Sept 17 Exploring the Badlands
Today we travelled from Custer City to the Badlands National Park.
Came down Route 44 towards the Ben
Reifel Visitor Centre. We took a right turn too early and ended up in a Ghost
Town – Longhorn. It was an interesting stop. All these old shops boarded up.
The Longhorn Saloon est 1906 had a sign “Indians allowed”.
Had lunch at the Cedar Pass Lodge before setting out on the Badlands
Loop Road. I keep thinking about all the cowboys films and the outlaws hiding
in the Badlands. Freeman Tilden described the region as “peaks and valleys of
delicately banded colours – colours that shift in the sunshine ….. and a
thousand tints that the colour charts do not show.”
It is an area of prairies, peaks, gullies, buttes and is ever
changing. You can look for miles and not see any sign of civilization. It is a
place of wind, rock and sky.
We stopped at a number of overlooks as we drove over the road and at
each one, we were amazed by the structure of the rocks. Saw our first “Beware
of Rattle Snakes” sign. Didn’t see any but we did see a huge field with dozens
of Prairie Dogs running around in it. We also saw some bighorn sheep grazing on
the prairie. It was amazing the way the grassed prairie just gave way to the
peaks, gullies and buttes.
Staying tonight in Rapid City before we fly out to California
tomorrow. In Rapid City, on Main and St Patrick’s Street, they have a life
sized statue of all the Presidents of the USA.
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