Reflections on bear safety, Fox Creek Campground, August 13 &14, 2014

On July 28, 2010, three bear attacks, two with injuries and one a fatality, occurred at Soda Butte campground,  just a few miles from our 2014 site at Fox Creek campground. The bears involved were a grizzly sow and her three cubs.

The week after that 2010 attack, we camped a few days near Livingston, Montana, less than 100 miles as the crows flies from Soda Butte campground, and, after that, moved down into Yellowstone to the Fishing Bridge campground.  I wrote about the incident on August 2, 2010 in Grizzly Country.

Wanting to know more about the event, I came across a couple of very good references.  The first is Terror at Soda Butte, by Scott McMillion.  The other, a bit dryer and quite repetitive, is the Investigation Team Report – Bear Attacks in the Soda Butte Campground on July 28, 2010.

The bear safety takeaway from both of these sources is.

• the people who were attacked did everything right with regard to bear safety.
• the mother grizzly’s behavior in attacking and killing was highly abnormal and authorities have been unable to identify any specific reason for it.
  • From the team report: “The summary morphological diagnosis was a bear with a thin body condition, moderate to numerous numbers of tapeworms and roundworms, and enteritis (inflammation) of the small intestine probably associated with the parasite load.“ The report declines to identify the bear’s physical condition as even a contributing cause.

Knowing that we were going to be in bear country and that this incident had occurred made little difference in our plans.  We always keep a clean campsite and try to be aware of our surrounding on the trails.

Next – I still need to replace that pesky heater plug.

Travel Day – Wyoming, August 13, 2014

Our drive this day wasn’t all that far.  We were going from the Big Horn Mountains of north-central Wyoming to a campground in the Absaroka Range near the northeast entrance of Yellowstone National Park.  The route took us through a variety of countryside, some of it pretty desolate, with a beauty of it’s own.

After lunch in Cody and some shopping for groceries, we headed over more mountains on the Chief Joseph highway.  This road follows part of the route that the 1877 flight of the Nez Perce Indians took.

Traditionally, Nez Perce lived in separate bands and were led by various warriors. This fluid social and political system allowed them to move in small groups during times of low resources (such as winter)and as large groups during times of abundance (such as summer). But this system—used by many tribes—also confused U.S. treaty negotiators who assumed the signature and agreement of one band bound the entire tribe. This confusion is part of what caused the troubles of 1877: several bands never sold their land to the federal government and never agreed to move to a reservation. The most famous leader of these bands, Joseph, was one of several who led their people on the journey of 1877. (Flight of the Nez Perce)

Chief Joseph led his band of Nez Perce Indians over a rugged pass in the Absaroka Range –  today known as “Dead Indian Pass” – as they were being pursued the U.S. military in 1877.  There are at least 3 different stories about the origin of the name, Dead Indian, which is also applied to several other features in the immediate area.

The Chief Joseph Highway has multiple switchbacks on both sides of Dead Indian Pass.

Our campground for the next 2 days was Fox Creek campground, in northwestern Wyoming, just a few miles from Cooke City, Montana. We picked it because it was on the western side of the Beartooth Highway, a very scenic high mountain road we wanted to visit the next day – without driving the RV over it.  Beartooth is very curvy and not recommended for RVs.  We were a little concerned about the weather as the forecast was not looking favorable for our planned drive.

After getting to the campground and setting up the camper, we decided to take a short drive to the nearby town.

Cooke City, Montana, is a small mountain town that lies near the northeast entrance to Yellowstone National Park. There are three main routes to the town, Beartooth, Chief Joseph and Yellowstone Park’s northeast entrance road.  During the winter, the only road that is kept open is the road through the park.

Unlike many mountain towns, I wouldn’t say that Cooke City is a tourist trap.  Instead, I think, it caters more to visitors looking for mountain and forest experience and adventure.  There are, of course, a couple of touristy type stores.  One interesting establishment is the Cooke City General Store, a general merchandise store in business since 1886.

