After visiting the pine tree covered Black Hills in western South Dakota, we headed east through the grass covered prairies to the Badlands. French fur purveyors called the Badlands “les mauvaises terror a traverser”, meaning “bad land to traverse”. The Lakota referred to the area as “Mako Sica”, also meaning land bad.
Badlands National Park
The National Park a spectacular tract of eroded sedimentary rock, sculpted by water runoff that drains into the White, Cheyenne and Bad Rivers. The sediment makes its way to the Missouri River, Mississippi River and eventually the Gulf of Mexico.
There is a mix of grasslands, ravines, spires, buttes and ridges.
The Badlands erode about 1/3 of an inch each year. It’s estimated that they will completely erode away in 500,000 years.
Daily, we saw Bighorn Sheep. They were only a little shy of the cars driving by and were enjoying the fresh green spring grass. We saw a lot of lambs.
The males can weight up to 300 pounds and their horns alone up to 30 pounds. Bighorn sheep range from Canada to Mexico. Their numbers in North America once peaked in the millions, dropped to several thousand around 1900, and have been making a recovery.
There were bison, antelope and deer.
Jake loved watching the prairie dogs flick their tails and dart about.
Along with the prairie dogs, there were Burrowing owls. The owls inhabit old prairie dog homes. They eat small animals like mice and frogs, but mostly enjoy insects. Their status is threatened because of loss of habitat.
Meadow rose and Sego lily. The Sego lily was used by native Americans. The bulbs were roasted, boiled or made into porridge. The native Americans taught Mormon settlers to use the bulbs for food in hard times. Utah made it their state flower in 1911.
Interior, South Dakota
Interior only has a population of 67. There were a couple of local bars, limited groceries, and friendly locals.
We stayed at a KOA in Interior, South Dakota. It was less than 20% full. They had 50 amp service, good water pressure, sewer, poor internet, and a huge dog park. We celebrated the end of remnants of my San Diego practice by opening our last bottle of wine we collected while in San Diego. A 2008 Buccella Cabernet Sauvignon from Napa. Wine Spectator reviewed it as “Remarkable for its complex aromas of roasted coffee, dried herb, dark berry, mocha and sage, yet for all its size this is quite graceful and elegant, even delicate, with a long, tapered finish where the flavors glide along smoothly”. Not sure we tasted any of that, but it was stunning.
The wind was howling, but we waited patiently for the sunset.
