The Badlands are Awesome Lands

B-1 Bomber, Ellsworth AFB, SD

We took the day and headed back east from Ellsworth AFB to tour the Badlands which are about 40 miles east.  All the times I came TDY to Ellsworth AFB I never took the time to pay attention to the Badlands.  Drove by them any number of times, but that is sort of like looking at a Strawberry milkshake across the street versus drinking one!

Back in the day - Ellsworth AFB was one of a few double wings on the northern tier.  These bases had a full wing of ICBM Minuteman missiles and a Heavy Bomb Wing.  Now I find that the 44th Strategic Missile Wing is gone.  Past arms negotiation efforts have reduced the numbers of strategic missiles and the ones at Ellsworth AFB are now history.  Missiles removed and destroyed, warheads removed,  and the silos filled .   The B-52s were replaced with the B-1, the new workhorse bomber of the USAF.  It appears that all of the bombers here are deployed as I have not seen or heard one in the week we have been here.  I expect they ares supporting our forces in SW  Asia.  Keep them in your prayers.  And, hope for a safe return for all.

Multi-colored soil layers

Ok, back to the Badlands.  I think it is a misnomer, Spectacularlands, Magnificentlands, or Majesticlands come to mind as more appropriate.  Or, maybe Walland!  This area was formed about 65 million years or so ago as the huge inland sea drained.   After that there were alternating layers of decomposition and deposits from volcanoes and other activities over more millions years or so! This was a sub-tropical paradise part of the time!  Then about 500,000 years ago (seems like yesterday) water and wind started an erosion process that continues today.  They estimate that in another 500,000 years or so this will be a pretty level prairie.
In the meantime the landscape is just awesome.  The various soil runs from very soft to very hard so the erosion process produces spectacular landscapes.  If you have driven I-90 in western SD you are a few miles north of the Badlands and may remember seeing the Wall Drugs advertisements along the way.  Sort of like the Ron-Jon Surfshop ads along I-95.  Wall Drugs is a big tourist joint that is fun to stop at every now and then and I always thought it was named after Jack Wall or Jane Wall or the Wall brothers or somebody else.

The Wall from "below"

The Wall from on top of it

Wrong!  Several miles South of the city of Wall is the beginning of the Badlands and where the earth has been eroded at the edge of the Badlands there is a wall that is a very visible landscape feature.   It is hundreds of feet high and very rugged and visible for miles to the south.

We hiked several different trails including the one in the picture looking down from the top of the wall.  Getting to the top of the wall was interesting; BJ opted out becasue it was rated too strenuous.  It was about 1.5 miles out and back and it had a warning about climbing a steep ladder.  Well, the ladder was logs about 6 inches in diameter and 4 feet long strung on each end of the log to steel cables.  Sort of like a real heavy duty rope ladder.  It was laid on a very steep slope.  At the beginning you could step from one log to the other, but as you went up the slope and it got steeper you only had to stick your arms out in front of you to steady yourself on the rungs as you stepped from one to the other.  Plus, as you neared the top the soft rock under the middle of the rungs had washed out and the ends of the rungs were barely stabilized on the sides of the "ditch" underneath.    As I started up I noted there was a couple at the top, on the trail; I determined they were not coming down so I started up and did not pay any attention to anything except staying on the "ladder"!

The mountain goat when I first saw him

After I got to the top they pointed out a magnificent mountain goat that was laying on a patch of grass a short distance away watching us.  He seemed more curious then wary.  You could clearly see him from the bottom but I was so focused on the ladder, I had not seen him.   

After watching him for awhile I continued on the trail to the rim at the top where I took the picture above of the Badlands below.  I noticed there was a dry stream bed below the rugged path and on the way back I dropped down into the stream bed.  Since we were so close to the top I was not concerned about a flash flood and if it had started raining I could scramble out of the bed without too much trouble or double back since it was such a short distance.  The stream bed was a lot easier walk then the path which was on very steep sides anywhere from 15-20 feet above the bed.  I am thinking "Why did they make us take the strenous trail with some steep, deep drop offs earlier in the trail.  Gee, I will go get BJ and bring her up the trail, this is so easy."  About that time I found out why the path up was not in the stream bed - I was not quite half way back and reached where there was (would have been) a magnificent 70 ft waterfall except there was no water - only the end of the bed at the vertical drop.   At any rate I backtracked a short distance and got up on the real trail and continued on my way back.

The lip of the wannabe waterfall!

The trail back, not in the dry bed!

 The scenery was spectacular along the whole trail, the erosion over the eons was obvious and the strata was always changing as you went along.  Would have loved to take the hike with a geologist that could have explained what I was seeing and the evolution of the land.  
When I got back to the ladder the mountain goat had gotten up and moved part way down the slope and was grazing on some grass near the ladder - forgot the steep slope, he was proving he was a mountain goat.  There were some folks below concerned about coming up the ladder because he was so close to it.  However, I figured he was not going to bother anybody so I started down.  A little over half way down I stopped to check on him and he had moved a little closer to the ladder.  I think because the grass was greener close to the ladder.  I was able to steady myself and get some more pictures of him.  He watched me as much as I was watching him!  

Who is watching who, here!

By the time I reached the bottom, the folks there decided it was safe to go up and they were on there way as the mountain goat watched.


BJ and I got in the Jeep and headed west back toward the base and thur the rest of the park.  We were near the east edge of the park.  Got some more spectacular scenery and we did several geocaches along the way.  Will do a blog on one that was particularly interesting.  Here are several more pictures of the Badlands!

A sunflower in the sun!

Notice any erosion?

Another beautiful overlook!

And, as I write this we have only spent a short afternoon in the beautiful Black Hills to the west of us and have not been to Mount Rushmore!  But, we are planning on spending two weeks here and some of that is down time.  But, down time in a spectacular place.


Always at home, no matter where we are!!