We managed to get up and get out of the Crazy Horse
Campground by 9:00am, that’s a really early start for us!! We headed north on
Highway 85 and made a quick stop in Spearfish
at the Wal-Mart to get a few things
The first part of the trip was through more rolling
hills of green grasslands, used mostly for grazing. Along the way we saw lots
of cattle, and some Antelope and Deer. There were a couple of signs notifying
us that there were private Bison herds, but we didn’t actually see them. We eventually crossed into North Dakota.
Since before we left on this trip, we have been
hearing about how busy the south west part of the state is due to oil drilling
and pipeline. We saw several new oil drilling sites, the equipment pumping the
oil is the same we have seen everywhere all over the country, the same up, down
pump. I was kind of surprised that technology hasn’t upgraded this process. We
didn’t see any evidence of pipeline going in, so that must be happening
elsewhere.
About 2 miles below the surface of western ND is a
formation called the Bakken, this is a rock layer rich with oil reserves. Until
recently this oil was not extractable. A new and controversial
technique-hydraulic fracturing or “fracking” has now allowed oil companies to get
the oil out of the ground. Phil and Nita have had personal experience with
“fracking” in Arkansas Arkanuste
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