May 27, 2021
We arrived in Rapid City, SD today after spending three days in the Badlands. We've been there before, but there's always something new to experience. There's so much to share, so I'll break this into two posts. First will be sights along the Badlands Loop Road. This is the most popular way to see the park. The landscape changes at different times of the day.
One morning, the birds woke me at 4:30, so I decided to get up (almost unheard of for me!) I walked from the campground along a portion of the Loop Road. These show different times of the day.
In the early morning
In the afternoon
In the evening
The Yellow Mounds are particularly colorful.
Wildlife is abundant. Bighorn sheep, bison, and prairie dogs, can easily be seen along the Loop Road. On this visit, the sheep and prairie dogs were the most visible, but we did see this one bison. The bison and prairie dogs were farther out on the unpaved section. The sheep were seen along the paved section.
Prairie dog caught with a mouthful
Lots of cute babies
Both male and female bighorn sheep have horns. They grow continually for their entire lives.
Bighorn sheep with young
Young bighorn sheep "play" bucking each other
This bighorn is looking for more
Of course, we can't forget the birds!
Western Meadowlark
Black-billed Magpie
Barn Swallow
Rock Wren
In the next post, I'll describe our two hikes.
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