The Badlands at Night

Badlands at Night

The Ranger Program on astronomy was fascinating! The ranger started the program by telling us more about the park and that we were visiting at a really good time; the area is usually very dry and to see so many wild flowers is a real treat! He then said that while they have trails, this is the kind of place where you don’t have to stay on the trail! Some of the best fossils are found while climbing around on the rocks. Exploring is strongly encouraged!

Once it got really dark (after 10), we started looking at the many, many constellations and galaxies. I have never seen so many stars in my life!! It was like you could reach up and touch them!

Later that night we experienced a very intense thunder and lightning storm. The lightning felt as close as those stars had seemed early in the evening! It was scary and I didn’t sleep until it was over. Garrett and Nicholas didn’t even know it stormed until I told them about it the next day!

Day 9 / The Badlands, SD

The Badlands

The mythology of the Badlands tells the story of how the Lakota Indians lived in the area when the plains were lush and green, and the mountains were colorful. Any tribe passing through, no matter how unfriendly, would band together with the Lakotas and dance and sing and trade in peace. But then, from the western mountains, came people who wanted the land for their own. A battle began and the Great Spirit covered the area in a dark cloud. Storms came and destroyed the green, lush prairies. The area became a barren waste.

This is kind of what we expected… dry, barren rocks, and some interesting mountains. What we actually saw was truly breathtaking. The mountains were stunning with layers of colors and textures; the prairies and grassy area between the rocks were green and lush, and with wildflowers in full bloom, the place even smelled wonderful!

We spent most of our time just climbing on the rocks. We hiked a couple of short trails and then hiked the Notch Trail, a 1.5 mile moderate to strenuous hike through the canyon and up to some of the mountain peaks. Along the way we saw the most interesting bird nests made out of mud along the side of the rocks. We learned a little about these birds during the Badlands movie at the Visitors Center, so it was really neat to see them in the wild!

Garrett and Nicholas did not want to leave the trail, but it was almost 9:00 and it was getting dark. I did not want to be out on those mountains once it got dark since we didn’t have flashlights with us. Plus, there was a Ranger Program on astronomy at 9 and I thought it would be fun to go to that.