On our second full day in North Dakota, we returned to Theodore Roosevelt NP for a long hike. One very nice thing about this national park (and probably others; I can't recall) is that once you pay for your permit, it's good for seven days. Since we'd paid our $10/car to do the loop drive the day before, we only had to show our receipt to get back into the park to hike. An excellent deal if you're staying in the area for awhile! Barry planned a loop hike for us comprised of four different trails -- a total of 11.4 miles. I generally prefer hikes in the 7-8 mile range as my feet tend to get very sore on the longer hikes, but I do love a loop hike (rather than an out and back), so I agreed. The trails on this hike were rated moderate, so not too steep. Driving to the trailhead, we were very lucky to spy this huge American Bison right by the side of the road. Kinda scary, but we were in a car -- don't think I'd want to see him this close while hiking! It was cool and overcast starting out but cleared and warmed up as we went so was a nice day for hiking. Our first trail was the Jones Creek. What this hike lacked in climbs, it made up for in creek crossings. Some were more challenging than others. I loved this series of photos Barry took of me negotiating this one. I could never have made it without my hiking poles! We saw a lot of wildlife on this hike, including a Mountain Bluebird and Cedar Waxwings. There were many other birds we just couldn't identify as they'd fly away too fast. And the scenery was as pretty as the birds.... Our second trail was the Lower Talkington. This trail boasted some beautiful rock formations along the way. Our third connecting trail was the Badlands Spur. We got a little confused on this short trail by multiple intersecting trails, some of which were probably bison and/or wild horse trails (we did see a lot of poop!) As a result, we did a little backtracking. We'd had the same problem on the previous trail, thus increasing our total mileage for the day to around 12. I for one was very glad to reach our final trail, the 3.5-mile Lower Paddock Creek Trail. My feet were getting pretty tired and sore by this point. This trail had the most creek crossings of the day, and some were quite wide (and deep), requiring us to travel a bit up or down the creek looking for the narrowest place to cross. Much to my amazement, we managed to get across all of them without getting our feet wet. I was glad of that as they were not clear creeks babbling over rocks but murky water with muddy bottoms. Apparently this part of the state had had a bit of rain recently; I expect under normally dry North Dakota conditions these creeks are much less full. This was a very beautiful trail. I love these photos of Barry enjoying the scenery and the solitude. We weren't sure if we'd experience that solitude now that we're back in the US. In Belize, we were often the only people at a national park all day long. We came close to that on these trails and only saw three other hikers all day, two of them on this trail. On this trail we saw our first wild horses and lots of prairie dogs in a large "prairie dog town". So cute! At last we reached the end of the trail and our hike. You can tell by the long afternoon shadow that this was a long hike! On the way out of the park we encountered this adorable wild turkey family crossing the road. Once she (?) was sure we were going to stop for them, the adult very carefully led the "teenagers" across. Reward meal.After twelve miles of hiking, we treated ourselves to an excellent, and very hearty, Mexican dinner at Don Pedro's, right across the street from our La Quinta in Dickinson. Despite big appetites, the portions were so huge we still brought home enough for lunch the next day!
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On our fall road trip, we headed north. We spent four nights and three days in the North Dakota Badlands, in the western part of the state. Who knew North Dakota could be so gorgeous? We certainly didn't -- it was the first time in the state for both Barry and me. I'm glad we finally made it here as it wasn't the flat, boring place I imagined at all. One thing I'm learning as we travel more (now that I'm retired!) is that most places have their own charm and beauty, if only you open your eyes to it. And western North Dakota is no exception. In September the crowds are certainly way down in Theodore Roosevelt National Park, the big tourist destination here, from summertime. DickinsonWe stayed in Dickinson, about a half hour east of the park. This city is suffering growing pains due to the recent oil boom in the Bakken Formation. Hotels, even the most basic, are much higher priced than most places we visit, because they are filled with oil workers. It's all supply and demand, baby. There was a ton of traffic and construction on the road right in front of the (very nice) La Quinta where we stayed, so we spent most of our daylight hours a bit west in and around the park area, which was much more to our liking. Quiet and beautiful. On our first full day in town, we woke up to a steady rain. Fortunately it stopped by lunchtime, and we were able to take a drive over to the park. We decided to postpone hiking until the next day since we'd missed the morning, but we enjoyed seeing the Painted Canyon area, walking around the small town of Medora outside the park, visiting the park information center, and then doing the loop drive through the park. The scenery was stunning. Painted Canyon (part of Theodore Roosevelt NP)MedoraThis cute little western town outside the park obviously gets a lot of visitors during the summer months but was pretty dead as we walked through. At least half the shops and restaurants were closed. We looked around for a refrigerator magnet but found very few available, so we didn't buy anything. Theodore Roosevelt National ParkWe first checked out Teddy R's Maltese Cross cabin, now re-located behind the park's visitor center. Just the right size and nicely preserved. With a bit of modernization, I could easily live there! Most of the logs are original to the structure, constructed in 1883. The sun finally made an appearance during our drive of the 36-mile park loop. It was really beautiful and we couldn't wait to come back for a long hike the next day. A real highlight was seeing this herd of bison heading up the rocks -- even some young'uns! We passed numerous "prairie dog towns". I've never seen so many of these cute little critters in one place before. Stay tuned for two more days in North Dakota -- a long hike and a mountain bike ride.
After blogging frequently during our time living in Ambergris Caye, Belize, we needed a break. Blogging had ceased being fun and had become more of a job. In addition to the blog, I received many emails from people with questions about Belize and was a frequent contributor to Belize forums. It was time to take a vacation from our "vacation"! So, we took a blogging hiatus when we moved back to the US from Belize in March. But we haven't been sitting around since then; oh no. We've had a busy half-year of traveling, cycling, hiking, and sight-seeing, just like we hoped. We bought a car (a Honda CR-V), visited family, and settled back into life in the United States. We've shared a lot of photos and stories with our Facebook friends and through Photobucket. But now we've had time to rest up, and the itch to blog has returned! I thought I'd share links to photos of our memorable times over the past six months here before re-starting the blog. Hope you'll stay tuned, there's a lot more to come. This twosome isn't done yet! |
Emily & BarryWe're a long-married, early-retired couple who are currently traveling as nomads with no fixed home base. After years of living in North Carolina (Emily's home state), we spent 18 months living oceanfront on Ambergris Caye, Belize, a year road-tripping the US in a Honda CR-V, a year in Playa del Carmen, Mexico, and are now roaming North America in our 32' motorhome, Pearl, following warm weather whenever possible. Archives
July 2019
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