Jul 2, 2020 – Land of Stone and Light

In a blink of an eye, we were transported to a completely different world; a place so strangely beautiful that words must have been created just to describe it, a land that inspired Frank Lloyd Wright to ask, “How is it that we, toward the Atlantic, have heard so much about the Grand Canyon and so little of this, when this is so much more miraculous?” We were entering the ‘land of stone and light’.

Prior to that, we had driven 200 miles through open space on a straight westerly path void of anything except cattle herds and Wall Drug billboards, making it difficult to believe we were getting closer to a landscape so contradictory to the flat grass prairie that its abrupt appearance hidden from the highway was incomprehensible.

Not far from the entrance to Badlands National Park, the land looked the same as it had for the past four hours except for the 12-ft, 6-ton concrete prairie dog in front of the Ranch Store. Past the entrance, the flatland continued, now within park boundaries.

A few miles from the entrance, the park’s scenic highway suddenly and without warning began a generous preview of the oddly formed rocks that radiate a mesmerizing beauty. On our way to the campground (Badlands/White River KOA), we pulled the RV slowly up and down grades through dense outcroppings of layered and jagged sandstone cliffs and pinnacles. Staring out the window as Vivian drove, I was awestruck as a crescendo of anticipation reached its peak – at last I was going to photograph the Badlands.

Our campground near the tiny community of Interior is within the Pine Ridge Reservation of the Oglala Lakota tribe, a short distance from the national park. The fact that we were surrounded by Indian land made it difficult to ignore history and the current state of affairs among the Oglala Lakota people.

Located within three of the poorest counties in the country, the Pine Ridge reservation was mostly shut down because of COVID (I could not help but think of the tragic consequences of foreign viruses introduced to native Americans by Europeans immigrants). Indian tribes throughout the country were experiencing the same, negatively affecting their tourism economy. In the case of the Pine Ridge Reservation, a large portion of the national park was closed, but fortunately, most of it remained open.

Inside the Badlands National Park, I simply wanted to capture the stone and light. Thankfully, the park service makes it easy to do so. The highway gives visitors unprecedented access to the Badlands with continuous sweeping views, opportunities to hike short distances easily through canyons and views of wildlife including bison, bighorn sheep and prairie dogs.

Along the scenic drive, we witnessed dramatic changes in landscape beginning with tall jagged pinnacles that look like castles to colorful rolling mounds of rock interspersed with grasses, to flat open grasslands pock marked by prairie dog holes.

And we saw wildlife. As with the Everglades, the crown jewels of the park are the wildlife. Instead of an alligator near the road, it was a bison. Instead of flocks of wading birds in the shallow waters, herd of bighorn sheep grazed in large numbers on the grassy prairies. Large underground communities of elusive prairie dogs reminded me of the hermit crabs that populate the tidal zones of the gulf coast.

The animals of course define much of the Badlands, but for me, it was the exquisite light and the power it has over the rocks that drew me in. Amazed at how bright it is outdoors before sunrise, we drove into the park long before the sun peeked over the horizon. From a lookout point we viewed the magic as the sun eventually lit up the rocks. Meanwhile, bold clouds formed in the sky and soon they were painted with pastel blues and pinks.

Surrounded by so much beauty, Vivian used her artistic eye to point out scenes to me so I would not miss the changing effects of light and clouds. We spent an hour in one location and only one time did a car pass by – we had the Badlands to ourselves, and it was extraordinary.

The early morning scene was a hard act to follow but as the day progressed, it never disappointed. Such is the Badlands – wait a second and the land will change dramatically, drive a short distance and another world will appear. We left the pull-off site and continued west on the scenic drive. Clouds remained prominent in the sky creating an everchanging show of light.

This is what the Badlands were to us. Yes, we did drive out of the park to see the infamous Wall Drugstore, but only from our truck. And we did visit the Minuteman Missile National Historic Site, but our self-guided tour lasted only minutes. These were meager diversions eclipsed by stone and light.

On day six, we left our campground and pulled the RV one last time through Badlands National Park before returning to I-90. Once on the interstate, the Badlands were again hidden away, somewhere beyond the infinite grass prairie that surrounded us. Soon, we would enter another enchanting land – the Black Hills. Stayed tuned.