NORTH DAKOTA- RETURN TRIP
8/6/20- TEDDY ROOSEVELT NATIONAL PARK- SOUTH UNIT
They are visiting all 4 corners of the US.
The wild horses walked right by us on the trail...
8/7/20- Biking the southern section of the Maah Dah Hey Trail- amazing!
Waited for the wild horses to move off the trail
Wonderful views on the trail and nobody there. Only saw 2 other bikers the whole morning.
Spirit Lake Ministry Center
Sheyenne, North Dakota
7/13/20-7/14/20 We stayed 2 nights here
They hold services and minister to the local Native Americans on the reservations
Their cat 'Neither' likes to ride in the buggy with them.
Tom the cat prefers to follow them behind the buggy.
80 beautiful acres at Spirit Lake Ministry
Our hosts Mike & Libby graciously offered to take us on a tour of
White Horse Hill Animal Refuge (renamed Sully's Hill)
We were lucky enough to see the whole trifecta:
elk, bison and prairie dogs!
Ok, these little guys are my favorites.
Sooooooo cute!
Thank you Mike & Libby for being such welcoming hosts!
Fort Totten State Historic Site
1867-1890- was a military post where infantry and calvary were stationed
1891-1935- was a boarding school for Native American children who were
taken from their homes on the reservations, not allowed to speak their native
language or return to see their families- sometimes for years!
This is one crazy schedule, but even more so for children who were used to hands on learning
out in nature- building, fishing, hunting... to book learning.
Although they did learn how to sew- 'European' clothing, not Native American style, as well as
sewing everything else the school needed.
I was able to talk with Mildred, a local Native American whose mother had attended this
boarding school. In the early years when the school first opened, the students were not allowed to
return home and visit their families. But her mom attended in the later years and she was able to go
home to be with her family.
She said her father ran away from his boarding school after the 6th grade
and went to live in the woods so they wouldn't find him and force him to go back.
Her aunt attended another boarding school. She said there was a lot of crying there
at night.
Thank you Mildred for sharing your family stories.
Not sure what these yellow crops were- but they were beautiful to drive by
So this is not a pond, as the illusion may seem...
These are blue coneflowers
Teddy Roosevelt National Park (North Unit)
7/16/20-7/18/20
Bison tracks all over the trails.
Thankfully, we did not actually run into one while we were on the trail.
I was surprised to find these vast prairie lands on top of the hills!
This is not what I expected when viewing the hills from below.
This was our campsite at CCC campground- 1 mile from the park entrance!
We stayed 3 nights
I think there were more horses than people camping at this campground!
We rode a few miles of the Maah Daah Hey Trail- which ends at the CCC campground,
so we could access it right from our site.
Beautiful single track trail flowing through the badlands for 142 miles!
Very well marked trail by these turtle markers
Some challenging parts!
Probably my favorite view of the visit- was from a hill that we biked up on the trail.
You can see the road going though the Teddy Roosevelt park below the hills in the distance.
