The Great Plains

Hey Everyone.  Sorry I haven't updated in awhile.  I have spent the last week exploring the Great Plains.

The Badlands

After Wind Cave (see the last post), I headed to Badlands National Park, also in South Dakota.  This is one of the more well known parks because of its rather unique landscape.  The way that water carves the sandstone rock leaves behind unique striated crevices and spires.  The result is an expanse of open grassland broken by sandy ridges and plateaus.  It was one of the cooler places I have visited; you just get the urge to explore the maze like canyons for hours.  one cool hike I went on led up a wooden ladder to a cliff overlooking the plains.  And the sunsets over the plains were amazing.  Every evening the sun would turn bright red before disappearing behind a low layer of clouds.

High Plains Homestead

After a couple of nights spend in Badlands, I headed down to Nebraska, where I stayed one night at the High Plains Homestead.  I had taken a trip here around 8 or 9 years ago, and want to visit again if only for memories sake.  The highlight of the area are the fossils present in the badlands around the homestead.  I took a short hike, and was able to find a few cool bone pieces and an almost perfect snail shell.  After my night here, I head to Chadron where I joined forces with my brother, Derek, who flew into the small airport there.

Snail Fossil

The Little Missouri River

Together, we spent a layover night in Badlands again (and did a bit more exploring).   Then, it was up to North Dakota to visit Theodore Roosevelt National Park, named after the former president who used to live there in his young years.  The landscape there was similar to that of Badlands, but with less color variation and more vegetation.  It was still pretty though, especially around the area of the Little Missouri River.  Lots of wildlife here as well.  Among other things, we got to see a hawk become very "close" with an unfortunate Prairie Dog and a late night visit in our Campsite from a big Bison.  Over all, it is great to have Derek here for company (and to help with driving) and the last few states have been just as fun as the rest of my trips.

Petrified Forest

We are now heading out of the Plains and into Lake country.  We will spend a few nights in Voyageurs for some kayaking before heading to Michigan and ferrying over to Isle Royale for 3 nights of backpacking.