After making it through the night I ate a quick breakfast and decided to check in with the world. I packed up my gear, discovered that the storm had bent both of my main poles to the tent, and headed up to the top of a large hill. I assumed that would be the best place to turn my phone on a search for service. I was right. I got two bars of 3G on the top of the hill. I sent a quick “I’m alive” text and checked the weather. More severe storms were predicted for the afternoon and evening. So I had a choice: Continue on, deeper into the “Wilderness” area of The Badlands or head back to my car.
I’d be lying if I didn’t say the storm had rattled me a little. My poles were bent and another severe storm could easily destroy my tent at this point. So I chose the safe route. I decided to head north towards my car. I was disappointed during the entire hike, so to make it a little more interesting I headed towards the large butte that had been my landmark during the hike into the area the day before. Getting up it was easier than I expected. One side looked very steep, but the other was gentle enough to let me up it. The view was amazing so I sat up there for a bit before heading off. The area on top of the butte had very little grass, I’m assuming because of common high winds. I snapped a few photos, then headed back to my car. In total it was probably a 18-20 mile hike with the detour so it took me the majority of the morning and into the afternoon to make it back. Continue reading “The Badlands – Day 2”
The Badlands are essentially huge rock formations that are eroding. They jump out of the otherwise grassy South Dakota plains in random formations. Sometimes it looks like one rock just popped up in the middle of no where. Other times they looked like mountain ranges, cutting the mix of grasslands and desert in two. This trail was busy, I passed a few families and couples all taking in the awesome view. For lunch, I climbed to the top of one rock formation (about 50 vertical feet), found a shady overhang and took out my per-prepared PBJs. In front of me was the trail, which cut through the tall grass in this particular spot. In other places it was a dried up riverbed that more resembled a desert than the grassy plains. Still, other parts of the trail were through rocky ravines that looked like they zigzagged for no rhyme or reason. 
Bivy Life 