Theodore Roosevelt National Park

August 22, 2013

The next morning, I got up and out of that place as quickly as possible. It turned out to not be quite as bad as my first impression the night before, but it still wasn't a place in which I wanted to linger. I did notice the woman from the night before was in the parking lot "working". If you define work as standing around looking at the ground, she was hard at it. She obviously had issues. Hey, at least she's doing something. I digress...

Out on the road, I was in good spirits as the weather was great and I got an early start. It wasn't long before I was at the entrance to the park. I stopped in to get some information and snap a photo or two. It really is a beautiful landscape.

Theodore Roosevelt National Park

Theodore Roosevelt National Park

Theodore Roosevelt National Park is part of the 'badlands' and as such, is very similar to the Badlands National Park in South Dakota with the major exception being wild life. There's a whole bunch of Bison in TRNP and I had the good fortune to see them up close and personal. It was actually a little nerve racking given I was on a motorcycle and at the mercy of those great beasts. At one point I was stuck behind a minivan that was surrounded and the only avenue of escape I had was reverse. I think we all know how fast a motorcycle can go in reverse. The picture below was snapped before I put the camera away and pulled in behind the stopped four-wheeled vehicles farther ahead on the road.

TRNP Bison

That was harrowing enough and I managed to get into two more herds of buffalo before exiting the park for the day. At one point, I got an enthusiastic thumbs up from a woman in a van after she witnessed me weaving through a herd on the road. Glad somebody noticed.

Another Herd

Just in case some folks might be wondering, the American Bison can get up to 2000lbs and run 35MPH. They are also very unpredictable and responsible for most wildlife attacks on humans in the national parks. They can be down right ornery at times. That knowledge was ever present on my mind while passing through the herds.

The park is a big loop with a couple of side roads and I managed to cover most of it in just under three hours or so. After that, I diverted to the little town of Medora, ND which is just on the edge of the park. It is a very nice little tourist town and after cruising the streets for a couple of passes looking for a place to eat, I spotted what looked like an old style saloon. How could I resist? After having a quick bite to eat, I spent the rest of the afternoon having a couple of beers chatting with some folks at the bar. Eventually, I pulled away from the town of Medora about 4:00PM headed for Montana. I spent way too long in the bar.

Montana State Line

I got busy and made quite a few miles before I pulled off the interstate when I saw a sign indicating services. It was getting dark and I needed to find a place to sleep for the evening. I pulled into the parking lot of what looked like a diner from a dusty movie set. I was a little disappointed. I was hoping for something a little nicer, but decided to go inside and see what was up. There were only four patrons in the place and I felt a little out of place. No worries, I became fast friends with the cook before the evening was over and found out that I could camp out back.

Setting up the tent in the dark was an adventure given the wind had really picked up. I had to load the tent with some gear before I could assemble the thing. Otherwise, it really wanted to blow away. In the end, it got constructed and I went to sleep. Day over.

Montana Sunset