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.