August 20, 2020

Medora

Red Trail Campground Medora, North Dakota

It was time to leave the wilderness and return to a campground with full services.  On our way, we stopped at the Painted Canyon Visitor Center.  I have to say that I am very spoiled.  After living in the Grasslands and Jeeping in the Badlands, it was hard to be at an overlook with a throng of people.  The view though was still breathtaking!

We traveled the short distance to the town of Medora.  We had some time before we could check in and so we walked the streets of the town.  Roosevelt spent time here.

The town is a tourist destination directly outside the South Unit of the Theodore Roosevelt National Park.  It is a mid-western town that is preserving its heritage. In ordinary years, this place is very busy.  This year, many of the shops and restaurants were closed and there were few people walking around. 

The remainder of our day was spent doing normal stuff…laundry, cleaning, and catching up on the blog.  We drove 37 miles to Dickinson to get our groceries. 

We took a short drive this evening to get gas in the Jeep and to look around.  We ended up in Chimney Park.  The town’s founder had a slaughterhouse on the site…an interesting place for a park!  People here are very practical!

August 19, 2020

Little Missouri To Cross OR Not To Cross

Magpie Camp Little Missouri National Grasslands, North Dakota Day 2

The daytime temperatures are sweltering but last night temperatures dropped to the 60’s. It was cool for my morning walk.

Family of wild turkeys.

We loaded the cooler into the Jeep and headed out for today’s adventure.  It was our intention to take the Little Missouri River vehicle crossing and travel through the backcountry to Roosevelt’s Elkhorn Ranch.  The ride started along a ridge.

We had spoken to a ranger who told us that the river is normally passable.  He encouraged us though to be 150% sure before we attempted a crossing.  He reminded us not to base our decision on what the river was like yesterday…the river is constantly changing and rain upriver several days ago can quickly change the depth and current of the water.  We stopped to assess and evaluate and deliberate.  Tim walked across in his flip flops.  The bottom was rocky, not muddy, and this was good news.  As he crossed though, the water became a little deeper, about 24 inches at the deepest point.  The water was silty and like chocolate milk and the current was steady.  Tim was unsure.  He really wanted to go!  I trust him implicitly and waited as he weighed the evidence.  He likes to be adventurous…not foolish and he always makes a careful, thoughtful decision.  We decided to wait for a while to see if anyone else passed through to cross.  After an hour, we turned back.  We will approach Elkhorn Ranch another day, from the south, along an easier route.

We found other roads to explore and I got to drive today.  We took another road less traveled through the bottom. 

Our picnic spot.

Bighorn sheep.

These are the North Dakota Badlands. Native American peoples first called these bad lands because they were worthless, difficult to farm and to travel. The Lakota called this place “mako sica.” There is evidence of human existence here for thousands of years, but not much. This area was used primarily for hunting and therefore not much was left behind. This area is ideal for sheep, elk, deer, wild horses, and bison…hoofed, sure-footed grazers. Hay, oil and cattle are other sources of commerce. The land is now owned by a mishmash of oil production companies, ranchers, and the government.

The thermometer hovered at 100 degrees.  We went back to the campground and sat in the shade.  It didn’t feel as hot and oppressive today as it did yesterday…there was even a tiny breeze (real tiny).  Even so, the heat chased us inside where we were happy to sit in air conditioning. 

Evening walk.

August 18, 2020

The Backroad to Devils Pass

Magpie Camp Little Missouri National Grasslands, North Dakota

Another move today, 15 miles down the highway and then 15 miles into the grasslands to Magpie Camp. 

This area is so pleasing to me.  I love the openness, the red gravel roads, the muted colors, the remoteness, the softly rolling hills, round hay bales, rocky buttes and outcroppings, the stillness, the cattle ranches, and the big blue sky.  We saw prairie dogs and pronghorn antelope.

We went out this afternoon to explore Devils Pass.  The Mahh Daah Hey Trail runs over this pass. We were told that if we took the Goat Pass Road we could travel most of the way in our Jeep. Otherwise, it was a 3-mile hike there and another 3 miles back…and it was hot today!  The car thermometer read 101 for most of the day but rose to 106 degrees in the bottom of the valley.   It’s a dry, stifling heat, like oven air.  The humidity was 17%.   

We wound our way up to Devils Pass.  This is a natural ledge or ridge connecting two hills.  The path across is about 12-foot-wide with steep 150-foot drop-offs on either side.  Hikers and cyclists are warned not to hike when this pass is wet, the dusty later on top is a fine clay (bentonite) and mixed with water, it becomes a slippery slurry. 

The view was outstanding.  We tried to capture a sense of perspective and scale, so look for Tim in the pictures. 

