Day 84 - ending at Grassy Butte, ND - The Great Plains Trail - Sort Of

August 6, 2023

Day 84 - ending at Grassy Butte, ND

Day 84 - Medora, ND to Grassy Butte, ND

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I packed after waking up at 5:05am. When I was ready to go, I had trouble with the power to the GPS units from the auxiliary batteries. Looks like water got into the power adapter for the MAP 330, and the 12 volt socket for the PN-60 didn't want to make a good connection. My power system isn't quite as waterproof as I thought! So I switched to size AA batteries to power the MAP330. Though still wired, that GPS didn't want to stay on. Eventually I just left it turned off.

I left the campground at 8:10am but then got held up by a train on my way to The Farmhouse Cafe for breakfast. Stopped at Medora Convenience Store for sports drink and ice.

I wasn't sure about today's destination. I was hoping to make it to Whitetail Picnic Area, though I had concerns about camping there, since it is just a picnic area. The other option was to make it all the way to Grassy Butte, North Dakota where there's a city park that is set up for camping. Well, I'll just see how the day goes.

The first part of my day would be through Theodore Roosevelt National Park, South Unit. I got into the park for free, thanks to my America the Beautiful Senior Pass. Ahead first thing was the hill I'd noticed the other day. There was a little bit of a shoulder and some traffic, but I made it to the top. At 9:57am I crossed over I-94. Later there was a pull-off to see prairie dogs and I was there at 10:30am, along with carloads of families.

There used to be a scenic loop road in the park, but part of that road is now closed due to a road washout. I hadn't planned to be on that loop anyway, but the closed road did increase traffic going both ways. At 11:10am, I parked under some shade at the closed road for a break and to phone my wife. It's fun to talk with her, though it does make me a little homesick.

At noon I wrote down my progress so far, according to the PN-60 GPS: 9.6 miles.

At 12:54pm, I had a mile left before I exited the park. The road was gravel now, and I'd left the traffic behind. My routing had me turning east when I could after I was out of the park. Still, there were hills to climb, and I did most of those walking. I had routed to pass Whitetail Picnic Area, to see if it might work for camping, but when I was finally out of the hills heading straight east on this flat road, going a little further to US-85 was just too tempting. I was at the highway at 5:29pm and decided to try to get all the way to Grassy Butte, about 27 miles further on north. The highway shoulder was great, but I was riding into a north wind. But, what made me happy was I was able to ride up every hill, granted hills are flatter on a paved highway.

I passed by what there is of Fairfield at 6:35pm. At 7:26pm I it came to a sign stating: "Whitetail Campground" 4 mile west. "Oh, so now it's a campground." I had to pause for a moment to decide which would be the better choice: backtracking 4 miles, or heading forward 16 miles. In the end I stayed on the pavement of US-85.

At 8:05pm I pulled over at an intersection to eat a bag of peanuts, and received an offer of two bottles of water from a gal in a pickup truck, who'd made a U-turn after passing me. She said she'd seen me drinking water and had come back with the offer. I was cold thanks to the north wind and the only reason I was drinking water at that time was to swallow my evening pills. The sun was getting ready to set, so I turned on the bicycle's flashing lights and continued.

I crossed into McKenzie County at 8:40pm. Up ahead I could see a business lit up, it looked like a gas station. As I got closer, I was thinking it is just an unmanned gas station. Then, I could see a building. This made me very happy because I didn't think I'd get any supper tonight. What I was seeing ahead turned out to be Sweet Crude Travel Center, and I was there at 8:50pm. I bought items for supper and was able to sit down at a table inside to eat them. Then I went back for more items to save for breakfast tomorrow. Then back into the store for one more item I'd forgotten: size AA batteries for the GPS units.

I left the Travel Center at 9:55pm. It was really dark now. Turned on my headlights for the 5 miles I had left to get the Grassy Butte. I arrived at their park at 10:31pm, then spent 25 minutes trying to find the full hook up sites. I never did find them, or even a way to pay. But there are very nice pavilions here and they all have power outlets. Power was all I was really looking for. So I set up near the corner of one of the pavilions, then went to bed at 12:00am, pleased with the day.

Jeff

Spent: $17.42 plus $3.48 (breakfast) + $5.91 (BodyArmor) + $18.85 (supper items) + $11.83 (Gatorade, canned coffee, cookies) + $8.38 (batteries) + $15 (camping fee) = $80.87