Thursday, August 16, 2007

"Travelogue: Little Missouri Breaks, North Dakota"

"Mako Shika"
Sioux
"Where the land breaks"

And that's exactly what the Little Missouri Breaks resemble: 'broken land'.

Welcome to North Dakota, a state that most have no idea has such beauty in its boundaries. All of these images came from (or very close to) Little Missouri State Park north of Killdeer, ND on Highway 22.

This particular park caters to those who wish to trailer in their horses for days of trail riding, and an awe-inspiring trail ride it must be. Because I was on the clock to return from my foray into the Roosevelt National Park, I did not have time to do any hiking myself. **sigh**

All of these photos came from somewhere close to a road or entrance trail...and you can just look into the landscape and picture what it would be like to be down in there, walking amidst the formations and devouring all the different perspectives they surely provide.

I know I always say this, but these pictures look much better enlarged, which you can do by clicking on them. It's clear in the timing of my visit that the word 'drought' was not a topic of conversation...my yard now is the color of the rocks in the picture, NOT the verdant grass seen in these photos!

By the way, this has NOTHING to do with the 1976 film "The Missouri Breaks", starring Jack Nicholson and Marlon Brando. That area is way up in Montana along the...you guessed it...Missouri River. However, sure would be a beautiful setting for a movie, eh?

Caught this little lagomorph in mid hop as it was searching for the tastiest greens. Maybe I could film a documentary of this rabbit and the life-cycle of creating offspring there...you'd have to admit it would be a hare-raising drama...

Ah, what's a typical blog entry from me if it doesn't have at least one lame joke? Well, most days, anyway. Speaking of lame, any sense of that is best avoided as this particular park as almost 5,800 acres to explore.

The Little Missouri Breaks. Clearly one of those places on my 'must go back to' list.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Nice pun! "Wascally-wabbit"!

You say "hare-raising", and I say "hair-raising" ..... as in the pic that looks like Painted Canyon (south unit of RNP) made the hair on my arms stand up ..... gave me chills, and made me quite a bit "homesick" myself!
Western ND is the real-deal --- among numerous other places in the general area, including western SD and eastern WY.
GREAT pics, Bob --- thanks for sharing!

Suzy :)