We Came, We Saw, We Conquered - The Badlands

Yesterday, we woke up early (really early for Amanda) and hit the road headed to see the Badlands. I was estatic to learn that the speed limit on the interstate in South Dakota is 80 mph.

 

I'm still not sure what I was expecting in South Dakota, but it wasn't much. In my mind it would be a whole lot of nothing and would be an incredibly boring drive. I am very happy to report that I was very, very wrong! Not only do these people know how to set a good speed limit, the land is absolutely breath-taking. Even their corn fields were prettier than any I had ever seen! We stopped in Sioux Falls for lunch. They had a super cute downtown area, and we found a place that makes a mean grilled cheese. After that, it was straight on to the Badlands! After driving in a sea of green for hours on end, it was really shocking to get out of the car and walk down a path to see this:

 

 

Once again, my expectations were blown out of the water. It was so incredibly beautiful. There were crazy rock formations, but all of them seemed different. Some had flat, grassy tops. Others came up to a point. Still, others were kind of dome shaped. It was truly amazing to stand there and think about how creative God must be to form such awesome things.

 

After looking for a bit, we went to the visitor's center to come up with a quick game plan. We read about all of the hiking trails and after some discussion and slight coercion (Amanda is afraid of heights and Jessica is Safety Sally), we decided that we would hike the Notch Trail. It is listed as "moderate to strenuous" but also offers the best views from any of the trails.

 

One of the coolest parts of this trail was also one of the most awkward and precarious - the log ladder. It makes it crazy easy to get up to the mountain, but it's just plain awkward. It's not steps, but it's not really a ladder. It was just funky. I decided that I should go up first, so I could then take awesome and intense pictures of Jessica and Amanda climbing up.

 

We had one slight mishap where a phone, the car keys, and a wallet fell out of our bag, so I had to go back down and retrieve them. It was, however, the perfect opportunity for me to get my own awesome and extreme picture!

 

 

After the log ladder, we continued on, hiking up more rocks and doing our best to follow the somewhat vague trail. I was somewhat in a hurry to get to the "top" because I kept thinking the views are going to be awesome. When we arrived, it was incredibly beautiful, but dark clouds were rolling in and the wind was picking up. Not wanting to be stuck on top of a mountain that, "becomes treacherous when wet" we didn't stay too long.

 

The whole time that we were going up, I was under the impression that our trail was a loop trail. I thought that we went up the log ladder and back down and out another way. After making a few friends, one of which was very accurately described by Jessica as, "incredibly nimble," we realized that we were not on a loop trail and would have to go back down the log ladder.

 

With tensions a little high (remember the coercion to get the group to agree...) we turned around and started back the way we came. As we were walking, we get to a point that I remember coming through, but it was completely different. I was so focused and in a hurry that I didn't take time to stop and look around. I didn't take time to look back at the view. I stumbled upon my favorite view of the day and had a moment. How often am I so quickly rushing through life that I miss really awesome things? I fear, too often.

 

 

Overall, the Badlands far exceeded my expectations. I had a cool teachable moment. Amanda and Jessica both conquered some fears. We saw some really awesome things.

 

Later today we are going to Mount Rushmore. I'm looking forward to more adventures and seeing cool things. But right now, I'm also grateful for a slow, two cups of coffee morning where we are all in one hotel room, each quietly doing her own thing.