Bad Weather in the Badlands

  Interior, South Dakota, United States
Friday, August 24, 2007

Spent the majority of the last two days in the Badlands of South Dakota.

It started raining as we broke camp on the Missouri.  We'd just packed everything up as the first drops fell.  We got back on the road around 10, and headed west on I-44.  The drive was beautiful!  We soon turned north, heading for the Wounded Knee memorial.  We were both pretty disappointed by it however.  There was a wooden board with a timeline at one random intersection, not very well marked, and that seemed to be it.  Maybe we missed something, but I don't think so.  We only spent a few minutes there, then headed north, getting low on gas, and hoping there would be a station at one of the few crossroads to be seen on the map.  Finally we found one at a little town in the middle of nowhere.  After fueling up and grabbing some jerky and water, we continued on the way to the Badlands.

We entered the Badlands from the south, and it was incredibly obvious when it happened.  The landscape changed completely in the span of just a few miles.  We stopped at the southern visitors center, called the West River Visitor Center, and checked out the maps and info they had.  There wasnt much to see, but it would be a great jumping off point for a future trek through the Badlands.  I could see myself throwing on a pack, grabbing some water, and spending a couple weeks camping in the wilderness.  From here, we headed north a bit more, to the main campgrounds of the Badlands National Park.

We set up camp on a very exposed plain, no 

Notch Trail Jerry

Notch Trail me

trees in the area, and slightly raised over the surrounding ground.  Seemed like a great site when we picked it.  After setting up, we decided to go for a hike.  There were several trail heads nearby and we picked one called the 'Notch Trail', described as only for those who were reasonably fit, and which supposedly included several large climbs.  The trail started off fairly level, winding through a rocky landscape, with lizards and chipmunks running all over.  Eventually we came to a ladder made of logs, probably 75 feet high or more.  Climbing up it was a hell of a lot of fun. From there, we hiked along the canyon, and eventually came to an overlook that gave a great view of the Badlands to the east.  Definitely worth the walk!  On the way up, we ran into a couple of girls that told us they were lost.  Im not really sure how, cause the trail was pretty well marked, but we were able to help them out.   On the way back, we tried to take a different route, but ran into the top of a waterfall, dry at the time, but impassable nonetheless.  And so we had to return the way we'd come.

The Ladder

Notch Trail overlook

That evening, we had some dinner, and were sitting around when a new group took the campsite next to us.  They pulled up with a trailer painted with 'The Wolven' on the side.  Jerry was kinda worried, thinking they would be out howling at the moon or something i think.  But they werent so bad.  As it got darker, it looked like some weather might be moving in from the west, but the ranger kept driving around and not saying anything about it.  Finally, I asked him if he'd heard anything on the radio, and he said that yea, we'd better look for some storms.  Which meant I had to put my rainfly on.  And boy am I glad I did!

The storm that night was crazy!  I actually put my clothes back on midway through cause I thought I'd have to leave my tent when it got blown over.  Rain was blowing so hard it was coming right through the fly!  And I was holding the main pole to keep it from coming out of the ground.  Eventually, the rain stopped, and as I crawled out of the tent to check my stakes, I found Jerry already out there doing the same thing.  His tent had been blowing just as badly, and he thought he was gonna have to get out too.  Luckily, the rest of the night was much calmer.

The next day dawned overcast, but fairly warm.  We broke camp and drove along the scenic route to the north of the Badlands.  There was an overlook every mile or so, and we stopped at most.

Scenic Rt Overlook 1

Jerry slipped on his ass in the mud at the first one we came to, and had to change his pants hiding behind a car door.  It was pretty funny to see, although I was about to warn him it was slippery just before it happened.  We ended up seeing a few bison and deer at some of the overlooks, and some incredible views.   From there, we took Sage Creek Road along the west side of the park.  Its a gravel track, but was in great condition.  We passed by some groundhog communities, saw some antelope, and passed fields of yellow flowers.

Scenic Rt View

After leaving the Badlands, we headed west to Rapid City, had some lunch downtown, then drove south to the Black Hills.  I got my first glimplse of Mount Rushmore as we headed for the park we'd picked for a campground.  It was Horsethief Lake Campground.  Had a pretty little lake in the middle, and some cool rock formations.  Jerry decided to nap and I took a drive through some of the surrounding country.  It was raining, so I didn't see much, and just headed back to camp.  We had some eggs, potatoes, and cheese for dinner, I read some of Bob Dylans biography, listened to BB King playing at the camp down the way, and called it a night.