Petrified Forest

The Theodore Roosevelt National Park map has an enticing area called the "Petrified Forest." There's a nice loop trail there (one of 4 possible loops in the south unit) but since I didn't go there while the river was frozen, I had to drive several miles down a gravel road to get to the hole in the fence barely big enough for full-size Nathan to fit through. The petrified forest really is not as big as the map might make it seem; the larger of the two patches of petrified wood was perhaps the size of a football field, the other about 1/4 acre.

Petrified wood

Throughout the hike, we were buzzed by a low-flying Cessna. I would have found it annoying but I knew that it was the wildlife biologist doing an elk survey, and it was so windy I couldn't enjoy any kind of peace and quiet anyway.

Bison got in the way several times, forcing us to detour. I don't trust them one bit to tolerate me walking near them. One detour led us to the Wannagan Seeps, a muddy watering hole that comes out of nowhere. I had to find a way for us to get through a steep section, so I followed the animal trails, which led right to the water source. I suppose for an animal in this environment, that source of water is a welcome relief.

We saw several grouse and a couple prairie falcons. Perhaps the most exciting thing we saw was a group of 250 to 300 sandhill cranes migrating north.

Some of the 250-300 sandhill cranes.

In other news, ticks are a nuisance. So far none has lived long enough on me to get attached, but finding one in my bedsheets was disturbing. That'll teach me to leave my hiking pants laying in the bedroom.

Lastly, the 4-H program in Bowman, ND was cancelled, at least for me. Not enough kids signed up for my program, which is unsurprising since I was up against "Air Rifle." I don't want to think about how many hours and how much paper I wasted putting together that program. What am I going to do with a life-size track plot of a wolf loping after a running elk? I demand that North Dakota State University reimburse the taxpayers!