My new book Cloud 8

<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWPK5JdkF4ftKoUiF08k9PEK5jKsBqzC82_6s9Tm9OtMUypiHi-yC6UlwFs2_Vpu7r4KtKJ2qxEIJ0jJkCbIt9zA-HzbrFykf4LqBIoon5vN2wmAc1KyRAcCXtmJypIUQIJt5-7KsUmK92cp8i2s2h-tqW0ZQvHUGBemqw2Z53kA_oSBfmj9xGjSq9YQ/s5550/Cloud%208%20ebook%20cover%20copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="5550" data-original-width="3662" height="686" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWPK5JdkF4ftKoUiF08k9PEK5jKsBqzC82_6s9Tm9OtMUypiHi-yC6UlwFs2_Vpu7r4KtKJ2qxEIJ0jJkCbIt9zA-HzbrFykf4LqBIoon5vN2wmAc1KyRAcCXtmJypIUQIJt5-7KsUmK92cp8i2s2h-tqW0ZQvHUGBemqw2Z53kA_oSBfmj9xGjSq9YQ/w494-h686/Cloud%208%20ebook%20cover%20copy.jpg" width="494" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>Pretty stoked about this. For more info and to order, click<span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: justify;"> </span><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Cloud-8-Smith/dp/B0B13Q1XV7/ref=sr_1_1?crid=88R091EYDYYC&keywords=cloud+8&qid=1656179765&s" style="color: blue; font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: justify;">here</a>. Hope you enjoy the journey.<br /><br /><p></p>

My new book Cloud 8

  Pretty stoked about this. For more info and to order, click   here . Hope you enjoy the journey.

