Today (Monday) was a mixture of driving and sightseeing, beginning with Theodore Roosevelt National Park North Unit. The North Unit is less visited than the South Unit and, therefore, seems quieter and more secluded. The scenery was (nearly) as beautiful as its southern counterpart, but with the exception of some bison, we did not see as much wildlife here. Nonetheless, we still enjoyed the 14-mile scenic driving winding through the park.
At the far end of the scenic drive, 14 miles into the South unit, we took a short hike across a grassy prairie to Sperati Point where we enjoyed an expansive view of the valley below. It was quite breezy on the prairie, and given the very comfortable weather here in early August, I can only imagine what it’s like in the middle of winter with the wind gusting across the plains.
After touring the TRNP North Unit, we headed up to Fort Union Trading Post National Historic Site. (Since we have a “passport” book for the national park system, we put many national parks, monuments, and historic sites on the itinerary. At each stop, we get a cancellation stamp in our book.)
Fort Union Trading Post was the most important fur trading post on the upper Missouri River from 1828 to 1867. Considered to be a (relatively) peaceful center for economic and social exchange between the Plains Indian and white cultures, many Indian tribes converged here to trade furs for cloth, beads, kettles, guns, knives, and other valued items. (For example, nine buffalo robes were valued at one gun.) Even warring tribes knew that this place was off-limits for fighting. The negotiations between white traders and the Indian tribes were ceremonial in nature with shared gifts, pipe smoking, and speeches, and the white traders often married Indian women for companionship and to improve their business relations.
After leaving Fort Union, we headed westward toward Glacier National Park. There is so much land stretching out in front of us in all directions.
My aunt Kim warned us that weird things would happen on long trips, and one such occurrence happened this evening with the disappearance of our paved road. U.S. Highway 2 is under construction in Montana. Unlike in Indiana, where the highway lanes are diverted or reduced to a single lane to accommodate road construction, highway road construction in Montana literally means driving on miles of unpaved road and gravel. We didn’t expect to need an off-road package for our camper, but with slow driving and evasive techniques to avoid pot holes, we made it to Shady Rest RV Park in Glasgow, MT, mostly intact.
