Father’s day, an annual event dedicated for the sons and daughters of the world to appreciate and reflect on the male mentor figure in our lives and the role he played in shaping who we are. The day might be celebrated with a hug, a gift, or a dinner outing to his eatery of choice, all of which are hard to do when the subject of celebration is in a galaxy, far, far away. A lack of battery and limited cell phone service made it hard to get in contact with those beloved stand up pee-ers, but in our own way we still celebrated the special day.
Any man that cares for a child wants him or her to be happy. He wants to be proud of the organism he aided in culturing to once again prove the wonders of evolution, and see them succeed in achieving their dreams. June 15th, 2008 turned out to be a day that would make a man, no matter where he may be, smile and nod knowing his girl or boy had the opportunity to live the day like we did.
The offspring of twelve men with impressive genetic material began their epic day in East Glacier, a town with a gateway to Glacier National Park, a plethora of inns, and a campground/RV park that was unofficially run by an elderly woman in an RV who had her eye on us at all times.
Perfect weather played a large role in the enjoyment of the day. Rather than what we could have had – fog, rain, clouds, and wind – blue bird skies and a light breeze sustained our high spirits from sunrise to sunset. Marias Pass, a fairly busy road would take us fifty-five miles to West Glacier with a substantial net loss in elevation. The pass was gorgeous, for lack of a more masculine term, and had us hooting and hollering to express our ecstasy as we cruised West across the Continental Divide. Every turn brought us rolling through another postcard. Freight trains chugged alongside us, carving their own path through the Lodge Pole Pine trees covering the shins of snow capped mountains. Below us, the Middle Fork of the Flathead River winded its way around the ancient masses of rock as the melting snow draining off of their steep slopes sent a flow of cool moist air across our faces when the road crossed a drainage. We stopped to admire mountain goats licking the salty rocks above the river, and healthy waterfalls that served as reminders to Montana’s record setting amount of precipitation that has blessed the state thus far. The multiple lunch breaks were long and leisurely. Why rush when we were in such a picturesque place?
Upon arriving to the park, a bike path guided us to a code speaking granny park ranger who hooked us up with the royal treatment, a campsite that could accommodate all of us. A delicious dinner complements of Lauren and Pat preceded a group discussion to put together the groundworks for our presentation in Whitefish at the public library. An hour long talk to a willing audience will have us reflect on our acquired knowledge and experiences. With a little bit of prodding, the valuable insight gained over the last month spilled out to the interest of each one of us as we began to plan what we will say. Whether it is an understanding of agricultures impacts on the land, or the process of how to increase energy efficiency, I could tell everyone will have something to say worth hanging on to every word.
The father figures of all my nine field mates, the two instructors, and both film makers should be beaming at what has been accomplished so far. As I grow closer to these friends like a tire on a road I could not imagine a more fun group of people to cycle the rockies with. Our hard work and willingness to learn and work in this environment will no doubt serve us down the road in striving to reach our goals. Our adventure has been exciting, eventful, and rewarding. You could even say it was worth documenting.
Happy Father’s Day.
PS. Mom, I am sorry I forgot Mother’s Day, I will make it up to you.
Love Phil
–Phil Fandel, University of Vermont
Don’t worry about it! You being happy and learning about our effects on the environment and how we can slow down the warming of the planet is your Mother’s Day gift to me. Love, mom
I wish I was there, instead I’m here, contemplating “the eatery of my choice.”