On the Road Summer 2021 Days 9-13 Glacier National Park

<p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; line-height: 24px; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 24px;">I haven't felt much like writing since my son said I was being a bit <span class="SpellE">judgy</span> about large recreational vehicles. I'd been grousing that I didn't think they should be admitted into national parks, as inconsistent with the goal of "preserving unimpaired our natural resources." What raccoon wants to hear and smell that motor? The parks can bring in plenty of camping revenue from smaller vehicles. It was on the same day that a good friend was telling him how wonderful his family weekends were hauling his RV out of town and into the woods with his oversized pickup, towing both a golf cart and an ATV they'd use to have a blast. "How is that different from your carbon footprint supporting large music festivals and flying to Europe?" he asked. I guess we're all contributing to the deterioration of the planet. I am sorry subsequent generations.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13.5pt; text-align: center;"> </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; line-height: normal; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; line-height: normal; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p> </p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; line-height: normal; margin: 0in;">On the Road – Day 9-13 Glacier National Park<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; line-height: normal; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; line-height: 24px; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">It was close to 6:30 a.m. when I pulled on a clean shirt and hit the road again in Shelby. If I could avoid any more delays, I could be cruising through Two Medicine Campground looking for a spot around 8 am. Perfect.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; line-height: 24px; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEim90dRHpV1JYM8DakNtsLzCQsndpvtpjWhnCGnuLXS08PV4D3KJw668seS73eSVGO_G7Hl7Nof1jinYMcpTpQfODXsbXZSNgoQ8TP94SRtoSI95_wdWoWiHUMi66VXd6D6IsgXoKnIqXsYnnNRmHqc1U_e-rDIHqL3c1O6u6FgC4VvNbWu9_d7FRu78Q/s977/Picture1.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="731" data-original-width="977" height="307" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEim90dRHpV1JYM8DakNtsLzCQsndpvtpjWhnCGnuLXS08PV4D3KJw668seS73eSVGO_G7Hl7Nof1jinYMcpTpQfODXsbXZSNgoQ8TP94SRtoSI95_wdWoWiHUMi66VXd6D6IsgXoKnIqXsYnnNRmHqc1U_e-rDIHqL3c1O6u6FgC4VvNbWu9_d7FRu78Q/w481-h307/Picture1.png" width="481" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; line-height: 24px; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">I like this photo because it gives the impression of snow-capped mountains. More likely in days of yore before global warming, but there are few snow-capped mountains and glaciers in the park now. There are patches of snow and even some remaining glaciers further north at higher altitudes in the Many Glaciers section of the park. But you won’t see snow in the Two Medicine area. Not in August. The skylines here are far more likely to be shrouded in wildfire smoke in August. The glaciers are melting, and the fire season is extending.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; line-height: 24px; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; line-height: 24px; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">Long ago, glaciers dug into the mighty mountains here, creating giant bowls for over 250 lakes with precipices between, some simply sheer cliffs of jagged rock and others, slopes thick with alpine forests of slender deep green pines, with wildflowers and berry bushes spreading down toward the lakes. Waterfalls abound. Some of the lakes are deep blue and some milky green with glacier sediment. All are pristine. Rock thrust upward millions of years ago from the bottom of the sea by tectonic plate movement reveal bands of time in differing strata of colors reaching back eighty million years. Much of the terrain here has been touched only lightly by indigenous tribes and remains unspoiled.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; line-height: 24px; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; line-height: 24px; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">I had snagged a ticket the morning before to take the Going to the Sun Road. Going to the Sun is a 50-mile drive that runs southwest through the Park from St Mary Visitor Center to Apgar. Visitors can start at either end. Both St. Mary and Apgar have visitor centers and campgrounds. Only so many vehicles can travel it at once or there is not enough parking at the overlooks. Breathtaking views abound and it is best to take advantage of the overlooks as driving requires your full attention. I went early, which is advisable as I was unable to find parking as the sun rose higher.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; line-height: 24px; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; line-height: 24px; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">Lodging and certain activity reservations within the park include this entry privilege. Check the regs when you are traveling. Advance tickets were sold out for the days I hoped to be there. So, if I wanted one, for a nominal fee and good for seven consecutive days, I had to be one of the first callers at 8 a.m. no sooner than two days before my entry. The first time I tried, the four hundred available tickets were gone within three minutes and I was not successful despite devoting that three minutes from 8 am forward to dialing and redialing. I was however successful the next day. The drive offers unparalleled views.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; line-height: 24px; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; line-height: 24px; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">Two Medicine is at the southeastern corner of the Park, about 13 miles north on Highway 49 from US2. It has a beautifully-maintained first-come first-serve campground on the lake and an amphitheater with regular ranger programs.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; line-height: 24px; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; line-height: 24px; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">If you choose to stay in this corner of the park and are not inclined to rough it camping out, you might want to unpack, shower and sleep in the historic Glacier Park Lodge, the first hotel built by the Great Northern Railway. East Glacier is a seasonal stop for Amtrak on their Empire Builder line from April to October. Many folks who arrive by train get off at the Whitefish train station rather than East Glacier where there are no car rentals to my knowledge or West Glacier where the car rentals can cost twice as much. The lodge has a lot of rustic character and serves gourmet farm to table meals. Check out the reviews first though as many have been disappointed by small, shabby rooms, despite the many amenities offered. There are other interesting lodging options in the park as well, which you will especially enjoy if you love an historic building and have a propensity to see everything as charming. There’s the Village Inn at Apgar, Lake McDonald Lodge, the Rising Sun Motor Inn, Many Glacier Hotel and the <span class="SpellE">Swiftcurrent</span> Motor Inn. Some are situated to have stellar views. I stopped to scope out Lake McDonald Lodge, but in these times of COVID, I tend to shrink back in horror when I come across hordes of people in small spaces, even if it’s a porch…so I didn’t make it in. On my next visit, however, I hope to secure a lakeside room on the sixth floor of the Prince of Wales Hotel in Waterton. It’s a seven-story alpine chalet on a hilltop overlooking the lake. I will stand in the five-story lobby and gaze out its enormous windows at glacier-carved Lake Waterton and her surrounding mountains. If a charming traveler offers to bring me a whiskey, I'll likely accept.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; line-height: 24px; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; line-height: 24px; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">Back to skulking into Two Medicine campground, hungrily and critically eying sites as folks groggily packed up. I have been on the other end of this phenomenon and it doesn’t feel good. Camping on a coveted bluff site on the Olympic Peninsula, I entertained painting a sign in a disturbed script that read: NO. I’M NOT LEAVING so that I could have a morning without paparazzi-types who wanted my campsite slowing down to chat with faux-friendliness.