Roosevelt National Park and Montana

Theodore Roosevelt National Park is located in the north west part of North Dakota, it has 4 distinct sections. The Park is steeped in history and is a treasure chest of natural beauty including all sorts of wildlife and geologic formations. We meet up with some Airstream friends who are also enrolled in the Alaska caravan. 

Our first section to be explored is the easternmost section called the Painted canyon. A short hike took us down into the canyon. The painted name come from the red color rocks mixed in with the usual brown tones and oranges. We managed to see a number of birds that we haven’t seen for a while. The next section is referred to as the South Unit. This is the main and most well known section. Here we toured the Ranch House built by Teddy Roosevelt when he first came to North Dakota shortly after the death of his wife and mother. He was looking for solitude and also trying to experience the “Wild West” before it vanished. Our first morning all 6 of the Airstream contingent went on a ranger lead hike following game trails into the interior of the park. As it turned out we were the only people who showed up for the hike so we had in essence what was a private guided hike filled with both historical and geological instruction. The Park is home to a healthy herd of Bison, Elk, two kinds of deer, prong horns, wild horses, mountain goats and a multitude of small mammals and birds. We enjoined 2 great dinners whipped together by all 3 couples. After one we all drove out to Wind Canyon Trail for a short hike and watched a beautiful sunset. 

We parted ways with the other Airstreams and went to the North section for two nights. It is a less visited area that has a very different topography comprised of short stem grass lands and large deep canyons. After dinner we went for a walk and were delayed by a group of Bison grazing their way toward the campground. The next day we had several wonderful self guided hikes into very different terrains. Upon leaving the park the Bison were grazing at the visitor entrance and we almost were delayed again.  

As beautiful and special as this place is it is under attack from the encroaching oil and gas extraction industry. On our drive here we passed a multitude of oil wells and surrounding infrastructure but we didn’t realize the extent of this until we left. We drove past the town that was on 60 Minutes several years ago when the boom exploded in Williston ND. It was amazing to see the structures put up to handle the workers needed here. Especially in today’s environment this acutely reaffirms the need to protect our national treasures for future generations. 

Glasgow Montana was our next stop however along the way from Roosevelt NP we stopped at several other historic sites. Fort Union a fur trading out post, dates back to 1828 owned by the American Fur Trading Co of the John Jacob Astor fame. This recreated fort told the story of how furs gathered by Indians were traded for goods and subsequently sent back east. Fort Buford our next stop was an army fort set up in 1866 near the confluence of the Missouri and Yellowstone River’s. This location was strategic in the protection out the burgeoning Gold Rush of Montana but later was used in the Indian wars. In fact we sat in the same room where Sitting Bull surrendered his rifle after his people were starved out by the decimation of the once vast herds of Bison that freely roamed the Great Plains. 

Glasgow is near the Fort Peck dam. A Massive earthen dam constructed in the Depression Era by the WPA. A massive undertaking designed to help prevent flooding on the Missouri River.  Today the large lake is a major fishing destination. At the dam the arm Corps of Engineers maintains a wonderful interpretive center that includes displays not only on the dams construction but also a large Paleontology display including many dinosaurs fossils. After viewing the displays we went on a tour of the Power generating plant. 

Our next destination was The town of Fort Benton the home of several museums. About half way to Fort Benton we stopped on the small town of Chinook and viewed a wonderful museum that covered frontier life and also the Battle of Bears Paw. After the Museum we went to the battle site, a National Parks site and received a private tour by the ranger. We stood at the exact same place where Chief Joseph of the Nez Perce Indians surrendered to the US Army after a relentless pursuit. He gave his famed speech ending in “I will fight no more forever”. A very solemn place again illustrating the horrific treatment of Native Americans by the US Government.

Today at the Missouri Breaks Interpretive Center in Ft Benton Mt we learned about the history and geology of the Break. Among the displays was the rifle Chief Joseph surrendered to Co Miles at Bears Paw. 

