Theodore Roosevelt NP. Rowan and I are here for our last day–providing we manage to escape! It is so beautiful here; TRNP touches something deep inside me, and neither of us really want to leave.

The reason for the name Theodore Roosevelt is that TR himself fell in love with the area when he came on a hunting trip, to hunt bison. He arrived as an easterner with an interesting idea of the wild west. When he left, he owned a ranch and 400 head of cattle. His cabin was moved to this location from its original spot in the Badlands, small but meeting all of his requirements: a room for privacy, a room for entertaining, and a separate kitchen.

Our tour of the cabin on our first day, and the ranger-led campfire talk
that night, were led by Patti Schaefer, ranger extraordinaire
Eventually, he purchased another ranch, as well, where he ran more cattle. TR was not a wimpy man. He worked his ranches himself, riding the ranges, herding the cattle, protecting and rescuing them. If you read of him, he lived a full, interesting, and sometime sad life.

So, again, our last day. Rowan had not yet met all of the requirements for her Junior Ranger badge, so we were off to tour the 37 miles of road with hiking trails, bison, feral horses, etc. One of our stops was to hike Buck Hill.

The Buck Hill pull-off has two hills–we took the left hill, which was taller, with an interesting, winding path. The view was spectacular. We wandered, taking our time, taking photos, walking into the sage and grasses off the beaten path.

I was peering through the binoculars, looking at things too far for me to see easily, when Rowan came running over. There was a shed snakeskin off the path. We investigated; it looked like it might be a rattler, with a  length of about 3-1/2 feet. Cool. Rowan was a little freaky about the possibility of meeting its former owner! As long as we watch where we’re going, it should be okay; rattlers are as scared of us as we are of them, thus the rattles on their tails. We took a couple of pics, and wandered on, talking of the many things we had seen, so far.

At the “end” of the hill–it was kind of oval–I dragged Rowan off  the path to look at a really neat juniper about 50 feet from the path. Along the way, we stopped and looked at the cacti and other plants, including the sage, which is everywhere. We wandered back up the hill to the path, talking and looking, in awe of the area.

A largish flat rock was ahead of us. I walked around it, and Rowan–being Rowan–jumped up on it, then off the other side.

Ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch!

We found the previous owner of the skin!

Rowan screamed in panic, and ran from the rock to me. I took a good look under the rock to ensure Mr. Rattler wasn’t in pursuit. I couldn’t actually see him, but Rowan only in Teva “performance” sandals (enclosed) and me only in tennies, I wasn’t about to snake-bait with a big stick. It’s okay; this time, the rattle was more than enough.

We walked quickly from the rock, turning again to see if we could see him. For some reason, I didn’t think of using the binoculars to look under the rock. Silly me–I really would have liked to see him–or her.

We continued at a more leisurely pace over the crest of the hill. At a large rock formation, we climbed down into a sheltered area–no rattlers! Climbing back up, I managed to slip and narrowly missed hitting my head on a large rock as I fell. A couple of bruises, but no real damage, (probably wouldn’t have been even if I hit my head–too hard!). Thanks for teaching me how to fall all of those years ago, Sensei Jon.

As we detoured from the main path, again (will we EVER learn?!) I noticed a couple of odd looking white rocks. Too white and round for this area, I wondered if they were eggs. Putting on my glasses so I could see them better, I bent down to inspect them. One was small, maybe golf-ball-size. The other was larger, not quite tennis-ball size.

I touched them. Soft, leathery and warm. My finger left an indentation. Yep, rattler eggs!

The rest of our drive was fairly uneventful. We stopped for bison, and horses, again. Our previous three equine friends were joined by another horse.

Back, after hours (37 miles is LONG at 25 mph with so much to stop and see!), at the visitors’ center, Rowan and I both offered up our Junior Ranger workbooks to Patti (hint: the Little Missouri flows NORTH in this area) and took our pledges. Yay! Rowan’s third Junior Ranger badge (Mt. Rushmore and Yellowstone, last year) and my first! (I didn’t know adults could participate, or I would have done it last year, too!)

Unwilling to leave, we stood outside the visitor’s center, talking with Patti about many things as she offered a comment form to every visitor. Patti was wonderful over our entire visit, answering every question, friendly and sweet. We were lucky to meet you, Patti. Please keep in touch, we love to have you as a friend. Hope you had a great time at your concert in SD, and best of luck with school and your love.

And now, back to the road!

Joy is the Journey,

Patti and Rowan

Oh, and I know these posts are running well behind our actual journey. Trying to catch up, but stopping for wifi takes a lot of our time. Love you all!