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; line-height: 24px; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; line-height: 24px; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">At Two Medicine, I unobtrusively and efficiently latched up a super cool campsite near the edge of a loop with its own secluded glade where I could hang my hammock and invisibly scan the cliffs of Rising Wolf Mountain for bighorn sheep or mountain goats with my binoculars. Only a dirt road and thin screen of trees separated the lake.  Those in the open area have a grander view of the lake and of the mountains towering around it. But I did not want to camp there with the RVs and without shade. I did however avail myself of that spectacular vista when splashing in the cool clear water or sitting on a lakeside bench. Do be aware that this was more of an anomaly among national parks; many, maybe most, do not allow hanging hammocks.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; line-height: 24px; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; line-height: 24px; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">The host and rangers did a fantastic job of ensuring people did not leave food or utensils out, with the result that the campground always looked neat. There were of course bear-proof lockers. In Yosemite, the black bears have learned even to open car doors, but the bears at Glacier are still naïve and the rangers want to keep it that way. A ranger told me the same old sad story: about people who violated the rules even after a warning. Their cooler of food enticed a bear to come into the campground and the rangers had to kill the bear. Warnings are posted: A fed bear is a dead bear.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; line-height: 24px; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; line-height: 24px; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">The bathrooms have flush toilets and there is potable water available from hydrants all around the campground. The dump for dirty dishwater is at the entrance, a short walk.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; line-height: 24px; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQP3F0jM1qEjssuS0ynYY9sQ5i27rLnV6n3ufP_KalCKMWkj4dfEJSVW2c2EBqOsCOhphqNRaNh85Zzaw63DzBp9fMO3bR_h9Y2QZ7uDnk6UbBaE_GuSd1_I05dWzw-eYdSXIb8nJn7SFK7LlE9IOU-nq12IlBOMytZPMvnjeHc_MlWLowRHogx4YHiQ/s1304/Glacier%20Picture1.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1304" data-original-width="977" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQP3F0jM1qEjssuS0ynYY9sQ5i27rLnV6n3ufP_KalCKMWkj4dfEJSVW2c2EBqOsCOhphqNRaNh85Zzaw63DzBp9fMO3bR_h9Y2QZ7uDnk6UbBaE_GuSd1_I05dWzw-eYdSXIb8nJn7SFK7LlE9IOU-nq12IlBOMytZPMvnjeHc_MlWLowRHogx4YHiQ/w461-h320/Glacier%20Picture1.png" width="461" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcedLT-oNuwjCqhHulSiNSLVFV71CN6KNVbQaqOhs6r83tBxr3OCmSe7D17YxNYnzz4tY-NCQyPiV54fZmR5ca1PluuB3vdG2uVavbuRMNsEi7FRVjkgVLDUaM2PouZFT4uNR2CnbqTb1eVamUF7eJO1f7pB3TgJNcamNwQTHlhWwgP6xp9r4jEXWUcA/s977/Glacier%20picture%202.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="689" data-original-width="977" height="304" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcedLT-oNuwjCqhHulSiNSLVFV71CN6KNVbQaqOhs6r83tBxr3OCmSe7D17YxNYnzz4tY-NCQyPiV54fZmR5ca1PluuB3vdG2uVavbuRMNsEi7FRVjkgVLDUaM2PouZFT4uNR2CnbqTb1eVamUF7eJO1f7pB3TgJNcamNwQTHlhWwgP6xp9r4jEXWUcA/w460-h304/Glacier%20picture%202.png" width="460" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieiMsAd5_jUn0EFhxtRFnaysRFacxkUUXE4zCFyw2m05bPoP8uxDw88b0KDoage4NXhjXRFV1n3CaKEDp9x7VUwHMMvxVUYdtSeu2QIMUgSpDS8t69dfNVglJrQNCWW5ZVROFPDGRgDbR6V4VcyqcP42pdoi2YpOk814hEouTlUUFd5zJma9HyjfHAZg/s1058/GlacierPicture3.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1058" data-original-width="977" height="308" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieiMsAd5_jUn0EFhxtRFnaysRFacxkUUXE4zCFyw2m05bPoP8uxDw88b0KDoage4NXhjXRFV1n3CaKEDp9x7VUwHMMvxVUYdtSeu2QIMUgSpDS8t69dfNVglJrQNCWW5ZVROFPDGRgDbR6V4VcyqcP42pdoi2YpOk814hEouTlUUFd5zJma9HyjfHAZg/w457-h308/GlacierPicture3.png" width="457" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLHPUiAj8kwJkPa_deHtUSFPMGAmw9CY9VNixwhZL0UNakZzM-jnVK7rwv1Duj5LhaE-sl6nJjOhm1RAfReqPzNYh2SfcLA1qFASq1Sl6I1TgQjDCDB_wa5iROecDmVM_mzx7ZN84ZYJN0c_FSaFQpx_n5zuyvu4K4J64kTQD_Va0AX0746Du7RJXvzA/s977/GlacierPicture4.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="635" data-original-width="977" height="255" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLHPUiAj8kwJkPa_deHtUSFPMGAmw9CY9VNixwhZL0UNakZzM-jnVK7rwv1Duj5LhaE-sl6nJjOhm1RAfReqPzNYh2SfcLA1qFASq1Sl6I1TgQjDCDB_wa5iROecDmVM_mzx7ZN84ZYJN0c_FSaFQpx_n5zuyvu4K4J64kTQD_Va0AX0746Du7RJXvzA/w455-h255/GlacierPicture4.png" width="455" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMyAqx9KnLu8N5VcWryMCx87_eVHYeOMouZu4dyAadJuU9zBMuO4P-NUrNGsHZNz9QQJV5djyIDHEfdlqsHBrcmYpqtUxguoNu6rD25q0CdwbyLBB_IL2rG9NZiLs7sZgtGZAoBaSADEIlANtbFKJ5v-ntUUOneHlfQdUK3FOuDiaTsTbOfNxioQtWWg/s977/GlacierPicture5.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="629" data-original-width="977" height="259" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMyAqx9KnLu8N5VcWryMCx87_eVHYeOMouZu4dyAadJuU9zBMuO4P-NUrNGsHZNz9QQJV5djyIDHEfdlqsHBrcmYpqtUxguoNu6rD25q0CdwbyLBB_IL2rG9NZiLs7sZgtGZAoBaSADEIlANtbFKJ5v-ntUUOneHlfQdUK3FOuDiaTsTbOfNxioQtWWg/w447-h259/GlacierPicture5.png" width="447" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgxnE3Cx9CP9VfClsBbnf2G2zS2ixAMVUsoKCnbZ6BJ9sL7bd-gBWsk_-K2ScVbmuf-0sxToGRFkDaF-YicxWkvS-WwGLBDkTixAD8_3YbFWnia6_wXGWSbv1C_0mDIlckZ56c0A_93eTncazHgvvFrJw-pcgZ0GB6yfSq7yestBbNiOV6XMtz--9YqQ/s977/GlacierPicture6.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="668" data-original-width="977" height="335" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgxnE3Cx9CP9VfClsBbnf2G2zS2ixAMVUsoKCnbZ6BJ9sL7bd-gBWsk_-K2ScVbmuf-0sxToGRFkDaF-YicxWkvS-WwGLBDkTixAD8_3YbFWnia6_wXGWSbv1C_0mDIlckZ56c0A_93eTncazHgvvFrJw-pcgZ0GB6yfSq7yestBbNiOV6XMtz--9YqQ/w451-h335/GlacierPicture6.png" width="451" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwof8e1UH7SKWuC7QOHEEmQN33KTUS_lNUuRzMvo3cIClvSTfxddkz6pA5hNAnCXtscGr89oQgi7BgRGts3u4cRdB2VDRrIyAEZKvZiE7vQI0_6OmHi0Zd35ypYExQCilBvgNL-moeG_O1WPUB9yTDPJaJ1QNqIQegaJnx2PIDOcWiQE3lnah7uhit7Q/s977/GlacierPicture7.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="654" data-original-width="977" height="251" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwof8e1UH7SKWuC7QOHEEmQN33KTUS_lNUuRzMvo3cIClvSTfxddkz6pA5hNAnCXtscGr89oQgi7BgRGts3u4cRdB2VDRrIyAEZKvZiE7vQI0_6OmHi0Zd35ypYExQCilBvgNL-moeG_O1WPUB9yTDPJaJ1QNqIQegaJnx2PIDOcWiQE3lnah7uhit7Q/w439-h251/GlacierPicture7.png" width="439" /></a></div><br /><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; line-height: 24px; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"> </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; line-height: 24px; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">Just down the road from the campgrounds is a camp store and the Glacier Park Boat Company outfitters shack where you can sign up to take a boat tour and a guided hike if you’d like, or rent a motorboat, canoe or kayak from a laid back and entertaining team of naturalists.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; line-height: 24px; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><o:p> </o:p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicXKC2Ft-eoSLbyyYOBOxNhvJcISWPSFtFxYeasnpben2_NwfD6VhCoYqQ3oFtRmd4sbzj2icxYDfcwkN0eIXacYtO9gwB__7SPIsdRm_ZRj2d-A1LDI5Xm40vXjQGM4Is_gcWjhFKUhx0dLd1dwWIh5hW1GmkraGDleRc-upyNJELyL1MIEXMXvcCcw/s977/GlacierPicture8.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="731" data-original-width="977" height="254" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicXKC2Ft-eoSLbyyYOBOxNhvJcISWPSFtFxYeasnpben2_NwfD6VhCoYqQ3oFtRmd4sbzj2icxYDfcwkN0eIXacYtO9gwB__7SPIsdRm_ZRj2d-A1LDI5Xm40vXjQGM4Is_gcWjhFKUhx0dLd1dwWIh5hW1GmkraGDleRc-upyNJELyL1MIEXMXvcCcw/w539-h254/GlacierPicture8.png" width="539" /></a></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; line-height: 24px; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; line-height: 24px; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">Two Medicine is in the southeast corner of the Park, not far from US2.  If you continue westbound on US2 another hour and a half, you will come to West Glacier and the Apgar Visitor Center and Campground. West Glacier has a lot more commerce and more of an amusement park feel. It has an Amtrak station as well and bundles of lodging options. Apgar Village, inside the park, is much more populated than Two Medicine, with cars pulled off seemingly everywhere for the many trailheads and beaches along this southern portion of the Going to the Sun Road. As I was swearing in for my Junior Ranger Badge, the Ranger told me there is first come first serve camping at Apgar. I considered it as the Lake McDonald beaches looked quite inviting on a hot summer day as did the number and variety of trails, but I opted instead to stay on the quieter side. I did pull over on my way down from Going to the Sun Road to take a lovely soft flat trail through the forest that followed the course of rushing water simply because I loved the name of the waterfall there - The Sacred Dancing Cascades, and because unlike the nearby Trail of the Cedars, I could find a place to park.