On the Trek Home

Unfortunately, Steve and I have not figured out a way to be paid while on vacation, so we had to start home at some point.  I guess we officially started our drive back home yesterday, but we only went as far as Bismarck.  We started the day in Jamestown, ND where we saw the world's largest buffalo (an Atlas Obscura stop).   This same site also has a small buffalo herd that at one time had 3 albino buffalo.  One died of old age a few years ago and another fell down a ravine last year and unfortunately did not make it due to his injuries.  The third one hasn't had reported sightings in a few years, and we were not one of the lucky ones to see it today.

Man, I really started today's blog off with a downer.  It gets better from here, I promise!  We continued driving into Minnesota where we stopped at one of our favorite parks:  Pipestone National Monument.  We were here for the first time in 2012 when we drove across the country and we thought it was a perfect combination of a scenic and cultural-historic park.  Native Americans use the pipestone to create pipes (and other crafts).  There is also a 3/4-mile loop that is really easy (it's paved and mostly flat) that takes you through a grassland, quartzite cliffs, a pretty waterfall and creek.  We loved it back then which made us want to stop again while we were already out this way.  We still loved it!

Quartzite Cliffs

Winniwassa Falls

The Smooth Sumac was turning a beautiful shade of red for the fall!

A deer by Hiawatha Lake

After Pipestone, we had a bit of a haul to the Jolly Green Giant statue in Blue Earth, MN.  This was a very quick stop because we took the picture and then left to get to our hotel.  We have a pretty long day of driving tomorrow, but still have a few more Atlas Obscura stops thrown in, so stay tuned!

Last Day at TRNP

Good evening!  Becky has had a bit too much vacation and needs a break so you're stuck with Steve again!

We got another early start this morning as we wanted to get some North Unit hiking done before it got too warm out.  We also wanted to catch the various animal herds out and about before they found their own afternoon shade and we were not disappointed!  Lots of deer, bison, and (finally!) longhorn cattle were just waking up for breakfast.

We saw the longhorns!

Longhorn up close!

A bison who thinks it is hiding.  :-)

A deer who isn't doing the best job at hiding either.  :-)

Bison reading the National Park signs.  :-)

Or chewing on them instead.  (I promise that's what he was doing.)

Staring us down after we were laughing at him.

We started our hiking day with a 2-mile hike to Sperati Point from the end of the scenic drive.  The views from the point were probably the best during our time in North Unit.  We pretty much had the trail to ourselves so it was peaceful, too. 

Our next hike was a short, 0.7 mile nature trail hike that took us to the edge of the Little Missouri River.  While we were a bit disappointed in the lack of wildlife it was a relaxing jaunt to a view that is pretty rare in the park.  

After a picnic lunch we set out on our last hike, a nature trail in a valley called a "coulee".  This was a chance to get up close with the badlands again and learn more about the unique geology and ecology.  After 1.6 miles we were pretty done for the day.  We tracked down the bison herds one more time and made our way out of the park to start our way home.  

Cannonball Concretion

Hiking in the badlands

Petrified wood

This guy was right by the entrance station to greet people coming into the park and to say goodbye to those leaving the park.

Tonight we're staying over in Bismarck before really getting some mileage towards home under our belts tomorrow.  Before getting to the hotel (and having a yummy steak dinner!) we checked out another Atlas Obscura spot a few miles away.  Bismarck is home to the gravesite of the man who invented the tags that go on license plates: Leonard Mennes.  There is a monument to this feat by his gravesite in a local cemetery. 

Tomorrow promises lots of driving, but we have a few fun stops planned, too.  Time to finish off tonight's Covid-style beer in small glasses and call it a night.  

Steve Again...

Hello everyone!  Becky is exhausted from another day of taking hundreds of pictures of bison so you're stuck with Steve again!  

We got on the road pretty early this morning since we wanted to visit another NPS site before scoping out the North Unit of Theodore Roosevelt National Park.  We were on the go by 6:30 for the two hour drive plus losing an hour in a time zone change.  The drive was pretty uneventful except for a North Dakota "traffic jam".

Park number 284 for us was Fort Union Trading Post NHS.  We were expecting another frontier fort along the lines of forts we've visited in Kansas and Texas, but this one was different.  Other than a short stint during the Civil War the fort was never used for defense by the military.  The fort is built with security in mind but was run by private businessmen to conduct trade with native american tribes in the area.  The fort itself is a reconstruction but is well designed to tell the story of the fort's 29 year existence.  With Covid restrictions our tour was self-guided but an interpreter was on-hand to tell stories and answer questions about the site.  Another quality NPS experience!

After grabbing some lunch in Watford City, ND, we made our way to North Unit of Theodore Roosevelt NP.  North Unit has a 14-mile one-way scenic drive that did not disappoint!  North Unit is much more expansive and grandiose than South Unit.  We found ourselves often in awe of the views of the Little Missouri River valley and the geologic formations all around the park.  Just like South Unit the bison did not disappoint and we got stuck in a couple "buffalo jams" as the herds kept crossing the scenic drive.  Becky got some great shots of dirt baths, bison being un-cordial to each other, and lots of calves.

The male in the back is telling them to get a move on!

Oxbow Bend

Dust bath

Not getting along

Still fighting over the better grass to eat

River Bend Overlook

I liked the display of Fall colors here

We're back at the hotel for the night after tracking down beer from the local brewery and some decent barbeque.  Tomorrow promises lots of hiking before we start making our way home.  

Theodore Roosevelt National Park - Day 2

The park was very good to us today!  We started with an early morning hike on the Painted Canyon Nature Trail.  This hike took you down into the badlands briefly, and then back up.  It was steep, but worth it.  While on the trail, we spotted a bison in the distance, which later turned out to be two bison.

Our next hike was the Coal Vein trail, which outlined various spots where a fire occurred underground in a coal vein.  Yes, nature had something to do with all the geologic formations in the park, but so did this fire.  We really enjoyed this hike, except we did get up close and personal with a recently deceased bison which was pretty sad.

Our last hike in the South Unit was the Jones Creek hike.  If you do this whole hike, it is over 7 miles round trip.  We weren't feeling that at all, so we went about a mile in and turned around.  What we did of this trail was really easy, but it also wasn't the most scenic area.  Steve and I were registered for the Brigance Brigade 1.57 mile virtual walk (a charity for ALS), so we counted this trail towards our walk.

In between hikes, we saw more bison and horses.  There are other people in the park, but we never feel like people are on top of us here.  I think school and COVID have a lot to do with that and I'm not complaining by any means!  What's been kind of nice about enjoying this park is having some "wildlife shows" to ourselves.  We really enjoyed watching a pair of horses this morning and there was no one else around to see what we saw.  It was pretty cool.

This guy ran right in front of that car, which made for a great picture to show just how big bison are!

We ended the day at an Atlas Obscura stop in Medora, ND:  Chateau de Mores.  Turns out the Marquis de Mores just wanted to get into the cattle business in the wild west, so he and the Marquise moved here.  The Marquise's name was Medora, so the Marquis named the town after her.  They didn't thrive much at all in the cattle business (in fact they lost a lot of money), so they moved out after only about 3 years.  We toured the house that they lived in where there were a lot of original items to the family, which was neat to see.