Theodore Roosevelt National Park - The North Unit

The North Unit.  The South Unit.  And Painted Canyon.  The last one sounds like a national park name.  The first two sound like robotics plants. 

Overnight we were treated to nature's version of a North Dakota fireworks display.  About 1 AM a bolt of lightning struck within a half mile of our location.  It caused the emergency lighting in the hotel to kick on for a couple of seconds. In addition to the pyrotechnics the storm produced a "gully washer" of a rainstorm propelled by strong winds.  

A tree outside our room window grows for these conditions.  It bends and doesn't break.  Unfortunately, it kept bending into our hotel window with a loud slapping noise.  It lasted about 30 minutes and that was the end of it.

This morning we drove the 75 minutes to the north part of the park.  Speed limit on the interstate in ND is 75 and on the state road it was 65.  The North Unit of the park does not receive that many visitors.  There were times when we had the park to ourselves.  

I am guessing that this is what the prairie looked like to settlers centuries ago.  It is a gift to find it again in a national park.

The rock features are similar to the south but not identical.

The above picture is courtesy of Jan.  The area is referred to as the Canon Ball basin.  I think they look more like rock mushrooms.  Either way it is curious.

There are fewer Bison in the North Unit but they also have less area to roam.  Therefore, it is often easier to find them.

I posted a video of a bull wandering off from the herd as they are prone to do.  This bull had someplace to be and decided to use the park road.  The driver safety course did not precisely cover which of us needed to yield the right of way when a Bison wants to merge into traffic but I am think the animal gets to go wherever it wants.

Whether you visit for the wonder of the vistas or the smell of the wild grasses pass along an appreciation of the parks to future generations.  They need your interest and protection to survive.  It is the only park to represent the name of a person.  Theodore Roosevelt signed the antiquities act of 1906 to create a park system in this country.  In his words: "We have become great because of the lavish use of our resources. But the time has come to inquire seriously what will happen when our forests are gone, when the coal, the iron, the oil, and the gas are exhausted, when the soils have still further impoverished and washed into the streams, polluting the rivers, denuding the fields and obstructing navigation."