We got home from Gateway Cup on Monday night. We began to unpack and then immediately started to repack for another trip. With our summer trip to Utah being shorter than expected, Shannon had saved more time for another vacation. This spring, she was getting burned out with her job and wanted a change. A new position opened up at a different clinic within our same company so she applied. Some feelings were hurt at her current clinic, but approval for the move was given. She would be starting at the new clinic in early October so we had some freedom to do a longer trip before the swap.
We did not want to go to Utah again this year. The race season was mostly over. We had some free weekends and no push to train super hard. We could go anywhere. Of course we wanted it to be somewhere we could do some riding, but that did not have to be the priority this time. We discussed some of our top destination picks like Maine, Montana, the West Coast, and even threw around the idea of going to Canada. We saw a documentary on TV about Theodore Roosevelt National Park in North Dakota and put that on the list as a possibility too. After thinking it over, we decided to go big. This would be the longest break we were going to get for a long time, maybe ever. I was able to lay out a giant driving route that ticked multiple boxes on our options list. We planned to start in North Dakota at Theodore Roosevelt National Park on our way into Canada to go to Calgary and Banff before dropping back into the States in Montana with some exploring of Glacier National Park.
It was a crazy week with only three full days to pack. Shannon finished up her last four days at the clinic she had worked at for 11 years, while I worked hard to get the farm ready for us to be away for multiple weeks and focused on packing. I had the idea to build an insert for our van last year when we van camped in Virginia. I designed a raised bed that attached to a sheet of plywood so it could be slid into the back of the van. The rear of the Dodge Caravan is exactly 4' x 8' with both rear rows of seats folded down. There's even tabs molded into the plastic on the floor by the rear hatch that will keep the plywood from sliding. The bed would hug the left side of the van and be raised enough to fit four tote bins underneath, plus two wheels. The right side of the plywood sheet would have two mounts for bikes. They could be swapped between quick release or thru-axle mounts so we could take any combo of bikes. I had made a template of if during the summer just to see it if would really work. It looked good so I enlisted the help of my Dad to build it. We worked hard on it in August once the trip was decided on, but when it came down to trip week I pulled the plug on the insert as we wanted to take three bikes instead of two. I didn't have the room to squeeze in three with the bed. Shannon was not about to miss out on mountain biking in Canada and I was not about to leave my road bike with the beautiful roads I was seeing when doing my trip research.
The plan had been to sleep in the van. We had to do some trial packs to make sure we could move everything inside the van enough for us to sleep in the back with three bikes. It was going to be tight, but we found a way that worked. We did take the tent though so we had the option to sleep outside and could put things outside in the tent to make more room.
The change required a new way to mount the bikes inside the van. We have two racks we use with race trips now depending on how many people and bikes we have on that particular trip. Neither of those racks worked for this set-up. I ended up modifying the small plywood rack I made for the trip in June when I planned to go from Utah to Wisconsin on the way home and sleep in the van at Tour of America's Dairyland. That rack puts the two mountain bikes next to each other with the bars turned parallel to the top tube. I added an extra mount for the road bike and still managed to get all three in half the width of the van. I also cut a hole in the plywood to be able to access the frame bracket that locks the second row seats into place when they are up. That would allow us to lock the bikes directly to the van's frame. So they would be locked together, locked to the van frame and locked up inside the van. That makes me feel more comfortable about leaving three of my nicest bikes while I wander off into the forest for hours.
I also had to fix my road bike before we left. I broke a cable stop on the rear brake at Gateway Cup. Thankfully, I had replaced stops on a carbon frame in the past on my old Titus Racer-X seatstay. I knew this wouldn't be too bad. It's one of those jobs you hate to have to do, but also are glad the rivet tool you bought for the last job will get some more use. We actually had rivets that were the correct size so drilling was not needed this time. I was able to get a replacement cable stop and it fit in the same holes. A dollop of JB Weld and a couple of quick squeezes on the rivet tool fixed it right up the day we left. I kept the cable out of the stop so it had a bit more time to cure before getting any force applied to it.
Somehow we got everything done in time to hit the road on Friday evening after work. The plan was to drive through the night to Medora, ND just outside of Theodore Roosevelt National Park. Shannon had mentioned wanting to see a very popular outdoor show called the "Medora Musical." It's a western-themed dance show that actually looked a bit interesting to a guy that isn't into watching musicals at all. It turned out that Saturday was the final show of the season. Perfect! I reserved us some tickets right before we left home. Now we just had to make it there in time for the evening show.
It was easy driving rolling through the night. By sunrise we were in Iowa near the Minnesota border. The only thing about driving through the night is you miss the landscape in an area you have never been through before. This was my first time visiting this part of Iowa, as well as both Minnesota and North Dakota. We made good time through Minneapolis and were soon into North Dakota, where we had time to make a few stops in Fargo to explore and stretch the legs. Dina texted us a picture of our orchid plant that decided to bloom just a day after we left. We have been trying to get this thing to make a flower for more than two years and it finally decided to make one when we couldn't see it. Figures.
