Theodor Roosevelt

On July 9th, 2010 Rachel and I left the cab (family cabin in Northern Minnesota) in The Beverly Crusher (My old band van, may she rest in peace) and drove 9 hour west to Theodor Roosevelt National Park (TRNP). Our plan was to stop at this park for a couple days on our way out to Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons. TRNP has a north and a south unit that are about 70 miles apart.

As we neared the park the countryside started to change dramatically. The flat Midwestern prairies gave way to a scarred and cratered landscape, but the lush grasses of the the plains were still abundant on these slopes. One really cool thing about the drive is that the hills don't seem to rise up as much as the land seems to fall out from underneath you so that the top of every hill is at almost the exact same elevation as the last.
We arrived at the south unit in the evening. Right after we drove though the entrance the main drive of the park wound its way directly though a prairie dog town. I immediately took The Beverly out of warp speed to avoid killing wildlife. The impulse engines would get us there eventually and the slow pace let us get a good look at the prairie dogs. They were adorable, but there will be more about them later.

We had a bit of a scare finding a campsite. We got one of the very last spots in the Cottonwood Campground which was the only campground in the south unit. Even the less traveled national parks are busy on summer weekends. It didn't take use much time to set up camp because for this trip we were sleeping in the van. Beverly had a back bench seat that lowered into a bed and we had fashioned some curtains with cloth and Velcro to keep the light out. We also cut out screens to put over the windows to keep the bugs out. It was really quite comfortable in there.

Once we claimed our campsite we headed off for one quick hike before sunset.

We drove a short way to the Ridge Line Trail and started using our stiff driving legs again. Ridge Line Trail is a self guided trail that explains the role of fire on the ecosystem. The trail leads up to the top of a plateau, circles around the top and then leads back down.

It's a short hike to the top, but the view is great.

As soon as we got to the top we saw a pair of elk on a distant hilltop.

These would be the only elk we would see at TRNP but we got our fill of elk at Yellowstone a few days later. The Ridge Line trail was only about a half mile and soon we were back in the car. We headed away from camp to check out North Dakota Badlands Overlook.

When we got there we overlooked the badlands.

At this point daylight was fading and so was our energy after driving all day so we headed back to camp. On our way we came across a bit of a road block.

This bison was just lumbering down the road and he had absolutely no fear of our van. At one point he turned and looked at us,

shrugged and continued on his way.

Eventually he sauntered into the brush on the side of the road and we were able to continue our drive back to camp.
When we got there we went right to bed so we could get up early and explore the park. In the morning we decided to drive to the north unit and explore that one first. On our way out of the south unit we stopped at Theodor Roosevelt's old cabin. There was a group of people listening to a tour guide, but Rachel and I were in a hurry to get on a trail so we just snapped a quick picture of what we thought was the most important item in the house.

Roosevelt's Waffle iron!

When we got to the north unit there was plenty of room in the Saw Creek Campground. The North unit is not nearly as busy as the south, but it is just as beautiful (neither is very busy overall). Once we found our campsite we filled up our packs with water and headed off down the Buckhorn Trail. Instead of explaining the 11 mile loop this trail takes through the park I'll just show this map from http://www.theodore.roosevelt.national-park.com

Our plan was to start on the Buckhorn trail from the group campground and head east. Next we would follow the trail all the way around until we arrived at the the cannonball concretions pullout. Then we would walk down the road back to camp.
There is something extra special about day hikes where you start hiking right from camp. Ending up back at camp without any driving feels really good.

The bighorn trail started out tricky. The trail was not well mark and not well traveled. It also seemed like there were anywhere from 10 to 20 buckhorn trails to pick from! Just when we felt confident we were on the right path this would happen.

The path would fork and we would chose one and follow it for a while. Once we felt confident that that path was correct, this would happen The path would peter out. There were plenty of times when the path looked like this.

Can you see the trail?

Neither could we!

We did know, however, that this section of the trail was near the main road and loosely followed it. This made us confident that we wouldn't get lost.

Soon we were nearing the longhorn pullout and lo and behold we saw longhorn.
They looked a little intimidating so we kept our distance.

At this point we lost the trail completely so we just walked on the road. We knew the trail would cross the road soon, so we just kept our eyes open for that. Sure enough the trail met back up with the road and we hopped right back on it. Soon the trail headed up into the hills of the badlands.

We climbed up one hill and then back down into a valley with some tastey looking water in it.

Then we climbed back up onto a huge plateau and on top the view was amazing.

We sat for a while to enjoy the view and have a quick snack. When we got up we realized that Rachel had been sitting on a sharp rock and she had ripped her pants.

Dang.

