Prairies & the Parks

14^th August

After a shop at Shelby for some hardware to fix a pump problem which has been slightly annoying us (me!), we continued our drive east along the ‘2’ across the prairies of Montana. This state is called the “Big Sky State” and we could appreciate why. The land is basically flat and the sky seems to dominate. It is mainly wheat and grains and grasslands with huge grain silos at each small town. We drove about 190 miles, stopping at a nice shady green park in the town of Havre for lunch and a rest. Our overnight stop was at the town of Malta where we were in a RV park behind some motels.

I tackled the pump wiring problem and it seems to be much better. We will not really know until our house battery is low.

15^th August

Back on the road east. The sky and the landscape are huge and we are really enjoying the isolation and the majesty of it all. We left the ‘2’ and headed south for a few miles to Fort Peck Lake where we found a nice cheap camp overlooking the lake.

This is a hydro lake with the 3^rd largest earth dam in the world and forms a lake with a coastline longer than California. It is damming the Missouri River which, when it joins the Mississippi flows into the Gulf of Mexico 1000s of miles to the south, virtually the whole length of the USA.

16^th August

We had a big electrical storm in the night with heavy rain and wind. We drove across the earth dam (4 miles) but very low and passed the power station.

It is quite small only generating 185MW. (Clyde 432MW) Back on the ‘2’ and more wheat growing areas. Near the North Dakota border we started to see oil wells and ‘donkeys’ pumping oil. We crossed the Montana/North Dakota border and suddenly there were oil rigs, drilling rigs and construction everywhere. There were miles of road works and construction camps. We stopped at Watford City but struggled to find an RV Park as they were all filled with permanent residents. Eventually we found the city park where there were two ‘tourist’camp sites. This town has a population of about 3000 but there are around 30,000 temporary oil workers crammed into any available accommodation, mostly mobile homes, portacoms, or old RVs and 5^th wheelers on any available land.

17^th August

We were quite happy to leave Watford City early and head the small distance to the Theodore Roosevelt National Park. Turning off the main road into the Park was like going into another world. From the oil wells and construction to the peace and quiet of the park. We had no trouble finding a camp site as this is a very isolated National Park and has not many visitors. We rode our bikes to a 1.5 mile interpretive walk up a coulee which is a valley between the rocky outcrops. This is the ‘Badlands’, so called because it is hard to get thru and the land is useless for farming.

On our bike home the road was blocked by a large herd of Bison. There were bulls, cows and even some calves. They are huge and seem prehistoric. Theodore Roosevelt had a ranch here in 1883 and said ‘he would not have become president if he had not spent time here’. We drove a 10 mile road to the other side of the Park and walked to a great view point with the Little Missouri River below.
 In the evening we went to a ranger talk on the Bison.

18^th August

We left the north part of the Theodore Roosevelt N.P. and drove 80 miles south to the other part of this N.P. We found a great camp site overlooking the Badlands. After lunch we biked 5 kms to the start of the Jones Creek trail and walked about 2 miles up a very isolated trail into the hills following the creek.

19^th August

We are staying another night in the south National Park. After a relaxing morning we drove a 30 mile loop stopping at all the view points. Near the end of the drive we came across a huge herd of bison on the road and had to very quietly drive thru them. It is the mating season and the bulls are very aggressive.

A bull can easily turn a car over so it’s not like driving thru cows going to milking in NZ! The other interesting animals we saw were Prairie Dogs. These are like very big squirrels with short tails and live together in a ‘town’ which is a field covered in burrows. They are called ‘dogs’ because they bark but it sounds more like a yelp! There are also many wild horses in this park.
In the evening we went to a ranger programme on the night life in the park.

20^th August

We had a long drive south thru North Dakota and across the border into South Dakota. Eventually we left the oil fields behind and drove miles on rolling farm land with very little to look at.

I am not a great fan of ‘cruise control’ but it has been getting a fair work out in the last few days. We have reached the “Black Hills of Dakota” as in the old song and will explore the area tomorrow.  At one point we passed the geographic centre of the United States. We have stopped in a lovely RV Park in Spearfish which has a nice swimming pool.

