October 11…. Badlands

We’re visiting Badlands National Park this weekend, in South Dakota.

Mile after mile of eroded gully, rocks, and dried mud. And prairie. Acres and acres of prairie.

The idiots in Washington still can’t figure out how to do their jobs, so the park is “closed”, but all that really means is that it’s free to get in, and the visitor centers are closed up.

Whenever I first come into Badlands NP (I’ve been here twice before, in 1981 and again in 2018), my reaction has always been “meh, some gullies”. But the longer I’m here, the more it starts to grow on me. The weird shapes, the colors, the ins and outs of all of the winding canyons. The flat grass covered prairies which suddenly drop off cliffs. And the buffalo, I do love me some buffalo. And prairie dogs. How can you not like prairie dogs?

We went on several hikes out into the cliffs and canyons, one of which the guide described as “rugged”. Uh huh. Straight up a cliff, we were scrambling and climbing, slipping and sliding. but we made it to the top. The climb back down was especially interesting, Susy just sat down and slid all the way. 😆

One of our hikes was to a place called The Notch. Actually an easy walk through the canyons… until it wasn’t. Suddenly there was a 100 foot tall ladder up a cliff face. 😯

We found this little guy on the side of the road just scratching away on a fence post. Just remember, Don’t Pet The Fluffy Cows.

And my other favorite, the prairie dogs.

There are several huge dog towns in the park. Driving through, we got to see a badger digging into a prairie dog hole searching for his dinner, and a coyote doing the same. Maybe prairie dogs are tasty. 🤔