Medora, SD, Maah Dah Hey trail & CXT

Finish from yesterday:

Drove North from Sturgis looking for public land to dirtbag on. Miles and miles of range land & no shielded spot. Finally I entered a small piece of Nat Forest land. Drove back an slight road & parked right on it. Cloudy at first but @ pee break it was clear and really black. I was miles from any source of light.

Getting colder, no frost yet.

Slept in w/ same intrepidation of poking my nose out of the covers. Used doubled over down blanket. Concern as it gets colder until I get out of it if the blanket will keep me warm w/o heater on.

More miles of desolate road, range land, cows & hay. Lot of unsold hay round bales. Couple of jogs and into ND. At Belfield on I-94 I bought diesel @ $4.09, borrowed a phone book & found bike shop Dakota Cyclery  Mountain Bike Adventures, & called them. Got Jennifer on the horn & learned that she had a shuttle leaving shortly and I bit. Got into downtown Medora, an entry for Theodore Roosevelt Nat Park. She was running John out for a guided trip and I could buy a shuttle ride.

Off West bound on I-94 to Buffalo Gap XG TH. I rode with them for the entire ride. Buffalo Gap is part of the MDH as it skirts the NP. Trail is non technical swooping among cow pies. A bit of rain and slightly chilly. Actually rode with other people, not JRA.

Oh, at the TH was a double CXT outhouse.

Rode thru some prarie and then into the Badlands:

Then the trail:

FS has installed a new kind of gate:

Then into the Badlands:

But then these really are badlands:

Trail section:

Hit campground right out of town for $3.00 shower and laundry.

Decide to stay here another day and ride some more of the MDH Trail further North.

Off for now,