We took a gravel and dirt road further and drove along the border of Elkhorn Ranch and then the Badlands Scenic Area.  I loved this part of the day because we were in the bottom and I really felt like I was in the Badlands and not just looking at it!  I didn’t take very many pictures…I was enjoying the ride!

The more we travel deeper into the middle of the grasslands, the more oil rigs and other evidence of oil industry we see.  It mars the landscape, detracts from it.  The disturbance is the price we pay for the way we live, the need for energy to fuel our modern society.

Every place has a story.

We were hot and tired and the RV was 99 degrees inside, so we turned on the generator and ran the air conditioning this evening. 

I took an evening walk.

August 17, 2020

Bennett Creek Trail

Bennett Creek Camp Little Missouri National Grasslands, North Dakota

I fell asleep easily last night but woke up a a short while later, a little after ten.  I looked out the window and could see the stars were out.  As I was laying there, I saw a shooting star.  I put on my robe and slippers, gathered a pillow and blanket and I went outside.  I laid down on the picnic table and did some star gazing.  The dome of the night sky above me, the Milky Way, and zillions of stars above…I stayed there for 45 minutes just looking and considering my small place in this vast space…nighttime church!  I have seen stars in many parts of the country but the vastness here is awe inspiring.  I slept well after my foray into the darkness.

I took a short walk this morning to see if I could spot some prairie dogs.  They are speedy and hardly stand still enough for pictures!

We traveled deeper into the Grasslands to the Bennett Creek Camp.  It was a short distance to drive.

The scenery here is also spectacular.

We decided on a shorter hike today on the Bennett Trail.

It is more than 90 degrees and sunny and after about 30 minutes of walking, I felt like a baked potato and I was ready to turn around!  We turned on the generator and the air conditioning in the RV and just chilled for awhile this afternoon.  Sometimes, it is okay to take a break and just relax!

We took an afternoon ride to the ridge around the valley that we are camped in. It was 96 degrees and the air smelled like dust and heat.

Petrified tree trunk.

Evening walk.

We drove to the highest point, a grass butte, had some wine, and watched the sunset.

There is never a day that goes by that we are not immensely grateful that we have the opportunity to travel this way.

August 16, 2020

Maah Daah Hey Trail

CCC Campground Little Missouri National Grasslands, North Dakota

We moved from Watford City to the CCC Campground in the Little Missouri National Grasslands.  These grasslands are the largest in the United States.  We received a warm welcome!

Our view is phenomenal.

The trailhead for the Maah Daah Hey Trail is here.  Maah Daah Hey is native American and translated it means “grandfather, long-lasting.”  But its true meaning refers to something that will be around for a long time that deserves care and respect.  The trail symbol is the turtle and denotes fortitude, determination, and patience.  The trail is 145 miles long.  We decided to hike a portion of it today.  There were lots of hills and a couple of small stream crossings but it wasn’t a difficult walk.  The trail crosses through the rugged and beautiful Badlands and for us…this was Sunday morning church!

We rested and ate lunch.  Then, we headed out to explore a couple of the nearby forest service roads.

We took our dinner across the bridge to the national park. We drove the scenic highway first.

This bison was right next to the road. He was enormous!

We ate our cold chicken dinner beneath the cottonwood trees…lovely!

August 15, 2020

Spacious Skies

White Buffalo RV Park Watford City, North Dakota

Happy happy birthday to our sweet Oliver!

I started the day with a morning walk and spotted this squirrel.  Squirrels here are almost black

Today we had the most beautiful ride of this trip.  We took the scenic road from Burlington to Watford City.  The pictures are pretty but they don’t do justice to the scenery.  Lots of ponds and farms and hay bales and lots of blue open sky. 

Breakfast spot near this wheat fields…with sunflowers…and yes he picked one for me!

We began to see oil rigs as we neared Watford.  We are in the middle of the Bakkin Oil Fields. 

We are staying at White Buffalo RV Park, a perfectly serviceable but unlovely campground.  We didn’t rest at all this afternoon because we were eager to go and see the North Unit of Theodore Roosevelt National Park. 

The Little Missouri River cut through the sandy plains to create these Badlands.  We enjoyed the 14-mile scenic drive and got out of the Jeep several times to walk and take in the views.

Bison were reintroduced here in 1956.

After we left the park, we drove to the CCC Campground to scope out possibilities for tomorrow evening.  The campground is $5.00 a night for those with a senior pass and it overlooks the National Park.  We will move tomorrow morning.

We found a nice shady picnic spot for our dinner.

We went to get a few groceries and we did some laundry this evening in preparation for dry camping.

August 14, 2020

North Dakota

Old Settlers Park Burlington, North Dakota

Last night there was an extended period, more than one hour, of very intense lightning.  With great slashes of harsh, brilliant, barbed light.  Fortunately for us the severe storm (red on radar) was in a town, Erskine, to the east of us.  The flat landscape allowed us to see the weather happening far away. 