It was a dreary day with off-and-on rain across ND. We arrived early enough to buy our park pass and enter Theodore Roosevelt National Park. We checked out the Visitor Center, then drove into the park. The plan was to go to the campground inside the park and try to get one of the last campsites that remained. The drive in is quite beautiful, even in the rain. It's especially nice if you like the Badlands-type landscape. We quickly encountered bison, which had me out of the car and snapping pictures. I love seeing bison and that is what really attracted me to this park. Theodore Roosevelt National Park is known for being loaded with them. A family was pulled off the road next to us, also snapping pictures of the bison. The little girl in the family called them "chocolate elephants." After hearing that, I thought about chocolate animal crackers every time we saw a bison. I got so distracted with the bison that we started running out of time to get to the campground and back out before the musical started. We decided to not drive another 20 minutes into the park for a campsite that might not even be available at this point. Instead, we opted to go back out to the Medora Campground just outside the park entrance in this tiny town that had only 112 residents at the time of the last census. This campground had plenty of spots available. It was a nice little place on the Little Missouri River right across the street from the Medora Musical.
The rain finally stopped and we were able to set up our tent just in time to make it over to the musical. The radar looked promising, but things were still very wet and mist swirled through the air atop the hill where the musical takes place. After picking up our tickets, we found out the show was canceled. Normally, they would transfer your tickets to the following day, but this was the final day of the season. Our choice was to transfer our tickets to next year or take a refund. Needless to say, we took the refund. It was disappointing to miss out on the show. Shannon was really bummed. We had skipped dinner in order to make the show so we drove back into the park and set up our stove at the first pull out. We kicked back eating chili in the cold air while watching the final rays of sunlight fade as college football rolled on the XM radio. Then it was off to a wet, cold night in the tent as more rain arrived.
The steady rain made for good sleeping. It stopped before dawn, but things were still very wet and dreary when the sun topped the rolling hills surrounding Medora. We had a quick breakfast in hopes the weather would improve, but nothing looked to be changing. We hopped in the van and got on with the exploring of the park. I was hoping to do it by bike, but it was 45 degrees and wet. I decided to wait a bit to see if it would warm up and dry a little.
Early in the park we ran into two wild horses walking down the road. The park was pretty empty with the weather and the time of year so we had plenty of time to watch these horses wander the scrub brush. Shannon was drawn to the park more for the wild horses than the bison. Both of us already had seen what we came here for and we were just scratching the surface of this park.
The main drive in the park is laid out like a lollipop. You drive the stick into the middle of the park, then there is a loop that covers the northern and eastern portions to rejoin the stick. The final few miles of the loop were closed for road work. It was not just a bummer to miss that part of the park, but a huge inconvenience as you had to drive back out which was 25 miles.
We did three short hikes as we drove toward the road closure, along with a few stops at overlooks. The landscape is rolling hills of dirt very similar to Badlands National Park. There are lines of color within some of the hills, which rise from fields of yellowish-green grass that looks like smooth carpet from a distance.
The hikes ranged from 0.4 miles to 1.2 miles. The Boicourt Trail was the first and brought an excellent, although dreary, view of the badlands. It starts paved then continues on dirt to a high point where you get not only a better view, but also a look at a smoking crack in the ground. Buried beneath the hills of dirt are pockets of coal known as coal veins. This coal vein ignited in 2018 during a prescribed burn of the area and continues to smolder beneath the ground.
The sun decided to show itself midway through our second mini-hike as we climbed to the top of Buck Hill for another killer view. A drive down a dirt road off the main loop took us to the Coal Vein Trail for hike #3. This trail traverses another area burned by an underground coal fire that burned for 26 years from 1951 to 1977. This trail had some more terrain challenges and actually felt like hiking, although still short in distance. Near the end we spotted some bison tracks, then hair on a post where it appeared a big bison scratched its back. We topped the final ridge to see the big fella standing about 20 feet away. We had a quick look at each other before he continued on and we backed away to give some more space. He walked the trail right past the trailhead so we had to cautiously follow at a distance to get back to the van. He checked over his shoulder more than a few times to keep an eye on us.
A few more overlooks awaited before we turned back on the main road. A few miles beyond Buck Hill we spotted another wild horse standing on a small ridge. It seemed to be posing for pictures, standing on the ridge for several minutes with its mane blowing in the breeze. A few miles later we got stopped by bison in the road. LOTS of bison. An entire herd came rumbling down the road, weaving in and out of cars. I would guess there was probably 200 of them. They stopped occasionally to grunt and snort at each other, with a few taking the opporunity to get a quick scratch on the guard rail. We got more than up-close views. They passed by the van so close I could've reach out the window and touched them as they went by. It was awesome! There were some tense moments though as one stopped in front of the van and appeared to be considering ramming us. He eventually thought better of it and we were able to relax and enjoy the remainder of our 20-minute chocolate elephant parade.
We made one more stop on the way back to the park entrance. This time we hit up Wind Canyon, another short hike at only 0.6 miles. This hike had challenge and beauty. After a climb up a ridge, we walked a skinny trail to an overlook of a small canyon with a few partially formed hoodoos before getting an excellent view of the Little Missouri River. We also saw a pack of wild horses between Wind Canyon and the park entrance. There were horses of all ages wandering across a prairie dog field.