<o:p></o:p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMI3rHYJsnPar4fcd85Qb66QH6CHBDvSLzwpHBRv8Mp2IdN8sTnZpCpmdMbRE6i2NyAiPVSa1Bih9M38E--FbEaytmDQqvgx-uE62DZkbFWnAGRA9gKflQ-drstK4-E-ZIAV1ULNN5bUdA-HgD-GJOTgAPfafNsVwkNIvEL-w_LtB0qj5m29CI_Z18lg/s1254/GlacierPicture10.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1254" data-original-width="977" height="341" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMI3rHYJsnPar4fcd85Qb66QH6CHBDvSLzwpHBRv8Mp2IdN8sTnZpCpmdMbRE6i2NyAiPVSa1Bih9M38E--FbEaytmDQqvgx-uE62DZkbFWnAGRA9gKflQ-drstK4-E-ZIAV1ULNN5bUdA-HgD-GJOTgAPfafNsVwkNIvEL-w_LtB0qj5m29CI_Z18lg/w435-h341/GlacierPicture10.png" width="435" /></a></div><br /><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; line-height: 24px; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><br /></p><br /><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; line-height: 24px; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; line-height: 24px; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; line-height: 24px; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">At the end of the day, I was relieved to return to my relatively secluded campsite and away from the congestion. During my stay there, I took every trail from Two Medicine Campground my feet would sustain. I am healing from an ankle injury and 12 miles at a shot is my max. Eight is far less taxing. Wading through the cool lake water each evening was healing. I hiked to a couple of nearby waterfalls the first day. The second day I took the Going to the Sun Road, stopping at every possible overlook and then exploring the area around Apgar.  The third day I hiked the perimeter of Two Medicine Lake, clapping and whistling to warn bears away. It seemed a silly exercise as the berry bushes surrounding me were taller than me and would block any sound I could make over the wind. The red berries everywhere that look like little raspberries are service berries. They are good, tangy. This area is also all about huckleberries too. You can get huckleberry honey, huckleberry pie, huckleberry ice cream, you name it.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; line-height: 24px; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; line-height: 24px; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">I met a woman on the trail coming from the other direction and asked her if she’d seen any grizzlies. I was walking with my hand on the trigger of my canister of bear spray, as was she. Bear spray is as essential here as a snakebite kit and a whistle, and lubricating drops for your eyes during wildfire season. Consider carrying an N-95 in your glove compartment as well. She told me that because she was alone, she kept changing her voice so that she sounded like a group. I found that fairly amusing and decided to try it. It wasn’t long before I heard myself asking, “Well, why <i>don’t</i> you like your job?” and realized my hike had turned into a therapy session.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; line-height: 24px; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; line-height: 24px; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">I met a couple on the trail who I ran into a week and half later at an early morning Ranger Program at the tidal pools on the Olympic Peninsula. They told me then that they saw a grizzly down at the lake only minutes after passing me on the trail. Grizzlies are carnivores by the way and believe it or not, my badass brother who has repeatedly run the 1100-mile Iditarod trail in Alaska alone in February warned me not to hike at Glacier. He spared me the details I would later hear: a hungry bear dragged a female hiker out of her tent. You can guess the end of that story. Glad I didn’t know that, especially because I found myself with half the length of the lake to cover as sunset was drawing near. And, as beautiful as it was, there was absolutely no one else taking that trail winding across the hills above the lake.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; line-height: 24px; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><o:p> </o:p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVRkI-2yS8keoZOu3INM8di0pDutO6TbIAQ-h4UGLrUT9FF4kqUy8Ahi8gtukk6fmsppLIA9MQiAEjes9AGqiTvQll49puvG86y9J5EoR7ZJ9r_EnfV2HNqrRTCRKJ9K8BvKgm7hFdG0ssyrTvMsNYNtNisUO8gOlVjBUTXGWvoiHB11veTaUwt670Vw/s977/GlacierPicture11.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="731" data-original-width="977" height="352" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVRkI-2yS8keoZOu3INM8di0pDutO6TbIAQ-h4UGLrUT9FF4kqUy8Ahi8gtukk6fmsppLIA9MQiAEjes9AGqiTvQll49puvG86y9J5EoR7ZJ9r_EnfV2HNqrRTCRKJ9K8BvKgm7hFdG0ssyrTvMsNYNtNisUO8gOlVjBUTXGWvoiHB11veTaUwt670Vw/w515-h352/GlacierPicture11.png" width="515" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; line-height: 24px; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">The vistas are hazy from wildfires, but still striking. The next time I come, in the contracting window between blizzards and wildfire season, I’d like to hike from Two Medicine to Triple Divide Peak and stand at the tiptop point when it rains. I’ll stand there and imagine being a raindrop… with an equal chance of traveling northwest to the Bering Sea into the Arctic… or northeast to the Labrador Sea or south to other waters that empty into the Atlantic… or directly south to Argentina before spilling into the Pacific Ocean.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; line-height: 24px; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; line-height: 24px; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">And I’ll try to guess which ones will go where before they hit the earth.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; line-height: 24px; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; line-height: 24px; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">I dearly wanted to go north to Many Glacier to hike, at least to see Grinnell Glacier on this trip. The campground there was only by reservation and it was full, but the Blackfeet had openings at Chewing Black Bones campground on their nearby reservation. I liked the idea of patronizing them. I drove as far as St. Mary, but the wildfire smoke just kept getting thicker and thicker. The air quality was poor even at Two Medicine, so I pretty much kept my hiking pace to a plod. Maybe it was just an excuse to be lazy, but aerobics in smoke doesn’t strike me as a good idea. I kept eyedrops in my pocket too as my eyes were dry and burning from the smoke. Too, road construction getting to Many Glaciers was causing traffic delays, sometimes up to two hours. Someone suggested going early, but I’m glad I didn’t listen to that advice as a Ranger told me the crews work through the night and have no qualms about letting just a couple cars sit for three hours. I don’t have that kind of time left in my life. Sighing, I decided to put off hiking to the glaciers for another trip in the hope they are not all melted. The only glacier I saw was a pathetic little patch of ice, barely discernible in the smoke. I asked a stranger to take my picture in front of it, a requirement for my pin, but I was a little embarrassed. I bravely held my Junior Ranger book in front of my heart and smiled. But the dirty patch of ice in the distance was a dismal reflection of global warming and not something I wanted to remember.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; line-height: 24px; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; line-height: 24px; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">Glacier has over 700 miles of trails, including an impressive number of wilderness hiking trails renowned for their splendor and tranquility. I fully intend to return when my ankle is healed and get a wilderness permit. I would like to stay overnight once or twice at the Granite Park Chalet, built in 1914 and 1915 by the Great Northern Railway to provide comfortable back country accommodations. You can pre-order linens and even food, but you’ve got to provide your own water, even for washing your dishes.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; line-height: 24px;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; line-height: 24px; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; line-height: 24px; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">I might take two canisters of bear spray on that hike. The full formal name of the park is actually the Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park World Heritage Site as it is joined with Canada’s Waterton Lakes National Park. In normal years, the Chief Mountain Border Crossing in the park on Montana 17, Canada Highway 6, is open from May 15 through September 30^th.  