Just last weekend I decided to do some cross-country hiking in the Badlands national park. That's actually an ambitious goal in itself, given the terrain there, but I decided to try to get to one of the peaks there. Here's the story:
My path starts off relatively easy; all I have to contend with is small mounds, melting snow, and extremely slick mud created by the melting snow.
I get the first good look at my goal, the peak in the center of this picture:
As I progressed further on, this is the last time I was able to see my jeep before coming back. From there on, I had to use whatever navigational skills I had to get back to it. It is the little black object in the center of the photo:
My hike becomes a little less easy at this point; now I have to do more zig-zagging to avoid obstacles:
Still, this is a good path to follow. Because of how steep it gets around here sometimes, it is impossible to make a straight-line path:
Then, my chosen path starts to get a little complicated; I have to backtrack occasionally:
Around now is when I realize how desolate a place this can be. I'm glad I packed emergency food and water in my backpack:
Then my path starts to actually get challenging; I sometimes have to spend time planning my route, and occasionally have to make a risky jump over a gully:
About here is where I spotted one of the many tiny caves that are all over the place here. Most don't go very far in at all, but who knows?
I scramble up and take a look inside:
After that, the trail becomes a real challenge; I'm using hands and knees sometimes:
An example of the obstacles I faced; on the way in, I straddled my way over the top with one foot on either side, but on the way back I was more tired, so I walked through the mud at the bottom and squeezed through:
I then get a view of the final ascent to my destination; it doesn't look easy... what path would you choose? I chose the one to the left, leading towards that tree:
As I near the top, the path becomes an extreme challenge; at this point I'm almost always on hands and knees, while sometimes sprawled out using my whole arms, legs, and any handy vegetation for traction:
As you might guess, I'm very aware of the danger of falling at this point. There is absolutely nothing here that can be trusted to hold your weight; the clay/rocks crumble and the bushes sometimes are dead and will pull right out or break easily. That's bad enough climbing a small incline, but its a long way down from here:
As I try to plan my route onwards, I make a very interesting discovery. This whole area is a very rich fossil bed, and I've now made my own find:
Only a few more yards upwards, the path becomes absolutely impossible without climbing gear I don't have, so I decide to stop at this point:
So, I come to terms with the fact that this is as high as I'm going to go:
Still, I'm rewarded with some spectacular views from the top. It gives an idea of how isolated it is here that despite my huge field of view here, the only sign of civilization I can spot is a small part of the road I came in on. If you look near the center of the photo, you can spot the cave from an earlier picture:
I then return back the way I came, using a controlled slide to get down most of the last parts.
In all, it took me over 4 hours to travel less than 2 miles.
My path starts off relatively easy; all I have to contend with is small mounds, melting snow, and extremely slick mud created by the melting snow.
I get the first good look at my goal, the peak in the center of this picture:
As I progressed further on, this is the last time I was able to see my jeep before coming back. From there on, I had to use whatever navigational skills I had to get back to it. It is the little black object in the center of the photo:
My hike becomes a little less easy at this point; now I have to do more zig-zagging to avoid obstacles:
Still, this is a good path to follow. Because of how steep it gets around here sometimes, it is impossible to make a straight-line path:
Then, my chosen path starts to get a little complicated; I have to backtrack occasionally:
Around now is when I realize how desolate a place this can be. I'm glad I packed emergency food and water in my backpack:
Then my path starts to actually get challenging; I sometimes have to spend time planning my route, and occasionally have to make a risky jump over a gully:
About here is where I spotted one of the many tiny caves that are all over the place here. Most don't go very far in at all, but who knows?
I scramble up and take a look inside:
After that, the trail becomes a real challenge; I'm using hands and knees sometimes:
An example of the obstacles I faced; on the way in, I straddled my way over the top with one foot on either side, but on the way back I was more tired, so I walked through the mud at the bottom and squeezed through:
I then get a view of the final ascent to my destination; it doesn't look easy... what path would you choose? I chose the one to the left, leading towards that tree:
As I near the top, the path becomes an extreme challenge; at this point I'm almost always on hands and knees, while sometimes sprawled out using my whole arms, legs, and any handy vegetation for traction:
As you might guess, I'm very aware of the danger of falling at this point. There is absolutely nothing here that can be trusted to hold your weight; the clay/rocks crumble and the bushes sometimes are dead and will pull right out or break easily. That's bad enough climbing a small incline, but its a long way down from here:
As I try to plan my route onwards, I make a very interesting discovery. This whole area is a very rich fossil bed, and I've now made my own find:
Only a few more yards upwards, the path becomes absolutely impossible without climbing gear I don't have, so I decide to stop at this point:
So, I come to terms with the fact that this is as high as I'm going to go:
Still, I'm rewarded with some spectacular views from the top. It gives an idea of how isolated it is here that despite my huge field of view here, the only sign of civilization I can spot is a small part of the road I came in on. If you look near the center of the photo, you can spot the cave from an earlier picture:
I then return back the way I came, using a controlled slide to get down most of the last parts.
In all, it took me over 4 hours to travel less than 2 miles.
)
