May The Trail Be With You

(SDA: Day 3)

      Well, the morning of the big day. What big day, you may ask. No, not a wedding. No, not a spaceship ride, but that one is close. It's the day I get to go to Badlands National Park! My companions for the trip were still a few hours away from were I was staying with my aunt and uncle, so my uncle and I went and breakfast and coffee. There is nothing like having a couple of eggs, and a giant cup of coffee to get you set to go on a road trip! When my brother Nathan, his friend Michelle, and her friend Saumya finally arrived, we loaded my things into the already stuffed car; we just managed to make everything fit between the trunk and the back seat. Unfortunately for those sitting in the back, the space was pretty small. No matter, excited, we set off! 

The trip to the badlands was mostly uneventful. Michelle and Saumya were entranced, maybe even shocked, at the small towns of South Dakota that we drove through. By about noon we made it to the town of Wall, SD, which sits right outside the badlands. For all of you who are scratching your heads trying to think were you have heard of Wall, you probably know it from Wall Drug. Wall Drug is a massive store in the middle of the town. Actually, in reality, its a bunch of mini stores in one, but that is beside the point. Have you ever seen those pictures with some explorer in some random part of the world (like the south pole, atop a mountain, or in a desert) with a sign post that has the name of the towns near it with mileage, and then there is a sign for Wall Drug, SD with how many miles it is until there? Yeah, thats the same place I am talking about. I am not sure how it became famous, but it is! After spending some time there at the stores and grabbing a bite to eat, we made a beeline for the park.

The first lookout that we came to we stopped and enjoyed the magnificent view of Badlands National Park. We also spotted what we believe were Bighorn Sheep.

Posing by the entrance to the Badlands.

Our first view from inside the park.

One of the many places we stopped to take pictures.

We then crammed back into the car and drove through the park stopping at different locations to snap pictures. We finally made it to the part of the park that had trails, we stopped and hiked two miles on Castle Trail. Most of that section of the trial was flat, prairie grasslands, but there was the occasional awesome formation. We then decided to hike back to the car and try another trail further in the park.  This trail was AWESOME! The start of Notch Trail is filled with a lot of small up and downs at the bottom of a canyon, and then we came to this spot that has about a fifty-foot rock wall where there are twin cables running down it with wooden boards secured between to make a ladder. It starts of gradual at first, but then it becomes almost straight vertical the last fifteen feet.  Once we climbed that, we were atop the cliff on ledge with more rock formations on our one side and a drop on the other. We skirted the edge for quite a ways, all the while scaling up and down the rocky path. At one point signs warned us of dangerous cliff area and pointed us up and around it. After a bit more hiking, the area leveled out and moved away from the cliff.  We hiked on this terrain for some time before we reached a gradual climb. At the end of this climb was a break in rock around us and a sheer drop. The view from here was magical. We couldn't help but sit and stare.

Enjoying the view on Castle Trail.

Michelle demonstrating how to climb the ladder.

Saumya using her navigation skills to lead us.

The end of Notch Trail; the beginning of a great view!

After tearing ourselves from there we made our way back down the trail and down that awesome ladder. Almost at the car, Nathan and Michelle stopped to take pictures, Saumya and I walked to the car and waited. While waiting, I noticed a super short trail, so I decided to see what I could see from the end of it. After one look, I quickly waved the rest of the gang over to join me. We were all treated to yet another great view.

This picture does not do justice to the amazing view we saw.

From there we decided to get a quick bite to eat in the small town of Interior, SD. Population? 67. The only place we found to get a bite to eat was the Wooden Wheel Bar, where we all shared a surprisingly good pizza. We drove back out of the town, all the while marveling at various things of the town. For instance, the town jail, which is actually smaller than my bedroom.

Proof that we were in Interior,  SD and that it really only has 67 people....at least until Michelle and Saumya move there!

Ok, maybe its a bit bigger than I first thought, but its still pretty small.

With the sun quickly going down, we hightailed it back in the park and found(just in time, i might add) a good view point to watch the sunset.

The final glimpse of the sun.

 We didn't stay there long though, we still wanted light for when we set up out tents. Getting a campsite was easy, and setting up camp was just as easy. With the camp set up, we waited for the stars to come out, killing some of the time by talking about previous adventures. With it now dark, we cruised up to the parking lot by Notch Trail and sat and stared at the stars. I am always amazed when I go star gazing. The sky is so majestic and utterly beautiful. We saw a dozen satellites, I saw two shooting stars, and Saumya saw one. With still a big day ahead of us tomorrow, we headed for camp and tucked in for the night.

End day 3.