If a person approaches National Scenic Trails with the preconceived idea that only rocky vistas and waterfalls count, then that person is surely going to be disappointed. Rocks and waterfalls are wonderful, but there are lots of other things that make a trail worthy of being called scenic.
A portion of the Vision for the North Country National Scenic Trail reads, "to traverse and interpret the richly diverse environmental, cultural, and historic features of the northern United States."
I'm illustrating this post with photos taken only today, as proof of a random scenic sampling. Above is one of the Blazing Stars, a prairie favorite, often planted in gardens. But here it is growing wild, in the habitat it prefers in beautiful abandon.
In the small town of Walcott, there is a building constructed in 1903. So what? An interpretive sign tells me that this building served as a store, school and community center for many years, and it was built by a Norwegian immigrant woman, Margarethe Wigtil. She served as a frontier doctor, businesswoman, and community leader. How cool is that, to learn of a woman who refused to follow the expected path for the "gentler sex?"
The trail runs near the Red River Valley & Western Railroad. The RRV&W is a short line railroad that is doing quite well, serving a number of small communities. I watched a hopper being filled at the Walcott grain elevator.
I had to get some help to identify it, but this is a juvenile blue-winged teal. I've expanded my knowledge of birds SO much on this trip to North Dakota. There are so many species here that I don't see at home. I'll admit for sure that I'm only a mediocre birder, and these birds are also found in Michigan, but perhaps they are not so easily seen there by a casual birder.
What field crop looks like this? Did you guess sugar beets? But here's what I learned today. If you break a stem, they smell like chard. And, botanist that I claim to be, I did not know that sugar beets, regular beets and chard are all the same plant, just different cultivars. People have been tinkering with vegetables for centuries.
How could you not ponder the question of why this landscape is so unnaturally flat? It looks like it was graded for miles by some monster GPS-controlled machinery. You already know the answer, because I have mentioned it several times. This is the remains of glacial Lake Agassiz. You need a liquid to be this self-leveling. Reading the geology of the land is like turning the pages of a book as you walk.
I've said for years that the NCT is a trail to be sampled and savored. If hiking fast is most important to a person, then a great deal of the scenic, cutural and historic value is going to be lost. "Hike your own hike" is the big buzzword (HYOH) these days. So be it, but don't call a trail blah that you don't take time to look at.
You know I could throw in pictures from 238 previous days to prove my point, but I've been sharing them with you right along, so you KNOW there is something to see every single day. On a random day, in eastern North Dakota, I found scenery, environmental riches, cultural knowledge and history. Sorry, no rocks or waterfalls, but I still think today counts. No blah.
Miles today: 15.5. Total miles so far: 2893.9
 | See Off Road, Amazing Progress |
5 comments:
It definitely looks scenic to me.
Illustrating once again that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. This day, you beheld some real beauty! Ha! I am no botanist and as you know, I sometimes rely on you for identifications, but I did know the beet-chard thing! And now you know. (I was born in sugar beet country.)
Well said! From over in the Superior Hiking Trail portion of the NCT where waterfalls and scenic rocks abound, we do have "blah" sections also. But I have never thought of them as such. You did a great job of explaining why. Love your thru-hike posts.
"No blah" indeed!
Absolutely! Every trail is an adventure. I learned that walking from my house on an old rail trail. You just have to look for the surprises. They are always there. Thanks Joan.
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