I chose not to drive anywhere today! Instead, I walked the White River Trail to the Ice House Ponds (perhaps they freeze during winter?) and returned to Addie, air conditioning, and trip planning. A very relaxing day!
What a lovely state park! It’s a converted fort, with a bit of old west history… Although it’s hot – 92° high today, the many sights and signs make for intriguing viewing. This evening, I went on a jeep ride up to the buttes. Great sunset views!
The lodge.
Selfie station – complete with a shelf to set my phone.
Bison on the road.
Horses on the road.
Donkeys on the road.
Turtle Butte.
Watching the sunset.
I thought Nebraska was flat…!
Lovely view.
Sunset (a bit of smoke making for a brilliant sunset).
I hit the road northward at about 9am to take a look at Deadwood (crowded and cute) and explore Spearfish Canyon, where I hiked to Spearfish and Roughlock Falls. I devoured delicious homemade ice cream in Spearfish and then drove around Sturgis. Although the Harley-Davidson Rally doesn’t officially start until Friday, Sturgis is getting ready! Lots of booths, tents, and Jack Daniels banners! And did I mention the influx of bikers? There are significantly more all over the Black Hills area than when I arrived here last Thursday.
Regardless of the H-D noise and traffic congestion, I really love the Black Hills. The scenery is magnificent, the hiking refreshing, and the ice cream scrumptious.
Spearfish Falls
Spearfish Falls
Roughlock Falls
Roughlock Falls
I LOVE 44!
At the end of each month of my Cross Country Road Trip, I plan to post my reflections from the month, along with one photo from each state I visited that month and the friends and family I’ve visited. [Note: If you have not yet joined my private Facebook travelog group and would like daily (give or take!) posts and pics, please let me know and I’ll send you an invite.]
People: There are so many kind and helpful people – not only family and friends (Sarah, Andy, Kate, Chuck, Lynne, Ken), but also total strangers. I am also finding that the more I travel into “red” states, the animosity toward me – as a Californian and as a female and as a solo traveler – is less respectful. Learning how to respect each other, regardless of “otherness,” is vital to creating a safe and healthy country. How do we do this?
Speed Limit: I’ve found that I can predict the speed limit based on driving conditions. To save gasoline – get the best gas mileage – I’m driving no faster than the speed limit (yep, I normally would go about 5 mph faster…).
Beauty: Our country is GORGEOUS! The variety of colors, textures, and geology make for amazing scenery. Although I love the visual and geological beauty of the badlands and desert sites, my heart soars with tall trees, blue skies, and pine needle trails.
Solo Travel: I love solo traveling – and I love traveling with friends and family! Interestingly, I have seen maybe only one other solo female traveler this month – in Glacier National Park, a recent college grad trying to figure out her next step. I wonder if it’s because this is July, I’m focusing for this month more on national parks, and there are a lot of families doing the same type of travel right now?
Invisibility of Older Women: As an older woman – my gray hair tells my age! – I am mostly invisible. And I LOVE this! No one bothers me, I’m free to do as I please, and when I need help (i.e., awning issue in Clear Lake State Park) others are very willing to help.
California
Oregon
Washington
Idaho
Montana
Wyoming
North Dakota
South Dakota
Andy and Sarah <3
Kate and, missing from photo, Chuck (and their two sweet doggies). <3
Lynne and Ken. <3
I decided to start slowly today, enjoying the strong internet connection to putter and post my July Reflections. Then, I mosied on down to The Mammoth Site in Hot Springs. Discovered in 1974 when the site was being excavated for a housing development, the remains of mammoths and other animals are now being examined by scientists with the site being turned over to a 501(c)3 https://www.mammothsite.org.
A quick trip to Ace Hardware in Hot Springs for screws to fix my bathroom door – and then onto Custer State Park for a hike and tick encounter. Hiking through a grass- and flower-filled meadow SOUNDED wonderful, until I kept brushing bugs off of my legs and arms, including two ticks on my leg – easy to brush off – and one on the back of my right shoulder. The shoulder tick came off whole…and bloody. I finished the hike on the road instead of the meadow and found a woman on the road, relaxing with her guy, and asked her to check me for ticks, which she did competently, completely, and kindly – I wonder if she’s a medical professional…
Back at camp and following some relaxation with the Olympics, I inserted wooden toothpicks into the holes needing screws, added the screws, and fixed my bathroom door.
Now for dinner!
Bones, bones, and more bones!
A complete mammoth, except the head!
More proof that I’m not very tall.
Looks like a cool place to hike…
Before encountering ticks.
Addie waiting for me to return from my hike.
Bighorn sheep herd in Custer State Park.
Fixed!
Eerie day! Smoke from wildfires in Manitoba blew into South Dakota overnight, creating an air quality advisory. Since I wanted to see Badlands NP today, I chose to drive the scenic route and stop at the overlooks rather than hike. Even in the sometimes heavy haze, the beauty and majesty of the badlands shined through. Here’s hoping the reports of improving air quality starting tomorrow prove accurate!
