Day 80 - ending at Medora, ND - The Great Plains Trail - Sort Of

August 2, 2023

Day 80 - ending at Medora, ND

Day 80 - Amidon, ND to Medora, ND

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It was sunny, windy, and cool this morning. I went over to talk with the motorcyclist before he left. He's headed to Sturgis. While I was packing up, Joetta in the cabin next to my tent asked if I'd like coffee. What a treat! And the coffee was served with peanut butter crackers. She was about to make sandwiches for her family's lunch, and offered to make one for me also. She knew I had a cold, so moved a chair on the cabin's side porch down a ways so I could sit, eat, and chat. That was so much fun! I think I needed that - time to sit and talk. Joetta poured me more coffee from a distance while I ate my sandwich, which was so good. Joetta is a nurse, which didn't surprise me, she has that caring personality. I eventually got back to work packing. Before I left she gave me a P&J sandwich and a Mountain Dew for lunch.

I left at 9:00am. Destination is Red Trail Campground in Medora, North Dakota. Before I left home, I decided I wouldn't ride on the Maah Daah Hey Trail (MDHT), which is the GPT routing. It's more suited for a mountain bike than an overloaded touring bike. But there is a gravel road (East River Road) that parallels the trail, and actually intersects the trail at several locations. I'll be on that road. First I needed to ride two miles west on US-85, then a mile further west on 64th St. SW. I was already impressed with the morning views.

At 9:52am, I turned north onto East River Road. For a while, there were farms set among rolling hills. Eventually I was in a buttes with valleys area. So very pretty, I was constantly stopping for pictures. The road was great for bicycling, but there were now hills. I noticed that pedaling up them was causing me to cough. For the sake of cold recovery, I decided to walk up the hills. Turns out, that was a lot of walking!

Noon arrived. I recorded 13.7 miles, then got out my sandwich and Mountain Dew. Oh, what a treat having lunch on the road! I can't recall ever doing this before. What a blessing Joetta has been to me today!

At 12:48pm, I crossed into Billings County. On the map, and in reality, that wasn't impressive. I came to MDHT trail head Tom's Wash at 1:55pm. I stopped to check it out. There's a logbook for trail users. Looking at the trail itself confirmed to me that I would be better off on the gravel road.

There are a few road intersections along East River Road, but perhaps a better way to follow my progress is looking at the times I met up the MDHT trailheads: Bear Creek: 3:51pm, Coal Creek: 5:22pm, and Plumely Draw: 6:22pm. I took a break at Plumely Draw, sitting on the bench there. It was nice to sit for a moment.

At 7:35pm, I came to Sully Creek Road - 4 miles left to get to Medora. And another butte to get around. But, at 7:57pm, the road went from gravel to pavement. That made walking up the last hill easier.

I arrived at Red Trail Campground entrance at 8:29am, and was guided to site #73 by campground worker Christopher on his bicycle at 8:44pm. First thing I did was eat the items I'd purchased from the camp store. My site is next to the road, so the street light allowed me to get set up later without using my flashlight.

I was kind of worn out tonight. I'd registered to two nights here, with the thought to rest well, and get over the last of this cold. So no alarm for tomorrow.

Jeff

Spent: $5 (bathroom cleaning supplies donation) + $42 (campsite) + $6.43 (potato chips, donuts, root beer) = $53.43

Today's ride: 40 miles (64 km)
Total: 3,027 miles (4,871 km)

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Bill ShaneyfeltAll those intriguing photos of hillside exposures make me want to go hunt fossils!

Good to see you are taking my high school distance running coach's advice and listening to your body! Its first message was "Yes, you can continue." Its second message was "Just don't overdo!"
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