Day One - Scuffs

Posted Sun, August 30, 2009 - 2:20 PM
travel, photography

A few quickies from the first day of the Wyoming/Colorado trip.

In the Badlands

Arrived in the Badlands early on Saturday morning. The sun was barely up yet and the park was empty, only a single ranger at the entrance gate. I walked around a bit with the camera before it started to get hot, and clambered around and up onto some of the formations. The most danger, as it turned out, was not from rock breaking or eroding away, but from the fine gravel underfoot which made some area comparable to walking on ball bearings. It was particularly dangerous anytime there was a slope, since even a good tread wasn't able to prevent slipping. I had a close call on a narrow spine, where both my feet went out from under me and a had to catch myself with both hands and knees, scuffing up my forearms in the process. My scrabbling also brought me in the wrong direction, so I had to sit down and relax for a minute, take some more pictures, and then cross back the way I came - more carefully this time.

Along the Notch Trail

After that, I figured it would be safer to stay close to the designated trail, especially since I was carrying stuff. So I hiked out the Notch Trail, which has a cool log ladder to get you up over a cliff that, during a rainstorm, would make a nice waterfall. It was damp at the bottom, and undercut. The trail is about a mile round-trip and takes you to a "notch" (hence the name) in the face of the cliffs overlooking Cedar Pass. There's about a 60 foot sheer drop at the end, and a great view south to the White River valley.

Afterwards, I headed out along the Sage Creek Rim on gravel. I was going to stop at the prarie dog town, but skipped it since the little parking spur was filled with cars. It wasn't until I passed that I saw the reason for the jamup was several bison nearby. I didn't think prairie dogs were that interesting...

I headed over towards Harney Peak by continuing south, then west through Pine Ridge, across the Cuny Table. I passed the Cuny Table Cafe, a little homestead out in the middle of nowhere, which I had heard about somewhere before. But it was too late for breakfast and too early for lunch. Then down to Red Shirt and crossing the Cheyenne River - which WEDALI had half paddled half slogged down a couple weeks ago during PQ. To say the water was low would be an understatement. Climbing up the hills on the other side, my eye was caught by some stacks of brightly colored beehives, so I stopped.

They made a nice contrast against the grassland.

More in a bit...