Surprising formations.
Some greenery mixed with the buttes.
Looking down on the badlands from an overlook.
Can you see the smoky haze in the background?
Mountain goats!
Anyone know why this is so famous…?
Relaxing day exploring! Mt. Rushmore, Crazy Horse Memorial, Wind Cave NP, and Custer SP. AND my RV park has free wine tasting tonight!
Recognize anyone?
Compulsory pic!
Crazy Horse Memorial still in progress – probably won’t be done for another 100 years.
Another view.
Bike sculpture in Pringle.
SO EXCITED to be back on the trail with lower temps, blue sky, and tall trees!!!
Cold Brook Canyon Trail.
Guess who else was recently on the trail?!
Bison get thirsty too. (Wildlife Loop Road, Custer State Park.)
Lots of driving today! Left early-ish this morning and drove the long way here so I could see Devils Tower National Monument. Interestingly, both Yellowstone, first National Park, and Devils Tower, first National Monument, are in Wyoming.
I’m at a more luxurious RV park close to Rushmore, Custer State Park, Badlands National Park, etc. – and will be here for five nights. 🙂
Big news: the heat wave should break tomorrow!
107°!!! So, again, no hiking for me. Instead, I explored the South Unit from Addie, stopping at all of the signed areas on the scenic route. Very intriguing: the many prairie dog towns with their dirt mounds and prairie dogs poking their heads out. Also interesting: mama and baby bisons. In Yellowstone, the single bisons walking on the road were males who are banned from hanging out with the moms and babies. Today I saw herds of mamas and babies slowly crossing the road.
After ICE CREAM and a nap in air conditioned Addie, I attended the amphitheater production is the Medora Musical, a loose telling of the story of Teddy Roosevelt, Americana songs, and a comedian/juggler. In April, a wildfire almost destroyed the amphitheater!
Two prairie dogs – zoomed in and cropped…
The line of mamas and babies heading toward the road.
Looking out of Addie’s window.
A bison was here.
Buttes. I’m learning that mountains are created when the earth pushes up land masses, and buttes are formed when water and wind erode what is around the land mass. Im still trying to figure out how canyons fit into this story…The walls and upward cropping a of the Grand Canyon or Bryce Canyon, can those also be called buttes?
I think the variegation is beautiful.
More gorgeous formations.
From above the amphitheater. Hard to see but there are two elk on the ridge just to the right of the Medora sign. Also on the far right, it’s possible to see where the wildfire stopped.
I wonder if they thought about other meanings for their rainbow colors… This is the first state I’ve visited with ardent anti-maskers and, I assume, anti-vaxxers.
Heat wave! Addie said today’s high was 105°, and I believe her. Tomorrow is predicted to be hotter.
So instead of hiking, we spent the morning cheering on my friend Nanine, who this morning finished her solo Great American Rail Trail bike ride (minus unsafe roadways Wyoming). So happy for her!!!!!!!
TR National Park is divided into three separate sections, Elkhorn Ranch, South Unit, and North Unit. Addie’s low clearance won’t allow her to travel the rutted gravel roads in Elkhorn, where there’s also a fire. Tomorrow we’ll explore South Unit. Today we drove the 68 miles to North Unit, which several friends have said is the best, and stopped at the signed spots along the scenic route. The badlands geological formations wowed me! The pictures don’t do justice to the scenery given the smoky haze…
A variety of scenery, history, and culture today. I left The Huntley Project Museum in the morning and drove over to the Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument. What I liked about the displays were their focus on both Custer and his soldiers and the Native American tribes that also fought on the battleground.
Next was Terry, MT, formerly a town where two railroads met and currently an agricultural area. Enlightening surprise: learning about Evelyn Cameron, a pioneer woman and photographer https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evelyn_Cameron. If you’re ever in Terry, check out the Evelyn Cameron Gallery! Also cool to see: the old Kempton Hotel.
Another 100 miles or so brought me to Medora, ND, just outside the entrance to Theodore Roosevelt NP. I’m at an RV camp with electricity and cable, so it’s air conditioning and the Olympics for me!
Monument to Custer and his soldiers.
Monument to the Native Americans.
I LOVE this.
Hitting the road with coffee and Addie!
Kempton Hotel.
Medora.
Dinner!
Walking around to explore and saw the entrance to the park. Curious about the tall structure to the right, thinking it was a monument, and found out it’s from the slaughterhouse that used to be on the site!
Smoky sunset through Addie’s window…
A “relaxing” day in three acts:
Act 1: After a lazy start, I drove to Billings where Addie and I had lunch (me – yogurt, her – Costco gas). I walked around Billings a bit – the city has many sides – cute restaurants and coffee shops, government offices, and historical sites.