Ft Benton is a beautiful small down located on the banks if the Missouri River.  Here we toured the recreated old Ft Benton that was originally a trading fort owned by the American Fur Co. They traded primarily with the Blackfeet people. They had an art gallery that had many original Carl Bodmer lithographs along with at least 20 Bronzes.All I can say is they are spectacular! The other large museum in town is the Museum of The Northern Plains. There were three distinct sections. One displayed life and many facets of agriculture in Montana. They had assembled many old buildings to make a replica of an old Plains village. The structures covered the time period from the late 19th century to early-mid 20th century. The last section was the Hornaday Gallery.  William Hornaday was a pivotal figure in early conservation and preservation of the American West. He was curator at was the precursor to the Smithsonian in Washington DC. He also was a driving force in the passage of the Migratory Bird Act of 1911, a pivotal piece of legislation that helped prevent the slaughter and perhaps eventual extinction of many birds and other animals. It is interesting that today there are forces trying to erode this great piece of legislation. The gallery contained a group of taxidermy Bison specimens that we’re used for the design of the Buffalo Nickel and the present day symbol for the Department of Interior. They also had manny original Remington Bronzes.

Sunset Wind Canyon Roosevelt NP

Two Pierre Dogs

Lark Sparrow

The golden Hour Roosevelt NP

Painted Canyon Roosevelt NP

Big Sky Country as seen from Bears Paw Battleground

Missouri Breaks Ft Benton

Power Houses Ft Peck

View while hiking N Roosevelt NP

Thunderstorm N Roosevelt NP

A nice day N Roosevelt NP

Geologic structures S Roosevelt NP

The Storm Is coming S Roosevelt NP large stone that eroded from sandstone cliff

Grasslands of N Roosevelt NP

Evidence of water erosion N Roosevelt NP

Bison Roosevelt NP

Ft Union Trading Post

Dinosaur fossil Ft Peck Interpretative Center

Hornaday Buffalo

Large Bronze Statue of Lewis and Clark with Sacagawea on River Front Ft Benton

We are so grateful we left Marquette when we did because the next day the rains came and the roads we had just passes hours earlier flooded so we would have been delayed. 

We left Two Harbors in the midsts of Grandma’s marathon. Thankfully we found out about it as we arrived and planned how to avoid the delays. We took back roads, some dirt but traveled on. Even though we locked the TV and fridge there were issues when we stopped. Cleaning up salad dressing and other spills were ok because we were grateful that the beets were on the floor and still intact! After cleaning up the mess and getting lunch onward we traveled through MN into ND. 

We traveled on to Valley City. Which turned out to be a gem. We stayed at the city park. Once settled in we took a walk to get a few things at the local supermarket. As we walked there the entire downtown was closed off because of a car show. What a great find. Luckily we got there about an hour before it broke up. They had just started announcing prizes. This is one of the great things about traveling off of the interstates. 

We left Valley City to head to Cross Ranch State Park which is north of Bismarck. Here we pick up some of Louise & Clark’s travels up the Missouri River. Our campsite is a stones throw from the Missouri River. We went to Knife River Indian Villages National Historic site. Here the Hidatsa and Mandan Indians had their summer and winter homes. We then went to Lewis & Clark interpretive center and Fort Mandan. Fort Mandan is now somewhere in the Missouri River but they have built an exact replica from the journals that were kept. The corps of discovery stayed here 156 days. That winter they experienced temperatures in the minus 40s.

Birding has been great, we have been able to add several new birds to our life list. David continues to take hundreds of pictures.

We are on the road tomorrow heading to Theodore Roosevelt National Park. 

Hidatsa Summer Home

Upland Sandpiper

What it may have looked like 200 years ago

Eastern Kingbird

This early bird got the worm

This speaks for itself

Knife River

Our Campsite on the Missouri River

Car Show in Valley City ND

Minnesota

We had a wonderful visit with Karen in Marquette. It was great having her show us the area. Our own personal tour guide. 

The next leg of the journey takes us through northern Wisconsin to the small town of Two Harbors, located in Minnesota’s north shore of Lake Superior. Again David has found his B&B’s and both were given positive grades. The next day the weather changed. Rain off and on, fog rolling in and out but we still managed to see the sights. We went to Gooseberry Falls. The geology here is fascinating. We managed to see the falls and new birds even through the showers. We went further up the coast to visit a light house that is now a museum. The maritime history here is so rich. Lake Superior is a challenging place to cross in any type of boat because of how fast the weather can change thus changing the conditions out on the water. It is amazing how much this area looks like Maine. The only thing missing is the salt air smell.

