July 1st, 2006
Theodore Roosevelt National Park

The lovely town of Medora looks like Hollywood's set for a Western movie. With its saloon like stores, old-style ice cream, soda pop and chocolate shops, it's a step into the past without its inconveniences. With a quick breakfast at one of the quaint joints, we ventured into the Theodore Roosevelt National Park. The early morning coolness was still in the air as we drove into the North Dakota Badlands and badlands they are with a rough, untamed beauty of barren landscape. We drove through the endless wind and water carved canyons, taking a stop here and there for short walks into the wilder area. Ben was besotted with the prairie dog colonies. They were especially active in the morning, bobbing up and down their holes, meditating on their hind legs and generally acting like prairie dogs.

Cool morning air soon gave way to hot scorching early afternoon. This is when we decided to venture into the badlands for a longer hike. We could hear the insects buzzing and Joe suspected that he heard a rattler in a distance. So, it was with some trepidation that we started the hike. In an effort to keep on the narrow path, we walked single line, with me leading the effort. I had my hat down to shelter me from the sun and plodded along, head bent. We came up a short hill, when I heard Joe calling my name in panic. I responded and immediately heard a snort – looking up; I saw a wild bison staring at me only a few feet away. All that registered in my mind was big, black eyes and mud-caked mammoth shoulders. It snorted again – I forgot all rules about walking away slowly, turned and started pushing everybody behind me into a jog. Thankfully. Joe still had his head on his shoulder. He grabbed me to slow me down. Meanwhile, Ben was bobbing up and down, trying to figure out what was going on. Amidst this confusion, we managed to slowly back away. On our way back, we stopped at one of the hills and looked back. The bison was still there, guarding its territory.

After this adventure, all thoughts of hiking disappeared from my mind. We enjoyed the car tourism for a change, capturing wild horses, bisons, mountain goats and isolated wild flowers in my camera.

We took a quick trip through the painted canyon and northern section of North Dakota badlands and called it a day. Upon reaching Medora, I found that I had lost my prescription glasses somewhere along the way. Without the contact lenses, I only had the prescription sunglasses that I had been wearing during the day. With complete disregard for the stares that I received from country folks around me, I continued to use those for the rest of the evening – being blind as a bat without them.

Where in this wilderness will I find a place that can get me prescription glasses at a short notice?