                                                      21^st August

A great leisurely drive up the Spearfish Canyon stopping at three waterfalls before the town of Deadwood for a Bison Burger and a beer. The Bison meat was great and very lean. The correct name is Bison but they are also frequently called Buffalo. Deadwood was a wild gold mining town made famous by Wild Bill Hickok and Calamity Jane. The skies opened and we had a wet walk back to ‘Ernie’ getting soaked. The drove was in torrential rain which cleared as fast as it started and we camped in a forest park at Pactola Lake. Another electrical storm drove us inside for dinner.

22^nd August

We left the lake and drove south to Keystone and on into the Mt Rushmore National Memorial where the famous carvings of the presidents are in the granite of Mt Rushmore.

It is very popular and therefore has a huge car parking building etc but once you got passed that it was spectacular. It was created to attract tourists and carving started in 1927 with 400 workers supervised by Gutzon Borglum. The heads are 60ft high and you can leave the crowds and walk right below them. From left to right they are: George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln. Work stopped in 1941 because of the war and they have never been finished and will stay that way by act of government. We were impressed by this monument. We drove on south to Wind Cave National Park and found a very peaceful site in this small N.P. A cycle to the visitors centre to check out a cave trip tomorrow. Unfortunately the trip we wanted was fully booked but we are on standby. This park is in what they call mixed prairie and we enjoyed a short interpretive walk around the camp site.

There are many Bison, Elk, and Pronghorn in this park. In the evening we went to a ranger talk on fire in the park.

23^rd August

We had a relaxing morning and then rode to the visitors centre for our cave trip. Unfortunately our standby did not come thru so we joined another tour which was very good. You descend into the cave system via a lift! Only in the USA. But the trip then wound thru some tight passages and thru larger caverns. This is a dry cave so has no stalagmites or stalactites. It does have the world’s largest selections of Boxwork caused by the limestone being washed away leaving the harder material in the cracks. This is a huge cave system and the name ‘Wind Cave’ comes from the constant wind blowing in or out of the caves.

There are only two small natural entrances and depending on the air pressure outside determines whether the wind blows in or out at around 10mph but can get up to 50mph. When we exited the caves there was another storm brewing but we managed to cycle back to camp dry. The storm seemed to go right around us. In the evening we went to yet another ranger programme where a lady ranger told us the history of the area in poetry, song and stories. She was very good and it was interesting.

24^th August

We are off to another National Park called ‘Badlands’ passing the largest city in this area, Rapid City. These badlands are quite different from the ones in North Dakota. There are many jagged, unusual and dramatic rock formations formed by erosion.

The camp was very open and there was a strong wind blowing. We parked to shelter our door from the wind but the ‘Host Camper’ told us were not to park like that so we changed sites! We drove to the visitors centre just up the road and planned our visit. Driving the scenic drive up onto the plateau overlooking these rock formations was great and we stopped at a few view points. The colours were beautiful and the rocks are always changing as the sun shifts. In the evening we watched the light playing on the rugged rocks.

                                     25^th August

We drove back up into the main part of the N.P. and walked a 4 mile loop thru the rocks and back thru the prairie. Val nearly stood on a snake which we first thought was a ‘Rattler’ but in fact was a Bull snake, harmless but aggressive! We relocated to a more popular area of the park and walked a couple of short tails to spectacular view points and then climbed a more difficult trail up into the rocks. This trail included a log ladder to get onto the higher trail and then followed some narrow ledges to a great view point. (not many tourists up here!) Back to camp and enjoyed the great view from our camp site. This National Park is quite close to the I-90 so is very popular.

26^th August

It rained heavily in the night and is cool and cloudy today making for comfortable driving.

We are on isolated roads passing farmland with many crops including fields of sunflowers. Eventually we crossed the South Dakota/Nebraska border and after about 200 miles driving stopped for the night in a State Park at Chadron. We sat outside for a while but the clouds built up and the rain came. Inside the lightning and thunder roared and we could hardly hear ourselves think as the hail hit. Boy it can rain here.

27^th August

Back on the road south thru the farmlands of Nebraska. We are in an RV Park at Scottsbluff. This is a town named after a huge rocky outcrop dominating the area. As we arrived it started to rain and this has continued thru the afternoon. We will delay our visit to Scotts Bluff till tomorrow when hopefully the weather may clear. As there is internet here we will publish this blog.