Rain again by morning so we are all hitched up and ready to go so we don’t get so wet in the morning. We are off to North Dakota. 

Split Rock Light

Light In Two Harbors shrouded in fog

Surf with Split Rock Light

Pebble Beach near Split Rock

 

The Adventure Begins

Well we got underway on time, 7am AIS (ass in seat). David’s departure expression. We planned to cross the boarder into Canada in Vermont on Rout 91. We stopped in Durby Crossing to fuel up and right across the street was a bike clothing outlet store with a big parking lot. David picked out his father’s day gifts! 

On to Canada. This was the first time crossing the boarder that they had us pull over and they looked in the truck and trailer. It was about a 30 minute delay. We locked up and headed out. We learned a lesson though. Next time we will check inside because they must of checked the fridge and didn’t close the door so it locked close. When stopped for the night we found food on the floor. The door must of slammed shut hard enough that it locked and only a few things fell out. Thankfully it wasn’t the eggs. 

We joined Harvest Host which is a program for RV’es to stay for free for one night at farms, wineries, and many other places. The Host hopes you will support them by buying their product. Well David found a brew pub called Whitewater Brewery. With all the stops it ended up being an 11 hour drive from our home in ME. We had a nice dinner, a new beer and music.  The bands camper was parked along side us. They were a mix of country and jazz. 3 very talented ladies. So we have found the first half of the B&Bs we look for. Brewery, now for the bakery. 

We are now on to Chutes, an Ontario Park so named for the old logging chute that was built here to avoid the rapids and waterfalls. Just before entering the park there was an Amish stand with baked and canned goodies. We got bread, pastries and some pickled beets. The falls were as beautiful as the write up. David spent the hike taking pictures with a new lens.

From here the next morning it was a drive back to the US. We entered at Sault Saint Marie Michigan at the boarder we were honest about the food in the fridge. Even though the lime and peppers were bought in Maine they took them and threw them away. This time we stopped to check the fridge door and it was not shut in the locked position, which would have been a disaster since I had opened the quart of pickled beets and they were right there ready to fall out. That would not have been pretty.  

Our next stop for 2 nights was in Taquamenon Falls State Park. It is near Paradise MI, a small town with a bakery.  There are 2 falls in the river. The campground is near the lower falls. After getting settled we went for a hike down to the falls. The next day we went to Whitefish point to do some birding.  As soon as we got out of the truck there were clouds of mosquitoes so instead of doing the nature trail looking for birds we headed to the beach to get a breeze and try to out run the pests.  Besides the bird observatory there was also a Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum along with the lighthouse and lifeboat station. After doing all we could here we headed back to the Park. This time we went to the upper falls parking area and here we found a brewery. David has his B&Bs. After lunch we hiked to the upper falls and had a nice afternoon. 

Onward to Munising. We stayed at a city campground right on Lake Superior . The only reason there is a bay here is because of an Island that blocks the Superior storms from reaching downtown. This is the eastern end of Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore Park. It can be explored by land or lake and we did both. Our first day here we drove to the western ends. At 5 we took the 2 hour boat trip to see the painted rocks from the water. They are called this because of the minerals that seep through the sandstones in the springs thus coloring them green, blue, gold, rust, tan, black and orange. Today we explored further east. Did several hikes. One to a light house station then several to  waterfalls. After getting to the end of the park we were near a National Wildlife Refuge so we stopped there. It was a wonderful place to hike or drive. It was after 4 so we opted to do the 7 mile drive. Tonight after dinner we are watching another great sunset. Tomorrow morning once chores (laundry and such) are done we have a short drive to Marquette.  Here we are visiting with another Airstream  caravaner from the Southwest rally we did. It will be great to catch up with Karen. 

Log Slide Pictured Rocks NLS

Common Merganser and turtle friend Seeney NWR 

Upper Taquqmenon Falls

Chutes Provincial Park

Pictured Rocks

Pictured Rocks

Pictured Rocks

Sunset over Lake Superior as seen from our trailer

Pictured Rocks