After exiting the park, we drove a few miles west on I-90 to a rest area we had seen on the drive in the previous day. This rest area is the most scenic I have ever seen. It is located in the park and offers another great badlands view of an area known as Painted Canyon. There is a Visitor's Center and access to a few hiking trails. The rain obscured the view the first day, but this time it was good visibility. We hiked the Painted Canyon Nature Trail, which is a challenging 1.4 miles. It delves straight off into the canyon. You descend steeply before reaching a loop that rolls up and down the hills lower in the canyon area. It was a still a bit muddy and slick, but we managed the slippery slopes in and out of the canyon.
The second thing on my "Must See" list in Theodore Roosevelt National Park was petrified forest. There are actually two large areas within the park, which has the third highest concentration of petrified wood in the entire U.S. One was near Medora. We went to check it out after visiting Painted Canyon. There was a 10.2 mile hike that took you to and through the forest. The drive there required a lot of dirt roads. They were in good condition at first, then started to have large puddles before turning to peanut butter just out of sight of the trailhead. I stopped at a few stretches and thought about it since we were in a Dodge Caravan. They looked difficult, but doable so I went for it and made them all. We got to the trailhead to see a rescue crew heading in. Apparently, the trail was so muddy that people were stuck back there. We saw people coming out with no shoes on as their boots had become so stuck in the muck that they couldn't get them out. A couple of people couldn't get out at all, hence the rescue crew. We obviously opted out on this hike and drove the muddy roads back to Medora for lunch.
The afternoon weather was much better. It was a bit windy and still overcast, but the temp was up to 55 degrees and the road was now dry. It was cold after leaving 90 degrees at home, but it was a more comfortable cold now compared to this morning. I hopped on the bike just inside the park entrance and rode the same stretch we drove earlier in the day. It was a challenging 50 mile ride with plenty of wind and several long climbs. Traffic was minimal and the scenery pretty spectacular. About 15 miles in I came up to another traffic jam. Shannon came up behind me in the van about the time another herd of bison emerged in the road up ahead. Any time there is a major traffic jam in a national park you can almost bet it is wildlife. You just never know if they're stopping for something less common like moose or bison, or if they're looking at a white-tailed deer. A group of over 50 bison walked up the road before deciding to stop. They refused to move for several minutes. Slowly, traffic started to pass by them. I was nervous about going by on a bike so I got tight to the back of the van and followed Shannon through. That was a first on a road ride for sure. The rest of the ride was much less eventful. I ended the ride back at the campground where we hooked up dinner and then dodged salamanders on our walk to the bath house before bed. The things were everywhere! They were huge Tiger Salamanders. We have those in Tennessee, but I rarely see them. I only know something about them because I had one as a pet when I was a teenager. They're very aggressive for an amphibian and therfore tend to eat well in captivity. It was crazy to see so many. These things are six to eight inches long, sometimes even a bit bigger. The biggest groups of them were by the bath house door. A few managed to get inside and hung out in the shower drains. That probably freaked out more than a few people.
The rain returned overnight and Monday was a soggy mess. I had hoped to ride a section of the 144-mile Maah Daah Hey Trail, but that was out with the amount of mud there would surely be. The forecast didn't seem too favorable in all of North Dakota for the next few days, so we decided to pack up and start toward the Candian border. Theodore Roosevelt National Park is actually split into two units. The area we had explored near Medora is called the South Unit, with a second North Unit being about 50 miles from I-90 in a more remote area. It's only 50 miles, but it feels like 150. Not only was it a torrential downpour, but there was nothing to see for 48 of the 50 miles. Unless you like brown grass and oil pumps. That's all that's out there. Two miles from the North Unit entrance things suddenly change as the ground begins to show cracks that grow bigger into gulleys and then canyons as the badlands landscape returns.
We stopped at the Visitor's Center for some suggestions on what we could do on a rainy day. The ranger was not very helpful as she thought we couldn't hike any of the trails because my clothing was not outfitted for this kind of park. I had on normal shoes because my hiking boots were covered with mud and apparently the khaki color of my pants made them look like business khakis to her. I don't know what it was, but she talked to me like I might die walking the sidewalk on the way back to the car.
This part of the park has more variety to the landscape. You can picnic in a grove of cottonwood trees along the same Little Missouri River we stayed next to in the South Unit. The road then takes you through more badlands with bigger views and eventually into small buttes. We attempted a few hikes, but the trails were stupid muddy. The only one that was firm enough to walk on had creek crossings that were too deep and swift to cross. We stuck to the overlooks along the road and took a bit more time to watch the bison we came upon. There is another petrified forest in the North Unit, but again it was inaccessible because of the rain.
The rain stopped just long enough for us to eat lunch in that cottonwood grove on the way back out of the park. Then we headed for the border. One quick stop was made in the town of Williston for supplies before we reached the border crossing. More on Canada in the next post. The trip got interesting over there!
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