September 11th - 13th, The Badlands National Park

Sept 11-13 Badlands National Park area of SD -- our last state to camp in!

Wednesday - On our drive from ND to SD, we had
to detour in Dickinson.  The GPS routed us toward a 13' bridge and we are 13'4".   Detour around the block, get McDonalds for breakfast, then back on interstate 94.  So we are making a second trip down Enchanted highway (ND 21) - at least we know that 30 miles was good.  Then 21 to 22 to 8 to 12, all to avoid ND 85 where we knew there was  a lot of construction.  When Noel and Karen

went that way the other day they said between the
construction and oil coating the road for about 59 miles they would not go that way if they had a choice.  Today with sunshine it was fun to see the scrap art sculptures again and the sunflower fields their heads heavy with seeds.  The route took us near many National Grasslands:  Buffalo Gap, Wall, Cedar River, and Grand River.  Highway 8 was very jouncy (jiggly and bouncy)

with the back tires inflated to 80 psi and the trailer behind us.  Amazing that someone has not designed an amusement park ride so others can have this much fun.  Today was truly an American Back Roads drive with little to no traffic as we passed through or skirted the Standing Rock and Cheyenne River Reservations.  Today we needed to add more of the DEF fluid but at least we were able to do it at a gas station with a grocery store, albeit in the drizzle.  Combo stops are always good and when you can add in a donut along with the restroom and fuel stop - what more could one ask for?

The approach upon entering Badlands National Park was breathtaking.  The walls of rock and rock formations were like nothing else we have seen this summer.  Though we wanted to stop and look right away we proceeded down about half of the Loop Road to get set up at Badlands Interior Campground.  The camp is pretty empty with good views of some of the rock formations at the edge of the park.  Once we were set up we headed back to relax and marvel at the surrounding beauty.  
We strolled the boardwalks at the Cliff Shelf Nature Trail enjoying the lush beauty and scents of the junipers in the area.  At the end of the Window Trail we were able to view the rugged, barren expanse of the eroded canyon.  After eight miles or so we were back at the entrance and turned around heading to camp because we were hungry.  It was not really sunny today which I thought was great to be able to see the peaks and definition of nature's rocky sculptures around us.  A quick stop at the visitor center for the passport stamp on the way back to camp and we headed to town. 

Now town such as it is, population 47 I think, was not much.  There were two bars, one church, and a little party store that really did not look like it was in business.  Karen had a friend who said the Wagon Wheel Bar for Buffalo Burgers had a lot of local color!  So we headed there.  Actually the burgers were pretty good and the bottled beer cold.  They also were a package liquor dealer, but their selection was limited and we were not in need of anything.  The menu was pretty limited and basic bar offerings but we did not go away hungry or thirsty.  By the time we were back at camp it was pouring rain.  Camp rules say no washing RV's but I don't think they can say to much if I am brushing down the RV while it rains.  Realized that my rain coat isn't really up to the challenge of an hour in the pouring rain while I try to brush down the trailer, and get the windows cleaned. 

Thursday - Our new app "Just Ahead" is pretty good.  
It covers the Bad Lands area including the  Badlands National Park and the drive to the Black Hills and the Black Hills surrounding areas also.  It is $30 for the year.  It was fun and interesting to listen when we were in Theodore Roosevelt National Park and are looking forward to the narratives here in the Badlands also.  Last year we used "Gypsy Guide" quite a bit but they do not

cover this area.  We had to search out new options
and this app is so far so good.  We set out to drive the rest of the 31 mile park loop road.  With our app running we knew when all of the overlooks were coming and the history behind some of the names of the overlooks (Homestead Overlook) and the geology of others (Yellow Mounds Overlook).  The app even took us down a paved side road we probably wouldn't have taken otherwise.  It

was to the site of the BIG PIG DIG.  The day started out
overcast then winds picked up and the rain too.  By the time we got to the town of Wall and the famous drug store, there was a biting, cold, heavy, rain coming down with winds that turned our umbrella inside out.  First stop here in Wall is the National Grasslands Visitor Center, the only Visitor Center dedicated to the 20 National Grass Lands, most of which are in the central plains areas of

