By: Mala and Tessie
We returned from our adventure in the Dakotas on Monday. It was a whirlwind trip that spanned four states and included two national parks, national grasslands, a national forest, and a state park.
We departed Colorado on Thursday morning, drove through Wyoming, and arrived in South Dakota, where we stayed at a hotel in Rapid City, which was larger than we expected.
On Friday, we started the day with a quick pit stop at the famous Wall Drug shops, then visited Badlands National Park. The Lakota peoples originally called the region mako sica, which translates to "land bad," because the rugged terrain, extreme temperature fluctuations, and lack of water made the area incredibly difficult to cross or live in. Dogs aren’t allowed on the hiking trails, but we stopped at many overlooks along the loop road.
We headed back to Rapid City for lunch in a park with plenty of grass for rolling around and letting off some energy after the morning in the car. Next, we drove to North Dakota and set up camp at Buffalo Gap Campground near the south unit of Theodore Roosevelt National Park. We hiked part of the Maah Daah Hey trail, a 144-mile trail that (unfortunately) has many ticks! After dinner at the campsite, we went to Painted Canyon for sunset. None of us got much sleep that night because Dad kept finding more ticks crawling on him and Mala.
On Saturday morning, we packed up and drove the loop of the south unit of Theodore Roosevelt National Park, where we enjoyed watching the solo male bison near the road and taking in the beautiful scenery. From there, we drove to Watford City for lunch, then drove through the park's north unit. There was a huge herd of bison, with many females and calves. Thank goodness Roosevelt fell in love with this place in 1883 and went on to establish the US Forest Service, proclaim 18 national monuments, and protect over 230 million acres of land (including five national parks, 150 national forests, and dozens of federal reserves).
We set up camp just outside the north unit of the park at the CCC campground. After we all settled into the tent, Mom noticed a tornado alert for 18 counties in North Dakota. Looking outside, we still saw patches of blue sky, so Mom and Dad wondered whether we would experience any of the bad weather where we were. After a bit of discussion, Dad found another tick on him, and that was the final straw. They broke down camp, and we headed to a hotel in Watford City. Soon after settling into the hotel, Mom and Dad started receiving alerts on their phones about potential 80-mile-per-hour winds and severe thunderstorms. Boy, were we glad to be in the hotel and not in the tent. The wind was pretty bad, and there was a lot of lightning and rain, but we stayed cozy and dry in our room.
The above video covers Friday and Saturday. Unfortunately, the video wouldn’t download with the music (Against the Wind by Bob Seger).
After a good night’s sleep, we awoke to blue skies. Aside from some debris and downed trees in the surrounding area, you would never have known anything had happened the night before.
We drove all the way to Custer, South Dakota, where we stopped for lunch before heading to our cabin at Sylvan Lake in Custer State Park. As we pulled up to the cabin, we all noticed it was the exact same one we had stayed in four years earlier during Tessie’s first road trip as a Wild Western Wanderer. We went for a hike on the Sunday Gulch Trail, had dinner outside the cabin, and then watched the sunset over the lake.
In the morning, we got up and went for a paddle. It was quiet and peaceful – even Tessie was silent as we paddled around the lake a couple of times. Mom and Dad packed up the car, and we took one last walk by the lake before driving six hours home. We were a bit overwhelmed by all the traffic once we crossed over into Colorado after being in such open spaces with so few people for several days.
We enjoyed the trip, but are happy to be back in Colorado. Below is the Reel from our Instagram about the last couple of days of our trip. The Wild Western Wanderers are grateful for these opportunities to see what a vast, beautiful, and varied country we are so lucky to live in. We truly lead charmed lives.
