Into the Badlands

Day 34 - Sunday - to the Badlands

We were deli  We didn't know that something had happened to the car that would come back to haunt us later. 

ghted to find the wind had died down, and were able to get the RV, with the car in tow, out through the gate and on the road back to I-90.

I didn't describe the terrain yesterday - it went from hilly around Sioux Falls to flat prairie with huge crop fields.  As we approached the river there were more rolling hills and more trees.  Now, as we left the river behind, we were back with the crops.

Every few miles there were signs telling us we had to visit Wall Drug, which we would do tomorrow.  For today, we were headed for the "don't blink or you'll miss it" town of Interior, close to Badlands National Park.  We didn't know what to expect from the Badlands - I was expecting something like the Painted Desert in northern Arizona, with weirdly shaped, brightly colored rocks.  So it was exciting to watch the scenery gradually change.  First we saw what looked like low hills on the horizon, and as we got closer we realized they were not so much hills as rock formations.

Eventually we reached the exit for SD240, the so called Badlands Loop Road, and after filling up the RV (we HAVE come a lot of miles in the last few days!) we headed down that road.  Eventually we reached the National Park, but not before getting a taste of the raw beauty of this unique area.  The name was given by both the native Lakota and the French settlers, because nothing would grow there.  But why would you want to, was my question.  Ever changing rock formations, changing both in shape and color, were interspersed among the prairie grasses.  So we not only get to explore the rocks, but got our first real taste of what the prairies looked like before people started cultivating them.

I'm posting some pictures, which will do more justice to them than my words can, but let me say that at every turn we were gasping afresh at the beauty.  We drove past the Park Visitor Center and then took the short road - SD377, to our campground.  We saw only a Budget Host Motel and campground, which is not what we were looking for, but half a mile further found us at the end of SD377 which meant we'd missed the campground.  We called them (fortunately there was cell service even in the middle of nowhere) and found that the Badlands Interior campground was also the Budget Host motel.  So we were able to check in and unhitch the car, which was still fine despite the lurking, and still unknown to us, problem.

We then headed back into the park, toured the Visitor Center and decided to take a drive further along on the Badlands Scenic Road.  We'd be going this way tomorrow with the RV, but by driving in the car we could both enjoy the spectacular views and pull off at interesting spots.  The first such spot, replete with warnings to beware of rattlesnakes, was a short but rugged trail up into the hills.  We didn't get too far as we weren't wearing hiking boots, but we did see the rock formations close up.  Later we took a walk that introduced us to the fossils of animals that lived here in prehistoric times.

This area was once part of an inland sea, inhabited by large animals (not dinosaurs) such as the titanothere, which became extinct 34 million years ago (before we got here).  Other fossils include a 3-toed horse about the size of a large dog, and another animal believed to be the ancestor of all of today's canines (the animals, not the teeth!).

The spectacular rocks in the badlands represent deposits at various times in history.  The oldest, black sedimentary rocks called Pierre shale, was deposited from 75 to 67 million years ago when the inland sea covered the area.  Above them is a distinct "yellow mound', formed when the sea drained and the black shale was exposed to air.

The grey Chadron formation is only 34 million years old, and was deposited by successive floods of rivers.  Alligator fossils have been found here, so it was much warmer then.  Above this, the tan colored Brule formation dates to 30 million years ago when the climate became cooler and drier. Next is the Rockyford Ash, a grey deposit from volcanic eruptions, and finally the Sharps formation, much of which has already eroded away.

If you're still with me after the geology lesson let me tell you that on our drive we saw buffalo, prairie dogs and, most excitingly, 3 bighorn sheep right next to the road.  We would have gone further but we wanted to attend the evening ranger talk, so we went back to the RV, packed sandwiches and returned to the outdoor amphitheater.  They had telescopes set up and we were able to see Jupiter and some of its moons clearly.

A ranger gave a very interesting talk on water in the Badlands, highlighting animals that have adapted to the lack of water there, including the prairie dog which, we learned, can survive on the water in the plants it eats!  We have to leave in the morning, but this is an area that merits more time so we'll be back another year.