Badlands

As we wing our way East to Wisconsin, Heather and I spent the day at the Badlands in South Dakota. It was fantastic!

Here is Heather at the first overlook that we came to on our journey. She is standing right at the edge. As a mom I was pretty nervous, but she had no fear!

You can see down into many of the canyons at the overlook and really see the striations. If you can believe it, this once was a verdant grasslands - 50 million years ago, filled with many animals. One of the trails that we hiked had fossils of some of the animals that once lived here. Many of the layers are ash deposits, which formed clay when mixed with water. Many of the rock formations look like sand castles that you made at the beach as a child. The rock is very soft and crumbly. Which is one reason that it is so spectacularly eroded.

The drive through the Badlands is superb. Sometimes you are at the top of the canyons and then you descend down to the bottom. There are plenty of pullovers that you can stop at and really enjoy the beauty of this unique location. A storm was in the distance and it actually rained for a brief time while we had lunch. It provided a spectacular backdrop for the day.

Heather took some great photos. Of course with a place as beautiful as this it is hard to not be inspired (as long as you watch out for rattlesnakes! ) I have included my favorite pictures of the day, including one that she took in black and white. It looks like another time and another place. The serene beauty of this place left us with wanting to return to perhaps explore more. We will definitely return again some day.