Exploring the Badlands

 Click to see our video: 

Exploring Badlands National Park on YouTube. 

Sunday, September 20, 2020

It was still dark when the alarm went off. I brewed myself a small pot of coffee and and the muffins we brought from home made for a quick breakfast. We drove back to the same parking lot where we had accessed the Door and Window trails, but this time parked at the opposite end to begin our hike on the Notch Trail. It was just getting light and there were only a couple other cars in the lot. 

The dirt path into the canyon was fairly flat for about the first 1/3rd of a mile But then we encountered the ladder made of over 50 log rungs going straight up the cliff face! I started up the ladder walking upright but quickly switched to climbing on all fours. 

Bob also was on all fours by the time he reached the upper part of the ladder.

The trail continued along the edge of the cliff and narrowed to the point that I was feeling uneasy about the height. At that point I stopped and waited while Bob continued on to the “notch” at the end of trail which affords a sweeping view across the Badlands. 

Not a good trail for anyone who is queasy about heights.

The sun had just appeared from behind the peaks when we started our descent down the ladder. Going down was even tougher than coming up, in part because of my short legs. 

Right before the sun rose over the peak...

...and there it is!

Driving back towards our cabin, we pulled into the parking area for the Cliff Shelf Trail. This half-mile loop had quite a few steps, but otherwise a pretty easy walk. From this trail you could look up and see the "notch" where we just were.

View from the Cliff Shelf Trail.

Looking up from the Cliff Shelf Trail. The lady in the pink shirt is looking down from the Notch Trail.

Overlook from the Cliff Shelf Trail.

A free bag of ice was included with an overnight stay at one of the Cedar Pass cabins. We could have picked it up when we checked in, but decided it would be better to wait and grab it on our way out. It was around 9 am when we made it back after our hikes, but the visitor center didn't open until 10 am. We busied ourselves getting packed up and tried to resist the urge to crawl back into bed for a nap! Right at 10:00 we checked out, got our bag of ice and began driving the Badlands Loop road. 

There are numerous pullouts along this loop...some we got out and explored a bit, others we just pulled over and took a photo. 

Panorama Point Overlook

At one stop, I decided to wait while Bob did a short hike but when he discovered a bunch of bighorn sheep, he came right back to the car so we could go see them together. There were about a half dozen right by the road and they were causing quite a traffic jam!

Four years ago I discovered a phone app called Gypsy Guide which we used when visiting Hawaii. This GPS driven audio tour app was like having our own private tour guide in our car! I was excited when I found out that one of their newest tours covered the Badlands and Black Hills. I purchased the app ($9.99) right before we left home.

I should have turned on the app when we entered the Badlands the day before (but forgot) so I made sure to get it going as soon as we started driving the loop. The guide would alert us to what scenic overlooks we were approaching as well as giving us some history on the Badlands area.

Right after the Yellow Mounds overlook, we turned onto Conata Road to stop at a picnic area for lunch. Bob was quite familiar with this place since it is where he usually parks when he does multi-day backpacking trips out into the Badlands. 

Yellow Mounds

We left the Badlands Loop and went north to leave the park out of the Pinnacles Entrance. Had we continued on a little further on the loop we would have encountered Robert's Prairie Dog Town and several more scenic overlooks.

When we reached the town of Wall, we drove past the famous Wall Drug but opted to not stop. Main Street was crawling with people and there was no close parking available even if we had wanted to stop. A 5 cent cup of coffee and a donut was not enough to entice me into being in a big crowd. We have been there before and we will be back again when life is more normal. 

Highway billboards were how Wall Drug achieved its success back in the 1930's and continue to be the main form of advertising today!

 

Wall Drug stretches a good ways down Main Street and is more like a mall. 

Our route bypassed most of Rapid City on our way to the AirBnB where we were to spend the next few

nights. We got a glimpse of the Crazy Horse carving, but no photos this time. It will be more visible when we are traveling in the opposite direction. This sculpture was begun in 1948 and is still a LONG way from being complete. I am sure it won't be finished in my lifetime. When (and if) it gets completed, it will dwarf the carving at Mt. Rushmore.

Jim, the owner of the AirBnB, was working outside when we arrived. The studio apartment where we were to stay is the upstairs of a detached garage and located in a beautiful valley. He helped us unload our luggage and then left us to get settled in.

The view from our deck.

Bob was curious if there were any old quartz mines nearby. Jim was able to give him directions where to go up in the hills and even loaned Bob his 4-wheeler to use! Bob came back with a couple of huge chunks of beautiful pink quartz. Not the easiest souvenirs to get, but ones that will become part of our landscaping at home!

Dinner was lasagna that I had prepared ahead and froze. Attempting to keep our bodies on Central Time Zone, it was an early-to-bed night in anticipation of an early start in the morning.