This was the last day of my residency, always cause for some mixed emotions. Sadness that permeates and causes a tingling deep beneath the skin. Excitement to be home and with my family, friends, band, students, etc. It's been a long time away and it will be very nice to be home and reconnected with family. If only Badlands were closer and I could come just anytime. Each visit comes with new friendships and acquaintances, more depth of experience to make leaving harder. The landscape itself still holds me tight, and I'll go through serious withdrawal, as always.
All this is reason to choose my last day's activities with care. I was mostly packed and cleaned before today so I could just enjoy myself and be present in the experience. Weather being what it was this trip, I am still hungry to spend more time down south. I feel like I've barely tapped into the mysteries that lie within and am eager to return and explore. Earlier this week Ranger Aaron offered a day out there, so of course I took him up on that. We planned to head out mid morning and spend the day exploring. First though, we went to Red Shirt overlook on the west side of the Stronghold to meet up with a reporter and photographer from the Rapid City Journal who contacted me about doing an article about my experiences as AiR, working with Red Cloud students, and spending time exploring the remote south unit. The park did a recent press release about my work, which prompted the call from the paper. After that was finished, we drove out to the end of Blindman Table, which has been on my list for a while. It was not a disappointment. From up there, we spotted the far off two track down in the unit that Ryan and I were trying to access when we got stuck earlier in the week. At one of our first stops to get out, walk, and look around, we scared a couple great horned owls out of the brush, and Aaron spotted a coyote across the nearby canyon, running up the side, keeping an eye on us. I got photographs, but unless you know where to look, you can't make him out. At a later stop, there were a few turkey vultures riding the air currents. Like elsewhere within the south unit of the park, we encountered plenty of livestock atop Blindman. There's a windmill up there I had heard of, and a clump of cattle who, as they will, came close when we stopped, looking for food and treats. They came right up to us, checking us out, pushing each other about for a closer look.
After Blindman we drove around to the opposite side of the unit, over to Stronghold Table. I had read vague reference to a foot path down into the interior. When I asked the south unit ranger about this, he marked the location of an old wagon trail on my map. We decided to go check this out and evaluate its potential as a way to get a group of students down for a camp out in the future. What an insane way to traverse the badlands wall here. Reasonable though crazy at first, it became steeper and less plausible to imagine a wagon making it. We found just one permanent deadman, an old car axle buried deep that people would have tied off to. It was a neat area to get down into and as always, once you're down there recalling the vastness of what you just saw in the distance up at the rim, the knowledge of what stretches before you is a little mind boggling. So much to explore, so many little draws and canyons. Impossible to witness and learn each one, but that's what I yearn to do.
Driving back out from Stronghold Table was fantastic. Bumpy two track, big blue sky, pleasant wind, windows rolled down, truck flying along: it was an ideal moment. Last spring was full of these kinds of experiences where I felt alive in the moment, and it was rather life changing. Today was one of just a few such moments this trip, and that made it an ideal way to spend my last day. Thanks so much, Aaron!
For dinner a bunch of us went to Sue's (Cowboy Corner) for her friday night chicken fried steak, which is pretty amazing. Then came a large gathering at Wagon Wheel and a relaxing and fun last night.
All this is reason to choose my last day's activities with care. I was mostly packed and cleaned before today so I could just enjoy myself and be present in the experience. Weather being what it was this trip, I am still hungry to spend more time down south. I feel like I've barely tapped into the mysteries that lie within and am eager to return and explore. Earlier this week Ranger Aaron offered a day out there, so of course I took him up on that. We planned to head out mid morning and spend the day exploring. First though, we went to Red Shirt overlook on the west side of the Stronghold to meet up with a reporter and photographer from the Rapid City Journal who contacted me about doing an article about my experiences as AiR, working with Red Cloud students, and spending time exploring the remote south unit. The park did a recent press release about my work, which prompted the call from the paper. After that was finished, we drove out to the end of Blindman Table, which has been on my list for a while. It was not a disappointment. From up there, we spotted the far off two track down in the unit that Ryan and I were trying to access when we got stuck earlier in the week. At one of our first stops to get out, walk, and look around, we scared a couple great horned owls out of the brush, and Aaron spotted a coyote across the nearby canyon, running up the side, keeping an eye on us. I got photographs, but unless you know where to look, you can't make him out. At a later stop, there were a few turkey vultures riding the air currents. Like elsewhere within the south unit of the park, we encountered plenty of livestock atop Blindman. There's a windmill up there I had heard of, and a clump of cattle who, as they will, came close when we stopped, looking for food and treats. They came right up to us, checking us out, pushing each other about for a closer look.
After Blindman we drove around to the opposite side of the unit, over to Stronghold Table. I had read vague reference to a foot path down into the interior. When I asked the south unit ranger about this, he marked the location of an old wagon trail on my map. We decided to go check this out and evaluate its potential as a way to get a group of students down for a camp out in the future. What an insane way to traverse the badlands wall here. Reasonable though crazy at first, it became steeper and less plausible to imagine a wagon making it. We found just one permanent deadman, an old car axle buried deep that people would have tied off to. It was a neat area to get down into and as always, once you're down there recalling the vastness of what you just saw in the distance up at the rim, the knowledge of what stretches before you is a little mind boggling. So much to explore, so many little draws and canyons. Impossible to witness and learn each one, but that's what I yearn to do.
Driving back out from Stronghold Table was fantastic. Bumpy two track, big blue sky, pleasant wind, windows rolled down, truck flying along: it was an ideal moment. Last spring was full of these kinds of experiences where I felt alive in the moment, and it was rather life changing. Today was one of just a few such moments this trip, and that made it an ideal way to spend my last day. Thanks so much, Aaron!
For dinner a bunch of us went to Sue's (Cowboy Corner) for her friday night chicken fried steak, which is pretty amazing. Then came a large gathering at Wagon Wheel and a relaxing and fun last night.
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| A fence on Blindman Table. |
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| Looking out toward where Ryan and I were stuck earlier. |
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| Turkey vulture! |
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| Expectant cattle. |
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| If you look close, you can see the two track crossing. |
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| Chadron into Pierre Shale, Black Hills in background. |
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| Ranger Aaron keeping a lookout. |
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| Red Shirt Table in distance. |
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| Really nice colors, different from up north. Harney Peak in background. |
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| Panoramic View from Blindman Table. |
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| Heading out. |
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| The view off Stronghold Table. |
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| Fenceline at the top of the wagon trail. Yes, this is/was a road. |
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| Looking down the trail. |
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| Vehicle axle, an old deadman. |
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| Looking back up. |
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| Erosion patterns. |
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| At the base of Stronghold Table. |
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| Some old river channel rocks back there. |
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| Halfway up the wagon trail. |
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| Looking back. |
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| The fence. |
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| Fence and gate. |
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| A last look back. |
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| Rim of Stronghold Table, Hogan from the 2002 standoff/protest, Harney Peak in background. |
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| Another view from the edge of Stronghold, with Harney. |
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| Panorama view from top of Stronghold. |
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| Panoramic view from the base of Stronghold. |
