North Unit and Elkhorn Parks of TRNP

 May 27, 2021 - Thursday

Yesterday, we only drove 58 miles.  Today we drove 255.  It rained most of the night and was still raining when I got up.  We have large puddles in front of the RV.  It was 38 degrees, and we have a freeze warning for tonight.  I'm worried about my lilacs.  They are really just starting to bud out in many yards here, and I'm not sure they will survive a freeze.  The dog walkers in the campground are really bundled up this morning.  The weather is not cooperating with us here in North Dakota, but we decided today to drive to the Elkhorn Unit and the North Unit of the Theodore Roosevelt National Park.  The heater in the Jeep works very well.  

We went to the Cowboy Cafe in town for breakfast.  They don't take credit cards -- just cash or checks.  The hostess said they had checks from all 50 states last year, and none of them bounced.  She said the only ones that bounce are local checks, from her relatives.  Then she laughed, but she added a guy, Tom (maybe a relative), did give her a check that bounced.  The next time he came into the restaurant, she said to him, "Tom, I see your paycheck laying on the dash of your truck.  You go put that in the bank so I can cash this check."  And he did.

From there, we gassed up, then stopped at the Visitor Center.  Saw a short film, got more maps, and were ready to hit the road.  It was 10:15 now, and 41 degrees.  All this driving (restaurant, visitor center, fuel stop) took 1.9 miles.  Small town.  Driving the Interstate to our road to the Elkhorn Ranch, Joe spotted a dirt road off to the side.  He could hardly keep going on the highway.  He said, "things are looking up."  We went past Camel Hump Lake.  I thought it was because of the "coast line" of it, but Joe saw that the hill beside it was two-humped.  

Our exit was 10 miles from the Wyoming state line.  It quickly became a dirt road -- a muddy, dirt road.  He said, "now we got a good road.  Little slick, like driving on snow."  But our road turned, it wasn't the straight one.

This road was full of puddles and muddy tracks.  The Jeep tires are not quite as wide as a regular pick-up, and he couldn't stay in the tracks on the road, so we really did a lot of sliding.  Joe was enjoying this ride much more than I was.  It looked like the road had recently been graded, the dirt was fluffy, which now became mud.  There are a lot of oil wells in this area, and some of those trucks have been through here already, leaving tracks we can't stay in.  We passed on of those squiggly road signs, and Joe said we are making a crooked road out of the straight ones.

We started out with rain drops on the windshield.  Now we have mud drops.  He said there is so much mud on the tires, they won't even bite.  It's like running slicks.  Yeah.

We saw some what looked like logs embedded in some of the sandstone mounds.  We thought it might be petrified wood (which they have in this area), so we checked it out.  I picked up a couple pieces (we are not in the Park yet). 

Here is another grouping we found.  Could be petrified wood???  And another find, a tool of some sort.

Here is a picture of my arthritic, crooked finger that Joe complained about.

Joe picked us out a homestead site, said might as well have an oil well to go with it. 

About 12:00 we reached the Elkhorn trailhead, campground, and the historic ranch area, which has no buildings left.  We drove around here for a long time, though deep mud holes, all the way to the River.  Saving grace here, we did see some interesting rocks.  Even Joe picked up a couple to look at. At this point, I am not sure if today qualifies as an "excellent adventure," but Joe certainly thinks so.  He's having a great day!

It is beautiful, and very peaceful back here.  Hard to imagine how Teddy Roosevelt found this spot, but we could see how it would be a great place to relax, with the river, and the grassy slopes on the mountains.

Joe was determined to drive down to the river (he wanted to cross it, but I said no to that).  The muddy dirt roads weren't thrilling enough, now we are on two-tracks.  Still slipping and sliding.  

Finally, finally, we found our way out of this mess (took a couple turn-arounds on the two-track) and we are headed back to the highway.  He spotted a better site for our new homestead on the way out.  We will have to keep this in mind.  It has now warmed up to 46 degrees (1:20 p.m.) and we are headed back to Hwy 16.

Back on the highway, we are in and out of the National Grasslands.  But there is a lot of farm/ranch ground here, and the fields, and the equipment, are huge.  

  Huge fields that go on forever, and lots of oil wells.

We finally reached the little town of Watford (towns are scare in this part of the country) and looked for a restaurant for lunch.  Hardee's was dine-in only (and we were ready to be out of the Jeep for a while), and we couldn't find anything else open, so we ended up eating at the Cenex gas station/convenience store.  But it was a store that had everything -- hardware, plumbing, clothing, automotive, food, gifts, etc.  A mini-Walmart.  I had a boxed pizza and Joe had a boxed salad and some chicken nuggets.  He asked if the gizzards were tender, but the gal couldn't speak English, so he decided against risking that.  He fueled the Jeep, and we finished our drive to the North Unit, which we reached about 4:00 (155 miles so far), 

 The scenic drive in this North Unit a 14-mile drive, but not a Loop so we have to turn around and come back the same way.  The Little Missouri River cuts through here, and there were some interesting things to see, in addition to some wildlife.  There was a fire here in April, and the damage was readily apparent.  But the green grass is coming back nicely, and there is a big difference in each side of the highway.  They must have bee able to stop it at the highway.

