Montana Trip 08/10/24 North Fork Blackfoot River

  Hi! My name is Gabriela Rojas! I'm currently a 4th year Biology major at the University of La Verne! Today, we went to the North Fork of the Blackfoot River to do some fishing and swimming. On our way we blasted music and enjoyed a girls day. On our way to the river, we got to see a Turkey Vulture and Northern Harrier.  When we arrived at the river, we had to go down a very steep hill but it was so worth it! The water was so clear and beautiful, the variations of different colored rocks was so satisfying to watch as the water flowed. The only people fishing were Grace and Pablo,  the rest of us took the time to frolic around the river. At first, we were trying to catch macroinvertebrates like caddisflies and then did some rock skipping. However, Dahlia, Sam, Gail, and I decided to go across the river. Everything was going great, we were exploring the whole river but at one point when I was crossing the river my sandals broke. I realized I had to walk back like this. A part of me was dreading how painful it was going to be but I manifested to be like Pablo (he apparently walked barefoot everyday through the age of 12). It wasn’t too bad, some rocks were pretty pointy but it was tolerable, if I walked really slowly. Dahlia being an amazing bestie offered me her sandals but I didn’t want her to get hurt. At one painting, Gail joined me out of solidarity. While we explored the river, we went to see some amazing views like a little waterfall and we got to capture some amazing pictures. One our way back, it was getting a bit difficult because we had to cross slippery rocks and at one point I slipped. I was getting a bit tired of crossing so I decided to swim the little distance left from where we were staying. Did I regret it? A bit just a bit. The water was freezing and the small waves of the river were holding me back. I finally arrived back to our area, it took me a minute to fully process how cold I was. Luckily, I brought extra shorts and a bathing suit to change into. I would consider this my first cold plunge that was not intentional. I think this made me feel more intrigued about doing a cold plunge. After exploring/swimming in the river, we went shopping for warm clothing for camping and we were able to get some good finds from North Face, Columbia, and so much more.  I think my best find that came with a clutch for camping was this fall pillow from TJ Maxx. After shopping we had dinner, played ecologies, and watched TV.




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