Bugs On My Windshield: The Badlands

I woke this morning, looked out the window and there was sunshine and clear skies. I dressed, and went down for breakfast. After breakfast I returned to my room and checked the weather. There was to be lots of sunshine, temps rising to near 70 and lots of Wind. I left the hotel a little after 8 am and drove to the park, reversing the route I took yesterday. At the Pinnacles entrance to the park I inquired about the Sage Creek Rim Road and was told is was open today.

I headed down the Badlands Loop Drive to Sage Creek and turned down that road. It was a maintained gravel road and was dry on the high spots, but still wet on the edges, but passable. I drove down Sage Creek approximately 5 miles, stopping at a couple of overlooks on the route. I ended at Roberts Prairie Dog Town and then returned to the Badlands Loop.

I drove toward the Visitor Center, 20 miles away to check on the condition of the hiking trails today. Along the way I stopped at some of the scenic overlooks I had visited yesterday, but today there was sunshine to help highlight the colors on the formations better than the overcast yesterday.

I arrived at the Visitor Center around 10:30 am and checked on the condition of the trails which were drying out but were still uncertain how passable they would be. I had planned to hike the Medicine Trail loop which was 4 miles round trip and headed up the road to that trailhead. I arrived a few minutes later, put on my hiking boots, strapped on my backpack and started out for the trailhead. About 200 feet down the trail I ran into standing water on the trail for long stretches for as far as I could see. Not knowing how it might be along the trail, given the starting conditions. So, I turned around and went back to the car, stowed my back pack and drove back to the main road.

I drove on down to the Notch Trail and Window Trail. Notch trail is a 1.5 mile round trip hike up the formations to an overlook of the White River Valley. It was a moderate to strenuous hike that required climbing a log ladder about 50 feet high. I put on my back pack and headed off. It took a little over 30 minutes to reach the summit so to speak. There were several places where there were “notches” in the formation from which you could see the valley below. After surveying the scenery, taking some photos and having a short rest and some water, I headed back down.

I returned to the parking area, stowed my back pack and started off on the Window Trail. It was a ¼ mile, boardwalk trail that ended at a natural “window” with a view of the badly eroded canyon. I returned to the car and had a trail mix bar and the rest of my bottle of water.

From there I drove on up to the Big Badlands Overlook and tool some more photos now that I had a day with sunshine. Since it is at one of the higher elevations, the wind was blowing much stronger than at some of the other overlooks.

After that I drove back toward the Visitor Center and Cedar Pass to take the road out of the park on the south entrance and drive to the Wounded Knee Massacre site about 70 miles away. I arrived around 3 pm and fortunately there was a flagman at a road construction site at the town of Wounded Knee. He asked if I was planning to turn west and when I told him why I was there, he directed me to a dirt road about 100 yards away that led to the site. It was a good thing, since there were no markers or signs indicating where it was.

I drove up the dirt road several hundred yards to the site, which is a cemetery where the massacre took place. I got out and began walking into the cemetery. A few minutes later and young Native American girl came up and asked if I was visiting the site and had some dream catchers she was selling, She was joined a few minutes later with other residents and items they had to sell or requesting a donation, etc. I spoke with some of them and heard about the details of the massacre, where the Calvary was positioned, where Big Foot was and his warriors, etc. It was interesting to hear them relate the incidents. After visiting the site for a while I got back in my car to drive to the hotel, which would take me back to the park and then out the north entrance to I-90.

I returned to the hotel around 5 pm. After that I unloaded some items from the car and rearranged things in the back seat to get ready for my drive tomorrow. I went to my room, cleaned up a bit and headed down the street to the Red Rock Restaurant for dinner. For dinner I had a Buffalo Burger. It was pretty good, but slightly different than a beef burger. The meat is not as fatty as say ground chuck, denser in texture and not as flavorful in my opinion, probably because of the lower fat content. After dinner I went and gassed up the car for the trip tomorrow and returned t the hotel.

Tomorrow I drive to Sioux Falls, SD to stay over for the night as the first leg of my trek homeward. On the way I plan to visit the Minute Man Missile Historic Site which is at the same exit for the park north entrance. I am glad I had another day at The Badlands and that the sun was in ample supply today compared to yesterday. It was windy though with gusts over 30 mph. Over the past two days I met people from Michigan, Illinois, Wisconsin, Ontario and Germany. Over the course of the past 5 weeks, I met more people from Wisconsin than any other location. Makes me wonder if anyone is left in Wisconsin or are they all visiting national parks in the west.