We hiked on and soon came to the first of two prairie dog towns on the trail. Prairie dogs were surrounding us. They were all standing by there holes and chirping at us. We thought they were cute.
Just past the prairie dogs we realized we were hiking though a gorgeous meadow and we had to get a picture.
We couldn't believe how green everything was. It wasn't at all how I had pictured badlands.
The trail then led down into a valley to eventually wind around to our starting point. Around a bend we suddenly came face to face with a bison.
But it was dead. In Yellowstone or the Tetons we never would have hung around a carcass for fear of bears, but in TRNP man is the largest predator.
Soon we reached the second prairie dog town on the trail.

Rae and I thought these prairie dogs looked like they were getting married.

Can you see it?

I'll help you get a better idea of what we were imagining.

The trail sort of disappeared again while we were walking though the prairie dog town. We were a little concerned because we didn't have any landmarks to help us go in the right direction. We knew the general direction we needed to go though. Lets hear it for the map and compass!
After a short scare we found the trail again and pushed on.
Soon we saw a living bison, but it was far enough away that we didn't worry about it.

At this point we realized we were nearing the end of our hike. 11 miles is a pretty decent day hike and we were excited to get off our feet.
After a short time we saw the marker for the beginning of the trail and a sign in sheet to let the rangers know that

people are out on the trail. It was then that we realized we had done the trail in reverse. We had wondered why there had been no trail head at the beginning of our hike.

But whatever way you look at it we did it. We hiked the Buckhorn Trail!

We walked on the road back to camp. The flat ground felt good on our feet after so much bumpy trail. Back at camp we had a meal and dreamed about taking a shower, but there were no shower to be took.

After resting in the shade of the van we decided to go for a drive. We hopped in Bev (the van) and headed to the far west end of the park; Glacier pullout. On the way I came very close to killing a snake. I had to hit the breaks and weave to just barely fit the length of the snake between the tires of Ms. Crusher (the van). The truck behind us stopped completely before hitting the snake. I told Rachel that my evasive maneuver had saved the snake's life. Score one for the National Parks.
It was on this 3 or 4 mile drive that we found out where most of the bison in the park had been hiding. They all had been hanging out by the fence on the edge of the park. It was as if they longed for the time when they could roam free on the great plains of America. (I'm glad they didn't know that Buffalo Bill Cody is my distant relative).
The overlook itself was pretty cool. This park was to be a three night stop off on our way to Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons. I think at this point we started to get a little antsy for some mountains.
After a spell we drove back to camp. On the way back we watched a bison scratch himself with a trail marker.

We watched this for a while. It was quite entertaining. Once the bison lost the itch we headed back to camp and had a great night sleep in our van.
In the morning we headed back down to the southern unit. We Stopped at Painted Canyon overlook. Great view there.

Our next stop was the petrified forest on the far north west end of the South Unit. We had to drive down a road that was outside of the park to get there. The road was full of cattle.

My camera lens was sticking a lot this trip. I blame the sandstorm in Death Valley.

The parking area for the petrified forest was outside the park. How would we ever get past that giant bison fence?
We figured it out.

The walk to the petrified forest was beautiful. The trail took us though what seemed like an endless meadow of yellow wildflowers.
I picked a shirt that matched the scenery.

Soon we came across the first sign of the ancient lumber.

"What's in Rachel's hand?" you ask.
Petrified birch! (Not necessarily petrified birch, but that's what we called it).

We hiked on and kept our eyes peeled for more petrified wood. Soon we saw something really cool; a petrified buffalo chip! (Not actually petrified, but quite dried out).

Soon we were in the full on petrified forest.

There was really no mistaking this rock as anything but a petrified tree stump.

Can you see me?

Rachel, zoom in a bit please.

There I am.

After we milled about feeling very young among the ancient woodland we decided we had best be on our way.

On our way back to the main entrance to the South Unit we had to drive though town.
We drove around a bit looking of a campground with a shower and internet. I was taking an online English course so we needed to get online frequently during this trip. Our hunt for a wired campground was successful, but it was a campground for RVs. Rachel and I were both turned off by how packed in the people were there. It was still pretty early in the day and Yellowstone was only 7 hours away. We decided that we should drive around the South unit loop drive and decide if we would stay the night or just leave.
We made a couple of stops during the loop.

Buck Hill

Wind Canyon trail

More Wind Canyon

It was overcast, misty and a little chilly outside. We decided it was time to leave Theodore Roosevelt National Park. When we got in the van my brother Charles call to tell us that he had just found out that his second child was going to be a girl! We though this great news would carry us thought the 7 hour drive to Yellowstone. So we drove out of there.