Bike Ride - TRNP South Unit Loop

Today I rode the ca. 35-mi paved road loop through the South Unit of Theodore Roosevelt National Park. Temps were in the upper 70s I'd guess, with sunny skies, and light breezes out of the south. I did the counter-clockwise version of the loop, so that I could tackle the flat part at the end when I was already tired; otherwise, I'd have to tackle the biggest meanest climbs when I was gassed.

Here's the route, courtesy of MapMyRide.com:





Me.
Sweating.
In my Team Type 1 jersey.
And in my wicked cool new Oakley sunglasses that I love so very very much.




View of badlands along the roadway.








Prairie dog town mounds next to the road, in the Little Missouri River valley bottoms.







In terms of my diabetes, here's what I did.

• Turned my basal rate down to 60% at 10:04 am. 10:30am blood glucose (BG) test was 110 mg/dl. Looking good so far.
• Started the ride at 11:15 am, ended at 2:00pm. 2:45 hours:minutes total ride time.
• Heart rate monitor said I burned 2606 calories, 30% of which were fat calories.
• Maximum Heart Rate was 203 beats/min (110% of my prior measured maximum!)
• Average HR was 147 bpm (80% of previous max).
• During the ride, I took on 149 carbs/650 calories: 4 servings gatorade, 10 glucose tablets, 2 granola bars.
• Immediate post-ride BG was 110 mg/dl. Success!!
• At 4:37 pm (2.5 hours post-ride), my BG was 113 mg/dl. Success continues!!

The ride was hard and great at the same time. I was really gassed by the time I rolled back into Medora. Highlights:

• saw a few bison at a safe distance (none were right next to the road),
• Saw quite a few wild horses. Even rode through a group of six grazing on the road side. No photo, sorry...had to enjoy the moment.
• I got passed by a couple of guys on road bikes. One blew past me on an uphill, second slowly passed me. We chatted for a few moments. And then they were gone. Oh yes, I forgot: these guys had just finished a loop when I was leaving to start my ride. So when they hammered past me...THEY WERE ON THEIR SECOND TRIP THROUGH THE PARK!!

Archeology and such...

Archeological self portrait. Doing survey work in northeast North Dakota near a coulee FULL of water.






Me doing survey work in the badlands in an area once part of Theodore Roosevelt's Elkhorn Ranch, in the Little Missouri River valley.








Sometimes, you have to wait for a flower to open its petals. And if it doesn't open it petals tonight...

Memorial Day Weekend Family Fun - Day 3 (Monday)

On Monday, we did the back-country gravel road drive into the Elkhorn Ranch Unit of Theodore Roosevelt National Park, ND. This was T.R.'s principal ranch in the 1880s, when he was in the cattle business of then-Dakota Territory. He stated that (I paraphrase) if it weren't for his time in Dakota Territory, he would never have been president. The UND Archeological Field School will doing a precision mapping project here in about a week. So we came out for a visit so the kids could see T.R.'s place, and so I could do a little recon.

Kids hanging out, literally, at the entrance gate to the Elkhorn Ranch.







Emma hanging out, literally, at the interpretive sign area next to the former cabin at the Elkhorn Ranch.







CATTLE POOP!!








Kids hanging out on the fieldstone foundation stones of T.R.'s cabin.







Grace being presidential, or goofy, whilst standing on a foundation stone of the cabin.










Emma posing on a cabin foundation fieldstone.











Connor and Carrie at a corner of the barn, which was archeologically excavated back in the 1950s. A cement post was placed, in 1959, to mark the building corner.









Grace showing off a cement corner post she found while exploring.








The gang in front of a site datum placed in 1959. We are probably the first people to see this since 1959, or at least the first to see it and recognize its archeological importance. This will help the fieldschool tie the original map work, from the 1959 excavations, into our modern, high-tech map. If you want something done right, you better get a TEXAS A&M AGGIE to do it!



View of the Badlands behind (west) of T.R.'s cabin. He took some photos of his ranch place back in the 1880s, and you can see these very hills today!

Memorial Day Weekend Family Fun - Day 2 (Sunday)

On Sunday, we headed up to the North Unit of Theodore Roosevelt National Park, ND.


Gotta start a good trip with a picnic lunch. We didn't have to protect our pic-a-nic basket from Yogi Bear, but there was a herd of buffalo a few hundred yards away.


Roadside geology lesson for Grace. Mike pontificating and gesturing wildly, as usual.


Taking a break during a hike along the south rim. Photo by Grace!


Mike explaining Little Missouri River valley geology to Emma. Or maybe I'm pointing out some buffalo down on the valley floor. I forget.


Seriously cute girl named Emma.


BUFFALO POOP!!


Cute ladies at the end of the hike. Grace and Connor are nowhere to been seen, as they've taken the lead down the trail!


