{"id":10657,"date":"2017-10-16T08:10:48","date_gmt":"2017-10-16T14:10:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/?p=10657"},"modified":"2020-09-24T11:12:23","modified_gmt":"2020-09-24T17:12:23","slug":"badlands-national-park-south-dakota-with-australian-adventurer-luke-hall-9-27-17","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/?p=10657","title":{"rendered":"Badlands National Park, South Dakota with Australian Adventurer Luke Hall (9-27-17)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Lucky Dingo!\u00a0 Australian adventurer Luke Hall was staying with her.\u00a0 For the second day in a row, Lupe was going to get to play host and tour guide.\u00a0 That could only mean another brand new adventure!<\/p>\n

Yesterday Lupe had taken Luke up to Little Devil’s Tower<\/span><\/a> (6,960 ft.)<\/span><\/strong> and Black Elk Peak<\/span><\/a> (7,231 ft.)<\/span><\/strong>, the highest mountain in South Dakota.\u00a0 Did Luke have any preference on what else he would like to see while still in the Black Hills region?\u00a0 Yes, he did, actually!\u00a0 Luke wanted to see Badlands National Park<\/strong><\/span><\/a>.<\/p>\n

That was a great idea!\u00a0 Although the W end of Badlands National Park is only a little over an hour’s drive E of the Black Hills, Lupe had never been there before, either.\u00a0 Luke, Lupe and SPHP all piled into the G6.\u00a0 The miles flew by.\u00a0 It wasn’t long before SPHP turned onto Sage Creek Road a mile or two E of Scenic, SD.<\/p>\n

The W end of the park’s N unit was still miles away, but Luke was ready to get out for a look around.<\/p>\n

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Australian adventurer Luke Hall on Sage Creek Road, a less frequented route into the W end of Badlands National Park’s most famous N unit. The park was still 10 miles away from here, but Luke wanted to take a look at the prairie lands typical of the surrounding area. Photo looks N.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Once Lupe reached Badlands National Park, a series of overlooks along Sage Creek Rim Road provided increasingly dramatic views.\u00a0 The first views were of Sage Creek Basin.\u00a0 The sharply eroded hills and bluffs typical of the Badlands were still a little way off in the distance.<\/p>\n

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Lupe at one of the first viewpoints inside the park along Sage Creek Rim Road. Photo looks SSE.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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The badlands scenery grew more dramatic and impressive at each succeeding viewpoint heading E along Sage Creek Rim Road. Photo looks SE.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Lupe & Luke with another view of Sage Creek Basin. Photo looks SW.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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Farmers, ranchers! Don’t let this happen to your property!<\/strong><\/em> Lupe stands next to a prime example of an erosion control program gone seriously awry. Photo looks S.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

No one had to tell Lupe why this place was called the Badlands.\u00a0 It was easy to see there wasn’t a snowball’s chance in you know where of finding a squirrel out here!\u00a0 Most disappointing.\u00a0 Why on earth had Luke wanted to come way out to this wretched, forsaken land?<\/p>\n

The answer was soon apparent.\u00a0 Hundreds, maybe thousands, of prairie dogs were living in large towns right along the road!\u00a0 Hundreds, maybe thousands, of fat squirrels right on the ground that couldn’t climb a tree even if there was one?\u00a0 It was an American Dingo’s dream come true!\u00a0 Badlands?\u00a0 Hardly, this place was a Dingo paradise!\u00a0 Luke was a genius!<\/p>\n

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Hundreds of prairie dogs could be seen in towns right along the road.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Shockingly, SPHP was a total spoil sport.\u00a0 This could have been the greatest day of Lupe’s life!\u00a0 Instead, SPHP refused to let her go after those prairie dogs.\u00a0 Not even one!\u00a0 It was maddening.\u00a0 Sure, those prairie dogs had burrows, but this ground was soft and Lupe is a great digger.\u00a0 It would have been the most fun ever!<\/p>\n

The Carolina Dog had to watch as a badger scurried across the road and disappeared down into a prairie dog burrow.\u00a0 Luke saw a coyote nearby.\u00a0 Poor Lupe could only stare out the window of the G6 and dream.\u00a0 SPHP decided it was best to drive on.<\/p>\n

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Oh, what might have been, if SPHP hadn’t interfered!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

At the Hay Butte overlook, a plaque told about how pioneers had gone to great efforts to hay the grass off of the top of a long, flat butte seen in the distance.\u00a0 Why they felt compelled to do so was never fully explained.\u00a0 The Badlands are completely surrounded by prairie.\u00a0 What was so special about the grass growing on that butte?<\/p>\n

It was a mystery of the universe.\u00a0 Some things can’t be explained, like why SPHP sided with the prairie dogs against the loyal Carolina Dog, a lifelong friend?<\/p>\n

A short distance E of the Hay Butte overlook, Sage Creek Rim Road ended at the paved Badlands Loop Road, which winds through the most frequently visited part of Badlands National Park.\u00a0 Park headquarters and most trails, overlooks, and displays are located along the Badlands Loop Road.<\/p>\n

Lupe’s first stop traveling E on Badlands Loop Road was at the Pinnacles overlook, where a couple of short trails led away from the road down to several viewpoints.\u00a0 Luke went down to investigate.\u00a0 American Dingoes couldn’t go on any of the trails, but the views were great right up by the road.<\/p>\n

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At the Pinnacles overlook. Hay Butte is the long, flat butte in the distance on the L with clearly badlandy sides. Luke is a mere speck checking out the views from the end of the trail on the R. Photo looks SW.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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The view to the SE from the Pinnacles overlook revealed a sweet, happy Carolina Dog. Abundant weird landforms were seen in this same area, too. Photo looks SE.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Most of the dramatic eroded buttes and spires of the Badlands are horizontally striped with many relatively thin layers of gray, white, or pink soils.\u00a0 At the Yellow Mounds overlook, however, a thick lower layer of yellow soil capped with red was exposed.\u00a0 The grays, whites and pinks could still be seen higher up.\u00a0 In some of the lowest parts of this region, the mounds were completely yellow, since the overlying layers had been eroded completely away.<\/p>\n

While the soil colors can appear more dramatic near sunrise or sunset, or especially after a rain, even in sunshine at midday the Yellow Mounds were definitely worth a look.<\/p>\n

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Luke & Lupe at the Yellow Mounds. Here the yellow soil is seen as a lower layer at the bottom of a small valley. Photo looks NW.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Looking NNE directly across the same valley.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Looking ENE down the same valley. More of the yellow soil is exposed here. One of the smaller lower mounds in the valley is almost entirely yellow.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Yellow mounds were present on the S side of the road, too. Luke gives Lupe a lift to help get her more into the scene. Photo looks WSW.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Lupe enjoyed being toted around the Yellow Mounds area by Luke. Photo looks S.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

10 or 12 miles E of the Yellow Mounds, Lupe arrived at a big parking lot next to the Fossil Exhibit Trail, a short loop trail where fossils are on display as originally found.\u00a0 Luke went to check out the trail, while Lupe and SPHP visited with a park ranger who had just finished a talk on various fossils found within Badlands National Park.<\/p>\n

The Badlands are full of fossil-bearing sedimentary rocks.\u00a0 Fossils of many extinct animals from the Oligocene epoch 23 to 35 million years ago continue to be found here, including:<\/p>\n