We often take notice of colorful flower baskets and displays when we travel to cooler areas and Cooke City certainly had its share.

Of course, since we were so close, we just couldn’t resist driving into Yellowstone and a ways up the Lamar Valley, even though we has reservations for 5 nights in the park coming up soon.

Back at the campground, I noticed that the camper water pump was cycling occasionally without any faucets being open.  I looked around a bit to see if I could find a cause.  It looked like the drain plug on the water heater was leaking, so I decided to tighten it.

It was already tight.  When I tightened the plastic drain plug more, it broke and water started pouring out.  It wasn’t hot as we had not yet turned the water heater on.

I managed to get the rest of the plug out.  However, without a plug in the water heater, we couldn’t use the water in the camper.  If we turned the pump on it would try to fill the water heater.  Fortunately, we carry extra water in gallon jugs and we were near a campground faucet, so we had water for drinking, cleaning and flushing.

I figured the nearest place I could get a replacement part was back at Cody – which meant that the Beartooth Highway drive might be out of the question.

Travel Day – August 11, 2014

After a week since leaving home, we were ready to move on from South Dakota to Wyoming.  Driving west along I90, we were ready for lunch by the time we got to the Powder River Rest Area.

We’ve stopped here at least three times in the past – and it seems as though each time has been hot!

Sure enough, this time it was, too – hot enough that we started the generator in the camper to power the air conditioner and had our lunch in the cool instead of the hot outside.

At the end of the travel day, though, we camped in the kind of campground that we really like – South Fork Campground in Bighorn National Forest.  It’s rustic camping– no hook ups for electricity, water, or waste. You fill your water tank and dump your other tanks (shower and sink drains and sewage) before you get there.

Rules and notices are usually posted near the entrance of campgrounds on public lands.  At this campground, we saw, for the first time this trip, a notice that was to become very familiar in the days and weeks to come.

The campground is along the South Fork Clear Creek at an elevation of 7,800 feet in a dense lodgepole pine forest.

Next stop – deeper into bear country.

Exploring and taking pictures –  Badlands National Park and vicinity, August 11, 2014

After heading back into Badlands National Park from getting ice cream at Wall Drug, we came across a “few” wild animals.

There was a good-sized herd of buffalo (bison) near the road that goes to Wall.  They look mild – and generally are – but, they are wild and can move suddenly and fast, attacking whatever – or whoever – has irritated them.

Just a little further down the road, we took a walk at Roberts Prairie Dog Town wayside out into the prairie, one of the largest in the country. Signs warn against feeding the prairie dogs and to avoid contact with them, as they may carry bubonic plague or other diseases.

We also saw a few more mountain sheep.

Our visit to Badlands was a short one.  It’s an interesting place and this was our third visit, but, for us, a one day visit is enough.  It was time to head west to high elevations.

Exploring and taking pictures –  Badlands National Park and vicinity, August 11, 2014

After Cliff Shelf Trail, we visited a number of view points, turnouts and even a short hike (or two).  I usually take photos of signs associated with places we stop so that I have something to refer to when putting together a post.  It didn’t happen as much at Badlands, for whatever reason, so I’ll share a few of the better images of the Badlands.

Some time after our noon meal, we headed out of the park for the nearby town of Wall, South Dakota, for some ice cream at Wall Drug.

Wall was incorporated as a town in 1908.  It was named for its location near the high wall of the Badlands.  It is best known for Wall Drug Store, which opened as a small pharmacy in 1931 during the Depression, but eventually developed into a large roadside tourist attraction.  Over time it has grown into into a cowboy-themed shopping mall/department store (and tourist trap).

The New York Times has described Wall Drug as “a sprawling tourist attraction of international renown [that] takes in more than $10 million a year and draws some two million annual visitors to a remote town.” (Wikipedia)

Exploring and taking pictures –  Badlands National Park and vicinity, August 11, 2014

The Cliff Shelf Trail is a loop trail that follows boardwalks and climbs stairs through a juniper forest perched along the Badlands Wall.

