Photo Friday: Theodore Roosevelt National Park, North Unit

Two weeks ago I shared our adventures in the South Unit of TRNP.  It's time now for the North Unit. We only spent one night there, but still managed to get in two adventures, at least as much as we did in the South Unit (it helped that our time in the North Unit was unhampered by rain--the weather was beautiful). For more about the park in general, see the previous post.

We left the South Unit on a chilly morning, but the day heated up during the 60-mile drive north. On the road into the Park, we had a minor  delay, the local version of a traffic jam.

A herd of 15 or 20 cows and calves and a bull or two (young ones? Not sure why these were with the females) ambled across the road, supremely indifferent to the inferior beings in their metal boxes.

We found a campsite in the attractive Juniper Campground (in a peaceful cottonwood grove; I don't recall seeing any junipers...).  After a trip to town for supplies and a nap (and some serious time spent cleaning our bikes, which had gotten rather nasty what with the rain and dirt roads), we mounted up for a late-afternoon ride.

Juniper campground is in that grove of cottonwoods.

The park road offered a perfect 19-mile round trip ride from the campground, and almost no traffic on this weekday in late August. I think we saw about 6 cars the whole time we were out. Of course, for most people it was dinner time. For us, it was the perfect time for riding and photos.

The little viewing pavilion was a 1930s CCC project.

Even right along the road the badlands geology was on show.

Layers with varying degrees of erosion resistance, as well as different mineral make-ups, create striped slopes and platforms.

The "Cannonballs" are accretions, but I missed the explanation (if any) of why and how they formed in this cliff.

 Low afternoon light over the river and the bluffs provided the motivation for timing our ride just before sunset.

The Little Missouri River marks the line between Mountain Time and Central Time right here. South Unit runs on the former, North Unit on the latter. The parts of the North Unit across the river are wilderness, so no one cares what time it is there.

 Next morning we made an early start to get in a 4-mile hike before it got hot. This proved to be a great choice--the trail routed us through a bit of everything, from coulees (canyons) to badlands to the rim. We had wanted to do a much longer hike/bike combo, but with a long drive ahead of us, decided we couldn't afford the time. Another one to come back to some day! Actually, I'd like to do an overnight loop through the wilderness section of the park someday.

Walking up the coulee, with some really interesting layers of mud/mudstone on the walls above us. The dark grey is something that clearly oozes and slides with every rain, or nearly.

The is petrified wood in the badlands as well.

This was well above the trail, but in any case, however tempting, good people don't steal pieces of petrified wood.

We had noticed as we hiked that many of the trail markers appeared to be posts with plain metal pieces attached. We finally figured out why the markers were blank and the posts so smooth.

All that hair gives bison itchy faces. And the post are perfect for scratching those itches... even if it means leaving some of that hair behind.

We broke out onto the high prairie after a couple of miles.

The road crossing was a popular spot. This reminded me of something... ;)

Wild turkeys. Not that different from British rock stars?

On through more badlands. I wouldn't want to do this trail when it was wet (as we learned in the South Unit, the mud turns ice-rink slick).

  And then we dropped back down to the car, to clean up and drive 6 or 7 hours to Minnesota and a new kind of terrain.

This was really a beautifully designed trail, and hiking it in the recommended direction early in the morning was perfect.

Next stop in a week or two: Lake Superior--my first Great Lake.

 ©Rebecca M. Douglass, 2018

 As always, please ask permission to use any photos or text. Link-backs appreciated.

Photo Friday: Theodore Roosevelt National Park, South Unit

I was going to have this post cover our visits to both the North and South Units of TRNP, but there turn out to be a lot of photos, so I'm breaking it in two.

Let's start with a quick overview of the park. Theodore Roosevelt NP is located in western North Dakota (you have no idea how tempted I was to write "southwestern North Dakota," which is actually kind of true). It is in 2 pieces, the imaginatively named South Unit and North Unit. Each contains a chunk of the Little Missouri River with bluffs overlooking same, and some badlands. The South Unit is somewhat larger, and includes both a looping scenic drive and a chunk of designated wilderness (the North Unit has an out-and-back scenic drive and aside from the corridor around that, is all wilderness). Highlights of the park are the terrain and the wildlife. The latter includes (in the South Unit, at least), bison, elk, deer, pronghorns, feral horses, and prairie dogs. We saw all but the elk.

