Day:3 Mile:912 Badlands, S.Dakota

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Amazed - There are few things that amaze me anymore but The Badlands are a place I will not soon forget. The landscape here is absolutely amazing in its ruggedness. You have to respect those early settlers who came here with nothing but horse drawn wagons, few supplies, and their wits.
I didn’t sleep very well last night. They only get 14 inches of rain a year here and last night I swear they got at least 2 of them. Karma is a b*tch. Thunderstorms came through for about 2 hours. Yea… I was scared; getting zapped in my tent is not the way I want to go out.
Woke up when the sun came out, packed a daypack and set out. Hiked 4 different trails for a total of just over 10 miles, I’ll sleep like a log tonight. Saw some insane look-out points, deer, longhorn sheep, and a whole lot of beautiful scenery. Took some amazing pictures, hope they turn out.
Tomorrow is off to Mt. Rushmore, and hopefully Crazy Horse and Devil’s Tower if I can fit them in.

Until next time.
Cheers,
Josh

Lesson of the day: When hiking bring as much water as you think you'll need, then pack an extra half.

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Photos

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Notch trail facing north

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Notch trail overlook

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Better overlook on Notch, the arrows pointed right, I went left.... yea, I'm tough like that.

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Return hike on Notch-some lady couldn't make the climb up the latter. She turned out to be a good subject for this pic though.

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Saddle pass-short but very steep climb

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Longhorn sheep - squeamish devils, this is the closest I could get.

Comments

[Becky]

I bet those thunderstorms were awesome. I wish we had thunderstorms that lasted that long here.