Theodore Roosevelt NP

[dbhguru]

NTS,

  Here are a few miscellaneous images from Theodore Roosevelt NP. I failed to post on Teddy when we were visiting that amazing place.

1. Wild horse. We saw many.

               

                       

                                       

               

2. Bison. We saw many. They once blocked our path for a while. Unnerving.

               

                       

                                       

               

3. Butte.

               

                       

                                       

               

4. Little Missouri. Undamned.

               

                       

                                       

               

               

                       

                                       

               

There are ancient cottonwoods in the Park, although I was not aware of their ages until I later talked to Dave Stahle.

Bob

[Larry Tucei]

Bob,  Wow! Your photographs have been outstanding these last few weeks and I have enjoyed them very much. Its so refreshing to see such wild things in this day and time.  Thanks for sharing them with us.  Larry

[edfrank]

Bob,

When I was there a few years ago, I was impressed by the gnarly trees growing on the site.  it is very beautiful as well.  Under normal circumstances many of the clay/rock outcroppings are pretty colorless, but after a brief shower the color bands really stood out.  There are some good sized herd of buffalo at the park.  It is a worth a visit and certainly one of the moist under-visited parks in the system.  Most people go to the Black Hills, the Badlands, Jewel Cave, and Wind Cave directly south in South Dakota and bypass Teddy Roosevelt NP.  The badlands here at TRNP are simply more vegetated than their equivalent n the Badlands.  The park service website http://www.nps.gov/thro/index.htm reads:

The topography of the badlands in Theodore Roosevelt National Park provides for a surprising diversity in plant life. From the sunny and drier south faces of buttes to their forested and cooler north slopes, from floodplains to grasslands, and in prairie dog towns, over 400 species of plants have been identified within the park. As many as 500 species of plants may inhabit the park.

Forests are not the dominant habitat type in Theodore Roosevelt National Park, but they form an important component of the park's habitat diversity. There are primarily two types of forests in the park: juniper woodlands and hardwood forests.

Rocky Mountain juniper woodlands are the most common forest type in the park because the junipers benefit from a microclimate created on the north face of the buttes. There, the sun's heat is less intense and water evaporation is lower. Conversely, the south faces of the buttes are hotter and drier, and junipers are less common. Juniper woodlands on the north faces of buttes also slow the effect of erosion, and the north faces of the hills are not as steep as the south faces where junipers are not prevalent.  Elk prefer juniper woodlands where they can escape the heat of summer and the cold winds of winter. The berries produced by junipers are a critical food source for birds including Townsend's solitaires, cedar waxwings, bohemian waxwings, and American robins.

The dry climate of the North Dakota badlands limits the amount of hardwood forests. Hardwoods including green ash, American elm, box elder, and cottonwoods cling to the riverbottoms and draws where water is more available. These larger trees allow shrubby vegetation to grow beneath them, and the habitat favors some animals such as white-tailed deer, porcupines, and forest-dwelling birds.  

There are two separate units of the park - one farther north than the other.  They each have their own unique character.  Which did you visit on your trip, or did you hit both of them?

Ed

.

[dbhguru]

Ed,

 Only got to the lower section, but spent a fair amount of time there. Two more scenes.

               

                       

                                       

               

               

                       

                                       

               

Bob

[Don]

Bob-
You must be using a pretty nice camera!  Great grass scenes~
-Don

[dbhguru]

Don,

   I git lucky. Those scenes are with the old Coolpix 5400.

Bob