Back to the USA

31^st July

It was a short drive to the Canada/USA border where we had no issues as we had eaten all our fruit and tomatoes. These are prohibited to take across the border. We looked for a supermarket in Bonners Ferry in Idaho but ended up driving into Montana. We passed the beautiful Lake Bull and found a forest camp on its shores at Bad Medicine. It was a great shady site with easy access to the lake where we had a couple of swims in the warm water. A warm night so we sat outside until bed time.

1^st August.

It was a lovely drive to the city of Sandpoint, back in Idaho, along the shores of Lake Pend Oreille. We found a Super Wal-Mart and had a giant shop up. Everything in Canada is much dearer than the USA so we had let our stocks run low. Even bought cheap spirits to see us thru the trip hopefully. I rang Ashley (my cousin) and found that he would be overnighting at Wallace about 150kms down the road on Monday so will catch up with him there.

We stopped at Farragut State Park and booked in for 2 nights. The camp was full but they have some primitive camping which suits us. We had a nicely shaded camp site. This was some sort of ex military base. We rode down a steep hill to Lake Pend Oreille and enjoyed swimming in a small bay with many holiday makers. The ride back up the hill will keep us fit for the next few days.

 

2^nd August

This State Park is huge so we followed a series of old disused roads and trails around it with some great views eventually finding the military museum. It turns out this was a naval training camp hurriedly set up after Pearl Harbour. Seems a strange place for a naval base 1000s of miles from the sea, but its location was chosen because it could not be bombed by the Japanese. Back down the hill for another couple of swims. In the night we had an electrical storm and some hail!

3^rd August.

The storm has cooled the temperatures and we have decided to stay another night here and then drive straight to Wallace to see Ashley. It was haircut day in camp. It looked like a couple of grey rabbits had come to a sticky end when we had finished! We cycled back to the visitors centre and paid for another night. Back down the hill for another swim and the fitness cycle back up. A caravan has parked close to us with a very noisy generator. We got fed up with the noise and shifted to another site before dinner.

4^th August

We drove to the I-90 and followed it for 60 miles to Wallace. It is a long time since we have been on an interstate highway and I have not missed it. We found the hotel Ashley was staying at and an RV park nearby. At around 1:00pm he phoned us and came around. He had not changed a bit. Just a little greyer! We had not seen him for 32 years. He was on his way from Vermillion, South Dakota to Port Townsend near Seattle, a three day drive. We spent the afternoon catching up on family stuff. After he left we walked around the town. This is a mining town for silver and lead. There is a flyover bypassing the town and it feels like it has stayed the same since the 60’s. Perhaps, when they built the flyover, the town went into a time warp and everything stopped.

 

5^th August

I walked into town again for a couple of photos, water and a second LED torch for our bike ride. We left Wallace and continued up the I-90 to the Idaho/Montana border at Lookout Pass Ski Resort where we bought tickets for the Hiawatha mountain bike trail and the return shuttle. The cycleway follows the Chicago, Milwaukee and St Paul railway thru the Bitterroot Mountains. A luxury passenger train, the Olympian Hiawatha, travelled from Chicago to Seattle but eventually went bankrupt in 1977. The first part is a 2 mile tunnel thru the St Paul Pass (thus the extra torch).

Half way thru the tunnel we crossed the Montana/Idaho border. The trail was 16.5 miles but all down hill. There were many groups riding the trail which went thru 8 more tunnels and across 7 trestle viaducts.

The largest viaduct was 850ft long and 230ft high. It was a great ride but not very challenging. At the end we boarded an old yellow ex school bus (like you see in the movies). The back half of the bus was full of our bikes. It dropped us off at the ‘big tunnel’ which we cycled again back to ‘Ernie’. All in all a great experience. Back on the road and we turned off the I-90 and towards Flathead Lake and found a forest park camp by the Clark Fork River beside a railway bridge. In the night we had 5 trains thru which made for an interrupted sleep also not helped by another time zone change!

6^th August

We continued on to Flathead Lake with a quick stop to shop. It was a great drive following the river and eventually into farming country. Unfortunately we have smoke from forest fires spoiling the views of the mountains again. There were a few stops for road resealing. They only have a few months for this work and reseal long sections at a time. You stop for quite a period waiting and then the line of traffic follows a truck with a “follow me” sign. We decided to go up the east side of the lake, which seems to be less populated, and stopped at Finley Point State Park getting the last site. We were backed right onto the lake but the sites are very small and quite crowded. The water was very warm and we had several swims. There was no shade in the evening and we had our last swim at around 8:00pm.