It remained closed in 2020 and 2021 due to COVID. Note that border crossings in this area are not open 24/7, so check ahead for the hours of the border crossing you are planning to enter through.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; line-height: 24px; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; line-height: 24px; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">I attended three evening Ranger Programs at Two Medicine amphitheater: one on mountain goats; one on the modern-day Blackfeet Indian experience; and, one on the Bull Trout. The ranger presenting Interview with a Goat, Pat Hagan was funny and poetic, citing eloquent passages from Douglas Chadwick’s book <i>A Beast the Color of Winter</i>. A mountain goat’s adaptive features are truly quite unusual and impressive, and I imagine I’ll curl in front of the fireplace this winter and enjoy reading the book. Incidentally, Pat Hagan, who has worked at the park since 1986 said that after wondering, he’d researched the data and found that the fire season is indeed now 75 days longer than it was when he began. It is getting harder to get to the park in the shrinking window between blizzards and fire season. We got to talking about mountain lions as they have been sighted occasionally in Glacier. I bounced my idea of buying out the ranchers around Theodore Roosevelt National Park and the government going into the meat selling business. He said that is what the American Prairie Preserve is trying to do, purchase land in order to connect public lands and allow free migration for wildlife like the Serengeti offers.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; line-height: 24px; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; line-height: 24px; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">The next night Ranger Hogan hosted a program featuring Blackfeet Indian balladeer Joseph Running Crow, whose music is available on Spotify and iTunes and at the East Glacier Trading Company. His repertoire was hauntingly beautiful and terribly sad. It was fascinating watching him sing and play his acoustic guitar as his eyes fluttered and he seemed to go to some remote mental space to shut off the pain he sang about. It was only recently that the bodies of the native children sent off to schools ostensibly to learn to be integrated into our culture were uncovered in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. This turned out to be the tip of the iceberg of a tragic story still unfolding and he personally knew affected families, his being one of them. The meth addictions, the poverty, the lack of self-esteem and opportunities…it was all crushing and left most of the white audience in tears, asking what we could do. His response was to support artists. I was angry and retorted that “we could certainly do a lot more than that.”  The Blackfeet lived in Glacier. Why aren’t they receiving proceeds? Where are the partnerships? Where are the economic opportunities? I lost a Navajo friend who contracted COVID on his reservation in Arizona before Doctors without Borders could get in there to help. Can’t we provide any resources for health and education like we do for foreign sovereign nations? We are idly watching a genocide that’s been ongoing for 250 years.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; line-height: 24px; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; line-height: 24px; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">The third ranger program, the one on bull trout was offered twice while I was there as I didn’t want to leave, even though it was smoky, and I’d stayed past the revolutions of programs. When was I going to leave? I did hike up to tell the ranger there the story I wrote for my junior ranger badge inspired by her presentation. Although the endangered bull trout are protected within the park boundaries, a Canadian company has applied for an open pit coal mining permit at a headwater tributary to the North Fork Flathead River in Canada. Toxins from mining will seep not only into nearby groundwater but will readily make their way into the Flathead River flowing through Glacier National Park and into the gut of the stone fly. The poisons will become more and more concentrated as they pass through the food chain, a process known as biomagnification. The bull trout will eat the stone fly. The bull trout will be eaten by bears and other animals, and both directly and indirectly by humans. My story was a coyote legend based on this scenario.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; line-height: 24px; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; line-height: 24px; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgt4pJ6bNgPKtf8Hq-2onqFwVOg5J7hmOU_jql-fDIQXDXcQlfGYoIoR_aVDW2CqJP7u5rmeXhmGHzarcgp_UYnTQ1QbP9VkUpFWzj4EBcs7NzAgkauT9X-N8NMgR3H7OYF2kxyd92HoIw4cHM7SIl4pI9OkEVX7KJH6ZPEsu1aW_lby-JBr9i5ClPI6w/s977/GlacierPicture12.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="731" data-original-width="977" height="294" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgt4pJ6bNgPKtf8Hq-2onqFwVOg5J7hmOU_jql-fDIQXDXcQlfGYoIoR_aVDW2CqJP7u5rmeXhmGHzarcgp_UYnTQ1QbP9VkUpFWzj4EBcs7NzAgkauT9X-N8NMgR3H7OYF2kxyd92HoIw4cHM7SIl4pI9OkEVX7KJH6ZPEsu1aW_lby-JBr9i5ClPI6w/w480-h294/GlacierPicture12.png" width="480" /></a></div><p></p><br /><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; line-height: 24px; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">Glacier National Park stewards are serious about protecting the integrity of the rivers.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; line-height: 24px; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; line-height: 24px; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">I’d planned on kayaking the lake on my fourth day, but it was far too windy. I was tired anyway, so I just hung out in my hammock listening to birds and reading a fantasy novel I’d brought along. I saw a couple mountain goats on the cliffs above the lake and a golden eagle soaring overhead. Now and then I wandered down to the lake and waded in, just because it was exhilarating. One feels very alive in Glacier, even relaxing. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; line-height: 24px; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><o:p> </o:p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEgyEv5vxetJO5zLGkEMDLldFWnos6bipVcf4EJMRO2DB1HSjBhSPxBsCXct8jq0JdmXkAkzAbfoAG1T3GtVsOD7nfHpLT1Lku3SbBQH-Ak3GBzj2Xg0gzYb5BA3PdBqqR8Jq2tOPkSmjCrtZBRz9reHAtNxscmtRXEFK27hxTiicVntgzU8SNiqI9cw/s977/GlacierPicture13.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="731" data-original-width="977" height="284" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEgyEv5vxetJO5zLGkEMDLldFWnos6bipVcf4EJMRO2DB1HSjBhSPxBsCXct8jq0JdmXkAkzAbfoAG1T3GtVsOD7nfHpLT1Lku3SbBQH-Ak3GBzj2Xg0gzYb5BA3PdBqqR8Jq2tOPkSmjCrtZBRz9reHAtNxscmtRXEFK27hxTiicVntgzU8SNiqI9cw/w543-h284/GlacierPicture13.png" width="543" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; line-height: 24px; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; line-height: 24px; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">A storm front was moving in. Rain would begin falling heavily in the morning and continue for two days. Time for me to move on.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; line-height: 24px; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRQl5SrKnaUqS169Hs3K0LryfIaHKhRgzmMaxWpxW_P_pYOciPgRPrijvEyVYs2XM-jD9x2k_5rjNF6nQYgnnhwTIQrRkmM4rQ3PIUCFIxVkM89GpVVC6ydLh1XkJPPZ7WhGxRKnDz6FyeIwR8CoGiGuqqOPgVSymoA__gX2qCqX-DaLE1ciZ6g6SltQ/s977/GlacierPicture14.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="731" data-original-width="977" height="290" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRQl5SrKnaUqS169Hs3K0LryfIaHKhRgzmMaxWpxW_P_pYOciPgRPrijvEyVYs2XM-jD9x2k_5rjNF6nQYgnnhwTIQrRkmM4rQ3PIUCFIxVkM89GpVVC6ydLh1XkJPPZ7WhGxRKnDz6FyeIwR8CoGiGuqqOPgVSymoA__gX2qCqX-DaLE1ciZ6g6SltQ/w554-h290/GlacierPicture14.png" width="554" /></a></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; line-height: 24px; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; line-height: 24px; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">A note in closing: if you can snag one, buy a Huckleberry <span class="SpellE">Hefe</span> craft beer called Halo brewed by the Lewis and Clark Brewing Company in Helena. It’s mighty tasty and has a picture of a huckleberry hound on the can.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; line-height: 24px; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"> <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; line-height: 24px; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><o:p> </o:p></p></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>