We spotted a hawk along here, sitting on top of the ridge.

The colors of these "badlands" are awesome, lots of streaks of different shades.

Another interesting sight here are these "cannonball concretions,"  formed when sand grains from an ancient river deposit were cemented together by minerals dissolves in groundwater.  The one Joe "crawled" up to surprised him - it was flat on the back side.

Joe decided to get in a little action here, so he gracefully climbed on top of one of the Cannonballs.  I should have taken a video.

There were little "caves" here where the water had eaten away the sandstone, I guess.  Joe said his cave was muddy inside.

Evidence of the fire damage was strong here, and we could still smell the smoke, especially since it was wet from last night's rain.  This little cactus has burn on it, but is growing back.

At this same stop, we had some rock climbers.  Hannah Croxton, I looked for you.  They were working hard at it, and they finally got to the top.

At the River Bend Overlook, there was a stone shelter built by the CCCs in the 1930s.  I really wish I had asked my dad more questions about his time in the CCCs, but I always enjoy finding any history about what they did and what they built.  We have seen many structures, bridges, and roads built by the CCCs.

We added another animal to our BOLO ("be on the lookout" list -- pheasants.  We saw a male cross the road and go into the grass beside us.  After our turn-around, we saw another male with 2 hens in this same area.  We assume the male was not the same one.

Another interesting sight was these two backpackers, horseback riders with 2 pack horses.  When we got to the turn-around,  their horse trailers were parked there.  And we saw them riding the ridge on our return trip.  I should have taken a picture, but they were pretty far off.

We finally saw our first tom turkey, with his wife and 3 children.  The chicks were about half-grown, but the weeds hid them from my picture.

We drove through the campground here, and there was some strange-looking devices hanging from trees (we saw 2).  We wondered what they were, maybe a bird feeder, or something to catch insects.  I told Joe, maybe there will be a sign.  He said it would say, "do not bother the whatchamacallits."  Ha Ha.

We finished this drive about 5:45.  We got out at several overlooks, but it was still chilly and windy, so we didn't look too long. Animal count today (in and out of the Park) were: deer - 28 (both muleys and white-tail), turkeys 6 (including the family), antelope - 28, pheasant - 4, and buffalo 28 (including 3 at the entrance to the Park when we exited it). And some geese.

We didn't see any bighorn sheep, or the long-horn steers the Park manages here.  Joe said he suspects all those animals are back on the "no unauthorized vehicle roads."  (He really hates those signs, growls about them every time he sees them.  And he forgot his hat.)

We drove out of the Park about 6:30.  We did 30 miles in this park.  We have about 80 miles to go back to camp.  So he speeded right along here.  We changed time zones at some point, but got that hour back by the time we reached the campground.  We got back to the RV just before dark, at 7:45.  It was 45 degrees (at one point it did get into the 50s but it was windy enough to make it cold).  And we put in 255 miles. A long day.  But a good day.

 5-26-2021 - Wednesday

A drizzly morning today, pretty chilly.  We had a hard time getting started -- we left the RV 3 times before we got out of the campground.  We decided to switch the GPS in the Jeep with the one in the RV to see if it showed more of the little dirt roads.  We have had a little trouble with the plug-in on the one in the RV, so our second trip back to the RV was to get the cord for the Jeep one (that I had just taken inside) in case we couldn't keep this one working.  But Joe finally figured out a way to wrap the cord to keep it going, so we were good after that.  We headed back to the National Park to drive the loop.  We saw some wildlife, nice views, an interesting prairie dog bulletin board that showed how they tunnel underground.  There weren't many of them out in the rain, but we saw more later.

We saw a band of feral horses in the distance.  I told Joe I wanted to see some right by the road.  And lo and behold, around the next turn, this one showed up.  He was actually crossing the road when we came upon him, then he stopped for us.

We took a side road to the top of Buck Overlook, and there were 2 of these horses right by the parking lot.  We got pretty close before they walked away a few feet.

We actually hiked up to the top of this trail (elevation 2,855 ft.).  Had to stop a couple times to catch our breath.  Nice view but very, very chilly up there (46 degrees and very windy).

Joe kept trying to get closer to the horses.  He took some selfies on his phone, trying to get the horses in the background, and this one on our camera.

