Sunday, September 10, 2017

Dakota Badlands

We managed to get to bed fairly early last night and that leads to an early breakfast this morning. We are on the road by 8:30 and head south. Once we pass the part of the park we visited yesterday, the landscape flattens out into farmland. We turn West onto I 94 and reach the Painted Canyon Visitor Center exit. You would never know that a bizarre badland desert landscape lies so close to the highway if you did not exit. It is amazing how fast it changes from rolling hill and mostly flat grassland to a painted desert landscape.

Spooky Forest

We check out the Visitor Center, get our National Park Passport Book stamped, use the facilities, and then decide to do a loop hike. The Painted Canyon Nature Trail is a little over a mile but takes you below the rim and into the scenery below. As we descend, we pass through a spooky forest of scraggly moss-covered pines. Past that we see many plants with yellow flowers. These flowers seem to be very attractive to orange, black, and white butterflies as each plant seems to have a few dozen of them on it. As we walk the butterflies scatter and return. We reach the bottom of the trail which is surrounded by sage, grass, scattered trees and the beautiful hills behind it all. We also get up close to some of the eroded hills. We actually sweat a little on the way up the trail It was a nice morning workout.

Great Scenery

We get back onto I 94 for the short 10-minute drive to the official entrance into the South Unit of Theodore Roosevelt National Park. We start our exploration on the 36-mile loop road. It is a beautiful day and mostly clear skies. It would be even clearer except that there is a bit of haze from the fires that are burning along the Rockies in Montana. It is amazing that even yesterday as we entered North Dakota, you could see the haze from the fires 750 miles away. We enjoy the badlands scenery and stop at several overlooks including Buck Hill as we travel along the loop. Buck Hill is the highest point in the park at 2855 feet. There are a lot of trails in the park so we may have to come back and explore it further. The Maah Daah Hey Trail stretches 96 miles along the national grasslands and connects all three sections of the park.

Feeling Like a Pioneer

Towards the end of the loop drive, we stop and hike the Wind Canyon Trail.  The trail meanders along a wind sculpted canyon as it climbs to a grand view of the Little Missouri River. The curve of the hills and the river below makes for a great view in all directions. When we get to the end, we enjoy the added bonus of seeing a small buffalo herd crossing the river below. There are several bulls, females, and calves in the herd. The lack of civilization in the view makes us feel as if we are pioneers crossing this great land.

Prairie Dog

We head back down the trail and return to our car. A little further down the road, we pass a large prairie dog town. They must be used to the cars as they do not sound the alarm as we drive slowly by and stop to take pictures. About a mile further, we spot a small herd of wild horses, with several colts resting in the grass. We finish the drive and then stop in the visitor center for this part of the park. They have a petrified stump of a cypress tree and a dinosaur skeleton from when the climate and environs here was very different.

Mountain Man

There is also a mountain man with a badger on his head. That signals the end of our two-day excursion into Theodore Roosevelt National Park. We exit through the small town of Medora and jump back onto I 94 heading west again. Two hours later, we stop in Miles City for a very late lunch or an early dinner. It is 3 o’clock and we choose a place called the Black Iron Grill. We order a couple of burgers and a beer as it is happy hour. While waiting, I go outside to call the lodging we had cancelled in Glacier Park. I cancelled within their 7 day cancel policy but the girl told me there was a 10% cancel fee on the total bill. I was never told that when I called and made the reservation but this person did not want to cut me a break. So, I try to get a hold of the owner but another girl who says she is the manager answers. The owner is not there so I explain that I was never told there was a cancel fee if you cancelled any time and on top of that due to the fires in the park, they should be understanding anyway. She tells me she can’t override the system but will talk to the owner and get back to me. I am thinking I will end up disputing this with the credit card company. Back in the restaurant, we enjoy our meal and then leave for the rest of our drive. When getting into the car, my phone rings and it is the girl from the hotel. She says the owner apologized that I wasn’t told about the policy and that she would credit my card for the 22-dollar fee. I thank her for following through with it so promptly and figure that the refund paid for our lunch. We get back on the highway and two hours later, we are in the small town of Hardin, Montana. We are staying here as it is the closest town to the Little Bighorn Battlefield which we will visit tomorrow morning. By the time we check in and bring our belongings to the room, it is after 6:30. Carol wants to eat, I just want dessert. After much discussion, we end up walking across the street and have a blizzard at Dairy Queen as our evening meal. I have a feeling that Carol is not too disappointed with our meal choice of the evening! See you tomorrow.