On the Road

On the Road Summer 2021 Days 9-13 Glacier National Park

I haven't felt much like writing since my son said I was being a bit  judgy  about large recreational vehicles. I'd been grousing th...

On the Road Summer 2021 Day 8 Driving Across Montana

<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Driving Across Northern Montana to Glacier National Park Day 8</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">It would take nine plus hours to get to Glacier on Highway 2, the more direct and I imagined, more scenic route. The road had been closed due to wildfire activity. Had that continued, I would have had to drop down to I-94 and stay on it until it met up with I-90 west. But Two had just reopened. The game plan was to drive through beautiful deep forests and stop midway, in the small town of Malta. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">The drive across northeastern Montana did not enter beautiful, deep forests. In fact, if you are seeking desolation, this is the route to take. Just pure sadness along both roadsides. Sad. The land was flat, little more than dust with scrub. The Indian reservations are enough to tear your heart out. What are we doing? We corralled all these beautiful people up, forcibly incarcerating those we didn’t kill one insidious way or another. I am only guessing that no longer wanting to pay for their confinement, we gifted them the crappiest land around to eke out an existence, shrugged our shoulders and essentially said, “have at it.” No more help from us. Sure, they could survive there when there were buffalo, but seeing as the government and the railroad barons exterminated the buffalo with the dual purpose of starving the natives and convenience the smooth operation of the diesel-spewing iron horses, there weren’t any. The history of the Fort Peck Reservation you will pass through (yet another great name to keep as an ever-present insulting reminder ugly past actions) is even more egregious. Post the settlement allotting the reservation land, homesteaders wanted to set up ranches and pressured Congress to take some of the land back. And they did. Talk about Indian-givers. Anyway, as you’re driving through the best you can think is, well not much I can do. It’s depressing as hell to drive through… as so many of the reservations are. The one after that was the same. Such poverty. Trailers with boarded-up windows to keep out the weather and too many beat-up cars parked out front. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">There was nothing to look at but the billboards. The many billboards pleading loved ones to seek help for their addictions. The usual suspects: alcohol and tobacco, and the huge elephant that’s entered seemingly every room now: meth amphetamine. I nodded in appreciation of the sign that read: Commercial tobacco is not part of our heritage. And was slayed by a piercingly sad one with anatomical drawings of a liver and a heart, side by side. The rendering was not professional but instead drawn with painstaking care as a child might. Below the organs was a hand painted message, “Please get help. You are loved and wanted.” </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">I was already spiraling when my heart froze. I gasped, horrified at the billboard showcasing a super creepy guy with a sleazy smile under a curled mustache. It read, “If I can be a foster dad, so can you.” </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Then I came up on a field of sunflowers. A happy break from dark thoughts. Thoughts of Spain and gratitude helped to dissolve the horror of it all. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Then I had a good chuckle. A sky-blue billboard with painted billowy cloud-like angel wings etched in gold advertised The Angels of Head Lice. And their treatment is organic! </span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Malta has a city park, the Trafton City Park which welcomes campers for a nominal fee. Malta also has a microbrewery. This sounded perfect. I pictured happily hauling out my heavy canvas tote with its bags of food toppling out, my little pieza ignition stove kit and whatever else I felt like in the moment to the nearby picnic table under a shady tree that doesn’t drop its detritus on your food, enjoying a gourmet meal while listening to birdsong, swiftly cleaning up, having a long, sudsy, hot shower and then moseying down, teeth brushed and feeling sparkling clean to the local microbrewery, a safe and pleasant walk a few blocks away. The owners would be excellent brew masters as well as chill, likable people. If not live, the music coming through high-quality speakers would be just what I wanted to hear, making it super enjoyable to have a cold one on the patio as the sun slowly dropped. I could even have two or three if I wanted since I would be walking back along that very pleasant route. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"> It wasn’t quite what I envisioned. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">The park was nice enough, grassy and set back from commercial activity and traffic. It was a bit odd in that it did not have designated sites. You could randomly park anywhere. The places near the water taps were all taken as far as I could determine, but what perplexed me more is that I did not find a shower, though the website had advertised a bathhouse. I guess a bathhouse is technically just for changing clothes. A bathhouse was unnecessary to me at that point. I’d been traveling too long to give modesty a second thought. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">The next morning I would be standing smack dab in the road next to my car, on the main drag of Shelby, Montana in the chill of dawn with my new white Badlands t-shirt ripped off exposing goose-bumped naked skin, as I lathered a large coffee spill with soap, then emptied my entire water bottle on it, wringing it out and placing it carefully in the car where it wouldn’t dampen anything else and stood a fighting chance of drying. All of this on the main drag of some fair-sized small town before grabbing another shirt to pull on. Priorities. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">In short, I wasn’t stoked with the remaining options in the park. It was still a bright afternoon and the shady sites were all taken. And what would I even do in that hot sun? </span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">I decided to check out the microbrewery and the walking route. A closer look at the map revealed that it was further than I thought and might mandate a sketchy route. So, I decided on a reconnaissance tour by car to determine if there might be a more pleasant pedestrian route before I consigned myself to not getting drunk. The only route held no allure. I would begin by trying to cross an intersection as wide as the Mississippi River with confusing traffic patterns and mismatching light signals, cranes and bulldozers and other rusty yellow equipment, conveyor belt tires grinding up bucketloads of dust, and random vehicles, some in use and some simply littering the scene. The road then led downhill under an overpass. Those are always feel-good places, no? First urine fumes are so strong they shove you back out. But you have to go through, so you contemplate You a running start so you can zoom through fast and not have to inhale. But underpasses are not generally places that you should run through at breakneck speed. Just think of the things you could slip on. Or don’t. Too, the road traffic going both directions was horrid: lumbering construction trucks spewing thick diesel, motorcycles straddling the lanes, oversized campers. Was there even a sidewalk? Driving through this zigzaggy mess I had to focus to dodge oncoming vehicles. Then there was a long light. A very long light. Why do the smallest towns have the longest lights? I took a left down a wide, empty street where U-turns were expressly prohibited. It took me a few passes before I spied the microbrewery ingloriously sandwiched between buildings in a mixed commercial and industrial zone, so the U-turn prohibition that I had to keep violating was annoying. The patio was small and looked somewhat inviting, but the music was so stupid it was insulting. Every last person sitting there was obese and shoving copious amounts of fried food into their mouths. Maybe it’s not always like that, but I just wasn’t in the mood. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">As I drove away, I realized that I wasn’t tired. I may as well just keep driving. The sun was still high in the sky. I’d find a place before it got too close to the horizon, blinding me. I started thinking about things I’d need before I got too close to Glacier. The closer you get to a national park, generally the less commerce. So I began a tally in my head while keeping an eye open for a suitable rest area to spend the night. I can be pretty quick at surveying rest areas, zooming past ones that are out of the question. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">I was surprised to find a designated rest area in the small town of Chester, Montana. I had another hour in me, but I could stop here for the night. It was thoughtful of their Lions Club to sponsor a rest stop for weary travelers. The bathroom with its gray locker room floor and a rust-stained ceramic sink, though humble, was clean. I felt the heavy Pine Sol cleaner mixed generously with Lysol aerosol disinfectant scrub my microbiome the moment I opened the door. I’m sensitive to strong cleaning products. They register immediately with a pang in my temples. No microorganisms hospitable to the human body could flourish in here. I felt like I could still use my toothbrush after I dropped it. It’s hard to hold everything while you’re trying to wash. I wouldn’t mind having a built-in retractable shelf, maybe from one of my hips. Mothers these days don’t realize how fortunate they are to have baby changing shelves. Why, when I was a young mother… </span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Between the gender-specific bathrooms was a pleasant little area with picnic tables and a couple trees. Still, the sleeping area was just an asphalt parking lot along the side of the highway with zero visual screening from passing traffic. It felt like shady stuff could easily happen there. When you get in these remote places with long straight highways and trains running through every hour, it doesn’t feel like laws matter. Not pining to be a sitting duck for some late random crime, I pulled back on the berm, pleasantly clean and hopeful my next option wouldn’t be far. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">I still wasn’t weary when I came to the town of Havre which had a Walmart. Not my favorite place to shop, but I wasn’t going to find a Whole Foods and a camping store, so I donned my mask and in I went, eying the fellow shoppers warily. I got what I needed and figured it wouldn’t be long until another Walmart where if nothing better appeared in the interim, I could pull out my black silk eye mask and sleep soundly. There are some advantages to sleeping in a Walmart parking lot. First and foremost, you are welcome there. Second, you can get up and go to the bathroom at any time during the night. And third, you can wash your face and buy a can or bottle of cold coffee in the morning if you feel like hitting the road right away. But it was not to be. There would not be another town with a large store. Havre is the only town on US 2 between the Theodore Roosevelt and Glacier National Parks where one can restock. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">It was dark and I was tired, mumbling murderously about selfish drivers with halogen headlights when I slid into Shelby. What was that giant structure to my right with its profusion of lights under the sign Port of Shelby? Was it a ship? Maybe I’d overlooked something on the map because I was not expecting a port right there. I made the snap decision to pull over and sleep at the next possible place. My brain was no longer working right. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">The parking lot for a nursing home sat across the street from it in a dark area of the block. I was asleep within five minutes of privatizing my vehicle with the black mesh window shades and the snugly-fitting front moon-silver umbrella. In the morning, I quickly pulled down my screening, gassed up, visited the convenience store bathroom and bought a nice hot coffee. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">As I pulled back on to the road, I spilt said hot coffee down the entire front of my new white Badlands t-shirt, as alluded to earlier. It was close to 6:30 when, shivering, I stuffed the wet t-shirt in the back of my car, dug around for a clean one to pull on and hit the road again in Shelby. If I could avoid any more delays, I could be cruising through Two Medicine Campground in Glacier National Park scouting for the ideal campsite around 8 am. Perfect.</span></div>

