Badlands and Black Hills

October 17th-20th

Interior, South Dakota

Badlands National Park met us with harsh winds and snow flurries. We were in complete awe as we entered the park, surrounded by buttes and formations of sedimentary rock. The Badlands cover over 244,000 acres of land. 75 million years ago the land was covered by a shallow sea and as the water receded it left behind the formations we see today. 

Speaking of water, did I mention our hot water isn’t working in the camper? It’s top of mind for me right now, due to the fact that it’s twenty-five degrees out and we have to trek across the campground for our evening showers. Mike took one for the team and showered first. He figured out that one quarter would give us two minutes of hot water. I waited until the morning to shower because it was just too darn cold to go at night.  I would compare my shower to one taken at Girl Scout Camp crossed with a women’s jail. I know I’m being dramatic and have no idea what shower’s in a women’s jail are like, but I just kept thinking about Orange is the New Black. The shower floor had to be fifteen degrees and the actual room I was in was no warmer than the conditions outside. Everything got wet. I wrapped my tangled hair into a towel and headed back into the elements.

On Saturday morning we walked Berkley, greeted our new tent-camping neighbors and waved to the children scootering around in their underwear…while it snowed. The Notch trail was the first hiking trail we decided to tackle. It was only a mile and a half or so, but required us to climb a wooden ladder built into the side of a butte, which led us to an overlook with an insane view of the Badlands and our campground, far off in the distance.

I made some mean PB&J sandwiches which we enjoyed on the tailgate of the truck, before heading out for our more serious trek. We took the Castle Trail through buttes, a grassy plain and a skinny dirt path, which  led us to the Medicine Root Trail where we saw a big horned ram up close in person. It was huge and astonishing to see so close. Shortly after we captured twenty pictures of our ram friend, it started to snow and the wind picked up. We picked up the pace and finished it all in just over two hours and forty-five minutes. The map suggested it typically takes three and a half hours to finish the round trip loop, so Mike and I were quite proud when we stopped our watches and realized we beat their estimated time. By the end, our feet were sore, Mike’s beard was coated in snow and our boots were covered in a gray, cake-like mud.

Monday’s when you’re traveling cross-country with your husband and dog aren’t like actual Monday’s right? Wrong. This morning I walked Berk, he made some new dog friends, Darryl and Bosephus, who were two very friendly black labs. Then we packed up the truck and headed to Rapid City for the day. Mike and I had a lovely little lunch at Tally’s Silver Spoon. We sat at the bar and I had the most delicious eggs benedict and Mike ate a cuban sandwich. People actually don’t wear masks here. The signs on businesses say “Masks recommended.” It’s weird. We’re still wearing ours though. We walked Berk around Rapid City and then hit up Wal-Mart to buy a small space heater, so we could save propane. 

Mount Rushmore greeted us with fog. Lots of fog. So much that we couldn’t see anything. We drove all the way to the Black Hills, paid our $10 parking fee, followed the sidewalk toward the National Monument. We walked down a path surrounded with state flags and plaques for each state, respectively. When we reached the “end” all we saw was fog and a large snow covered tree line. There wasn’t even anything that resembled a rock, let alone Thomas Jefferson. We laughed at the mini snow sculpture one of the construction workers built that resembled the four presidents and then headed to the gift shop to buy a sticker. Did you know Thomas Jefferson wrote one of the first recipes for ice cream, ever? Well either did I. We enjoyed our overpriced ice cream together before heading back through the Black Hills and back “home” to the Badlands for the night. Monday’s, man. 

I woke up early to get in a run up the buttes before we had to check out. The landscape is breathtaking, everywhere you turn it’s an unbelievable view, like something out of a movie. The Badlands did have a depressing feel to them though, It was almost as if there was a gray filter over everything. The sky was gray and foggy, the buttes were charcoal and tan shades and looked like most of the color that was once there, had been washed away when the sea receded 75 million years ago. We took the scenic route out of the the park and spotted prairie dogs, antelope, mule deer and buffalo along the way. Off to Wyoming we go.