Exploring The Badlands
To Set the scene it is still Day 3 of my road trip. Leaving Custer State Park in my rear view I started the two hour drive over to the Badlands National Park!
I arrived in time to get to the gift shop and to ask the park rangers for their must does in the park! Even though it was 1700 and the day had been long, I was energized by the structures of the badlands and felt that needed to take in all the sights. In the below pictures I felt alive looking at the structures which for the second time this trip I felt nature mesmerizing my soul. Giving joy and wonder to some dormant part of me that normally is hidden behind my desk.
The scenery was out of this world incredible and broke my brain a bit with the lines and form of my surroundings.
The wild life was unforgettable. I saw big horned sheep ewes, pronghorn, prairie dogs and so many birds! The bison were the star of this day though. Posing and showing off in so many amazing ways. As a reminder, stay a safe distance from wildlife and use your zoom on your camera ya'll. The fluffy cows are dangerous and no one needs to get gored for a photo op.
As the last rays of light faded I took in the yellow mounds in the badlands that were made even more vibrant in the fading sun and spitting rain. Then I headed off to my home for the night in Cedar Pass Campground. Side note: I really loved this campground! While it had no trees there were little covered picnic tables, and well maintained facilities, including coin showers!
Day 4 started with fog and more rain. Many of the Trails I wanted to hike were no longer viable due to the weather. So I went out to the ranger led hike to learn about the geology of the park!
Park personality volunteer Paul was a the geology tour guide and I learned all about is all the deposition and erosion of the park, and a good bit about bird watching! I also learnt that the Badlands erode at an estimated rate of one inch per year! The Black Hills that we were in the day before erode at the rate of one inch per 10,000 years!! So some very fast erosion for rocks! This rate of erosion is why Badlands is also one of the rare parks that you can walk over without staying on trail!
Finally Found a park sign with a pull off!
Now here is the good the bad and the ugly of solo travel. I got a major migraine between the south and north section of the park. I pulled over laid my seat back and took a nap hoping that I would be wake up refreshed. Having a "okay what happens if?" plan is a requirement of solo national park travel. and "what if I get to sick to drive my vehicle?" Is one of the questions you just gotta think over. Luckily for me I did not have to put my plans in order! When I woke up and ate a snack I felt better and was able to keep the day going.
With the bad weather and with me not feeling 100%... I decided to change up my itinerary and cut my stay in the Badlands short by a day and make my way to Nebraska early and find some none camping lodging! So I started driving south to Nebraska, this route would take me through the southern, much less visited region of the Badlands National Park.
The White River Visitor Center, in the southern region of the park, shows many of the hard truths of the National Parks Systems. Land that is no longer in the care of the indigenous peoples. Surrounded by a history of grave wrong and unforgivable injustices. Yet in this area there is some hope of co-managing the land, while of preserving the history that cannot be undone. I spent a good long time in the center reading so much of the material and praying that we may learn from our past so as to never repeat it.
Thoughts? Reach out at: mythoughtsofindigo@gmail.com