We failed to capture many good images of Badlands National Park, which is a shame, as it is such an incredible landscape of heat blasted land eroded over time. We arrived here after a full day of driving, and stopped to get gas right before the park, which was a great decision- there was a prairie dog community that were used to people, and they would eat grass right out of your hand.
The park is layered bands of pink and white stone, eroded straight from the prairie. It looks like another planet, and it must look extraordinary at night in the snow. Never far from my mind as we viewed this place was the thought of settlers and native Americans alike, surviving here somehow. I thought I was going to die if I didn’t get back to the air conditioning fast enough. It was HOT.
It’s so rugged and dusty and hot and sere and beautiful. My favorite aspect of it all was the lunar like hills in the background, presiding over living prairie which falls into these eroded, lifeless seeming cliffs. All of us would scamper out of the car, take in a great view, and scamper back to the AC, which was arctic and wonderful. Along this route (highway 240), we covered windy roads across tabletop prairie, dove down into the valleys, and back up along the edges. We stopped along the way and watched bighorn ewes and lambs cross the road and scamper along the hillsides.
All of this was at the end of a very long day driving from Sioux Falls. We were wiped out. Isn’t it funny how tired you can get from sitting all day long? We stopped at Wall Drug, but we were late and it was closing soon, so we decided to have a quick bite and come back for the free water and 5 cent coffee another day. We pushed on through an evening lightning show and arrived in Rapid City past dark, tired and ready for bed. Our BnB was baking from a hot day, but we opened the windows and tucked ourselves in and got ready for our first day in Rapid City- which would include Rushmore!
Add Some Glamour 