The Upper Paddock Creek Trail is reasonably level with a few sharp inclines up and down from the creek. The creek has to be jumped a few times, and it takes a pretty good jump not to wind up in the murky water. Luckily for me, it was chilly out while I was on this section of the trail and if there was any mud, it was frozen, so I got a head start on creek jumping.
Paddock Creek
Badlands along the Upper Paddock Creek Trail
One thing I noticed while I was hiking along was how eerily quiet it was. There was no breeze, no birds, no animals. I walked several miles before I saw the first group of elk. The only bison I saw was dead and in a late stage of decomposition, nothing but hide and bones. As for birds, I found two tree sparrows among some junipers, a flock of robins at the trailhead, heard a magpie, and saw three Townsend's solitaires. Just before the trail started up a steep juniper slope, I found a deposit of petrified wood that included very large chunks.
Petrified wood
At the top of the hill, I could look back and see how far I had come. I decided to eat my peanut butter sandwich and my carrots, the only food I had brought, giving little thought to the time, 10:00 in the morning. I came to regret this decision as after about 12 miles I started talking to the horses to ask them if they would either give me a ride or if they had a sandwich.
Nearing the eastern boundary of the park, I noticed some pronghorns atop a hill at least half a mile away from me. Pronghorns have very good eyesight and it was obvious they were aware of me down at the bottom of the valley. Then they did something interesting: they came came closer to get a better look at me. Satisfied that I was unwanted but not an immediate threat, they trotted down the backside of the hill and out of sight for the time being. Later in the hike, I encountered a larger group of between 40 and 50 pronghorns at the bottom of a wide, grassy valley. They, too, stirred, watched me, came in for a closer look, then decided to sprint to the hill behind me. They circled around me and over the hill. I was somewhat concerned when they started running; there was a very real possibility I'd find myself in the middle of a stampede. Click to see a video of one detachment of the pronghorns running by.
Eventually the trail went steeply up the edge of the badlands and onto the grassy plain at the eastern boundary of the park. I knew where I was because I could see the farmhouse that is near the Fryburg exit from the interstate, and that meant I was predictably near the wildlife handling area. The trouble was that the trail tapered out into the grass and then - nothing. The trail was completely gone. No markers, no path, no sign of anything. I just started marching through the grass knowing eventually I'd find the next valley over where I needed to come down. In the end, I followed an animal trail down and cross-countried through a huge prairie dog town until I reconnected with the trail. From there on out, the trail was wide, flat, and grassy. I, on the other hand, was hungry.
Upper Talkington Trail
Overall, it was a good hike, though I was annoyed that it disappeared temporarily near the eastern boundary. The character of the Upper Paddock Creek portion of the trail and the Upper Talkington portion was very different. Paddock creek was much more rugged and nearer to impressive badlands features. The Upper Talkington was more open, level, and grassy. Either would be brutal on a hot day or on a windy day as there is no shelter to be had. But they don't call it "badlands" for nothing.




