a day of service on Thursday, we headed to Deboo's Ranch for an evening of riding gentle horses and sharing stories around a campfire. Seeing the sun set over the Montana mountains while sitting in the saddle atop Colt 45 is an experience I will not soon forget. On Friday, I attended a pow wow in Heart Butte in celebration of Indian Days. I saw the grand procession, which included many of the dancers who would later compete. As a non-Indian, some of the traditions were a little lost on me. Fortunately, a group of us were able to ask Darrell, a Blackfeet who served with our team all week, to fill in the blanks.
It was hard to say goodbye to my team yesterday morning. Through our service and cultural enrichment activities, we formed some very strong bonds. Fortunately, I was able to extend one of my connections throguhout the day on Saturday. My new friend, Pam, and I explored the Two Medicine area of Glacier National Park as I waited for Ray and Alan to arrive from Missoula. Waking to the sunrise casting a warm glow over the mountains made me excited to begin the next leg of my adventure.
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| Heart Butte Indian Days |
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