Act 2: Through Harvest Hosts, I scheduled dry camping at the Huntley Project Museum. Not only is the museum a surprising gem, but also the curator, Judy, gave me several intriguing suggestions for sites to visit between here and Theodore Roosevelt National Park, my next stop.
Act 3: Based on Judy’s recommendation, this afternoon I headed over to Pompey’s Pillar National Monument to see Clark’s (of Lewis and Clark fame) name carved into a rock. Doesn’t sound good when stated like that, eh?! It was though! The visitors center and signage explained much of Lewis and Clark’s expedition. Nice history lesson – an introduction to the sites I’m going to see tomorrow.
Billings
This 1920s stencil on the Oliver Building denotes the motorway from Glacier NP to Galveston, TX.
Skypoint, completed in 2002, is a tent-like structure over the intersection of 2nd Avenue and Broadway in downtown Billings, Montana, USA. Its highest point is 73 feet above ground level. There are three “sails” that make up the structure. The largest sail can move to let the sun through or to cover the intersection if it rains. Skypoint is part of the plan to revitalize downtown Billings and attract more people to downtown.
Street chalk drawing in Billings!
Can you see Wm. Clark’s name carved into this 200 rock pillar?
View from the top of Pompey’s Pillar.
Addie at the Huntley Project Museum.
One room schoolhouse at the Huntley Project Museum.
Dredger, Huntley Project Museum.
Hm… I don’t see any synagogues listed…
I explored the hydrothermal delights at Mammoth Hot Springs in the morning, enjoying the walk and scenery but not the crowds. (My horseback riding guides said Yellowstone averages 4-5 million visitors every year. We’re halfway through the season and already 5 million visitors have been here!)
In the afternoon, I headed over to Roosevelt Corral so I could meet Ponka and ride in Yellowstone’s backcountry for an hour. Our guides eloquently described the bison dust pits where the humongous animals roll around in dirt, the rocks left behind by glaciers, and the various flora on the trail. This was a fun way to see a different side of Yellowstone!
Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone. Need I say more?!
[More…haha! After a long day of driving yesterday, the sweet camp host at Crazy Creek Campground, Cody, WY, let me “park” (not “camp” – if the ranger came by and asked!), as long as I left early before the ranger arrived, so I could have a safe place to sleep. I left before 6:30am, dodged more bison, and arrived at Mammoth Hot Springs (in Yellowstone near the north gate) at about 8am. Coffee, breakfast, a chat with Joel, and a FaceTime smile from Emmett revived me. From there, I drove to the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone and hiked the south and north rims. The photo, taken toward the end of the day (I see the tiredness in my face!) at Artist Point highlights the majesty of this canyon – the waterfalls, the river, and the rock formations. Now, I’m resting at a different campsite, boondocked at an RV park an hour north of Mammoth Hot Springs in Livingston. The shower here? Fabulous!]
There are so many parts to today, I’m going to break it down into sections!
Yellowstone and it’s hydrothermal features: Silly me, I thought the big deal was Old Faithful and that was it. I could not have been more wrong! What I thought would be a “one and done, cool, what’s next” site turned into a ten mile hiking day exploring an abundance of geysers, fumaroles, hot springs, travertine terraces, and mudpots. Gorgeous, surprising, captivating displays of the earth’s power!
Animals: Lions and tigers and bears, oh my! Well, not lions and tigers – but yes bears, elk, and bison! Most animal sightings occurred in the northeastern portion of the park. While traveling to the northeast gate, multiple times cars would be stopped with everyone hanging out of windows or walking in the road, aiming their cameras and phones in the same direction. Once, there was a mama black bear with her two babies following her. Another time, a herd of elk was next to the road. The bison, though, were cute – if you can call a humongous hairy animal cute! – at first. But then, they became annoying – and a bit scary! Twice, a bison took his half out of the middle – meaning, walked down the highway on the yellow line before finally deciding to leave the road (see video below!).
Road closures and camping: When looking for a campsite for these three nights on recreation.gov, I found availability at Greenough Lake campsite, national forest, out of the northeast gate. [Note: there is NO cell service or WiFi in Yellowstone.] Well…one road is closed for maintenance in the park, so I had to drive all around the park adding 33 miles to my route. Nearly three hours hours and many bison sightings later, I find the road to my campsite is closed from 7pm to 7am, Monday thru Thursday, for maintenance. I remembered passing a national forest campground between Yellowstone and the road closure. All sites are booked! However, the campground host so very sweetly is allowing me to “park” – not “camp” – for the night in a parking spot so I have a safe place to sleep tonight.
Grand Prismatic hot spring.
I love the colors!
More colors and textures!
Love this!
Which of these many photos of Old Faithful should I post? Haha!
Okay, this one!
Elk.
One of a gazillion bison.
Mama and her two cubs!
