Weesa's Next Great National Parks Adventure - NoDak & SoDak

A few more phone pics from Makoshika
more questionable trail conditions, you can see where other hikes had slipped in the mud

just some cool hillsides and erosion going on here

natural bridge!

 

Park # 2 - Theodore Roosevelt National Park
I set off from Makoshika on day 3 heading for Theodore Roosevelt National Park in North Dakota - it was a quick trip, just over an hour away. I stopped in at the South Unit along I-94 just long enough to check out my campsite at Cottonwood Campground inside the park that I had reserved. All looked good - nice, spacious site with plenty of elbow room between me and the neighbors. Lots of trees and the site backed up to the Little Missouri River. Once I knew that all was good there I set off to explore the North Unit which was about a 90 minute drive. Along the way I passed plenty of equipment and supplies destined for the Bakken oil fields around Williston.
The North Unit is a bit different than the South Unit. In the north the park road is situated mainly on top of the hills giving you a bird's eye view down into the river valley that runs centrally through the park. In the south the river skirts across one corner of the park and the road is largely down in the valley, not up high. After stopping for a quick lunch at the Juniper Campground and picnic area I set out to explore more of the park. Before my trip I had settled on hiking the Caprock Coulee trail and then making a loop of it back to my car by also hiking the River Bend Overlook trail - about 4.5 miles in all. Didn't seem like much - I was thinking North Dakota's all flat so it shouldn't be a problem. Well its not flat and there is a lot of uphill and downhill no matter which way you go. I started at the River bend trailhead and went counterclockwise around to Caprock first. The trail started out easy enough and then I started to descend into the trees. Not a big deal other than these trails rarely get hiked and the trees are completely overgrown. I felt like I should have packed a machete to slice my way through the branches. I settled instead to walk for over half a mile with my arms up in front of my face, trying to keep the pokey branches from stabbing me. After surviving the overgrown section and wondering more than once if I had somehow strayed off onto a game trail or something I emerged onto a more recognizable trail at the bottom of the hill. It was an easy stroll for a bit at the bottom of the valley and I noticed that along the hillside to the NE there were several petrified trees sticking out of the eroding hills. They were almost pure white against the black and tan hills. I slowed down a bit to admire my surrounding and then it was time to connect to the second half of the trail and had to climb up again. Steep hill. In the rain. And the mud. I was wiped out by the time I reached the top. It was worth it. The views down into the river valley were amazing and there were lots of cool rock formations to inspect along the way. After completing the loop I headed out deeper into the park in my car and checked out as many of the overlooks as I could. Having been in the park for several hours at this point I was needing to answer the call of nature. But alas, there are no bathrooms in the park. And its a bit short on trees out there too. So my last few stops were a bit hasty, more interested in making it back to the campground and or visitor center than checking out the sights. I headed back to the south unit late in the afternoon, just before the light drizzle of rain turned into a torrential downpour. At one point I was considering pulling over as my wipers were not clearing the windshield fast enough and the water on the road was obscuring the marker lines. If it wasn't for the numerous semi trucks running up and down the road I would have stopped. But I figured it was a bigger hazard to me being stopped on the side of the road vs continuing with limited visibility. By the time I made it back to camp in the south unit the skies had cleared and i had a nice, peaceful night at camp. the only downside was the wood ticks. i freaking hate wood ticks. more than pretty much any other bug on this planet. They were everywhere in camp. I quickly changed into my bug repellent clothing - long pants with cuffs ucked into my socks and long sleeve hoodie. It was still blazing hot and humid out but I figured I could tolerate the heat better than dealing with the creepy crawlies I would face without the clothes on.

A few shots from the North Unit










After a good night's sleep I set off to tour around the south unit. Saw a few wild horses, some bison and a few pronghorn. The views in this section weren't quite as nice as what i saw in the north unit so i finished off the scenic loop and headed to the third section of the park - the petrified forest. While part of the overall park it is disconnected from all of the park roads just to the west. The dirt road that leads to the trailhead isn't all that well marked and there are several forks in the road that are not shown on the park map. I did manage to find the trailhead after only taking one wrong turn and set off to explore. The complete trail through this area is about a 10 miles loop but thankfully you don't need to make that long of a trek. A good collection of the trees can be found by taking a 3 mile out and back approach. Once departed from the main trailhead veer left at the sign directing to you either the north (left) or south (right) route of the main trail. The first section of trail is easy enough, just a stroll through a grassy field, and then you descend down a hill and arrive at the first of many petrified trees. Having been part of the inland sea at some point in history this area used to be mostly a swamp and the trees are the remnants of cypress trees. For the most part the stumps are all that's left but there are a couple of larger sections still standing. One stump is still upright and about 6' tall and 2' in diameter. And another stump has a small hollow section right through the middle of it. At first I was poking around each of the stumps and picking up random fragments to check them out (no souvenirs, petrified wood is cursed ) and then I saw this one amazing section that had almost a bluish purple tint to it. Working in the stone industry I've seen some pretty cool rocks and yet have not seen anything like this. I was leaning into get a better picture of the bluish rock when I heard a very loud, very close TSSS-TSSS-TSSSS of a rattlesnake. Now I know this is their territory and I was being way too stupid poking around like I was but after that I was much more careful. I didn't even see the dreaded thing and even after hearing it it took me a few seconds to actually locate it. It was at about 2 o'clock and I was at 6 o'clock in relation to the blue rock, not sure he could have reached around for me if he wanted to but he let me know that he wasn't happy with me being there so i cleared the area quickly. I wandered around a bit more then headed back to the trailhead as it was nearly noon and I had a long drive ahead of me to get to Badlands National Park in South Dakota yet.

 

And a few picks from the South Unit

 

Park #3 - Badlands National Park
After exploring the petrified forest in Roosevelt I set off for South Dakota and Badlands National Park. The drive between the two is loooong. And boring. And short on restrooms. And google maps is a big fat liar saying its only a 5 hour drive. I think it took me closer to 7 hours. I arrived in Badlands later than expected, hungry and stinky. Having not had a proper shower in 4 days my priorities upon arriving in camp was shower and food. Pictures and exploring would have to wait for the next day. I had booked a reservation at the Cedar Pass Campground near the Interior Entrance of the park as it was one of the few options in the area. I'm glad I had reservations seeing as how late I arrived but the campground wasn't really my style. There are no trees, the sites are packed in tightly so there is no privacy. And while there were showers at the campground they left something to be desired - coin operated and water flow something like a garden hose. And no where to put your clothes while you're showering. Still, after 4 days without a shower I was happy for just about anything.
I set off early the next morning to explore before it got too hot out. Turns out its always hot in the Badlands. I wandered around a few short trails first thing then set off to explore from the comfort of my air conditioned Runner for most of the day. Driving through the park doesn't take very long - maybe just over an hour - but there are plenty of pullouts and trailheads along the road. And I was surprised to learn that you don't actually have to stick to the trails here - you can wander around wherever you please. Not wanting to have another encounter with a snake I mainly stuck to the trails.