Rolling Along With The Reynolds

Jim and Cindy's Adventure Blog traveling all over the USA

Tag: Nomad’s View

Badlands picture Album (Album 2023-38)

 

Badlands

Yesterday’s westward travels on I-90 was fun. We were in the minority of travelers NOT destined for the Sturgis Rally, yet the excitement was contagious with all the convoys of various motorcycle rigs rolling along, harvest time is near for huge agricultural fields of sunflowers 🌻 in bloom, and of course spotting the numerous Wall Drug billboards.
* We found a campground spot in Interior (the oldest badland town) situated within a few miles of the Badlands National Park itself. Crossing over into Mountain Time Zone now allowed for a longer day to jump in the car and head out!
* Drove the 31- mile Badlands Loop Trail; spectacular!!! To add to the drama, a nasty thunderstorm was approaching that we could see miles away. Although we had a few sprinkles here and there, the lightning bolts and heavy cells were quite a distance away and moving away from us.
* oh, and of course, had to stop and recreate the same tutu pic from last year 🩰
* Driving towards Wall, we passed by our favorite boondocking spot, “Nomads View” just outside the Park. Surprisingly, there appeared to be spots available! However, with todays rains and more on the way, we’ve chosen to forego that exceptional camping opportunity on the cliffs. Seeing firsthand during last years visit how vulnerable one can be due to weather conditions gives you a very healthy respect for Mother Nature.
* Wall Drug is something you just can’t pass up while in the area. We made it into town before closing and of course had to grab a 5 cent coffee, cherry pie, and a fresh doughnut. Yum!
* Finishing up the Loop to get back to camp was estimated to be 40 minutes. It took us 2 hours, LOL. We decided to be adventurous in Lois and take the dirt road “short-cut” of Bigfoot Pass through the Park. By this time darkness had set in. Such surreal settings! We encountered a herd of free range cattle that were in no hurry to leave the road, so we stopped to enjoy their nighttime grazing (including a Mom and nursing calf). Storms were much further in the distance now, but the light show of pink ball lightning was super cool to see while stopped.
* Starting from the Missouri River in Chamberlain this morning ending at the White River in the Badlands made for a very long but EPIC day!
We ❤️ South Dakota.

 

 

 

 

Nomad’s View

What a trippy place. This was extreme boondocking; camping on BLM lands in the Buffalo Gap National Grasslands (bordering the Badlands National Park) in what is known as “Nomad’s View”.  The plan was to stay at this surreal spot for 5-6 days. We lasted one. One. But what a ride!!
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First up, I wanted to see the sunrise over the Badlands. I was up at 4:30 AM (yes, it’s true, I really did get my butt up at that time!) and was surprised to already see blue sky. The actual sun rose at 5:19 AM, with the moon still out. Look for the dot above “Lois”. It was beautiful, and the birds couldn’t agree more; such pretty songbirds chirping excitedly.
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I guess the birds knew something we didn’t, foreshadowing this days’ big surprise. We were packed with snacks and hiking boots and almost ready to make a day trip out into the deep Badlands. Within minutes however, the winds came. And I mean 50+ mph winds. Being parked on the edge of the cliff was a bit unsettling, and in fact became quite concerning when a fast friend made last night texted saying the Ranger suggested it was safer to stay put than move. Terror didn’t quite take hold of us, but we were both shaken (literally too). We rode it out for four hours until the wind had reduced sustained speeds of 25. Thank goodness the direction we parked had our nose almost directly head-on into the winds. Not so for other campers along the wall; I was so afraid of seeing someone get blown over (and possibly roll down over the cliff of which there’s been several accounts). Lots of them left much earlier than we did, but they could afford to since not being in as high-profile a box as our coach. We made the decision to leave as well, but needed to wait till we felt safe enough to turn broad side and high tail it outta there!
And that’s exactly what we did; managed to get back to the town of Wall and camp in civilization and safety.
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So our evening was spent at the not-to-be-missed WALL DRUG. A nice escape/distraction from earlier hours. What a blessing to experience this day and be in the wonders of God’s nature/wrath and come out safe, sound, and in wondrous awe.

 Camping on THE WALL pics