Serious cute attitude!!


CCC overlook shelter. The winds were howling!


Grace and I ventured down to the CCC overlook to check out the views. You can gauge the wind speed by looking at her ponytail...


View of the Little Missouri River valley, as taken from the CCC overlook.


Lots of hiking equals tired kids.

Memorial Day Weekend Family Fun - Day 1 (Saturday)

Carrie brought the family out for an extended visit over, and beyond, the Memorial Day weekend. We visited all 3 portions of Theodore Roosevelt National Park, ND. On Saturday, we did the South Unit of TRNP.


Cute family standing in the way of the scenic vista at the Painted Canyon overlook.

The kids about to head down a trail at the Scoria Point overlook.

Emma being cute, as usual. She was very proud of herself for climbing up the side of a butte and finding this rock to pose on for a photo!


Buffalo, bison, or tetanka.

Prairie dog, or "flickertail." Very cute. Their "dog town" burrows cover huge portions of the Little Missouri River valley bottoms in the South Unit.

Wild horses. The ladies always fawn over wild horses!

Kids tuckered out after some serious hiking and butte climbing!

Carrie and me being cute and snuggly. She makes it easy to be a snuggler...love ya babe!

Tutanka and "Big Dogs"

The UND Archeological Field School visited the Theodore Roosevelt National Park, South Unit today. Here are some photos. Lots of buffalo out there today!

Grant County ND Bridge and the Power of Mother Nature

Dennis, Cynthia, and I did an emergency survey for a washed out bridge in rural Grant County, near the town of Carson. A tributary drainage of the Cannonball River washed out a county bridge. Here's the carnage we came across. Thankfully no one drove into this gaping hole!


The bridge is a "choke point" where the stream channel narrows, which causes the force of the water to increase as the area it can pass through is decreased. The north abutment wall and wings, seen here on the left, remained intact. The south abutment was on the outer meander bend, where the highest erosive forces were in action. The abutment wall and the upstream wing are completely gone, except for one framing timber lying in the water. The downstream wing remains, but it was twisted and torn about 90 degrees from how it was originally built. It looks like someone took a box of matchsticks, wet them, then bent them over sideways.


When the south abutment wall washed out or collapsed, the bridge deck fell straight down into the stream...it's possible the south abutment wall is trapped under the deck. Overland flooding also eroded out the gravel road bed behind the standing abutmen. The road bed and gravel top were scoured out down to the level of the stream, roughly 10-ft deep. I'd guess 20-30 cubic yards of fill were scoured out.


This last photo shows the downstream view of the bridge remains. The large pile of boulders in the stream, in geomorphic terms, form a channel bar deposit. Those large stones once anchored the base of the abutment walls, and some likely formed the substrate of the washed out road grade. Yikes!

This was the first time I'd ever been to a washed out bridge in person, and it was truly awe inspiring. The power created by that water boggles my little primate brain. Again, thankfully, no one was hurt by the collapse.

Best wishes all, Mike

p.s. -- On the drive down to this project area, I got the opportunity to revisit some old friends. Carrie and I first met them in 1996. They are the Tin Family...the original piece of artwork on the Enchanted Highway. It's the highway between Gladstone (ca. 10 miles east of Dickinson ND) and Regent ND.


My favorite part? Here curly hair is barbed wire!

Southwest Pipeline Survey

The photos in this group were taken by yours-truly (honest!) on Saturday, 5-9-2009, whilst doing survey work on the Southwest Water Pipeline Project. It is a southwestern (gee, they should use that in the title...) North Dakota rural water project designed to bring treated water to locations where the local water is poor. For example, when I was much younger and a wet-behind the ears archeologist, I lived in Belfield ND for a short time. The water there came out of coal beds, uranium beds, or some other such wicked awful bedrock geology. When it came out of the tap, it looked like tea and would "fizz." Ugh. Now the city has good clean SWPL treated water and you can drink so much water you'll never sleep more than 10 minutes at a time without having to get up and go to the bathroom! Seriously.


Badlands west of Grassy Butte. Teepee Butte is on the horizon. The Beicegal Creek Road is out there somewhere.



Near the highway, I came across the equipment they use to lay rural water pipelines in the ground. I'd heard about this gear but had never seen it myself in person. Basically, they use 3 or 4 huge Caterpillar tractors, chained in sequence, to drag a seven or eight foot deep plow along the route. The plow clears a furrow and the pipe is laid down through a feeder tube atop the plow and its haul cat. The furrow dirt is then pushed back in and, voila(!!), rural water pipe is in the ground.


Front cat gets the best view, while the rear cat does the real work.


I think I'm impressed with the setup.

Cheers all, Mike

My New BFF

While doing archeological survey work near Beulah, ND today, I came across my new best friend. Cute one eh?