On the Road

On the Road Summer 2021 Day 8 Driving Across Montana

Driving Across Northern Montana to Glacier National Park Day 8 It would take nine plus hours to get to Glacier on Highway 2, the more direct...

On the Road Summer 2021 Days 6 & 7 Theodore Roosevelt National Park

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 13pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 13pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;"> On the Road Days 6 & 7   Theodore Roosevelt National Park</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.9636363636363636; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 10pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;"><span style="border: none; display: inline-block; height: 335px; overflow: hidden; width: 624px;"><img height="335" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/xaJnNNIHCRAdGdQve5LhbIN5CrSRtDVbHe2fYE61U2Zn23MXPmR-fmO_6kzOT_T60HN8y2rfrorpgc5GiJodq8CAQyDGcrrCOLMOsXflt9fybqrFfqZIgLlblQSRZz3lrjd3nFK9s7mMvG5QEg" style="margin-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px;" width="624" /></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.9636363636363636; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 10pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">Photo of the Theodore Roosevelt National Park by Gary Anderson, National Park Service.</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.9636363636363636; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">Theodore Roosevelt did not create this Park. It was established in 1947 as a national memorial park to recognize his role in conserving federal lands. Nor did he create the National Park system. The first national park was Yellowstone, established by Congress in 1872 and placed under the exclusive control of the Secretary of the Interior as “a public park or pleasuring-ground for the benefit and enjoyment of the people.”</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.9636363636363636; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.9636363636363636; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">However, during his tenure as President from 1901-1909, he did what he could do preserve public lands for future generations to enjoy. He established the US Forest Service and established four game preserves, 51 bird reserves and 150 national forests on federal lands. He signed into law the creation of five National Parks. And he signed the 1906 Antiquities Act. This Act gives the President executive authority to designate national monuments on federal lands, giving them some measure of protection. He then designated 18 new monuments. The 1906 Antiquities Act has been diminished in scope twice, by the states of Wyoming and Alaska, each state requiring Congressional ratification for certain designations.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.9636363636363636; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.9636363636363636; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">The number of new designations has varied with the Presidents in power. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #202122; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">It is important to understand what is happening today as we need to expand public lands more now than ever as out national parks suffer deterioration from overcrowding. Recently, Donald Trump, bowing to the private drilling and mining interests actually diminished a predecessors’ monument, a first. The legality of his actions in reducing the Grand Staircase-Escalante and Bears Ears National Monuments in Utah are still pending in federal court.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.9636363636363636; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #202122; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.9636363636363636; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #202122; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">It bears noting here if only to contrast the two Presidents, Roosevelt and Trump and consider where the United States stands today as a custodian of our environment: Trump’s unilateral decision to reduce Bears Ears by 85% followed intensive lobbying by Andrew Wheeler for a uranium firm. Trump subsequently appointed Wheeler as head of the US Environmental Protection Agency! Trump also unilaterally gutted protection for marine life in a stretch of the Atlantic Ocean protected under the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument, significant for its fragile deep marine ecosystems and rich biodiversity, including many already endangered marine mammals and fish.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;"> (The Department of Commerce and the Department of the Interior share management responsibility for this monument.) This is a critical time for preserving biodiversity hotspots, not intentionally eradicating them if we have any chance at slowing climate change.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.9636363636363636; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.9636363636363636; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">The location of Theodore Roosevelt National Park was selected because Roosevelt himself credited this region for inspiring him to become President and to sequester at least some lands from the commerce he saw inexorably desecrating America’s natural beauty. He was a complex man, a game hunter and rancher himself and did not always coming down on the side of land preservation with the purity of John Muir. For example, given the opportunity to expand Yellowstone National Park in 1908, he instead gave control of the two million surrounding acres, which included the Tetons and Jackson Hole, to the Forest Service. The mission of the Forest Service is not to protect and preserve the unspoiled beauty of lands, but to manage and in many cases commercially exploit the nation’s forests and grasslands “to meet the needs” of present and future generations. But politics sometimes requires compromise, and overall Roosevelt’s record was quite commendable and the example he set, invaluable.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.9636363636363636; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;"><span style="border: none; display: inline-block; height: 335px; overflow: hidden; width: 624px;"><img height="335" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/kzYMOi0PUYuVvmpcbW68KZOh_hp4dBYm2m-ud9Y4l8xmW0EZHY9d0AexjWAD6z3xVofu5d1CS3CppwUWiou-Bkwz_4J40Y4uTVbVXiKr-2n3tE_L56eEEb9bg0_V_1ebA2camhc61n3F0UDSFQ" style="margin-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px;" width="624" /></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.9636363636363636; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">What is it about this area that inspired Roosevelt? As a New York politician during the glory days of the Industrial Revolution, Roosevelt saw firsthand the wholesale exploitation of America’s natural resources. On one bad day, Valentine’s Day at that, February 14, 1884, Roosevelt lost both his young wife to a kidney ailment and his beloved mother to typhoid fever. He had previously spent time in the Dakotas hunting bison and after wrapping up some obligations in the East, chose to set up a ranching operation in North Dakota where he could find both the solitude and opportunity for hard work that would help him heal from his grief. Here he had a front seat to the mass extermination of the bison and to the loss of the prairie by overgrazing cattle. A rancher himself and a big game hunter, he came to know the businessmen of the area. And he could see that unbridled capitalism would destroy the land until there was no beauty preserved for future generations and take from it until no more natural resources existed. He determined to take on the issue of conservation.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;"><span style="border: none; display: inline-block; height: 351px; overflow: hidden; width: 584px;"><img height="351" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/N6kCER6GRyI2lair7PirrCM5v7C_Mf_FKmmL6zEWT275-Sl4n9J0Me1YNUCT0YVuDzJLct_JCXb2F0VPz4-ulCsbT9PQfg92WzeRtVUYyN74SWRKofUWiwF0o71yFTPuRqET0ycgvSigiHIZfg" style="margin-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px;" width="584" /></span></span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.9636363636363636; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.9636363636363636; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">Interstate 94 runs along the southern boundary of the South Unit of TRNP. Take exit 32 for the Painted Canyon Visitor Center and a gorgeous overlook of the Badlands. You can take a short loop nature trail there, just under one mile or take the longer in and out Painted Canyon Trail, just over four miles. If you are interested in exploring the rock formations and wildlife on a longer hike, you can start at the Painted Canyon trailhead and then choose the Upper Paddock Creek Trail, heading either west or east, with the option of joining different trails within the interior of the Scenic Loop Drive. I was intent on setting up camp, so didn’t hike on my way in. My game plan was to explore the area around my campsite. I had a hankering to hike into the petrified forests, though that would have to wait until morning. I’m sure it would be cool at night, especially in moonglow, but the terrain is ripe for rattlesnakes and I hadn’t yet learned who else lived there. What I can tell you is that those trails are probably amazing. Once you get away from the sound of traffic on I-94, you feel utterly alone in an immense surreal landscape. The rocks showcase the eons that have passed in different bands of color and you realize how brief your part is. Invariably, you begin questioning the underpinnings of everything you’re doing. At first, it’s terrifying.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.9636363636363636; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.9636363636363636; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">Then it’s liberating.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.9636363636363636; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.9636363636363636; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">A couple bison were wandering unconcernedly through my campsite when I arrived. I was struck with just how large they are up close.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.9636363636363636; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.9636363636363636; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">The Cottonwood campground hosts, if they were the ones responsible for cleaning sites did not have the meticulous eye I would have preferred. Bits of plastic littered my site, a couple bags caught in the low thistle and flapping in the scrub and miscellaneous debris was embedded in the dirt near the picnic table from previous campers. Potable water was available at the campground entrance but not at my campsite so I rather begrudged digging in the dirt to pick up bits of debris. Glad I was traveling solo with no one to call me out on my crankiness, I cleaned the site. What’s wrong with taking a little extra effort in the interest of beauty? Besides, it’s part of my Junior Ranger pledge to pick up litter.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.9636363636363636; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.9636363636363636; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">Maybe I needed to eat an amazing meal and head out to see some enchanting scenery along the Scenic Loop Drive. Sunset would deepen the colors of the rocks and I could return in a more expansive mood to better enjoy the evening Ranger Program at the campground amphitheater.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.9636363636363636; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.9636363636363636; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">My first stop on the Scenic Loop Drive was a prairie dog town. I’ve got a thing for prairie dogs. They’re on their game. They’ve got cool burrows with different well-thought out rooms. I feel like they are fit; that is that they keep in good shape and are good-natured and generally fun to be around. It’s just a vibe I get. They’ve got an effective system for alerting the community to ever-lurking dangers. They need to. They’re not much more than a foot tall, and generally pretty slight. There is absolutely nothing intimidating about them. You’d send your kid to bed with a fluffy stuffed animal version. Unfortunately for them, they appear as tasty morsels to a whole host of formidable predators, both on the land and in the air. Not the least of these hunters being rednecks who actually have parties just to shoot them. These guys’ll swear up and down that prairie burrows cause their livestock to break their legs. But the truth is not one instance has been documented. Ever. But go ahead and look up the parties. You’ll come across advertisements for dude ranches that offer prairie dog shooting as an entertaining diversion.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.9636363636363636; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.9636363636363636; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">Ostensibly safe here in the park, there were a number of prairie dogs standing out on their mounds, pretty much ignoring tourists with binoculars and well, just looking cute.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.9636363636363636; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.9636363636363636; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">Prairie dogs have a complex language. Doubtless more complex than the human murderers. They can actually tell each other that a tall, thin woman wearing a garish yellow shirt is prancing in their direction with a camera. Well, maybe they don’t explicitly say “garish.” The expert on prairie dog languages, biologist, author of </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">Chasing Dr. Dolittle, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">a book on learning the language of animals and North Arizona University professor Emeritus Con Slobodchikoff hasn’t mentioned whether he has deciphered a social commentary aspect of their language. I suppose his theories are controversial enough. No sense in providing a critic the opportunity to feel personal disrespect because they adore polyester and prairie dogs find it hideous.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.9636363636363636; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.9636363636363636; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">As I’d hoped I returned to my campsite mentally refueled from taking in the beauty and so much different wildlife. Temperatures were dropping. I pulled on a hoodie, grabbed my red headlamp and made my way over to the amphitheater for the Ranger Program.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.9636363636363636; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.9636363636363636; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">The Ranger told us about the trophic cascade, the exponential explosion of life and rebuilding of the ecosystem in Yellowstone after the wolves were reintroduced to their natural habitat. It involved the return of countless mammals, amphibians and birds. He didn’t delve into what must have been a crazy growth of the vast microbial world, except to note that the entire soil structure changed with beavers and otters damming the rivers and new tree growth solidifying banks and even changing the course of the river. This explanation of a trophic cascade was all delivered within the course of the ranger suggesting ever so tentatively a reintroduction of mountain lions to the park. Wow. Now there was an idea. It seemed the alliance with the neighboring ranchers weighed on his shoulders, however. Square One. Just where TR found himself. Already there were elk, bison and bighorn sheep. Why shouldn’t the government just buy out the ranchers and let the populations grow? Presuming the mountain lions didn’t do the entire job, we could keep the numbers of bison down to sustainable levels by selling buffalo meat. The country deserves more land devoted to parks. To the biosphere.