Summer Journey Continued, Pt. 3 - The Badlands, South Dakota.

From the time our trip began we had, for the most part, played much by ear other than our campgrounds and destinations.  The points in between and the routes taken, however, were left to change.  

When we left out from Fort Robinson we decided to go straight north through the Oglala National Grasslands.  There was a lot of empty, barren land (but many cattle) between Crawford and the South Dakota state line.  After about an hour we stopped for gas in Hot Springs, decided against stopping at the Mammoth Site due to time constraints. Our next stop was Wind Cave National Monument, and Sadie became fascinated by the prairie dogs that built their towns along the sides of the road.  At the visitor center Sadie got her Junior Ranger book to complete on the "fairgrounds tour," and we bought her a plush prairie dog that she named Prairie Flower.  We spent several hours here, and the tour was very good, and much less scary than our trip into Cosmic Cavern some year ago.  

Prairie dogs were everywhere!

One of several large rooms in the Wind Cave tour. 

After leaving, we bypassed Rapid City and Mount Rushmore since we stopped there last year, and headed east towards The Badlands National Park.  A year ago, as we passed through the area from Omaha heading towards Rapid City we saw the mountains of The Badlands from a distance, and it had been on Stephanie's mind to get back here since.

Typical landscapes in the badlands.

Stephanie and Sadie on one of the trails

Last year in Yellowstone we hoped and hunted to get to see a Bighorn sheep.  We finally got to see one here!

Our reservations for the next two nights was at the Cedar Pass campground, near Interior, South Dakota.  To get there, you have to pass through the park, and so we stopped briefly at the visitor's center, but it was very crowded so we decided to visit it later.

The campground was different than others, in that there were no real "sites" or tent pads, so we set up as we could among the RVs there as well.  

Our view from camp towards the Pinnacles and Cedar Pass.

The RV next to us was from Alaska, and the family had two daughters.  Sadie wanted to play with them so bad but being shy, did not want to introduce herself.  Finally, one of the girls approached her, and they had a good time for a while.  At dark, the campground and the park hosted a ranger presentation on the bats of the area and their importance, as well as star-gazing, so we all went to hear it. It was fascinating, and the sky in the Badlands was so dark that the stars were extra bright.  At home, Dallas to the north and other small towns around cloud out much of the brilliance of the sky, so this was a special thing!

Day 5 was set aside for seeing the park.  We restocked the ice in our cooler at the Cedar Pass Lodge, and visited the visitor center to get Sadie's Junior Ranger workbook and our hiking stick medallions and souvenirs.  Then we hiked the Notch Trail.  This is listed as one of the most strenuous hikes, and it soon became clear why.  The trail involved a climb up a steep cliff on a wood-and-cable ladder and several steep cliffs along the path.  But the view at the end was worth it!

The ladder on Notch Trail

The next trail was Window Trail.  It was short, and there was no "window" in the rock which we expected.   The Window is the break in the mountain wall for a view of the badlands beyond.  Door Trail was next, and it was a meandering trek through the badlands following guideposts.  Many hikers were here, but it was a great look at the diversity of the area.

Vista from Door Trail

Our next destination was Wall Drug.  Last year we saw signs for 400 miles advertising Wall Drug Store.  It was huge, and we got root beer malts.  Sadie had a strawberry malt.  Then we bought some cards to play games in the camp along with a camp skillet.  Then, we drove back, hoping to stop at the Minute Men Missile Site National Monument nearby, but it closed at 4 pm, and we pulled in just as it was closing.  It would have to wait for a future trip.

Back in camp, we had new neighbors, but we did not meet them. They were older and did not come out of their camper.  We fixed supper, played a hand of Phase 10 at the picnic table, had showers at the bathhouse, read a chapter or two from "Little House on the Prairie," then went to bed.  The wind picked up in the night, and around 3:30 I was outside trying to shore up the tent wall which collapsed.  Stephanie soon joined me to help, but Sadie slept through it.  We used paracord and tied the tent to the edging posts along the road, and tried to get some sleep.  By morning, the wind had passed, but since there was the prediction of another storm early we packed up quickly and was in the car heading to our next destination before 6 am.  

Day 6 would be a long one, but a good one with many adventures.  More than I have time to tell tonight.