South Dakota Trip - Fourth Day, Part 1

On the fourth day, we made the road trip over to the Badlands which is about an hour east of Rapid City.  We were pretty excited but didn't quite know what it would be like, though we anticipated it being very hot.  It certainly lived up to its reputation and looks like something straight out of another planet.  Did I also mention that it was a tad bit warm there?  I think by 9 or 10 am Tara was already glistening in the picture above.  It was quite amazing though, with the picture hardly doing it justice.

This picture is just a few minutes inside the entrance to the National Park.  These formations extend as far as the eye can see in about 270 degrees.  They are mostly like a crumbling grey/red clay that has eroded into clumpy sand.  We were very nervous taking a lot of these pictures because we were standing on the edge of the super steep drop-offs.  For the more daring (unwise), you can actually make out faint trail lines across the ridge tops where a few people had walked or run from peak to peak.  It seemed like one wrong fall and you'd be tumbling quite a long way down.

We continued our drive through the park and looked for a place to hike.  About 30 minutes later we arrived at a nice trail head that had a similar but somewhat different set of land features.  There was a nice hike across this ancient rock/clay bed that seemed like a good idea.  Keep in mind that it was almost 100 degrees already with not a plant or tree in sight.  We set out over the horizon and it sure felt quite remote.  Above, you can see Gavin walking along a ridge.

Halfway through the hike we found the one bit of shade in the whole place!  Both Gavin and Gage were bright red due to the heat and were taking a nice rest in this tiny cave.

After returning from the hike we continued to drive through the rest of the National Park.  We came upon some antelope that were living on the side of this hill.  I can hardly image that this would be a comfortable life.  It just seems like there is so little in the way of water and food.  Not super hospitable, if you ask me!