Badlands Residency Day 10
Sunday November 11
Woke up somewhat early this morning, noticed it was light out, and peeked out the window to see glorious sunshine. I threw on some clothes, grabbed my camera, and headed out to get sunrise photographs of Angel Butte from behind the quad. It was about 14 degrees out, quite cold today after last week's 60s. And then there was the wind. I think I read that the wind chill stayed below zero most of the day. Something like 40 mph gusts. After Angel Butte, I went straight for the car and drove out to the Door viewpoint/hiking area. Next was Big Badlands. Decided that the gorgeous colors deserved lots of camera time, and set out to drive through the park. As I passed the visitor's center I realized I didn't have water, breakfast, wallet, etc. Swung back to the apartment to grab those, then back on the road, headed west on the loop road (so much for a shower today). In all, I spent seven hours photographing the park. I did a few longer hikes, having to defrost my feet and hands in the car for a while between hikes. Hopped out for photos all along the way, and am really happy with what I got. Up at Pinnacles, I ran down my second camera battery. Opted to charge a battery in the car while heading down to the Sage Creek Wilderness Area, thinking to find some bison in the snow. There were none close to the road today, but there also were none around the remote campground down there, meaning I was free to hike and explore. I walked back to the bison carcass I had found last March, then down along the creek. Lowered and slid myself down into the creek bed for more photos. It's drier than I had seen it before, allowing me to walk much farther along the bed than before, and it was lovely. Gurgling sounds of the water moving along under the ice. There was one tent at the campground, and one unattended truck. I had the place all to myself and it was so peaceful. Clouds started to roll in soon after I arrived.
Interesting things I experienced today: wonderful abstract shapes in the snow as it gathers in crevices and behind wind break rocks, numerous animal tracks of all kinds, mudcicles (think icicles made of mud, clinging to shelves on buttes), flowing mud creeks despite the chill, vast quantities of deer munching along the road mid-day (I think they know they're safe from the hunters while in the park), walking along and suddenly finding my leg sunk in snow above my knee – one must be cautious where to step when you can't see the ground below the snow), and several inches of badlands mud/snow caked to the bottom of my boots.
Around 2:30 I found myself near Wall, so headed into town to get gas. Realized that with the cloud cover, I wasn't going to get sunset shots, so went ahead and drove to Rapid for groceries and to meet a friend for dinner.
A fantastic day, and I have lots of visual evidence. So much, that I think it warrants a separate post! Here are a couple teaser shots that I took up at Pinnacles with just my phone (when camera batter died).
