Theodore Roosevelt National Park and Devil’s Tower (7/23/18-7/27/18)
I have traveled through three different time zones upon the completion of this leg of my trip. It is also the further East that I will travel, just beyond Medora, North Dakota. Prior to my arrival though, I did stop at Stella’s bakery for some wonderful herbed cheese bread in Billings. Living out of a cooler has been challenging. I have been eating a lot of processed meats and carbs. I do want to have fresh bread for all my sandwiches. In fact, the only time I use my GPS is to find a bakery in town, or to find the highway to get back out of town. I’ve been relying on my atlas to find my routes.
Just passed Billings, I visited Pictograph Cave State Park. This ancient dwelling has a number of faded drawings from our ancestors, hard to see clearly without binoculars, and I was only able to spot one good drawing. I did however, see a snake on the trail, which freaked me out, but I let it pass and continued on my way.
A more notable stop was Pompey’s Pillar. This area is on the Lewis and Clark trail. I must admit, I did not know much about Lewis and Clarks epic journey, until I visited the visitor’s center. Clark stopped in this area and carved his name in the rock in 1806.
After a long drive, I made it to my next campground, Sully Creek. I chose to come to Medora and Teddy Roosevelt National Park while researching a marathon on the Maah daah hey trail. When I saw that there were less than 10 finishers, I figured this was not the marathon for me (too hard). Although, I still wanted to visit the area, the campground was at the South terminus of the 96 mile trail. I took a short 5 mile run on the trail, and I was a little scared of the rattle snakes, so I was cautious. The badlands are no joke. It is dry and dusty, with little to no shade or water. It was also approaching 90 degrees by mid morning.
I drove to the park after a hearty breakfast. Most visitors only visit the South unit, where I started, and some never leave their car, opting to just drive the park road. With the hot conditions, I can see why! I spotted some wild horses on the drive. Along the road were also prairie dog towns, they are chatty little creatures! The short hikes I walked that day made me respect the Badlands, they are beautiful, but unforgiving.
That night, I went to a steak fondue dinner in Medora and went to the Medora musical. This was another reason I wanted to visit this sweet town. For the first time in my journey, I felt slightly uncomfortable as a single. Most of the patrons at the diner were retired couples or families with children. I did feel like the youngest person there who was not a child. After the usual icebreakers at dinner though, the discomfort quickly passed.
Afterwards, we took an escalator down to the musical. There were 2 elk hanging out by the Medora sign, it was quite the sight. I could not believe how many people were at the dinner and show, since the National Park was pretty much empty. I learned that many people take a bus trip just for the musical and dinner. I can see why. The Burning Hills amphitheater is celebrating their 60th anniversary and claim to have the best show in the West. The actors were from all over the USA and the show is performed nightly. It was a great way to spend an evening outdoors and the show was entertaining and dynamic. My favorite part was when the actors rode horses on the mountain behind the set, telling the story of Teddy Roosevelt and his riders. Medora has great pride in their town, country and state.
With one full day left, I drove 68 miles to the North unit of the Park. I learned from the Ranger, that only about 10% of the park visitors make it to the North unit. I did 2 hikes there. One hike was recommended in my hiking book as the best. The other was recommended by the rangers, “We all do this one” she said. It was a 4.4 mile loop which traveled through 4 different landscapes! I was warned that an ornery bison hangs out on the trail, but I only saw remnants of him. The trail deeply rutted in spots where he has walked, among other clues of his travels there. I did however, get stuck on the road in the middle of a bison herd. I was a little nervous with this one! I had stopped to give the bison distance, but they headed toward my truck, so close, they were rubbing against my front fender when they passed. They were so close, I almost put up my drivers side window. I could see on one of the bison small pieces of cactus stuck to his fur. The bison were definitely more concentrated in this park than in Yellowstone.
My last stop was a hike back near the South unit where I was camping, and definitely the best one of the day. The petrified forest trail heading boosts the 3rd largest petrified forest in the USA. The trees are 60 million years old! According to the park sign, this area used to be similar to the Florida everglades, promoting the growth of large trees in a wetlands area. Instead of decomposing, the bases of the trees turned to rock and were preserved in the sediment. Once the sediment eroded, the stumps became visible. I closed my eyes and wondered what the land looked like back then, and who else has stood in this place. As I was hiking out, I couldn’t help but stop and look back over and over, wondering if I had seen enough, wanting to turn back and travel further down the path. The area was peaceful and felt spiritual.
The campground had a shower and thankfully I took one that evening. As I was washing, I felt a bump on my body and didn’t think much of it as I picked it off. It was a tick! Thank goodness I was in the shower, or I probably would have freaked out. I didn’t know how long it was there or when I contracted it. My thoughts were focused on the tick incident long after it took place. I checked all the seams of my sleeping bag that night hoping there were no others. The Badlands!
Another long day of driving ahead, I pit stopped at Devil’s Tower in Wyoming. That day, I drove through 4 states, ND, SD, MT and WY. I took a wrong turn as I should not have hit MT again, I ended up taking the scenic route to the tower. It was a hard decision not visiting all the sites in SD, but I want to come back with Candace to fully experience that state, so I just passed through. My America the Beautiful pass now has me net positive $92! I hiked around the base of the tower. There were deer and fawns in the woods. There were also prayer flags in the trees near the trail, this being a sacred place to the Native Americans. So sacred, that the climbers and hikers don’t use the trails for a week or so in June to honor their traditions.
After an overnight in Casper, I’ll be on my way to Idaho to run a marathon and tour the state!
Stats:
Miles run- 5
Miles hiked- 13
Wildlife spotted- wild horses, herds of bison, elk, deer, snakes, and a frog hopped through my campsite.