Bad to the Bone

After a pause in the story, I'm back with part 4 of my road trip. You might want to read the lead up to this first (part 1, part 2, and part 3)

My little campsite in the morning; the White River is just beyond the trees in the background

After staring at the beautiful night sky well past midnight, I awoke early (for me), showered, ate a quick cheese-and-bagel "sandwich," then packed up and headed back to Badlands National Park. I didn't really plan on spending much time there, but also wanted to beat the heat. The previous day was 100F well into the late afternoon, and heat resistant though I am, it is wearying and dangerous, especially if you run out of water. 

"King Tut," a fossil turtle on display at the Badlands' Ben Reifel Visitor Center

I started by going to the Ben Reifel Visitor Center to see if there was anything new and interesting in the gift shop (and get a few post cards for friends who had expressed that they wanted to receive them), and the fossil prep lab was open. I spoke with the paleontologists there a bit, and was told that if I wanted to find a fossil, the best bet was to go off trail. I must have looked horrified -- after all, most parks stress stay on the trails to prevent ecological damage -- and she told me that because Badlands erodes so much (up to an inch a year!), staying on trails isn't as important in this park. 

After saying "hi" to Ranger Paul (who is one of this park's secret treasures; he has some great stories to tell about people asking questions like, "When do you paint the rocks?" and "So this road is currently closed? Does that mean I can't go here?), I headed back to Norbeck Pass and the Fossil Exhibit Trail end of Castle Trail. I figured I'd hike a bit down Castle Trail, then head out of the park via Sage Creek Rim Road to look for wildlife. 

Right away, I saw some bighorn sheep across a ravine in nearly the same place that Pat and I had seen them last year. Unlike last year, I had my zoom lens and Canon DLSR with me, so I could actually get some decent photos of them. 

As I took some photos of the rams, a couple of other hikers came by, saw me taking photos and of course started congregating where I was. So, I continued on down the trail until I found an area that enticed me to go off trail, and off trail I went. 

Beefy surveys his domain

What have we here???

Those are definitely bones

After seeing the bones, I took several photos, recorded the GPS coordinates, and headed back to the visitor center. They weren't terrible far from the trail and so obvious that I was pretty sure they'd been reported previously, and sure enough, that's what I was told. They are pre-Columbian bison bones, so between 800-1000 years old. Not quite "fossil" material, but I still got a patch for doing the right thing. 😁

If you report a finding instead of disturbing it, you get a patch and allow trained professionals to obtain information from the finding that is shared with everyone

At this point, it's later in the day than I really planned on staying in the park, and it's hot AF. 

I don't care if the humidity is low, this is not pleasant. BTW, that's 2:08 EDT, because I don't like changing the clock

It was time to go down Sage Creek Rim Road, visit the bison and the prairie dogs, and then maybe go to Custer or something. 

You get more colors in the landscape along Sage Creek Rim Road

Prairie with grazing bison

A horned lark at Roberts Prairie Dog Town

Sorry guys, I didn't bring any apples

As I approached the park exit, I started to see more and more and more bison. In fact, there was a bison in the middle of the road. 

The truck's driver said he'd been waiting about ten minutes for the bison to move when I came along. I only had to wait for a few minutes

There were a ton of bison here, kind of like when we were surrounded by bison at Theodore Roosevelt National Park in 2019 or at Custer State Park last year. I was driving super slow (20-30mph) because they were right next to the road, walking into the road, etc. and clearly some people didn't care that a collision could occur. Two trucks passed me and damn near hit multiple bison. 

This was the first of the impatient people

It looks like a fence separates us, but there was a wide open gate just up the road

Beefy is excited to see his people

This was the second of the impatient people to pass me. I'm pulled over here, because these two bison were in the road. The garbage truck barely slowed down as it approached them and fortunately, they moved

So many bison

From Wall, I decided to go up to the South Dakota Air & Space Museum in Box Elder. It's basically just outside the main gate to Ellsworth AFB. Mom and I had visited here in 2015, but this time the indoor exhibits were still closed. I'm not sure if that's because of funding, lack of staff or what. I wandered around the outdoor exhibits (which are still open) before making a reservation at the Custer/Black Hills KOA and heading that way.

Titan I 

B1-B Lancer, or as Pat says, "Bone".

VB-25J used by Gen. Eisenhower during WWII

Minuteman Missile; Ellsworth AFB is one of the bases that takes care of the silos

F105-B Thunderchief

EB-57B Canberra

F102-A Delta Dagger

The route that Waze had me take to the campground took me through Custer State Park, though since I wasn't using the Wildlife Loop or any of the trails, I wasn't charged admission. As I got into the Black Hills proper, the temperature dropped and became very comfortable, if not a little on the cool side by the time dusk came. 

After setting up camp, I went back into Custer proper to briefly meet up with Kari from #ParkChat, who was closing up shop. She's a teacher, too, and we chatted about parks, road tripping, teaching and more before she headed home and I headed to Mt. Rushmore Brewing for dinner. 

Had another quick but awesome tweetup with another fellow #parkchat friend today! 😁 @CamaroWRX, I'm so glad you could stop by and say hi amongst your adventures!! 😍 Safe travels, my friend! 🚙⛺ I know we will get together again! 😊 pic.twitter.com/CHCYhra76h

— Nature Tech Family 🏞️🚙📷 (@naturetechfam) August 3, 2022

I had an elk burger and a flight before choosing a few cans of to-go beer and going back to the campground where I got the firepit going. 

and then....

I blame Kari. She made me want a s'more.

