Purple Mountains Majesty

"What are the purpose of mountains? Everything has a purpose right?" - Heather


"The purpose of mountains is to be awesome and to point to God's awesomeness." - Me


It has been quite a beautiful 4 days since my last blog. Montana is an amazing state! Our first day we biked into Missoula which reminded me in so many ways of the Tri-Cities but with trees surrounding the hills. The city was gorgeous and quaint and bike-friendly and gorgeous. I made the most of my day in Missoula by walking around all the older buildings and eating some Asian food, then hiking up a hillside to peer over the city, and finally walking around the University of Montana. It was a wonderful rest stop and I wish we could have stayed longer than one night.


The second day was not so good. Probably because we had to leave Missoula. It might have also been due to the 77 miles on an uphill slant in 80 degree heat. I felt like hopping in the support vehicle and just getting driven the last 20 miles. I was on the brink of pure exhaustion. But I finished and ended up in Phillipsburg which was a beautiful city on the Scenic Pintlar Mountain Route. A lot of stuff happened that night. First we started off by going to the local burger joint and all getting the burger challenge. This challenge consisted of eating a huge 1 lb of meat triple bacon cheeseburger with fries. We went 5 for 5 and all got free ice cream. To add to the calories, I got a vanilla milkshake and bought varying types of fudge from the CANDY PALACE! (echo echo echo) For the 5000 calories I burned that day exercising, I probably consumed atleast 6000 in that short two hour span.


The next day rocked my world yet again. God has a way of doing that by taking beauty and blowing your mind. 13 miles out of Phillipsburg we climbed over the Pintlar Pass and were met with snow-capped peaks, a majestic and peaceful Georgetown Lake, and most importantly a 20 mile downhill. It ranks very closely to my favorite spot on earth so far, just behind Crater Lake. At mile 60 we got to Butte Montana and were met with another mountain pass and a raging thunderstorm. Hail and rain poured down as thunder ruptured the sky. I personally didn't feel like putting my life in danger going over the mountain pass so I rode in the van the last 20 miles of that day.

And finally today, a nice 51 mile journey gave us a well needed rest. With only one 800 ft climb at the very end, we got to relax and enjoy the scenery surrounding us. Oh, and at the local town of Cardwell Montana, a lady gave a group of us all bug spray to fight off the raging mosquitoes, and then proceeded to take our picture to place in the newspaper. And now we are in Ennis Montana which I thought might be the starting place of Ennis Fine Furniture but apparently not. But the Rockies surround this city and even now as I write this, the sun is setting on the rain clouds hovering over the mountains. It is a gorgeous place. I can't say that enough. gorgeous, gorgeous, Gorgeous.

Tomorrow we have a 70 mile day into our rest weekend location of West Yellowstone. I am very excited to see the park and all the crazy wildlife, mainly the grizzlies and the moose. But that is all the updates so far. Hopefully we get wi-fi again soon. It has been such an amazing ride so far and I can't thank you all enough for praying for us and for supporting me personally so that I could experience all of this glory that God displays for us, and help these people that so desperately need adequate housing. I love hearing from you all, and much appreciate all the encouragement! You guys are awesome. Talk to y'all later.