Today we planned to explore the Badlands a bit more. But let me tell you about our first night in the tent on this trip. Last night we met some very nice people who were tenting in the spot next to ours. They were from Central Pennsylvania (near Penn State), and were at the end of a two month tour of the country. They had been up in Alaska, and were wending their way home, expecting to be back by the beginning of next week. Before we all turned in for the night, the mister warned us that the Mrs. was a world class snorer. He was right. Just as we were settling in, we heard a growling noise. A bear? Some other animal? No, it was the Mrs. Just one of those campground annoyances. Then there was the cold. It only got down to 50 degrees or so, but it sure felt colder. We wore our sweat clothes and each used an extra blanket with our sleeping bags. It would have been OK (just OK--not great, I might add), if the Mrs. hadn't snored all night, and if Ray's air mattress had stayed inflated. This morning dawned bright and sunny, and we had pitched the tent to get the morning sun, so the tent warmed up nicely.
So off to the Badlands Park to take the Medicine loop trail. About 4 miles long, it traveled through prairie around the badland rock formations. The prairie itself was studded with wildflowers, and was the kind of place that inspires such a sense of peace in its quiet atmosphere. A lovely walk, made even more pleasant by the dry cool breeze we enjoyed for most of the trail. At times the prairie filled the horizon, and it was hard to imagine that this was so close to the "forbidding " badland rock formations.
We then enjoyed a lunch (you know what it was, Alex, right?) by the side of the road under the shade of a tree.
Further exploration took us to a short 1/4 mile trail. 1/4 mile? No problemo...Except for the fact that the 1/4 mile goes straight up the side of the rocks. Now, even that's not too bad--except that the rocks crumble when you try to grab onto them for support. The rock here is very soft, a fact that has created the landscape by erosion. When you look closely at the composition of the hills, you can see cracks and lines. When you drop a rock from waist high, it may break into several pieces. So as we tried to ascend this steep hill, the trail seemed to slip out from under our feet. When we tried to hold onto something for support, it broke off. Going up was bad enough. Coming down was worse. I spent a fair amount of my trip down on my butt. When that little jaunt was over, I had had enough for the day.
So we decided to take the road through the park--very scenic, and head toward Wall, home of Wall Drug. The road there offered expansive views of the plains around the park. We passed fields with hay rolls to the horizon, and at one point, we were flagged down by a man in a pickup who asked us to pull over for the "windrower" that was coming up the hill on the other side. I'm sure he knew we weren't locals when Ray asked, "What's a windrower?" It's one of those gigantic haying machines.
On to Wall, as Ray says "Chock full of schlock". This place has every imaginable trinket, gee-gaw, worthless piece of junk you can possibly imagine, served up in the name of the almighty dollar to pull in anxious tourists. What a nuthouse, in such stark contrast to the country around it. But we did see a wonderful exhibit there of historic photographs of cowboys and indians ( yeah--I know, very un-pc word). The stories of the photographers were wonderful to read.
By then, it was getting late. Back to the campground for a beer or two, and dinner. And one more night in the tent. At least tonight the Mrs. is on her way home, and we have no neighbors.
See photos of the day here.
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