Back 20 miles or so on the highway yesterday, we saw a side road to a coal vein that has been burning for years.  There are a couple places here in the Park with coal veins burning -- we don't know if it is the same vein.  We tried to capture a picture of some of the smoke coming out of this one, but it really doesn't show up very good.  

Another interesting thing was some of the rock/sandstone or dirt formations (not sure what makes them up).  Some of them look like the hoodoos in Bryce National Park.

We got about 23 miles in on this 35-mile loop and came to the road closure the woman at the Park entrance had told us about, so we had to turn around.  We have about 12 miles to go to finish it but decided to wait until later to do that, so we returned to the Park entrance and town.  Our wildlife count on the 23 miles was:  turkeys 2, mule deer 2, antelope 1, bull elk 1, feral horses 14, and buffalo approximately 39.  And some geese and prairie dogs.  No big horn sheep today.  We had lunch in town at a little cafe, and our waitress said we might get a little snow tonight.

I'm happy to say we are still on the lilac trail.  Not as many in this little town, but we found a few bushes, and some at the entrance to the Park.

It started raining again, so we went back to the RV for the rest of the day.  We thought we might go back to finish the Loop in the Park about dusk, but the weather was just too nasty, so we stayed in.  Will see what tomorrow brings.

Arriving North Dakota

 5-25-2021 - Tuesday

Finally, we are headed to North Dakota, our main destination for the first part of this trip.  We really enjoyed South Dakota and look forward to exploring North Dakota, the only state, except some in New England, that we have never been to.

We got an early start, out of bed at 8:00, left camp at 8:45 without breakfast.  Stopped at first restaurant, it was closed Mondays and Tuesdays, walked across street to coffee shop, they're menu was a little too fancy for us (although I did snitch a lilac from the house next door); drove on to Belle Fourche for the propane we had scoped out the other day and bought breakfast sandwiches there (not great).  But we were moving along.  It was 61 degrees, very, very windy (25-35 mph with gusts to 50 mph).  There was a wind advisory, of course.  Joe fought the wind all day long.  We saw a few different farm animals in this area, large herds of big sheep, and at least one alpaca.  

We have also seen a lot of snow fences on this drive, and I'm sure they get used.  But we are still in the rolling grasslands -- you can see for miles and not a tree in sight.  

We did see some cowboys, heading out.  And a little later, we saw 2 guys off of quads, repairing fences.  Wonder if they call them cowboys too?  Unfortunately, I didn't think to get a picture of them -- one was actually kneeling down working on the fence.  

Although the wind was a problem, the saving grace was very little traffic.  Often, there was not another vehicle in sight.  But when we met a semi, it about blew us off the road.  We had a couple stretches of 2-3 miles each when we headed east, and Joe was cruising then, not even turning the wheel.  He said for future trips, we might consider just going where the wind blows us.

I made a startling observation -- my socks didn't match today.  I really do match them up when I do the laundry, don't know what happened here.  But I know the style today is to not match them (which I learned from Kaylee), so I was styling.  I sent her a picture and told her I was following her style today.  She said, it must be backwards day, because her socks matched!  LOL. 

 We have seen a lot of oil wells in South Dakota, many not pumping.  But today we saw some pumping, and a new one being drilled.

We crossed the North Dakota state line at 11:30, having driven today 111.1 miles (must surely be a good omen).  The terrain here is about the same, maybe a little more "rolly" but there is more ranch farming and less grasslands. Looks like they grow some grain and some hay.  We saw 86 antelope this morning in South Dakota, and zero in North Dakota.  We also saw 21 deer in South Dakota, and none in North Dakota until we got to the Park where we are headed.  We also saw some geese along the way.

We pulled off in the town of Amidon for lunch about 12:20, took a 25-minute break. It was 58 degrees.  They had a nice town sign here.  There are no, or very few, rest stops in these states, so we stopped at a closed business.  Joe discovered a lot of cold air leaks in around his door handle and door seal, especially when the wind comes from that direction.  

The highest point in North Dakota is along here, 3,506.  We saw the turn-off but that will have to wait until we are in the jeep.  We thought this might be part of the ridge where it is.

And it didn't get any warmer.  We were only 34 miles from I-94, where we head west to the Park.  This is where we made our fuel stop.  Joe has to hold on to his hood to keep it up.

We reached the Theodore Roosevelt National Park about 1:50.  We were greeted with a few buffalo and a band of feral horses.  Yeah!!!

The interstate here runs right along the side of the Park.  Further in, the interstate actually runs through the park(green is the park).  

After our miles and miles of rolling hills, grasslands, and ranchland, all of a sudden the terrain made a drastic change.

The Visitor Center along here is named Painted Canyons.  We didn't stop but plan on going back there.  We did see another band of the feral horses.

