Day Five: Next of Kin

Did you know that the sun rises at 4am in the Badlands? Well, we learned quick, but that was okay with us, cause we got an hour head start on the day. Packed up camp, drove an hour to the trail head, and started hiking in the Badlands Palmer Creek unit by 6am. Our first hiking excursion was an omen for the rest of the trips in the coming days (or, it should have been seen that way from the start. Hindsight is good for these things). After a few miles of anxious hiking, waiting to “drop into the belly of the beast” according to our hiking guide (oh Backpacker, we have to talk!), we decide to follow a creek bed into the hills. After climbing the first “hill” and scraping ourselves up getting down, a whole new world lay ahead of us. Well, another valley and another ridge line of rock that needed to be scaled. And another. And another. For as far as we could see, this is all the Badlands were—ridges of seemingly impassible (and actually impassible, later) rock that went on forever. Eventually, we climbed the largest one we found, hoping to see if we could continue in that direction. Alas, we could not, because everything looked like a cliff, because it was. Cliffs. Everywhere. So, while debating a course of action: choose a cliff to go down to continue, go back, or find another route. Well, in the course of this decision, Jeff chooses to try a cliff that looks passable for at least the first half...but the rest was pretty sketchy. Jeff assured us he could make it. Well, about halfway across the traverse, Jeff started to slide, and to our horror, he slid about 6 feet, digging his elbows and knees and hands in the rock, leaving him with many scratches. Well, at the end of the slide, we realized no one could help him back up or down...he was now on his own.

This became a huge divide for us. We could not help him without seriously putting ourselves in danger. So we encouraged him to climb his way out to the ridge line, then down to us. Which he did, and we were all very grateful because if he were not able to do this, we don't know exactly what we would have done, for he would have been stuck wilth cliffs all around him. Well, live and learn, right?

At this point we realize we have already been hiking several hours, and need to turn around to be able to stay on time, but more importantly to beat the storm back to our car. We get sprinkled on a little, but all in all make it back okay, and then it was on to Mt. Rushmore.

Mt. Rushmore: you've seen it, we've seen it. Moving on.

8 hour drive to Wind River Range in Wyoming to Momma and Bubba Sparks cabin, which has the best front yard of all time. Seriously right in the Wind River range. Drank and passed out...long day.