"You should plan a camping trip for us to the Badlands or Black Hills" my wife said. What lovely words those were to me. I love camping, and I love going west. But choosing between the Badlands and Black Hills was tough. So we did both. We would stay in the Badlands for 2 nights, and then make a quick trip to the Black Hills for another 2 nights. The day after Father's Day we had the van packed up and we left for South Dakota at midnight. With 3 young kids and a new dog, it's much easier to drive through the night when going on long trips. Also, we had to be at the regional airport in Rapid City to pick up our daughter so she could join us. A family vacation is not necessarily what people think of as adventure, but it's probably the kind of adventure that the average Joe will most likely go on.
We made it to the airport without incident and arrived in the Badlands National Park just before noon. On the way in we had already spotted numerous ground hogs, pronghorn and a lone bison. The Badlands are one of the most interesting places I've ever been to. It's strange and beautiful at the same time. Growing up in Kansas, the vast plains are a familiar sight, but to see a random outcrop of white rock structures coming up out of the plains was very alien to me.
We pulled into our campsite at noon. There are no trees in the Badlands, and the campgrounds are very exposed. We had a picnic table on a concrete slab with a semi-privacy wall that offered shade in the afternoon and evening. We had two tents to set up. My North Face 4-person backpacking tent, and an REI 4-person tent that was given to me around 8 years ago from a friend. Once everything was set up, we set out to explore. The boys were especially excited to have the freedom offered by the Badlands National Park. Most National Parks I've been to put forth a lot of effort to make sure you stay on the trail, only camp in certain places, and make sure you pay an entrance fee. In the Badlands, they just tell you to carry enough water and to watch out for rattle snakes.
Our boys were having a great time "climbing mountains" and being able to go where they pleased. Driving around looking for more places to explore, we saw some Mule Deer and quite a few Meadowlarks. We made another stop for some exploring, discovering what the boys would describe as the biggest ant hill in the world. In the far distance we could see a storm making its way towards us. I got to a good spot for some photos and once I felt some sprinkles, I decided I should make my way back to the van.
We drove back down to the campsite. On the way we could see it was raining where our campsite was located, and I was trying to remember if the tents were closed up. We pulled into the campsite in pouring rain. The wind was blowing unabated, ripping through the open plain like it had for thousands of years, and like it would for a thousand more. Both of our tents were flattened by the storm. I ran out to recover our bags of clothes and to get the tents propped back up. The North Face tent was not having any of it and I quickly gave up on it. The REI tent showed a little more resilience, but still wouldn't stand against the storm. I was out in the rain for less than 2 minutes and was completely soaked through. We waited in the van for the storm to pass, which only took another 30 minutes.
It didn't take long to surmise that both tents were out of commission. The North Face tent had a snapped pole which also put a hole in the rain fly. The REI tent only had a bent pole but was thoroughly wet inside. A change of plans was in order, and fortunately there is a Cabela's about an hour from the Badlands that would have a new tent for us. We took inventory of everything that was still left in tents. Only one sleeping bag and blanket were somewhat dry. Everything else was soaked. We strung a line from the shelter and got as much stuff hung up as we could. With nothing left to do but wait, we loaded everyone up and went shopping.
After selecting an 8-person tent and a few small fleece blankets, we made a pit stop at a Culver's for some comfort food and drove for an hour back to camp. Setting up the tent wasn't too hard for us, and we got all our wet gear hung up on a line from the picnic table shelter. That night was pretty rough. The low was 58° and we only had one dry sleeping bag and blanket, and the three blankets we bought at Cabela's. As everyone was going to sleep, I decided to make a try at some astrophotography. It's still a new art to me, but just getting out and trying some new things taught me a lot. It is amazing how a camera can pick up so much detail in the Milkyway that our eyes can't. Just having one exposure for 30 seconds was enough to pull out more detail than I was expecting.
Though the day didn't go as planned, it was still fun and we have a good story to tell when we get back home. The next day will prove to be more exciting, but without any of the drama.