Arriving in the park on the 27th of August we might have expected to be cooking in the sun, but in fact it was raining (as it had been most of the way from Seattle). We actually considered a motel room, but high prices for low value decided us to stick with camping. With my husband's National Parks "geezer pass" we paid $7/night for our campsites, with flush toilets but no showers or other amenities (standard national park campground). The rain let up enough for us to make dinner and to attend an interesting and educational "ranger talk" on managing the wildlife in the park. That was interesting, in light of the greeter who met us as we entered the park.

Wonder how much they pay him to hang out by the road and entertain the tourists?

Later, we visited the Painted Canyon Visitor's Center, where the staff mow the lawn by eating it, and wander about reminding modest sedans that they are very, very small. 

We were hiding behind a picnic table at this point.

The next morning saw us determined to hike, regardless of the weather. Besides, it wasn't raining, mostly, and wasn't cold even in the drizzle.

Pretty much the first thing we had to do was wade the river. It looked daunting, but proved to be less than knee deep, or a little over when I stepped in a bison track.

We were hiking the Big Plateau loop, and began by hiking south between the river and the bluffs. We also began by losing the trail somehow, and pushing through the soggy grasses, but it led us to some pretty spots.

Sunflowers and clay bluffs--pure midwestern beauty

When we found the trail again, it had a guardian. The Park seems to employ a lot of these single bulls. We gave him a wide berth and picked up the trail well beyond his post.

Rutting season was just ending, and the bulls were out on their own again. The cows stay in herds, so lone bison tend to be bulls. They are big, and can be cranky, so we kept at least the recommended 25 yards away.

Eventually the trail took us to the tops of the bluffs. In many places they have eroded out into badlands, made of clay soils that shift and erode too much to allow plants to get a toehold. When it rains, that clay turns to muck.

It got heavy enough on the boots to change my stride.

The trail came down here. The clay soil, when wet, is not only sticky but slicker than snot.

Proof that it got slick:

Did I also have mud on my backside? I'm not telling!

Hiked a long way across the aptly-named Big Plateau before descending to the river again. Saw pronghorns in the distance, and prairie dogs up close, as well as the ubiquitous buffalo droppings. I began to see how the settlers were able to use dried buffalo pats for fuel--they produce a lot of it.

The Big Plateau. Big: check. Flat: check. Yup, that's the Big Plateau!

Always alert, but not terribly scared of us.

Later, when we'd recovered from the hike (read: scraped the mud off ourselves and put our boots out to dry), we drove the scenic loop road.

I've seen more colorful soils--most of Utah, for example. But the vegetation made these badlands different and interesting.

A real treat on the drive was encountering a small bad of feral horses (what most of us grew up calling "wild horses". There have been no true wild horses in the Americas since before the last ice age. All our "wild horses" are descended from escaped or abandoned domesticated horses). These are some of the animals the park has to manage, to prevent overpopulation and overgrazing. Captured animals are adopted, and they are carefully monitoring for excessive in-breeding (also a problem in the bison herd).

No fierce stallion, but this beautiful mare seemed to be the leader.

We had trouble picking our place to enjoy the sunset. In the end, we managed to get great evening light at two spots.

The author likes a kitchen with a view.

Once we'd eaten and enjoyed the low light, we raced a few miles down the road to watch the sun set over the river.

Back in camp, we got an extra treat as the color that had been missing from the sky at the river finally showed up.

Cottonwood Campground. Despite the rain it was nearly full, with only walk-in (tent only) sites left when we got there the first night. At least that put us on the edge of the campground, with views.

Every beautiful evening deserves a good morning, as well. Dawn on the prairie is worth getting up for.

We saw this because it was so cold when we got up that we decided to drive a bit before making breakfast!

Despite spending two nights in the South Unit, it felt more like a scouting trip than an adequate visit. There were several great-looking hikes we didn't do, including to a collection of petrified wood on the outer corner of the park. The scenic loop would be great for biking as well, at least in the off season when there isn't too much traffic on it. We may never get back to this park, but if we do, we'll have some ideas what to visit.

Coming soon: biking and hiking in the North Unit.

©Rebecca M. Douglass, 2018

As always, please ask permission to use any photos or text. Link-backs appreciated.