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.9636363636363636; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.9636363636363636; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">In love with the area, my head exploding with ideas to preserve it, I fell asleep under a starry sky.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.9636363636363636; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.9636363636363636; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">The next morning, I took a buffalo trail that ran through a number of prairie dog towns. I got pretty deep into the outback. Prairie dogs were skittering and chirping all around me. Cottonwoods and tiny green plants, some with exquisite fairy-size flowers grew down in the gullies where water sometimes flows.</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;"><span style="border: none; display: inline-block; height: 624px; overflow: hidden; width: 576px;"><img height="624" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/YKIqnLG__Jjj_lpyPSfGXdesneB7eayiYCnXo_8Z8iNAr323nVDb56iz6VuMhktqaCVQ_cw69zPK4gV7yR9s_9wIPJRZ3jbV1LyXx_Rr1VWry9c1UobzWYh3rkPe6cejRi5QXTEYEuFt7fSzdw" style="margin-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px;" width="576" /></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.9636363636363636; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">The sun rose fast and furious.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;"><span style="border: none; display: inline-block; height: 486px; overflow: hidden; width: 568px;"><img height="486" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/R5yMtfy_h-jo8Zi1rbGRihTEZHvU6snQpRMDgaG5LLR4qJYuo2lZIEBxum75FtQ5G1OcraBlVoZFZkkhI89k4tPekNjnS_gRJtV9G90Ve9zjN1qWPqpUqG3KDcd1NrMHo48bClzt-1byDln_1w" style="margin-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px;" width="568" /></span></span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.9636363636363636; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">Still, I did not want to stop exploring. I hiked through high grasslands with views of rock formations of dreamy shapes: spaceships, behemoth monster snouts, delicate swans, princesses with curly hair and plenty of teeth, laughing megafauna. I hiked through the petrified forests with their mushroom villages and weird and beautiful fossilized tree remains.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;"><span style="border: none; display: inline-block; height: 351px; overflow: hidden; width: 585px;"><img height="351" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/y3GOlDgql4dgTXTElUsDJVFkSFY5TtseNF-cumIlBcEsoN2EnPU0cwAgo1NpddDfmQYhnbS1cj9qSu7SY11JBaV2v3VWw9mXQcDFQcYyxtViJNQUivHjj-mrpDfV7xTrb8Ot8YV9QN3PlmRrZg" style="margin-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px;" width="585" /></span></span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">There was something about the feel of the land there. I simply did not want to leave. When I perused the US road map at the outset of my trip, I figured I’d head over to Glacier from the South Unit. Seeing Glacier was a dream I’d held close for 26 years, having twice during that time been forced by blizzards to turn back. I had no intention of exploring the north unit. It was inconveniently far, and I’d never heard of the Theodore Roosevelt National Park before this trip. But the Ranger Program helped augment the tone I was feeling. There was indeed something special about this place. I was all in.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">So, after hiking twelve miles of varied terrain, I still wanted more and ended up driving to the North Unit, a long hour and change passing pump jacks and corn, barley and sunflowers and maybe soybeans, I’m not sure.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">I scored a campsite at the Juniper Campground from a man who looked suspiciously like</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">Santa Claus. He recommended I take the scenic loop at sunset when a lot of wildlife would be out grazing and foraging. But I couldn’t move and was okay sitting in my camp chair and reading after filling my belly with another divine meal.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">Thankfully you can find remote hiking trails hiking in the North Unit. It’s pretty creepy that it’s situated directly below the Baaken fracking fields, an environmental nightmare scarring the land, blaring light pollution from gas flares, trucks rumbling 24/7, and all the facilities and commerce that go along with the operation and the commensurate population growth. Pictures of the light pollution from satellites have made news coverage in recent years. You can get patches of relatively dark sky where stars glitter, but frankly, the fracking fields pretty much destroy any chance of the Park obtaining International Dark Sky status any time soon.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">To give you an idea of the sympathies of North Dakota politicians, read between the lines of this 2020 article excerpt about the Bakken fields:</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">“</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">Like most oil-producing states, North Dakota had the opportunity to require oil and gas </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">producers to put up money in the form of bonding which would be designated to properly clean up and cap oil and gas wells once they were finished producing. Unfortunately, the state didn’t put that precaution in place, and now bankrupt companies are starting to walk away from their wells. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">The state recently decided to use </span><a href="https://bismarcktribune.com/bakken/abandoned-oil-well-plugging-to-begin-mid-july-regulators-ok-ethanol-grant/article_a10deac8-9d45-5d1a-b98f-29a4810756f1.html" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="-webkit-text-decoration-skip: none; background-color: transparent; color: blue; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">$66 million in federal funds </span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">designated for coronavirus relief to begin cleaning up wells the oil industry has abandoned — costs that the industry should be covering, according to the law, but that are now shifted to the public. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">The Bakken boom made a lot of money for a select few oil and gas executives and Wall Street financiers. But as the boom fades, taxpayers and nearby residents have to deal with the financial and environmental damage the industry will leave behind. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 20pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;"><span style="font-size: 0.6em; vertical-align: super;">[1]</span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">Ah, TR. He did see this coming.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">Upon leaving the campground the next morning, just at the entrance is a pull off and a short dirt trail taking you right into the cannonball concretions, rocks in the shape of cannonballs randomly placed in, against and on the golden cliffs. It’s interesting contemplating a geologic process that caused accumulations of sediment to harden in a perfectly spherical shape.</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"></p><hr /><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: blue; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 17pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;"><span style="font-size: 0.6em; vertical-align: super;">[1]</span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;"> https://www.desmog.com/2020/08/08/bakken-fracking-oil-boom-bust-hess-cleanup/</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;"><span style="border: none; display: inline-block; height: 300px; overflow: hidden; width: 587px;"><img height="300" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/XaUAPUHs-gexGFYs2sIcgDIA8dGowTNoflylZzHRFXaJk5JYxHQV3oJ0k7nyHBmgQ8RxcXCkdAxspMiXxwUeFuzYTd2i-HZ0DDNGCnTiz464hNXOQPKrNgIsEE_f-mQgZASaVLxdsXO0HYR3lg" style="margin-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px;" width="587" /></span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">From there, I drove the short distance to the Caprock Coulee trailhead at Riverbend Overlook. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;"><span style="border: none; display: inline-block; height: 477px; overflow: hidden; width: 577px;"><img height="477" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/o3Hog6pPQhNzrsG7AUshvJrSGIxtdAlZBiJJyNdfG2GQQyd9XFIElIRkqQz5CUQWCqxiU9LB6X8MgY-QhzblV_mNSrMOfGLw332ihbd6RD2MXkBBG2zicamdyTqHhBb3CQ18vPj_gHTOMdmEmw" style="margin-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px;" width="577" /></span></span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;"><span style="border: none; display: inline-block; height: 337px; overflow: hidden; width: 583px;"><img height="337" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/mNwR5Tp4MXZCCEZ_hwkxmWzEW6Xwwr0t1cVYBOoLH-PQTRVr3Y6moOPrbmVUw7Ih4dIBOBdpsEky9sOL3XNXMsg9Rm5Ef-cMt01A_3KTwLacohJuC2EH2TQ_WNvMmU-j-9t38crpJSCX20GpQQ" style="margin-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px;" width="583" /></span></span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">It was on this hike that I understood what happened to Teddy Roosevelt here. I was deep into grasslands with scenic views, deep in the scent of soft sage and pungent juniper, under blue skies with puffy clouds, the wide-open skies where the buffalo roam and all I could do was write op-eds for the New York Times in my head. I tackled issue after complex issue, offering eloquent solutions. There must be some fairy goddess or lonely wizard, steeped in the politics of the day residing in the zephyrs there. And they’ll get you. Yes, they will.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">Weird, but exhilarating.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">Mine was a long, long hike which finally ended up at a parking lot filled with rubble, a bunch of orange flags, and a sign indicating that it was closed. That was okay by me, except that I had thought I’d be back at Riverbend Overlook. Instead it appeared that I needed to cross the road and doggedly tackle another very, very steep hill to get there. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"> </p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">And so, one foot following the other, I marched forward.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"> </p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;"><span style="border: none; display: inline-block; height: 624px; overflow: hidden; width: 563px;"><img height="624" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/R0-mtagAx7ozEqSvZqzB8pbsVUTM71flNktmTaXTMn8xFtwoRZHQetA69No3xI27Dyc7NKX-BkcO_eW4n5Xd6ENkTmTcOMvlmGOSg9h7VzwFo-A0hgIP5v7BdmotA2Vrgp8UavGjrUQqT3qzAw" style="margin-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px;" width="563" /></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"> </p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">I honestly have no idea how I got turned around. I was certain that Riverbend Overlook would be around the next bend. Again and then again. It was thus with alarm that I recognized a distinctive and familiar overhanging branch just before I found myself back at that damn depressing torn up parking lot with the dusty orange flags.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">I did not trust myself to simply turn back around. What if I made the same mistake? Who’s to say there is not a trick element in the fabric of the universe along that trail waiting to snag me unawares once again?</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;"><span style="border: none; display: inline-block; height: 351px; overflow: hidden; width: 581px;"><img height="351" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/NvkKMatkVnEtF6ehdtx2xpvUoDWo-FdhhPospVmHb1EgIrkhMZV4g3uTrclZKsG6YJZyqh2R7kw-mhzuo64uu5GSsED54ghfmbIrGWxONlZWoL3KCMjYyoqkLAdX_mpFbO6Mau5zYacfJpczyQ" style="margin-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px;" width="581" /></span></span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">So instead, I climbed the long, steep, hot, grueling asphalt road up and around a bend, and up and around another bend, and even farther up and around yet another bend, again and again, until my legs were like to fall off and finally, after I was quite certain my car had either been stolen or rolled down crevasse, there it was.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">Nonetheless, I was itching to assume a position of power with all of the grand ideas swirling around in my head of things that absolutely must come to pass if we are to have a better world.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"> </p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">Yep, weird but exhilarating.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"> </p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;"><span style="border: none; display: inline-block; height: 477px; overflow: hidden; width: 503px;"><img height="477" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/V1dttcQY-XhLFpUh8JQe2juY-z9FPHoLkK3AgiMJ-WcOX7Cyyq1jX9r74bFZBRkqXGaY1Sa9PTzeOxzK-Y-wiWdnSc2ZWTXfG4T8Ou2YGBIvT555_Sz4Yoq1RXA4otw4pfvE7P0XHnrhtIyqhw" style="margin-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px;" width="503" /></span></span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">TR’s spirit lingers on.</span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">The Scenic Drive through the North Unit is 28 miles, over and back. Consistent with the magic I’d experienced thus far, it was filled with different wonders over and back.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">The turn-around point is fittingly Oxbow Loop where, as I would, the Little Missouri takes an abrupt change in direction. The river flows north until this point where glaciers obstructed it some time ago (640,000 years) and it was forced to turn east, where it sped downhill cutting through the plains and creating the badlands.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"> </p><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;"><span style="border: none; display: inline-block; height: 662px; overflow: hidden; width: 567px;"><img height="662" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/MXc13JXlfojDKzd3a5xgxlTWiwZLx-54bCIx_2OKC756pkWpjL91PheDc2KWrgYd9zl2Wsi1H7sCfpgJNin_qiPp1M6B5J7OYxgzkbXODY4pfHLA2vNhyVDAtCZZAgnBQbqQprrC53NT2H9TMw" style="margin-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px;" width="567" /></span></span></p><div><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;"><span style="border: none; display: inline-block; height: 662px; overflow: hidden; width: 567px;"><br /></span></span></div>

On the Road Summer 2021 Days 6 & 7 Theodore Roosevelt National Park

On the Road Days 6 & 7   Theodore Roosevelt National Park Photo of the Theodore Roosevelt Natio...