The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly (if I may steal from Clint Eastwood)

We spent the last few days experiencing The Badlands.

We drove all of the main roads, stopped at almost all of the “viewpoints”, and took more pictures than photography should allow. We camped at the inner primitive Sage Creek Campground for 2 nights surrounded by mother nature and her creatures. And I’m still not sure how one describes it, majestic, awe inspiring, ancient? Desolate, rocky, barren? Windy, hot, overwhelming? All of these adjectives fit and in the vein of Clint Eastwood I have come to think of the Badlands as The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly.

The good: the buffalo roaming through our camping area, the majestic beauty of the formations that were formed so long ago and are constantly changing, the echo of the past all around, the birds and Prairie Dogs, the sheer magnitude of the park, and the amazing people we have been fortunate to meet, once again.

The bad: well, the Indians did call it the Badlands for a reason, the formations are stark, ominous, even cold and sometimes barren looking, they make you feel small and insignificant, they make you think, and feel.

The ugly: the wind initially feels freeing, not to mention cooling, but 72 hours later, the wind is unrelenting, it wears on you, just as the heat did earlier in our trip, but when it stops, the heat is there and you want the wind to blow again, there is no escape from Mother Nature.

I guess you could say the Badlands, like all of us has many facets, some of which aren’t palatable all at once or to everyone. To have been able to briefly experience them all was a gift and something I highly recommend to all. Drive the road, camp in the outback in Sage Creek Campground. Witness the wind, the sun and the amazing sunsets. Spend time alone with the silence and the rocks. Watch the wildlife…watching you. 😄  Experience as much as you can, even if it makes you feel uncomfortable. Perhaps it will teach you something new. It certainly did me, and I was only there a few days.  I can only imagine what would be learned if one spent some real time amongst the formations.