Badlands After the Storms

My camping plans were thwarted a few nights due to many thunderstorms.  The most impressive were friday morning.  I woke up to dark skies and mist, and decided to throw my things into the car just in case.  Got a text from the chief ranger warning me of baseball size hail, 60 mph winds, and rotation in the clouds.  Gathered my computer, camera, and some other things and weathered the storm inside the campground office with some great people.  Enjoyed the sourdough pancake breakfast - the starter for the sourdough is over 100 years old and came west on a wagon train.  Pretty cool.  Lots of rain and hail and wind.  Left the tent up and it weather the storms well, but was no match for the flooding.  We lucked out and just had pea sized hail. Just a little south my friends had bigger hail that destroyed their garden and RV.  They were driving to Rapid and encountered hail large enough to break the windshield and pock-mark the truck.  The baseball sized hail stayed south of where I was, but caused some serious damage.  After that storm, there was another just 15 minutes out, and then a third.  All the rain made the coloring of the badlands more defined and vivid, so I set out with my camera for the afternoon.  The grasses were already impressively green and lush, but seemed to somehow get even more vivid, almost surreal.  More storms that night, and a tornado watch all day saturday.  I spent the entire day saturday out photographing the north unit of the park.  The light was incredible and the colors in the rocks spectacular.  I have hundreds of fabulous shots from that day.  I've just done a quick review of them, and am posting a few, but there are just so many.  I feel like a kid in a candy store!  More storms saturday night, so I hung out at the Wagon Wheel figuring I'd be safer with locals who know where to go in bad weather.  No warning sirens in SD to help you out.  Got to play some games of cribbage and relax a bit for my last night.  Sunday I drove east, and plan to spend a couple weeks in the twin cities area.  Looks like more rain and storms here, too.

Flooded campground

My tent

Door trail, after the rains

Door trail

Door trail

Big Badlands overlook

Big Badlands

Big Badlands

Blooming yucca at Big Badlands

Near the visitor's center

Near the visitor's center

Favorite buttes near the visitor's center

Across from the visitor's center

Butte formerly known as Vampire Butte (I think)

View at Norbeck Pass

Random visitors enjoying the view at Norbeck Pass

Approaching Big Foot Pass

Big Foot Pass

Big Foot Pass

Big Foot Pass

Big Foot Pass

Big Foot Pass

Big Foot Pass

Prairie filled with lush grasses and flowers

Yellow Mounds area

A meadowlark, which I think has my favorite song

A lucky shot - he took off just as I snapped a frame

Yellow Mounds area.   I've wanted good photos of this
area for a long time, and never caught it with good light.
So excited by today.

Yellow Mounds area

Yellow Mounds area

Yellow Mounds area

Yellow Mounds area

Yellow Mounds area

Yellow Mounds area

Yellow Mounds area

Ancient Hunters overlook area

Pinnacles overlook

View towards Sage Creek Wilderness area

View towards Sage Creek Wilderness area

View in Sage Creek Wilderness area

Sage Creek Wilderness area

Flowers in Sage Creek Wilderness area

Sage Creek Wilderness area

Sage Creek

Sage Creek

Sage Creek Rim Road

Sage Creek Wilderness area

Bison in Sage Creek

View into Sage Creek Wilderness area

View into Sage Creek Wilderness area

Blooming Cactus in Conata Basin

Big Badlands

Big Foot Pass area

Big Foot Pass area

Panorama Point

Angel Butte

Blooming yucca in Big Badlands

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