Then we reached the entrance to the Park, and our campground just past it.  We were ready to get off the road and out of the wind.

They are in the process of adding 50 more campsites to this park.  We got here at 2:00, got set up, rested for a while, then drove back in to the little town of Medora for dinner at Boots Bar and Grill (expensive).  Not many choices open yet but we think by this weekend everything will be open.  Then, of course, we took a little drive through the first part of the Park.  I'm happy to report that lilacs are in bloom here too!

We stopped at an overlook, pretty sight.  We drove into the Park about 7-8 miles, stopped and took a phone call from Tiffany, then turned around.  We saw 5 deer just before we got in the Park, then 6 more in the Park.  Also saw 4 turkeys, and 1 buffalo in the Park.

We will drive this 35-mile Loop tomorrow if the weather permits.  Rain is predicted, so we will have to see.  There are 3 sections to the Park, and we hope to drive them all, maybe more than once.  Happy to be here, ready to see what we can see in the next few days.  We are scheduled to be here 7 nights, leaving on Tuesday, June 1.  We wanted to make sure we had a place to stay through the holiday.  We drove a hard 204 miles today.  No rain, but wind, wind, wind.  It dropped down to 58 degrees for a while.  Paid $2.799 for gas today, so the price up here is still holding.  Interestingly, the propane we bought was sold by the pound, 70 cents per pound plus $1.00 for haz mat.  We lhave full hook-ups here, plus good phone signal, plus good internet.  Life is good!

Last Day in Spearfish

Monday - May 24, 2021

Our time here is done, and I think we did everything on our list here.  We got to spend a lot of time on forest roads, saw a lot of wildlife, all of which we liked.  Today was clean-up, maintenance and errands.  Joe lucked out at the dentist, dropped off his dentures shortly after 9:00 a.m., and picked them up at 2:00, with the tooth back in place.  He came back from the dentist this morning and replaced the return springs for the levelers on the RV.  He had a little trouble having enough room for leverage and ended up having to drive the RV up onto boards (which he carries with us) for more room.  But he got that done, another checkmark on the to-do list.

You can see the block under the tire in this one.

While Joe was at the dentist, I cleaned up the RV, vacuumed and got ready for my facetime call with my doctor, scheduled for 10:30.  By 11:15, with no call, I tried to call their office to confirm again, but the recording said there were 30 people in line on the phone, so I hung up.  I waited another 35 minutes, till almost noon, and finally gave up.  We had shopping to do at Walmart, so I decided to go ahead, and maybe they would still call.  We stopped at the gas station, and I went in for a soda while Joe filled up the jeep, forgot to take my phone with me.  Of course, the call came in then.  So I missed it.  I tried to call the facetime number back a couple times, but it was never answered.  So we went on and did our shopping, came back and gathered up the laundry, went to the laundromat just up the street while Joe went back to the dentist to pick up his dentures.  He got back just as I finished the laundry, so we found a Mexican restaurant and had a late lunch.  On the way back from there, we finally stopped at the fish hatchery across the street from the campground.  They stock rainbow and brown trout.  There is a bridge that crosses the creek into the grounds of the hatchery. 

The trout in the first pond were pretty good-sized.  This is their forever home, they are not stockers.  But we did see the ones they use for stockers, and the fingerlings, which they will use for stock next year.  

They had underground viewing windows so you could see the fish up close.  And a nice gift shop, of course.

We finally got back to the campground and I remembered to take a picture of the entrance.  This is a really nice campground, with Spearfish Creek running through and beside it. 

  

While I put the laundry away, Joe started unhooking things to get ready to move on tomorrow.  After that, we decided to go for a walk around the campground.  It was still windy, but a really nice day otherwise.  About 5:30, my phone rang, and it was the doctor's office, telling me that I had missed my TeleMed appointment.  When I told them I waited for it for an hour and 20 minutes, she didn't have too much to say.  I asked how long a person is expected to wait for the phone call, and she didn't think it should be an hour and 20 minutes.  She said the doctor must have gotten held up with something.  She was going to reschedule, but I told her just to cancel it and I would schedule with him when we got back home.

 We didn't have to leave the campground today to see wildlife.  Although we did see 4 deer out by Walmart, on our campground walk there were 3 turkeys mingled in with 3 geese and some ducks in the creek.  Later, 4 deer ran through the campground, and when I walked some trash down to the dumpster, 4 geese waddled by in front of the RV.  Of course, I didn't have my camera for any of this.

We are in pretty good shape to get out of here in the morning.  I think we have a little more than 200 miles to drive, to Medora, North Dakota, right outside of Theodore Roosevelt National Park.  I hope North Dakota is as interesting as South Dakota has been.