BELFIELD, NORTH DAKOTA: Hip, Hip, Hooray For the Maah Daah Hey

August 17, 2017

It was still bugging me during the night that I didn't get to ride the Maah Daah Hey Trail. In my half-sleep state, I was thinking I should have taken two bikes on the Amtrak. I could have pedaled my touring bike while carrying the mountain bike on my shoulders for a couple days. Then, after riding the 100-mile trail across the badlands and grasslands, I would ship the mountain bike back home and continue my road tour. Some day I will be back to ride it.

Sometime early this morning, I heard a strong wind assaulting my tent. I wasn't expecting anything like that. I shrugged my shoulders and went back to sleep.

At sunrise I woke up again and the wind was still blowing. Hard. After a groggy minute of trying to orient myself, I figured out that it was coming from the south, which would be fine for a northbound bike tourist, but not for your correspondent, Mr. Nice Guy.

I shot out of my sleeping bag as if I had just found a rattle snake in there with me and hurriedly packed up all my stuff. I felt the need to get on the road before the wind got any worse--which it usually does as the air warms up. I was so panic stricken that I didn't even make my all-important morning coffee. {Honestly, though, I probably would have made a cup if I had any water left. Being a primitive (and free) campsite, no water was provided.}

It might LOOK like a beautiful Great Plains morning out there, but you can't see or hear the wind.

As I pedaled into that nasty wind, all I could think about was getting to the town of Grassy Butte for some nice delicious water. It was the kind of wind that makes you happy when a big truck passes and sucks you forward into its vacuum for a few seconds of relief. Pedaling as hard as I could, it still took me an hour-and-a-half to ride the ten miles to Grassy Butte.

Ah yes, Grassy Butte. The town deserves an essay all by itself. Let's call it, GRASSY BUTTE: The Town Everybody Forgot.

I was so glad to get there. I turned off the highway onto a heavily potholed road and found what looked like the only retail establishment in all of Grassy Butte--a one-pump gas station with a small selection of drinks and snacks stocked on dusty shelves. I grabbed a gallon jug of water and one of those awful convenience store sandwiches and brought them up to the guy at the cash register. He had to be nearly 80-years old and it took him forever to figure out how much I owed for the two items. And he kept sighing--deep, painful sighs--as if he had a terrible hangover.

"Rough morning," I asked?

"No," he answered with a big sigh.

The rest of the town was run down and desolate except for a nice white church. I took my bounty to the nearby community park and drank the water straight from the jug, letting it spill down my chin as I did so. Man, I was thirsty.

I couldn't help but notice the condition of the playground at the park. I don't think I'd let my kids play on any of that rickety equipment for fear of them getting big slivers of wood in their skin or getting a broken leg when the teeter totter breaks in half. And I definitely would not let them run around barefoot on account of the thorny plants tucked into the grass that hadn't been mowed for weeks.

But the true highlight of the park was the restroom, as you will see in the pictures that follow.

This cow was grazing just a few yards from the gas station.

I've been known to use some pretty bad restrooms in my lifetime, but I drew the line at this one because there was no toilet paper.

The Grassy Butte Museum with its grassy roof. Behind it is the nice white church.

All in all, I LIKED Grassy Butte--in a "slice of small town life" kind of way. Sure it was run down and desolate, but it still had a weirdly enticing atmosphere. And best of all, while I was lingering in the park, I noticed there was almost no wind. I figured the town was maybe sheltered in some way by the hills, but once I was back on the road I couldn't believe the wind had mysteriously died down to a mild breeze. And that mild breeze was now coming from the west.

The air was hot for the next 37 miles, but at least it wasn't hot AND windy.

I'll conclude this page with pictures and captions. I thank you for continuing to follow my terms of readership.

Despite their lack of intelligence, I love cows because they love me.

This is but a small section of a gigantic field of sunflowers.

St. Demetrius Ukranian Catholic Church, located way out in the middle of nowhere.

A grotto next to the church in the middle of nowhere.

The middle of nowhere. Just highway, grass, and wide open spaces.

Hundreds of haybales underneath a cloud that looks like a rocket ship.

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Today's ride: 48 miles (77 km)
Total: 153 miles (246 km)

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