Kathi here. We were up around eight again this morning and launched into the GW routine. We made a breakfast of bacon and eggs and added English muffins. Yummy! We watched the temperature all morning, because it started out at 31° today, and we did not want to hike in 31°. Not that we would have left the house early anyway since we’re making up for last year, but still. Eventually we deemed it warm enough to venture out, so we got showered and dressed, headed out of the house around 1:30pm, and arrived at today's destination around 2:30pm. But that was really 3:30 because by the time we got there, we had crossed the timeline again and were back to central time.
Today we are exploring the North Unit of Teddy Roosevelt National Park, which is about an hour north of where we're staying. It is much smaller than the South Unit and possesses a slightly different topography. The Little Missouri River runs entirely through this section of the park. It also runs through the South Unit but seems to be more constantly visible here. There are no wild horses here like there were in the South Unit, but there are bighorn sheep along with bison, prairie dogs, cows, and also Longhorn steer. Our goal was to hopefully see them all.
We had NO trouble sighting bison, and probably saw probably around 30 of them in all different types of situations including walking along the side of the road, crossing the road in front of us, and out in the grassland areas. We spotted them singly, in pairs, and in one field, a full herd that included a baby! I think the bison baby looked slightly like a less-slippery, furrier hippo baby crossed with a fat, hump-shouldered goat baby.
Another delight that Lori spotted as we were driving along was a little sharp-tailed grouse (thank you, Google) trekking along the side of the road. I had already passed her (the grouse) but did a U-turn to go back and find her. We slow-stalked her for a good 20 minutes trying to get a good photo; it was tricky because that girl was quick and moving at a constant clip.
Rather than a full loop road like the in the South Unit (although part of it was closed so we weren't able to go all the way around and instead had to turn around and come back out the same route) this north unit has one long road that goes from one end to the other, then you have to come back out the same way. On the drive out we stopped several times to either admire the stupendous views or take photos of wildlife.
At the end of the road, we parked for a while and decided to stretch our legs with a walk on a nice, easy trail through some grasslands. The wind was quite tame today, the skies were clear and blue with some wispy clouds, and we couldn’t ask for better weather.
This walk was indeed somewhat gentler than the one in the Painted Canyon that had surprised us yesterday, but the trail was really a pretty narrow track weaving through the grasslands. It was also a really sneaky but steady uphill climb that you really don’t notice until you do. One of the main features of this particular trail, however, was the preponderance of bison poop.
There was soooooo much bison poop!!! It seemed as if the bison who wandered through there were actually aiming for the trail. “Hmmm, I’m thinking I might need to take a dump soon, and I’m surrounded by all this wonderful grass and brush. I should just . . . NO! Look, a trail! I shall poop right there in the middle of that trail, and I will tell all my friends to do the same.” Keeping in mind that the trail was not much wider than a thick tire track, we had to be vigilant about where we placed our feet. We eventually developed a system, and whichever of us was leading would holler out "bison poop!" to warn the person in the rear of the imminent danger. This level of vigilance was exhausting, especially with the slow sneaky uphill slant that had us panting a bit. Once we were ¾ of the way through the trail we called it good and turned back. We’re just grateful none of the huge beasts was in the midst of doing his business as we rounded a corner.
Once we were safely (and bison poop-free, we are proud to say) in the car for the drive back out of the park we started praying to see the two main animals we hadn't seen yet: Longhorn steer and bighorn sheep. Lori, the avid naturalist, is sharp-eyed and always spotted the wildlife before I did. This would have been true even if I were not the driver. With only about two miles to go to the entrance gate she told me to stop. She had spotted a herd of Longhorn steer!
After getting some great photos we continued on, but alas, our quest for a bighorn sheep sighting was fruitless. Because of the hour-long drive home, we didn’t stay for the sunset.
We enjoyed leftovers and snacks for dinner, then settled in to do some journaling and photo editing, and then watched another episode of Murder in a Small Town. They were still in a small town and there was a murder, so there is absolutely no false advertising going on there. We turned in around 11, happy and satisfied at the end of another great day.
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