7^th August

We drove the short distance to the other end of the Flathead Lake.

The full sign was up at the State Park we had chosen as our next stop but we went in and they had 1 site. Val did a huge wash and after lunch we went down to the beach. The swimming was just as good as yesterday’s. When we returned to our site we were in shade and it was nice and cool. In the evening we walked to a different part of the lake where the kids were jumping off large rocks into the water.

8^th August

We left before 9:00am to try and insure a campsite at Glacier National Park where we want to stay a few days. The more observant of you will remember we have already been in a Glacier National Park. This is an entirely different one. The other one is in Canada.  It is Friday and there are many people around and finding a camp site is getting harder. We arrived at the first camp in the park but it was full. They sent us around the end of Lake McDonald to another camp and we managed to get one of the last sites for one night only. We cycled back around the end of the lake to the visitors centre where the free shuttles leave from. The scenic parts of the National Park start at the other end of Lake McDonald 16 miles away. We had a bit of a wait for the shuttle which took us to the end of the lake and then we transferred onto a smaller shuttle to climb to the summit of Logan Pass on the famous “Going–to–the–Sun’ road, another 16 miles. This road is not suitable for larger vehicles and we could see why. It was a marvel of engineering climbing up a narrow windy road to the pass at 6646ft. We walked up a trail to a series of view points and sat and ate our lunch with mountains all around us. Further up the trail there were patches of snow and many wild mountain goats, some with kids. Back on the shuttles for the long 32 mile trip back to our bikes and the ride back to our camp.

9^th August

We had hoped to get a cancellation for another night but no such luck. The decision was to head back to the first camp we came to yesterday. As we drove around the camp we heard a thump. It was another rock jammed between the tyres like we had had last year. A guy on a bike raced away and got heavy duty tools and soon had it out. We headed around the end of the lake to the other camp and got one of the last sites, all this before breakfast. We have managed to get a great site and will stay here for two nights. After a late breakfast we spent a lazy morning cleaning and reading. We walked to the small tourist town of Apgar and looked in the shops which were all souvenirs etc. It is a short walk to the beach for a couple of swims and the water was surprisingly warm considering it is glacier feed. We have decided to stay another night.

10^th August

It was cooler in the night and we had Val’s pancakes for breakfast. We caught the large shuttle to Avalanche Creek and followed a trail up to the beautiful Avalanche Lake. It was a 5 mile hike up to and around the lake. We ate lunch at the far end in the shade with a view of 3 large waterfalls. We have started using a bear bell. The experts say that bear bells have limited effect in warning the bears of your presence, but as we have not seen a bear so far this trip perhaps it is working! Back to ‘Ernie’ and a couple of swims in Lake McDonald to cool off.

11^th August

We left the west side of Glacier National Park and drove 70 miles over the Great Divide to East Glacier N.P. and into another camp at Two Medicine. Again we secured the last available site.

Sooner or later our luck will run out! The mountains and the Two Medicine Lake are spectacular and we followed the ranger’s advice and walked to the Appistoki Falls and then continued up a steep trail to get some great views all around. Back to the lake and we shouted ourselves an ice-cream. In the evening we went to a ranger talk on mountain goats. He was very funny and the information was fascinating.

12^th August

We set off on a long hike around Two Medicine Lake taking in a couple of waterfalls on the way. At the far end of the lake we had lunch at Twin Falls. On our return journey we had a black bear cross our path about 30 metres ahead. The round trip took us about 4 ½ hours and we covered about 9 miles. There were a few claps of thunder and some light rain later in the afternoon. In the evening we went to another ranger talk on Grizzly Bears. Unfortunately there we some light drizzle so she kept the talk short. Again very interesting.

13^th August

We turned our back on the Rocky Mountains and started the long haul along the ‘2’ across the Montana Prairies towards North Dakota. It is about 450 miles to the border and we will take 3 or 4 days. The towns are small and far apart. It is either wheat and grain crops or grassland and very flat. We stopped and shopped at one small town and got LPG and petrol at Shelby where we have camped at a barren RV Park for the internet and laundry.