The Badlands (mostly pictures)

Location: Sleepy Hollow Campground (el. 2,850 ft); Wall, South Dakota

(click pictures to enlarge)
(all pictures taken with Nokia Lumia 929 cell phone)

The Badlands. 
Every time I say the words, "The Badlands", I wait for the sound effects. Something like, "da, da, da, dum,". But it never happens. Only in my mind. Oh well, I guess that goes to show how much movies in our youth affects us throughout our lives. 

I wasn't expecting the Badlands to be a "wow" moment, but I was wrong. 

After the initial surprise, I began to look at it from different viewpoints. From an Archaeological viewpoint I could imagine ancient people camped in the valleys using the walls as protection from larger animals. From a Paleontological viewpoint, I could imagine fossils being found everywhere. From a Geological viewpoint, I could see the different layers of sedimentary rock that had been laid down over the ages. From a Civil Engineering point of view, I could see the large fines and penalties from the Federal Government for allowing such a large amount of erosion without using any counter measures. :)

Although the weather was overcast, with a haze in the air, it was still interesting to see the different colored layers in the hills and valleys. 

That is "The Wall" in the distance. It
is where the town of Wall gets its name.

It wasn't too crowded so there were plenty of parking spaces in the viewing areas as well as being able to slow down enough to get some pictures while driving. 

Nice bench, but not a nice place
to rest or think.

 The reddish bands in the following pictures looked good. I've been told, when the weather and sky is just right, they are amazing. I guess I was just unlucky yesterday.

Junction of the Great Prairie and Badlands

A couple mountain sheep just hanging out.
I imagine they were kind of scared by all the
people down below taking pictures of them.
I took this one out my side window as I drove past.

I'll be moving on tomorrow. I'll be heading east for a little more than 200 miles to the town of Mitchell, South Dakota. I'll be there for 3 days before making a short move to Sioux Falls. I'm not sure about where I'll be going after that. The temperatures are due to rise into the lower 90's in a few days, so I guess I'll head north. Maybe up towards the Great Lakes. I enjoyed them last year and I think I would like to be shocked by the blue-ness of Lake Huron again. I'll do some more thinking on the travel plans while doing some easy cruising along the interstate tomorrow.

Ya'll take care of each other. I'll Cya down the road.