The Yellowstone River to Glendive Montana

20090904—The Yellowstone River to Glendive Montana

This morning I woke with an idea that I could get back to the higher parts or Theodore Roosevelt National Park before the construction workers arrived and caused a slowdown. Well, by the time I got to the road from the camp site, they had already started, but the pilot car had just departed and the flagger let me go. So I didn't have any delays after all. I got to a nice look out spot and went through my morning routine there, starting with a couple of cups of coffee. It's nice to travel in an RV.

From there I saw a single bison, an older bull, coming across a small meadow way below me. It grazed it's way along and eventually disappeared in a tree lined gully. It had not reappeared in an hour or so, so I decided to take a hike across some plateaus. Eventually I did spot it lying down and chewing its cud. The walk was refreshing, and, like last evening, gave me the feeling that I had that whole park to myself. I watched other bison from the road for a while after that, then drove slowly down, reaching the park entrance about noon.

Lunch was at an USFS picnic area and campsite just outside the park. I was attended by a downy woodpecker, vesper sparrows, cedar waxwings, mountain bluebirds and mourning doves. I was also entertained there by a guy practicing with his archery gear, aiming at a turkey target propped against a campsite marker.

From there I headed North to Watford City, then West, then took some State highways crossing to the West into Montana, after ~40 miles, near Sidney. MT16 took me ~70 miles into Glendive for the evening. Most of the route after lunch kept me along the Yellowstone River which flows Northeast to join the Missouri just North of Watford City. The Yellowstone is the color of milky coffee here. I saw irrigation equipment that certainly depends on the water from that river, but none was running. It is probably late in the season for irrigation, with a lot of wheat harvest and hay cutting and baling underway here.