August 28 & 29, 2012 Day 11 Medora, ND
Tuesday--we traveled and saw lots of cows and wheat. When we arrived at the RV campground, the dirt was blowing from the dirt roads within the campground, we were escorted to a back-in (totally my fault--I forgot to request a pull-through), and we had no trees for shade in weather that was over 100?. However, we have great full hook-ups, the AC keeps us comfortable, have WIFI that works well, and Cable TV. We passed by the FDR National Park, and we weren?t impressed. I had planned on staying extra days, but I decided instead to book into Bismarck for the 30th through Labor Day so I could do my cleaning that I wanted to do. We will kick up aw lot of dust when leaving, which would sabotage my hard work.
Wednesday?You can?t judge a book by its cover! Theodore Roosevelt National Park is great! We saw a 17-minute introductory film at the Visitors? Center which raised questions, so we talked with the ranger who was full of answers and interesting information. I have always admired Roosevelt, but I now find him so intriguing and inspiring that I bought a 500-page biography, which I?ll probably finish in the next week or so.
History Buffs: Roosevelt came here when his wife, Alice, and mother died in his house in New York ON THE SAME DAY. His wife died giving birth to his daughter who was also named Alice. He refused to say the name Alice ever again, and he called his daughter Baby Lee. She was taken in by his sister, and Roosevelt took off for his Elkhorn Ranch in North Dakota. He did not return until his soul had healed 2 years later. He hated being called ?Teddy? because Alice called him that, and he didn?t want to hear it from anyone?s lips but hers. He remarried and had two more children. He said that he would never have been president if he hadn?t come to ND. He also said the happiest years of his life were those he spent here.
Current Events Buffs: I planned to see several sites and refuges in the Berthold area, not knowing of the discovery of the Bakken formation, which has made North Dakota the second biggest oil-producer in the U.S. Located two miles below the surface, it was not extractable until a highly controversial technique, ?fracking? or hydraulic fracturing, allowed oil companies to quadruple their daily oil production. This has brought tens of thousands of new jobs, and many of the workers are staying in RV campgrounds. There are those who drink and are rowdy, and I read horrible RV park reviews, so we skipped that loop on our trip.
(excerpt from Visitor Guide) ?All 3 ND national parks are having serious issues due to the oil boom. New wells can be seen from inside park boundaries. Each new well means another drill rig, well pad, pumpjack, debris pit, flare pit, storage tanks, and access roads on the landscape. Each new well requires 2000 ?trucking events? to complete its setup and begin pumping oil. Noise and dust from heavy truck traffic and pumping equipment is constant. Numerous flares can be seen in the formerly dark night sky as excess natural gas is burned off. Socioeconomic impacts are altering local communities.? I was told by the KOA park manager in Bismarck that he won?t let them stay there. He also told me they are drilling like crazy, then capping them because they don?t have the transport capacity yet. They only have to pump a certain minimal amount of oil every 2 years while they are developing their support system.
We embarked on the 36-mile drive, but it was so hot (over 90?) that I thought all the animals would be hidden from view. However, we?d get to see the geological features. Sure enough, we came around the first curve and saw all these whitish hills among the grass. Then I saw a prairie dog on top of one of those hills, stretching his front paws to the sky, and emitting a shrill cry. The prairie dog on the next hill responded in kind. Every time we stopped, those nearest our car did this same warning. Today we saw THOUSANDS of prairie dogs, and Dean took lots of pictures. But they only do their warning once, and you can?t stop and get a camera on them before it?s all over. (Picture 1) There were several prairie dog towns on the tour, and we were always treated to a different show. They dug in the dirt causing mini-dust clouds; they jumped, bounded, and chased each other. Some were quite chubby, well prepared for the coming winter. (Pictures 2 & 3)
Not even a mile further on, we saw HUNDREDS of bison. One stood right next to our car saying, ?Please don?t disturb my sleep.? (Picture 4) Another came right up and greeted us (Picture 5). Throughout our drive we saw groups of 30-40, and Dean couldn?t avoid all the buffalo pies on the roadway.
We saw pretty badlands, second only to those in South Dakota. (Picture 6) Some had scoria, which is formed when veins of lignite (coal) in the rock formation catches fire and bakes the surrounding sand and clay. Lignite doesn?t emit enough heat to be useful to people, but once ignited, it is hard to put out. One of the fires lasted from 1951 to 1977. (Picture 7) Over the years, erosion removes the softer earth on top and leaves the bluffs this bright red color.
As we were just admiring the small hoodoos and cannonball concretions, a white-tailed deer bounded across our path. I?m glad we were driving slowly.
We had such a great day that we planned to go back at dusk and look for elk, bighorn sheep, and mountain goats. We were told by the ranger to go around 7:30 for best light for pictures. Unfortunately, it was too dark, so we?ll get up early tomorrow and try to catch them at dawn. I wish we had at least one more day here.
Red Trail Campground ($30) is actually fine. After boondocking, I was into ?clean?, and seeing the dust popped my bubble. I?d stay here again. It has everything, including nice people and fun things like karaoke
