Oh. My. Goodness. The wind here is insane! I’ve only been in the state a few weeks, so obviously I am no expert. But the wind has normally been stopping around dinnertime or, at worst, at 7 or 8 p.m. Yesterday it blew all day and ALL NIGHT.
When you’re in a tent, this is a big deal. My tent was flapping all night in the insane winds, plus there are a gazillion trains that rumble through this area. Between the wind/tent flapping and train horns, plus some odd bright light, I barely slept. Oh well, that’s part of the adventure!
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Heading Out from Grace City Area
The forecast said a 35% chance of rain between 10 and noon. Well, it sprinkled a little overnight, then sprinkled/rained from about 7 a.m. to noon. The wind picked up again, so the morning hike from the Grace City area was unpleasant.
To make things worse, I somehow started off with my phone only half charge, AND I forgot my back-up battery. So I couldn’t listen to podcasts, talk to people, etc. I had to save the little juice I had to make sure I could 
find my way back to New Rockford.
Oh, and as I was getting wetter than I’d hoped, with water-resistant pants and an umbrella, I recalled I’d purchased a good hiking rain poncho over the winter. But since I had never used it, I’d forgotten about it when I packed for this trip. Ha!
Looking for the Positives
Once the rain stopped around noon, the hike was much more enjoyable. Yes, it was still windy. And yes, I was still on connecting road routes. But I was able to enjoy the scenery more.
Can’t remember what I previously wrote, but there are apparently a large number of migrant farm workers from South Africa in the state. No one knows why. Locals say this spring has been extra wet and windy. And while North Dakota once grew a wealth of sunflowers, the blackbirds gather in hoards and eat the seeds, so now they grow far fewer.
So many interesting things you learn through hiking!
Snowshoe
ND NCT miles today: 22.2 (35.7 km)
ND NCT miles to date: 270.9 (436 km)
Total NCT miles to date: 3,171.9 (5,104.7 km)
Total NCT miles to go: 1,428.1 (2,298.3 km)
