I left early in the morning to take a few pictures of the critters of the park. I found these feral horses in the Skyline Vista area and also noticed this mother and pup combination in the nearby prairie dog town.
Continuing down the road, I had to wait for six of these guys to cross the road (to get to the other side). By the time I got my camera out, three had vanished into the brush and these were hurriedly following them.
Between Peaceful Ranch and the top of the hill the herd was on the move. They are active in the early morning hours, before it gets too hot.
A couple of pronghorns were following the herd.
I had to stop on the way back to camp and take a couple more shots of the prairie dogs. They are neat to watch . . .
Cathy and Jason joined me in camp for a trip to the North Unit of the National Park. It was a 68 mile drive northward but the scenery was our reward! There are very similar canyons to the South Unit but they were unique in their own way. We saw our first longhorn steer, part of the park’s demonstration herd as a reminder of the Badlands cattle industry. We stopped at the Cannonball Concretions, located across the street from the Juniper campground. These “cannonballs” were formed when sand grains from an ancient river deposit were cemented together by minerals dissolved in groundwater. They were pretty solid so we let Jason do his thing.
The formations in the hillside where we saw the concretions had a plethora of very unusual formations. Jason checked out this cave and found a hideout. It was like a giant playground for a climber!
Continuing along, we stopped to let Jason get a good look at this bull. He pretty much ignored us.
The Little Missouri River and its tributaries cut through the soft sedimentary layers of the Northern Great Plains, including both the North and the South Units of the Park, and continue their erosive action.
This canyon, located on the northern side of the scenic drive is a wilderness area. The bluish striations in the hillsides are composed of layers of bentonitic clay, which flows when wet. The coloring can be seen for miles in either direction and really stands out in the sunlight.
We stopped at Riverbend Overlook and took these photos looking up and down the canyon. They do not do justice the the intense beauty of the area. The building on the edge of the bluff was built by the CCC in the mid 1930s and is still in pretty good shape.
The Oxbow Overlook is at the end of the roadway, 14 miles into the park. The river makes a sharp right turn here. Thousands of years ago, it flowed north into Hudson Bay. During the last ice age, a glacier blocked it’s path and the river made this sharp turn and now empties into the Gulf of Mexico. The views were great but we fought 70-90 MPH winds at the bluff and Jason could barely stand upright.
On the way back to Medora, we stopped at one of the many oilfields dotting the countryside. Jason needed to see the rig close up.
Tomorrow we plan on hiking into a petrified forest area inside the park from a trailhead outside the park. We will have to get up early to beat the heat and the wind AND be back in town for the Flag Day parade.
After the parade we plan on driving to the Elkhorn Ranch Unit (the third unit of the park), about a three hour roundtrip by auto. Elkhorn Ranch was Teddy Roosevelt’s second ranch, built in 1885. The ranch originally had a 30 x 60 foot ranch house, two stables, a cattle shed, a blacksmith shop and chicken coops. Roosevelt’s herds were destroyed in the 1887 blizzards and the buildings no longer exist.
Travelling with the Schinglers 
Glad you are enjoying this trip. I hate wind and glad I missed that! Still cool and rainy here, but we are going to get a little sun next week.
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Cathy has changed her opinion on the wind. I think for the most part she dislikes it now.
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