The strong wind across the plains and birds nesting somewhere in the trailer made for a bit of noise in the evening, but not enough to keep us from a good night’s sleep and waking refreshed to Father’s day. I was treated to a Father’s Day breakfast of waffles, eggs, bacon and fruit. Carolyn had been our main trip planner, but for today, Sam decided that we’d do the Petrified Forest Loop Trail.
To get there, we had to pass through Medora, ND where there was a Fudge and Ice Cream Depot. I did mention it was Father’s Day, right? :) From there, it was still another 20 minute drive up into the park and to the trailhead. The road was a dusty dirt road and it wasn’t long before the truck and bikes had a brown coating.
There was an amusing sign at the trailhead that indicated we were entering the “Wilderness where visitors are challenged and renewed.” We were certainly more challenged than we expected to be, but I wouldn’t have called it a test of our mettle. Renewed? Maybe. Certainly appreciative of the time and space for this movement and this escape from our routine. Maybe all of that is just a little too much to put on a sign? 😊
There was a short bit of trail that was the connector between the parking lot and the loop walk and we came to the petrified forest bit quite quickly. It’s definitely a bit trippy to see the result of petrifaction. Looks like wood, feels like stone.
We continued along the trail, and soon came to some caves and holes carved out of cliffsides and just sunk into the ground. The first ones we came across looked like they might have been painted into the side of the mountain, but no. Just holes in the stone.
Usually, the path was pretty easy to follow. Every intersection was signed. However, every sign was also knocked down. Apparently, bison are itchy and signs are scratchy but also not robust enough to be used that way by bison for long!
For parts of the hike, particularly along the plains, the wind was fierce. We were glad when we got to an area that had been cut down by some tributary of the Little Missouri even though there was some steep down and up, it gave us a respite from the wind.
We took the loop from North to South. The trail itself isn’t a loop. It’s two prongs that meet up with the Maah Daah Hey Trail - a 144 mile hiking and biking trail that traverses that part of North Dakota. We enjoyed the name. Sam’s name isn’t “Hey” and we go by “Mom” and “Dad” not “Ma(ah)” and “Da(ah)”, but we still had an affinity for the name, which apparently means “place that will be around for a long time.”
It was a beautiful hike in the ND plains/badlands kind of aesthetic. And it took a lot out of us despite being just 10.4 miles. We stopped for a snack at one point in the little bit of shelter we could find and were passed by a couple who, due to the vastness of the plains, we could see for much of the remainder of the hike. Other than that, it was desolate except right by the parking area/trailhead. We worried slightly about being able to get back to the car in the light. Fortunately, it was close to the summer solstice, so we had a good amount of daylight and a long-lived twilight. What a neat experience.
We returned to Dickinson to recharge the vehicle and fuel our bodies. As mentioned early on, we had no trouble finding Japanese and Mexican throughout this trip. Since last night was Japanese, tonight was Mexican. We ate a late dinner at Los Cabos Family Mexian Restaurant, charged the car and headed back to the single-wide Airbnb in Belfield.
