Day 151, June 25, Theodore Roosevelt Nat’l Park, North Unit



An hour drive away from yesterdays South Unit lies this national parks North Unit. More compact, more remote, and markedly less visited, this was actually our favorite part of Theodore Roosevelt. It almost felt like we had the quiet vistas and stunning scenery to ourselves. Today we encountered a large herd of bison as well as mule deer. 









We hiked a 5 mile loop trail through the heart of the park and enjoyed stellar overlooks into the badlands as well as the Little Missouri River. We trudged up a coulee canyon (one formed by eroding rains) and even blundered around a corner into a bison grazing about 15 yards off the trail. He was massive and intimidating but appeared nonplussed by our presence. Quite made our day!





Tomorrow we bid farewell to TR National Park, and it saddens me to leave. I have rather fallen in love with the quiet beauty of this tranquil park with its rugged badlands, it’s sweeping vistas, the placid winding Little Missouri River, and the millions of acres of verdant green wind-swept grasslands. The prairie is more lush than I had expected, more mesmerizing and captivating. I now understand the allure this country held for Teddy.

Three amazing things; #1- After hoping for a close encounter with buffalo, we stumbled across one today almost in our path while hiking. It was daunting and thrilling at the same time. I could look him in the eye, we were so close.    


#2- The beauty of the badlands of North Dakota are quite remarkable and most unexpected. I’m curious to compare this park to Badlands Nat’l Park in South Dakota.     



#3- Another unexpected surprise was the amount of wildflowers we encountered on todays hike. Small, dainty, dancing in the wind, the blooms appeared in every color and shape, delighting our hearts. 




Good deeds: Sadly, I didn’t do anybody a good deed all day. However, the nice man running the till at the gas station told me I needn’t pay for my Big Gulp.  How kind of him; he’s the one doing good deeds today. I told him so, but he blushed and  looked at the ground and shuffled his feet, so I reiterated what a small but thoughtful gesture he’d done for me. I hoped to have cheered his heart and encouraged his generosity towards others. And then he grinned! 




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