An early morning walk. 

The Carnegie Library in Crookston.

On the road.

Miles of sunflower fields today.

The soil is so black and rich looking.

We crossed the Red River into North Dakota and as we did so, great splats of rain began to fall.

This area is an agricultural area and the bigger towns sell all manner of farm equipment and tires.  There are lots of granaries as well.

We saw a flock of white pelicans.  They come to the interior portion of North American to breed and then they will overwinter in warmer climes, some as far away as South and Central America.

We passed the Geographical Center of North America today.  It is in the small town of Rugby, North Dakota.

We camped this evening at Old Settlers Park in Burlington, North Dakota.  It is a quiet, pleasant little park on a river.  We went for a good walk.

I was working on the blog outside under the tree when I heard thunder. Soon, the raindrops began to fall. Tim came out to help get chairs put away. We stood inside watching it rain, harder and harder still and then we heard the pelting of marble sized hail pummeling the RV. We were worried about the wind and hail and the slideout covers so we quickly pulled everything in. Just then, the sky brightened and the rain subsided. Very quickly, it was over. Luckily, there was no damage to the RV. The weather out here seems to be a little more dramatic than we are accustomed to!

August 13, 2020

Small Town USA

Crookston Central Park Campground Crookston, Minnesota

We were awake and, on the road, early this morning.  It was grey and gloomy with intermittent showers…not a bad day for driving.  We went south toward Duluth and then west on 2 across Minnesota.  Our route was dotted with small towns.

We stopped in Floodwood for a breakfast break.

We were just north of the origin or source of the Mississippi River, Lake Itasca.  The river runs from these headwaters 2,320 miles all the way to the Gulf of Mexico. 

There was nearly always railway along the road.  We passed cornfields and hayfields and fields of grain and sunflowers. 

We passed through Chippewa State Forest and passed several Chippewa Tribal Casinos as well.

At Cass Lake, we paused to rest, to walk, and to plan for the evening.

We stopped in Bemidji, once a prosperous logging town and home of Paul Bunyan and his Blue Ox, Babe.  The statues were built in 1937 and were designed to attract tourists to the area…and it works!  Paul and Babe are at home in a beautiful park, filled with people waiting to take pictures…sometimes…you just have to do the tourist stuff!

While we driving today we saw a pair of sandhill cranes, a pair of trumpeter swans, a bald eagle, a mother turkey and her clutch of little turkeys and then a large group of adult turkeys.

We decided to stay at the Crookston Central Park Campground. 

Crookston is a nice little place and we enjoyed a walk through the downtown area. 

We stumbled upon a farmers market.

We ordered carryout from El Gorditos and took it back to the RV.

August 12, 2020

Gitchi- Gami Trail

Penmarallter Campground two Harbors, Minnesota Day 3

The day began with great promise…another perfect weather day. We decided that we were going to hike the Gitchi-Gami Trail.

We parked at Twin Points. Our first observation was to notice how still and calm the lake was this morning…beautiful!

We began to hike the trai, walking down to the waters edge at Iona Beach.

The black flies were relentless. We stopped to spray and then we sprayed again. The flies were bothering Tim, but they were swarming me…lots and lots and lots of black flies…more than 100 biting flies…on my arms and legs and up under my hat. I am not quite sure why they loved me so much but I was unable to continue walking. Tim persevered…I went back to the car!

Tim walked to the Split Rock Lighthouse Overlook where I picked him up. We went back to the RV for lunch. We had kind of a lazy afternoon. I did go to do laundry and I grilled filet for dinner with mushroom and onions.

Gitchi-Gami is the native American name for Lake Superior. Longfellow and Gordon Lightfoot called it the big lake Gitche Gumee. The Edmund Fitzgerald sailed from Duluth on Lake Superior full of iron ore and headed for Cleveland when it sank in November of 1975.

Tomorrow we are going to head west toward North Dakota, leaving the land of lakes behind. We aren’t sure what sort of adventure we are going to find…but we are going to enjoy the ride!!!

August 11, 2020

North Shore Scenic Drove

Penmarallter Campground Two Harbors, Minnesota Day 2

We spent the day on North Shore Scenic Drive, Route 61, from Two Harbors to just shy of the Canadian Border. The road was built in 1924 just as more Americans could afford to buy cars. It was constructed to “provide outstanding views of Lake Superior.” We drove through small towns, into safe harbors, past waterfalls, over rivers, streams, and creeks. We got out at several places but we quickly discovered that the state parks were very crowded…it didn’t matter there were plenty of places to get out and enjoy the lake!

We grilled avocados and chicken and had it with Texas caviar and fresh ripe melon. Later in the evening we went for a ride to Knife River.