Badlands National Park (Interior, SD)

Chuck, Shadow, and a sheet of hail in the Badlands

We went out to Badlands NP this morning for me to get my 5 mile run in. We went to the Visitor’s Center first to ask a ranger what to expect on the Castle Trail and if it was okay to run on it. “You’ll come back 2 inches taller! We had two and a half inches of rain last night and that trail doesn’t drain well, so you’ll be deep in the mud, but otherwise have fun.” A little wary, I set out to run it anyway and was glad I did. What a great run! Chuck took the obligatory “before running” pics in front of the pinnacles and spires in the parking lot in front of all the trails located about 2 miles north of the Visitor’s Center, including photos of what we thought was snow but was actually piles of pea-size hail from the night before! After that, I was off – for about a minute. Turns out the trail wasn’t very well marked from the get-go and I couldn’t figure out which way to go! I finally saw a little road marker sticking out and climbed up an embankment to see if that led to a trail. It did, so I was off again.

I felt bad for Chuck and Shadow though. National Park Rules: No pets on trails. No leaving pets unattended (like in cars – even on cool enough days). So Chuck could only walk around the parking lot and sidewalks with Shadow while he waited for me. Turns out he went into town to the Post Office and then drove out to the Fossil Beds to meet me, taking pictures along the way at scenic points, so it wasn’t too bad for him, but it still is silly about some of these rules. I understand the reasoning behind them, but there has to be some exceptions. These little trails here are a tenth to a quarter mile long and are all on established trails with built-in planks and walkways. Pets are not going to disturb the environment or scare off wildlife in these circumstances. There are people traversing them all the time and the wildlife stays away. No one would care and it wouldn’t hurt anything. But anyway, I digress…

The run was fascinating. It wasn’t quite the easy trail I expected. At times you couldn’t tell it was a trail as the path wasn’t well-worn or was washed out after the rains the night before. In fact, the path was a gully much of the time, wet with the left over rain. The ranger was right, it doesn’t drain well here. I ran up and over embankments and rocks and jumped over small crevices. I also ran through a lot of brush to avoid the muddy trail sections – not because I didn’t want to get dirty – but because it was slippery as ice. The ground is mostly clay and it was slippery. I slipped and fell early in the run and realized my limitations on the surface. I had to walk gingerly on many parts of the trail to make sure I didn’t fall again. Came close a few times anyway it was so slick. I was sure glad I had my tights on though – they really protected my legs from the brush.

As I mentioned before, the trail wasn’t very well marked. Several places I had to stop and really look around to find the markers leading me on to the right direction. The markers weren’t evenly spaced, so at times they were close together and easily followed. At other times they were so far apart, and placed in ways that were not easily seen (besides the fact that they were brown and blended in with the environment) that it took some serious walking around and stepping up on boulders to see the next one. A couple of times I started out in a direction that seemed to be the right path, only to come to a spot that really looked wrong or to just catch a glimpse of the trail marker in a totally different direction out of the corner of my eye. I can see how easy it would be to get lost out here!

All-in-all though, it was a great experience. The trail was just the right length. It was challenging, but not too much so. It was a one-of-a-kind experience to be able to say I ran the Badlands – how many people can say that? It’s interesting how engaged you are in these kinds of runs. I’m looking around trying to enjoy this other-worldly scenery as well as watch out for Buffalo or other animals – both for enjoyment and for my safety. I’m also looking hard at the trail itself to make sure of my footing and to avoid rattlesnakes. I’m also looking for the trail path or for trail markers to make sure I stay on the trail and don’t get lost! All of your senses are totally engaged and there is not time to let the mind wander. It’s great!

I didn’t see any actual wildlife except for a lot of birds that came out of the brush all along my run. I saw a LOT of animal tracks though – just about every animal in the park – deer, antelope, bison, coyote, bobcat, little creatures. Also saw some fresh buffalo scat, so I was on the alert for them to be around but didn’t see any. Around 3 miles into the run I saw a Medicine Wheel made out of the surrounding rocks. Made me wonder who made it. Was it a hiker? Was it a modern-day Indian? Was it an original Indian? Interesting! I ended the run at the Fossil Beds Trail. It was like coming out of a moonscape at that end. It was a great run and I highly recommend it to anyone visiting the Badlands.

After the run Chuck and I looked at the Fossil Beds, but they weren’t as impressive as the brochure made them out to be. The campground we stayed at in New Mexico back in 2003 had MUCH better. We headed back to the campground for me to take a shower and change, then we backed up all our photos from the beginning of our trip to present on our computers and backup drive, and then headed back to the park to check out the Visitor’s Center. They had a nice 20 minute video on the park and some interesting displays. Once again, the video mentioned the Native Americans and how they once roamed this land until the white man took it away. Wounded Knee was mentioned, as well as a one-sentence statement about how the Indians were wronged by the taking of their land, but that was it. The massacre was really washed over and they spent more time glorifying the pioneers who took the Indians’ land than on the Indians. Typical.

We ended the day by buying a few groceries at the local grocery store. Tiny! And the prices were SO expensive. I don’t know how people here live with the cost of groceries. Five dollars for a small bag of shredded cheese. Three dollars and seventy-nine cents for a bag of Sun Chips. Insane! Needless to say we didn’t buy those items. We ended up having home-made hamburgers on the grill back at the RV, outside on the picnic table. It was a nice evening outside but turned chilly by the end of dinner. We did find out that Interior, SD has an interesting history though. A town sign spoke of Jim Thorpe having played on one of its fields. Who would have thought? We had to take a picture of that.

All-in-all a great day.