the US. There are about 20 different kinds of Native
grasses throughout the parks.  The grasses have deeper roots than the crops the settlers tried to plant and when several years of drought and winds came they created the Dust Bowl years and most farms failed in the plains areas.  Next off to the famous Wall Drugs which is a bunch of smaller shops now housed under a block long building.  There is a cafe still serving nickel coffee, a

small bakery, and every kind of western souvenir and trinket you can think of.  There is even a small narrow chapel in the building and we said a few prayers for continued safe travels and for friends and family who have health concerns.  It was still raining when we hit the local grocery store and besides some produce I found Buffalo Burgers from a butcher in Rapid City.  Picked up red sauce for chicken and black bean enchiladas that I made and froze last week. 

Next stop was the Minute Man Missile Visitor Center, where
we were just in time to catch the last film of the day.  Kind of scary reliving and realizing how intense world politics were during the cold war.  Even more interesting was the realization that there are still hundreds (though not thousands of missiles), under ground out in the great plains areas.  The displays and videos and commentary especially from the missileers who worked underground in shifts were very informative.  We have been to the

Titan missile silo in Green Valley in Arizona so we opted
not to take the tour here.  Titan Missiles were liquid fuel propelled while Minute Man missiles were solid rocket fuel.  One of the most unique advertising spiels for the missiles looked like a Domino Pizza Box.  It took a minute to register why the pizza box was on display, check it out.  Finally the WIND died and there was and beautiful sunset after the clouds cleared.

Friday - Sunny this morning as we headed back to a
couple of stops.  The easy walk along the Fossil Exhibit Trail was very interesting to see the replicas of fossils that have been found in the Badlands National park.  The interpretative displays show renderings of what scientists speculate the animals or creatures looked like and what present day animals are descended from those extinct creatures.  We hiked the 1.5 mile Door trail out

through the rocks and crevices and boulders.  Since it
was not very crowded at several times along the trail it was just us and the rocks, and crevices and peaks and jagged formations.  It is very easy to see why the name Bad Lands is so appropriately descriptive.  I could not imagine being a native, or early settler faced with crossing this area.   One of the first stops when you enter the park is the Big Badlands Overlook.  We headed back

there to take a last look at the sweeping landscape of the park.  It was very busy along this trail to the overlook.  A big advantage to that is there are more eyes to spot wildlife.  Sure enough several people had spotted a large, lone Big Horn Sheep in the distance sunning himself on the rocks.  A few people did a big no,no and drove back down the road parking where they were not supposed to in order to walk across the field, and come in behind the sheep for a picture.  The rest of us contented ourselves with sharing binoculars, taking pictures with big zoom lenses to let others look at the pictures, and pointing out the location so visitors could get their own pictures.  We would have liked to walk a few more trails or short stretches of longer hikes but with the amount of rain there has been here lately many of the trails are muddy and slippery according to the rangers.  It is always fun to browse the gift shops so we stopped at Canyon Pass Lodge to check out the lobby and gift shop on the way back to camp. 

Mother Nature graced us with a glorious afternoon so I got laundry done, Tony worked on the Tire Pressure Sensors (ordered new batteries), sprayed WD 40 latches and hinges and stuff.  It was nice enough to grill out chicken sausages, and broccoli to go with the purple cabbage slaw I made. This evening we worked on picking out blog pictures and put our 49th sticker on the USA Map which is now full except for Hawaii!

Note:  We did not explore the South Unit of the Badlands National Park or the 30 plus mile gravel road going through the North Unit to the South.  We did not want to travel on muddy gravel roads and though I am sure the South Unit has its own merits partially by virtue of being more remote and isolated, we were not looking for a place to boon dock or wilderness hike.  The South Unit also contains many sites that are sacred to the Oglala Lakota and other American Indian cultures.  In 1942 the government took over 340,000 acres from the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation located within the South Unit to establish a bombing range.  There are still large quantities of unexploded ordinance in the areas that were used for bombing practice.  The park brochure says that cell phones can trigger detonation!! YIKES.