I crawled out of my tent this morning looking forward to
seeing Badlands National Park. In 2010
Patrick D and I missed the park because we came out of breakfast and turned the
wrong way. Then realizing our mistake we rode the freeway down to Wall
Drug.
Off to an excellent breakfast and
then out through the park with Ken C.
The Badlands are Tertiary aged friable ash and clay deposits. Primarily
they lie along the escarpment between the White River Valley and the higher
plateau to the north. There are a couple of places where they tower above the
northern plateau but while quite spectacular they are very limited in extent.
We worked our way through the park stopping often to take pictures. They were currently adding a chip seal layer
to the highway. What a step backward that is, as the road was in near perfect
condition.
After we rolled out of the park Ken
C and I headed due north to Wall of Wall Drugs fame. It is a true testament to “Build it and they
will come” Not only is Wall Drugs a huge store but there are 30 other outlets
in a town of a few hundred. Picnic was
in Wall so we filled up on some great food and headed off.
We still had 30 miles to cover and
there was a huge wind straight out of the east.
The temperature was in the 90s.
The wind would hit the pavement and a blast of pure heat would hit you
straight in the face. Ken and I took
turns breaking the wind. We kept telling
each other about the ice cream we were going to get as soon as we got to
town. By the time we got to camp we were
totally bushed. So much for the easy 65
mile day.
Terry
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