dakota road trip, days 7 and 8

northern bound after nearly a week in south dakota, we left the black hills behind as we headed into the high dry country of western north dakota. what a beautiful drive, too... moving through the black hills, past rivers and reservoirs, then descending down to find big wide sky and big rolling plains. we were surprised to find some mountains off in the western distance of montana, and some awesome formations in north dakota. i was particularly struck by the crow buttes in northwestern south dakota's harding county, and a roadside sign and brief google search just took me down a fascinating internet wormhole regarding a possible Crow/Oglala battle at that site......

see that clump of hills on the horizon? crow buttes.


anyway. it's a long drive, with a big sky, and i had a lot of time to think at the wheel.

the land formations got cooler and more dramatic as we got closer to our destination of theodore roosevelt national park. a huge park, and by observable measures, a very infrequently visited park, i felt almost kind of alone in that vast wilderness after the packed parking lots of custer and badlands parks.


not only did the land around us get cooler, the people around us got pretty cool too: we pulled up to our campsite to find my sister and her boys unpacking their tent and sleeping bags! our site mates were the best, and we got to spend all the rest of our trip with these lovely folks. i think we all welcomed the company after 6 intensive days of togetherness.



while we set up camp and oohed and aahed at the river and bluffs right behind our campsite, a solo bison showed up to graze. and while we were giggling with happy astonishment at this, GUESS WHO showed up to play in the river? a little group of wild horses, including a foal. it was incredible. they were whinny-ing and rolling in the water. i could have watched them all day.




after setting up camp in the driving wind and chatting about wild animals (and pulling james out of the river muck)......


we loaded up in the cars, and drove toa  trailhead for a hike with our 4 wild animals. they ran and climbed and laughed and played. we were hiking through a prairie dog town, which is it's own special brand of adorable.


prairie dogs!





after a good dinner, a sunset complete with coyote howls, and a solid cold-night sleep, we awoke refreshed and ready for more adventure.



breakfast, with bison backdrop.


we met up with my parents and all 9 of us drove up to a super windy hill top,
 

 

and then took a hike down into some badlands. a few of us climbed up as many formations as possible,


and then we all climbed back up the canyon again to find.....you guessed it: a big old bison.  he was grazing at the trailhead parking lot. it really didn't ever get old to keep seeing these big guys at every turn.


after a lunch in the little cowboy town at the entrance of the park, we hiked across some rolling grazing land to get to a petrified forest. i don't think i've ever seen petrified wood laying around like that, looking exactly like the tree stump it used to be. it's kind of a little trickery of the mind to believe that it isn't wood.


but it's rock. so we sat on it.


our hike back out from the petrified forest was looooong, and hoooooot, and thiiiiiiiirrrrsty, and everyone needed to be carrrrried. oof.




but a little hot dog and bean dinner followed by topless smores restored our spirits at the campsite, and another good night of sleep under the most stars i've ever seen had us all feeling good the next day.






right before bed, there was one last bison visit right there in the campground.


and that was it. two days of visiting theodore roosevelt national park, a park beyond imagination, full of big open wild. two great days, over in a blink, that will certainly forever be remembered by all of us.