Nothing like waking up to a stunning landscape to change your perspective on a place. I came in too late last night to really see much, and it quickly got darker and darker as I was focused on setting up the trailer and finding water. But the peaceful surrounding I walked out to this morning kind of took my breath away. I knew right then I could easily manage my “boon docking” stay of 3 nights.
I lazily got going this morning, first driving over to the visitor center to get my bearings in this NP. Then I moseyed over to the neighboring lodge where I was able to use wifi to send off my blog entry from last night. So nice.
And today, well, it was pretty special, I’d say. After two teeny tiny hikes to view the canyons here at Badlands NP, I drove the Badlands loop. The visitor center ranger said I might see bighorn sheep and bison up there, and indeed I did. The Badlands formations are not as spectacular as those in Bryce Canyon, but this is a different type of park. It was set aside to preserve the canyon formations, yes, but also the dinosaur and ice age mammal fossil finds and honor the Native American culture that inhabited this land. In fact, it is jointly run by the tribes.
I not only saw the bighorn sheep lolling at the side of the road, but a majestic bison was within 10 feet of my car. That was a sight to experience. You’ll be happy to know I didn’t get out of my car to get closer, but I do wish I had my Nikon + telephoto lens with me. The iPhone doesn’t quite do it justice.
I’m trying to post a couple of photos to match my text, but having problems with the upload. I’ll try and return to this post later to see if it is possible then.
Tomorrow, still here, I think I’ll take a nice long hike, then pack up for the next day’s auto journey.
FYI, I’m going to start concluding each post with the date that I write. What’s listed in the header is the day I am able to publish the post.
10/1/2024