Badlands 7/8/2018

I can just imagine how amazed the first non Native Americans were when they first set eyes on the Badlands. After traveling for miles through rolling hills and plains, the Badlands rise up from the landscape--jagged rocks, and non-fertile soil.

We spent 2 days here, hiking and driving the park. On Wednesday, we took a 4 1/2 mile hike that took us through wildflowering prairie with great views of the Badland rock formations. Upright prairie coneflowers, showy milkweed, verbena, sunflowers, and thistle were among the many wildflowers in

large stands along the way. It always seemed like someone took the time to plant a garden for us, as we hiked past them. The fact that no one else was on this trail made it extra enjoyable, and the weather was superb--in the 70s and dry. We took a few more short trails to overlooks, and headed back for a beer. In the evening, we headed over to what was probably one of the best town

fireworks shows we have ever seen, in Interior, SD, about 4 miles away from our campground. There were lots of fireworks, and the show lasted for 25 minutes. The mosquitoes were pretty active, and we both got a few (or more) bites. Love this country--it was a happy Independence Day.

The second day we drove the park road and took a few small walks to overlooks that all provided spectacular views. We decided that we did want to further explore the road from which the previous day's trail departed. This was a gravel road that is very infrequently (we later found out) taken by

anyone. This was a narrow grave road that parted the prairie. We passed a group of cattle gathered by a fence, and inexplicably also on the top of a small mesa-like table. How the heck did they get up there? Further along the road, after about 5 miles, we saw a small tidy house, obviously occupied, with other farm buildings and vehicles. Out front, proclaiming to all the world passing by (?!), was a sign hand-painted in red, white and blue: Make America Great Again. We had already passed it, (with no hope of turning around on the narrow road), before I knew I should have snapped a picture of it.
Photos of day 1 are here: https://photos.app.goo.gl/DCkcvVBbuNBAiqvn6
Photos of day 2 are here: https://photos.app.goo.gl/xuuopHWSRMPiSgoy7