Thousands of years ago, a massive stone broke away from the cliff above. Geologists believe that it fell with such force that it compacted the underlying layers of soil and other materials, reducing permeability and slowing drainage, retaining moisture and enabling a more lush vegetation.  This type of geological event is called a “slump.”

This is one of two places where we have seen rattlesnakes on a trail.  I wrote about this one in a 2007 blog post called Mommy!… Look at me! The little tyke from the 2007 post is in the little image inset into this photo from the same trail last month.

Badlands vegetation, where there is any, is more typically that of the mixed grass prairie, such as that in this photo.

More Badlands images in the future posts.

Exploring and taking pictures –  Badlands National Park and vicinity, August 11, 2014

The Door Trail, near the east entrance to Badlands National Park, leads to a broken landscape that earned the area its name. Over time, water sliced through the earth in this area, exposing sedimentary rock layers, eroding them into dramatic canyons and spires.

We had gone quite a ways out on this trail on a previous visit.  This time, though we were at the beginning of a day in the park and we didn’t want to burn ourselves out too soon.

We didn’t see any rattlesnakes this trip, but we did last visit, in 2007.  This kind of terrain is prime habitat for rattlers, from what I gather.

The initial part of the trail is handicap accessible.

A ranger guided hike was just heading out into the more remote part of this trail, but we stopped at the end of the walkway this time.

There is a trail out there, believe it or not.  Hikers must pay attention to the metal posts in the rock and other markers that are used.  They also should wear proper footwear and carry an adequate amount of water for the conditions. I’ll probably comment on it again in later posts, but it is absolutely amazing the number of people we see a mile or two away from the trailhead without water and wearing flip-flops.

After Door Trail, we took another short trail from the same parking area and then headed further into the park.  A short while later, we saw more bighorn sheep near where we had seen them the day before.

Photos and exploring western South Dakota, August 10, 2014.

After we got to the campground and got set up, we headed into the nearby Badlands National Park for a little exploring and some photos.

Badlands National Park… in southwestern South Dakota… protects 242,756 acres (98,240 ha) of sharply eroded buttes, pinnacles, and spires blended with the largest undisturbed mixed grass prairie in the United States. The park is managed by the National Park Service. – Wikipedia

We sure were surprised to see the bighorn sheep in Badlands.  This was our third visit to this park and I think this was the first time we had seen any.

After our inexpensive camping so far in the trip, we had decided to camp near Badlands National Park for two nights at a KOA (Kampgrounds of America.) That was a bit of sticker shock.  It was less than $100, but not much, including our 10% KOA membership discount, but still…

More from Badlands later.

Photos and exploring western South Dakota, August 10, 2014.

That’s right.  That’s the name of a town.  Scenic, South Dakota.

It’s not much of a town.  Perhaps it never was.  These days, it’s almost, but not quite, a ghost town.

We had left the Black Hills behind for a while, headed east to the South Dakota badlands.  It was getting towards lunch time and we had a ways to go before we got to the next campground.  I knew this little town was ahead, off on a side road, and thought we’d be able to find some place to stop so we could fix our lunch, even if it meant eating in the camper – usually when we are traveling, we prefer to eat outside, sort of a picnic along the way.

We didn’t see any place to eat outside, so we parked next to an old, long shuttered, gift shop and ate in the camper before venturing out to look around a bit and snap some pictures.

This old town was along what was probably once one of the east-west travel routes.  There are a lot of these around the country, little places that withered and nearly died after the interstate highway system was built.  These days, most of the traffic through this part of the country travels via Interstate 90, as we did a few days later when we headed to Wyoming.

Scenic is not completely dead.  There are a few homes there and we were able to fuel the camper at a combination filling station and convenience store.

And then we headed down the road to the next town and the RV park where we had reservations.

As I was getting ready to post this, I read that “In August 2011, a Philippines-based church called Iglesia ni Cristo (Church of Christ) bought the” town and nearby property, but has done little with it. (Wikipedia)