Day 9: Not a Bad Day in the Badlands

 July 4, 2021

Vanlog, Badands National Park

Despite the 100 degree weather yesterday, it cooled down quickly after dark and there was a nice breeze at the Big Buffalo National Grasslands (Nomad View) boondocking site. It reached as low as 66 degrees. If you cant beat them, join them. So I wound up joining my neighbors at their campfire and shared my s'mores with their youngest. I slept well despite the other neighbor's generator and woke up at 4:45 AM for the sunrise. It was (in a word) ridiculously incredible. OK, so that's two words!

As they say, the early bird gets the worm. Here's five reasons to get up early on vacation: (1) best golden hour lighting for photography, (2) wildlife are active, (3) the temperatures are much cooler, (4) there's no traffic or other people to contend with, and (5) it's like you own the park all to yourself. Less than a mile into the park, I was greeted with a bunch of very active prairie dogs. Just a tenth of a mile further, there were a dozen bighorn sheep just grazing alongside the road. A mile or two farther and I found a small herd of bighorn sheep perched on a ledge with the badlands in the background. I was totally blown away by the beauty of it all and it wasn't even 7 o'clock yet! 

And that's not even mentioning the awesome scenery along the Badlands Loop Road.

At the end of the loop, I did a trail called the Notch Trail. You hike in amongst the formations, climb up a wooden ladder on the side of a hill, walk along a ridge with steep drop-offs and then emerge (in my case to a rowdy crowd of people cheering everyone who made it) to a natural opening in the rock wall known as the notch. 

During the middle of the day while it was overcast as a storm went through, I took a brief detour north to visit the Minuteman Missile National Historic Site, where I watched a film, toured the museum, and then drove out to see one of the ICBMs in it silo at Delta-01.

After a late picnic lunch and during the 99-100 degree part of the day, I took a well-needed siesta in the van before driving back the loop road to my campsite in the evening as the lighting became better and I was chasing some sunsets views. 

I would have to say that this, my third trip to the Badlands, has boosted this national park at least into my top 15 parks. It was one of those days you will remember for a long time. Don't mind me--I'm just out here living my best life.