Ursa Major (Big Dipper) from the campground; I could see more, but my phone couldn't capture all of the majesty

The morning view was <chef's kiss>

I still had no plans come the next morning, so I figured I'd go to Wind Cave. 

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Wanderlust in Full Force

(this is part 3 of an ongoing story; you might want to check out part 1 and part 2 first)

Stardate 100177.95... er, um, Sunday, July 31, 8AM. I was awake, and I still had no plans. So, let's just do what Beefy wants and drive west.

This resulted in I-70 towards Kansas City, and I got off the interstate at Boonville to see that area of the Katy Trail, which is one of many former railroad rights-of-way that have been converted to a hiking trail. 

Here, I learned about the town of Franklin, which was the seat of Howard County in the Missouri Territory and the largest town west of St. Louis. Oh wait, you haven't heard of it? It's not on a map? That's because it was destroyed by Missouri River flooding. The last straw was 1828, and those who survived just abandoned what remained and started New Franklin instead. 

A flourishing town used to exist here.

Tall bellflower along the rail trail

I decided to go back into Boonville proper and see what else I could learn about the Katy Trail, the Santa Fe Trail, and how the Boone family related to the area. Of course, the first thing I notice is the Isle of Capri Casino, a "stationary boat on the Missouri River" docked at Boonville. I ignored it and followed the Katy Trail to the former Boonville Depot.

The full name of the Katy Trail is the Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad, or MKT Line. 

I then followed the spur trail over to the lift bridge across the Missouri River. It is currently "permanently" in the raised position. 

Looking at the Missouri River (upstream)

The lift bridge from the current road bridge across the Missouri River

I went over to the Boonville Rivers, Rails & Trails Museum (and Visitor Center) after perusing the bridge. There's a lot of history in the area! From Lewis and Clark making their way up the Missouri River, to Civil War History, to the MKT Railroad, to Will Rogers attending the Kemper Military Academy.... there's a lot going on here. 

The original plans for the MKT railroad lift bridge over the Missouri River

Evidently, before the lift span, there was a pivot bridge for the railroad river crossing, and the lift bridge was designed around 1932. 

A recreation of Lewis and Clark's river boat was present

A door from Kemper Military Academy, from when Will Rogers attended

Boonville was involved in the Civil War from the start (1861) through the bitter end (1864)

From the town proper, I decided to go out to the Boone's Lick State Historic Site to see what that was about, since it was mentioned at the Visitor Center and at the interpretative panels about Franklin that were at the Katy Trail trailhead. It was about fifteen minutes away.

Daniel Boone's sons set up salt extraction here, as did many other pioneer families in the area. Not much remains on the short loop hike. 

Part of the Lower Spring Complex

The lower spring complex would pool the salty water of the spring. The water would be sent to the close by salt furnaces via a sluiceway. There were upper spring complexes too, but not part of this hiking trail.

The salt furnaces were next to this part of the stream

This lump is what remains of the ash pile from the salt furnaces

On the way back up to the parking area, I discovered a veritable forest of tiny pleated mushrooms. If I didn't know any better, I would have thought I'd discovered the Smurfs' village. 

There was also a toad in the area. I couldn't get a photo of it with the mushrooms.

Not much else caught my eye as I headed further west along I-70. I decided to stop for the night in Grand Island, Nebraska, which necessitated a shift up to I-80 outside of Kansas City. I pulled into the campground at sunset. 

Sunset in Grand Island, NE

Ursa Major at Grand Island, NE

I was greeted by another toad in the morning. 

I'm assuming it's a different toad since I'm a few hundred miles away from the other one

After a small breakfast and a short stop at a Cabelas in Kearney, Nebraska, I decided to see what was going on at Niobrara Scenic River. Before I got there, however, I entered the Nebraska National Forest at Halsey, where I ended up stopping for a while. 

Outside the ranger station, there was a very noisy cicada that I examined. It sounded and looked different than what I was used to back in Maryland, and Seek (iNaturalist) identified it as a Plains Cicada. The ones here in Maryland are more black and green, with dark eyes. 

Plains cicada

I went up to the Fire Tower so that I could see the surrounding Sand Hills. It was a good choice. 

The inside of the fire tower looks like a time capsule

The Sand Hills cover almost 25% of Nebraska

Niobrara wasn't much further away. The historic Bryan Bridge was one of the first structures I encountered. 

Built in 1932

After stopping by the visitor center in Valentine to say hi to Ranger Perrett, who was part of the #STEAMinthePark Mammoth Cave group, I headed out to Fort Falls to hike around a bit. This section of Niobrara is really a mixture of National Wildlife Refuge and National Park Service Site. 

Fort Falls

Beefy on the banks of the Niobrara River

My final destination for the night would be the Black Hills of South Dakota. I wanted to see sunset at Norbeck Pass again. From Niobrara, it was an easy trip, cutting through the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation where I briefly stopped for some groceries. I got to the Badlands KOA with plenty of time to check-in, eat a quick dinner, and set up my tent. Then, it was time to head over to the Badlands to see the sun set. 

I stayed until nightfall

A panorama of the sight

As night fell, I started to head back to the campground.

Moon over Badlands

The Badlands are one of those places where you can actually see so many stars when the clouds stay away. It looked a little on the cloudy side, so I didn't think the nightly ranger program would have much to say (like the last time I was there in 2018). I should have gone, because the clouds thinned out and even at the campground, I could see so much. 

I knew I'd be going through the rest of the Badlands in the morning, with little plans after that. Maybe Wind and/or Jewel Cave? Maybe.

note : some links are associate links where a click will result in minimal compensation to me if you also make a purchase through that link