Custer, SD to Medora, ND

Wednesday, May 29, 2013

We managed to get up and get out of the Crazy Horse Campground by 9:00am, that’s a really early start for us!! We headed north on Highway 85 and John and Fran were leading. Made a quick stop in Spearfish at the Wal-Mart to get a few things and check the new tires. Everything fine, so we continued our trip north.

The first part of the trip was through more rolling hills of green grasslands, used mostly for grazing. Along the way we saw lots of cattle, and some Antelope and Deer. There were a couple of signs notifying us that there were private Bison herds, but we didn’t actually see them.

We eventually crossed into North Dakota, our first time in this state!!

We really didn’t think there was much to see up here, so we hadn’t bothered. Let me be the first to say that we were wrong!  Lots of beautiful countryside to see!

Since before we left on this trip, we have been hearing about how busy the south west part of the state is due to oil drilling and pipeline. We saw several new oil drilling sites, the equipment pumping the oil is the same we have seen everywhere all over the country, the same up, down pump. I was kind of surprised that technology hasn’t upgraded this process. We didn’t see any evidence of pipeline going in, so that must be happening elsewhere.

About 2 miles below the surface of western ND is a formation called the Bakken, this is a rock layer rich with oil reserves. Until recently this oil was not extractable. A new and controversial technique-hydraulic fracturing or “fracking” has now allowed oil companies to get the oil out of the ground. We have had personal experience with “fracking” in Arkansas, where they are using this method to get the natural gas out of the rock. In Arkansas this method has caused numerous earth quakes, and although this drilling is a good 60 miles from Little Rock (as the crow flies), we have felt some of the worst quakes in Little Rock.

Each new well means another drill rig, well pad, pump jack, debris pit, flare pit, storage tanks, and access road on the landscape. Each new well also requires 2000 ‘trucking events’ to complete its setup and to begin pumping oil. Noise and dust from the heavy truck traffic and pumping equipment is constant. The oil boom here or gas boom in Arkansas begs a difficult question: how can we develop our resources while still protecting our parks and communities??

We arrived at the Medora Campground late in the afternoon. This is a nice park, just on the west end of the City of Medora, and we think the city owns and runs the park. Just to the south of the campground are the Little Missouri River, then I-94, and then the train tracks. We occasionally hear the train if the windows are open, but no whistles, as there is a no whistle ordinance. So crossing the tracks is done carefully.

Shortly after we got set up, it started raining, quickly turning the hard packed red clay park roads into a slimy, slick mud track. The sites we are in have a layer of rock on top of the mud, so we are able to keep our shoes relatively clean, if we step with care. There are mud puddles everywhere!!