Moominmama's Adventures

In which Moominmama endures brutal heat in North Dakota but pays her respects to the originator of our national parks, Theodore Roosevelt... It was 103° upon my arrival in Theodore Roosevelt National Park -- it's a shock to get out of an air-conditioned car into that kind of heat. But I counted myself lucky because it had reached 108° the day before. These badlands, beloved of Theodore Roosevelt, are remarkably green despite the heat. The winds here have blown dirt and seeds onto the mounds and buttes over time, allowing plants to grow where most badlands remain barren.  These buttes are also surrounded by massive grasslands. With the life-giving Little Missouri River nearby, even big Cottonwood trees have a chance in this landscape -- and they are surely a blessing when the sun blazes! Moominmama arrived shortly after the brand new Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Museum opened. Designed by a Norwegian architectural firm, it draws inspiration from the surrounding badlands in some l...

Wherein Moominmama hikes Black Elk Peak, the site of Black Elk's vision quest and the highest point in South Dakota... Black Elk Peak was renamed for the Oglala warrior and wise man only 10 years ago, one year after Mount McKinley was renamed Denali in Alaska. Don't tell President Trump because both these name changes happened under President Obama, and Trump has already undone the Alaska renaming. Prior to the change, Black Elk Peak bore the name of the U.S. Army general responsible for a major massacre of Lakota families in 1855, and the lookout tower at Black Elk Peak built by the Civilian Conservation Corps still bears his name: Harney. To the Lakota, he is "Woman Killer." Nicholas Black Elk was a second cousin to Crazy Horse and present at the Battle of the Little Bighorn. (In 2021, Moominmama wrote about the Battle of the Little Bighorn .)  He later fought at Wounded Knee, but he is best known as a medicine man and visionary whose vision quest took him to this B...

In which Moominmama walks on sacred ground and learns the stories of the Lakota and other Plains tribes who consider these hills to be holy... Tourist visits to Devil's Tower in eastern Wyoming picked up dramatically after Close Encounters of the Third Kind  and the film continues to draw visitors, probably more than an interest in Native American stories. The KOA campground outside the National Monument plays the film for campers every night during the summer season.  Fortunately, that wasn't Moominmama's campground though she wouldn't mind seeing the movie again. Instead, she wanted to learn the Lakota side of the story. Devil's Tower is a misnomer for starters. A cartographer who did not speak the language somehow confused "devil" for "bear." I can imagine a native person trying to act out the word like a game of Charades, and the cartographer getting it entirely wrong. But this magma extrusion's original name was (and is) Bear Lodge. Bear...

  Wherein Moominmama discovers the glories of the Bighorn National Forest and has it mostly to herself... The Bighorn Mountains turn out to be a national gem, largely unrecognized outside this area of Wyoming. There's enough beauty and history here to make it a national park -- but then crowds would come, and Moominmama wouldn't feel like she had it to herself! It's an area about 150 miles long and 30 miles wide with the Cloud Peak Wilderness in its center, a set of snowy peaks centered around the 13,000-foot Cloud Peak holding the range's last surviving Pleistocene glacier. This whole area has been a holy place for dozens of Native American tribes, and the Medicine Wheel, at almost 10,000 feet of elevation, is a place of pilgrimage to this day. These stones are believed to have been laid in the pattern at left at least 250 years ago.  When Moominmama arrived at the trailhead, she was met by two young Crow women working for the Forest Service, asked to treat the ground ...

  Wherein Moominmama watches Rick and Lola ride off with the Pony Express mailbag and enjoys learning the history of Casper, Wyoming... Hee-yah! Moominmama arrived in Casper, Wyoming just in time to catch the annual re-enactment of the Pony Express as it made its way from Missouri to California.  Turns out theses states and those in between each have National Pony Express Association chapters, and each year they coordinate a 10-day run of 1,966 miles between St. Joseph, Missouri and Sacramento, providing volunteer riders, horses and associated logistics. The Pony Express rides west in even years and east in odd years. While Moominmama has been to the Pony Express museum in Gothenburg, Nebraska, she'd never seen the mail delivery service in operation. Here's Rick and his horse Lola as they waited for their turn to ride. They've done this route before.  He, like the other riders, go a two-to-two-and-a-half-mile stretch (considerably shorter than the original riders would ha...

In which Moominmama checks out the North Rim of the Black Canyon before returning to Grand Junction and the Colorado National Monument... Moominmama's stay near Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park confirmed her preference for being in canyons as opposed to on their rims. But my stay near the South Rim seemed incomplete if I didn't also visit the North Rim, the more rugged of the two sides. Unlike the more popular South Rim, the north side lacks the many fenced-in overlooks. A visit to Exclamation Point (great name) on the North Rim is an opportunity to stand at the very edge and look down, knowing a misstep could be fatal. Aside from this bit of thrill-seeking, Moominmama preferred the one twisty road that took her down to water's edge, where the Gunnison flows fast and cold -- no swimming but a bit of foot dangling permitted.  Moominmama also enjoyed watching the artistry of fly fishermen, with their ribbon-like casts over the water. Sitting on the rocky banks, I al...