TR national park ( tuesday - fri )

Spent monday night in Medora campground . Figured no way I get in to TR National Park campground at night ( first come , first serve) . Medora was elbow to elbow. Cable , Wifi , water, electric and sewer . But its cool … I took a shower !! Wasn't expecting much but met some neat people. I went for a run the next morning down main street and somehow managed to find my way down to the Maah Daah Hey Trail

link to the Maah Daah Hey !


…. such a surprise and so nice . Good single track, very runnable , and great scenery . Entered the Little Missouri National Grassland after about 400 yards and came to a ……. GATE  !

SO I CAME UP WITH A CONTEST ( no membership needed ) . First person who can cipher whats unusual about this gate, and how to open it …. wins a genuine cowboy made bracelet ( or necklace ) …  I will post the picture, along with the story on the cowboy thing,  tomorrow or monday . Stay tuned

The run was great I only did about 5 miles but yeah !

Ancient Alluvial Scrub Brush

where the bison roam

TR NP rocks ! So to speak . It isn't Yosemite . Or even Yellowstone . But it has something going on , down deep,  that is hard to miss . Apparently TR felt the same way , because it was here he developed his conservation ethic . Elk , Mule Deer , Whitetail , Bighorn, Pronghorn, and the iconic Bison can all be seen hear . The Bison kind of run the show . I almost got trapped in the bathroomm by a herd that had surrounded the place . 

Bathroom Monitors

Jones Creek Trailhead with Buffalo Chips

North Dakota spin on Badlands

Wind Canyon

Little Missouri to my left

Little Missouri to my right 

There are some great trails to run here . Today I ran the lower Paddock Creek trail  ... up , over and around the Paddock creek for 4 miles and then back . It was a grind but a blast . There was some great flats through the "dog towns"  ( prairie ) and then diving down into some deep creek crossings . Took a total face plant when I was galloping back ( think I needed food ) …. luckily I fell into scrub and not rock ! Got lost and turned around …hard to tell the bison trail from the single track . Eventually found my way home ….. little doggie .

looks nice and flat for a run

but the trail goes in and out of the creek bed

cowboy grafiti stone

creek up !

trail sign in box ( so they know whose body it is )

up the hill

Had a great moment with the camera . I was standing there admiring the vista , when AS IF on cue , all the little prairie pups stood up and hollered … at least 50 of them from their little condos . I waited with the camera for them to do it again …. yeah … guess how that worked out .  .

This cactus is growing in a pile of "brick" formed when lignite coal lying near the surface caught fire ( lightning ) and burned .... for years ! The sedimentary stuff lying on top of it baked into a hard natural brick . Amazing

Cacti , "brick" and scoria

not sure why this went yellow