Conquering the Badlands, South Dakota

The Badlands region, although paved with smooth roads are quite inhospitable. It is a swath of semi-arid land bisected by a 60 mile rock wall, but few places more beautiful.

We talked a long time with the couple who took this picture.
They will definitely be coming to The Villages and will hopefully look us up!

The Badlands National Park consists of 244,000 acres made of sharply eroded buttes, pinnacles, and spires blended with the largest undisturbed mixed grass prairie in the United States.

This park annually hosts more than a million visitors, most of whom enjoy the scenic loop around the park checking out many of the 11 overlooks.  For us, it is not enough.  We want to get inside – see it up close. Get on top of those beckoning spires.

Found this Bighorn Sheep roaming around... 

For more than 150 years, the Badlands have been treasured by archaeologists  and paleontologists.  Buried in layers of shale,  sandstone,  volcanic ash,  and silt-stone are millions of years of history. Ancient fossils, some 35 million years old, retell the story of a shallow sea that once covered the region.  Geologic  forces caused the sea to recede.  Subtropical forests grew, and rivers and streams  deposited debris along with volcanic ash.  Today, the White River area is considered one of the richest  mammal fossil beds in the world! 

Well, Hello!  He popped his head
around a boulder 10 feet from me!

Here in Badlands National Park, they actually encourage visitors to look for fossils.  If found, visitors are asked to mark the GPS coordinates ( if you have a camera or phone with that capability ) and fill out a form at the visitor center.  If it truly is a fossil, your picture will be posted among the other discoverers!  Due to the recent heavy rains, there were dozens found just this month alone.  Neither Norm nor myself had the patience to look very carefully.

Wed. June 18^th- Sun. June 22^nd, 2014 - Days 19 to 22

"Deluxe" site at the KOA Badlands/White River Campground
Big, Spacious, even had a sitting area with an umbrella!

Our stop for the next 5 days is the KOA Badlands/White River…. . Norm had reserved the “deluxe” site months ago, and it was fabulous.  Big, spacious, even a sitting area with our own umbrella! 

Norm and I hiked to the top of the highest spire in this photo!
We were the only people over 30 that we saw attempt that!
Hey, 60 is the new 30, right?  My mom and dad would say we
STILL have no common sense!  

Yes, we have our snake-bite kit!
Need to go on YouTube to learn how
to use it, eh?

The next few days we explored.  The first day we took a fabulous hike, each carrying backpacks with several quarts of water, binoculars, camera’s, snake-bit kit, first-aid kits, etc. I was surprised I was able to carry mine, it weighed so much. ( probably 15-20 lbs ).

We started out scrambling to dizzying heights then walking across the prairies ( watching for rattlesnakes ) only meeting a couple of people that far off the beaten path.  We enjoyed clear blue skies, temperatures in the 70’s during our 5.5 mile hike.  My pedometer device said we did the equivalent of 57 flights of stairs!  My legs agreed!

This scene would be ejoyed by only the hikers.  It was about 3 miles into the park.

76,000 sq foot retail "city".  There are billboards all
over the world stating " ??? far to Wall Drug".

The next day we rested our bodies with the mandatory visit to Wall Drug, in Wall, South Dakota.

Wall Drug is the principal industry in the town of Wall.  It is a 76,000 sq foot sprawling tourist mall ( trap ) that occupies most of "downtown" and employs nearly a third of its population.  Wall Drug boasts about its free ice water and 5 cent coffee on the hundreds of billboards that line I-90.  There is even a 50 ton, 80 foot long T-rex beckoning those on the highway.

A HUGE collection of quality western footwear! Most had
incredible detail, and priced in the hundreds.
Luckily for Norm, I am not a woman with a shoe fetish!

As Norm and I walked in, I was delighted in the quality of the western-wear store, thinking this place was going to be great!  Well, as we walked in and out of the different “stores” under this one roof, we quickly were reminded of the Dollar Store.  We managed to see it all, have an over-priced lunch of bison burgers, washed the car and headed back.

                                          Here is a little 35 second video looking out
                                               the RV window at the rugged terrain.

For our final day in Badlands National Park we donned our hiking boots and headed out about 7:30-8:00AM in order to beat the crowds.  We found a “strenuous” trail  that promised great views. Since it was described as inappropriate for those with a fear of heights, it was perfect!   As the morning progressed, the crowds became huge, so we                                                                            explored roads off the beaten path.

We slowed to marvel at what we thought were huge
ant hills, and POP! out came a Prairie Dog!  There were
huge cities of these adorable little creatures.  Norm was patient
while I took about 30 minutes waiting for this cute little guy to stand up and pose.

PLAGUE????
They didn't mention this in the Visitors Center!!
We went so far off the beaten path, we encountered this sign when we wanted
to stop for lunch.  Needless to say we didn't get out of the car and kept on driving.....

Our first Buffalo herd. Must be lunch time...

This is steeper than it looks.  The sign says not for those with a fear of heights.
Coming down, however, was much more difficult

" Yellow Mounds"

Bad knees?  Who has bad knees?

A group of Proghorn made its way down the path.