May 31, 2022 I drove over to Badlands National Park in South Dakota pretty early, so I could pull over for photos as often as I wanted on the way (which was pretty often) and still get to the badlands in time to look around.
The north half of the park had the bighorns and deer and the teeth-like rocky structures that the park is known for, and the south half of the park had bison and emense rolling rocky grasslands, cut away with rocky ravines.
I got to the park early enough to drive all the way through before heading over to the town of Interior (population 94) to check in at my airb&b sleeping arrangements, and still get back to see if the sunset would be visible through the clouds. It wasn’t, but it was magical anyways. Don’t these bighorns look beautiful in the last light?
I stayed overnight in a very rustic cabin without electricity or wifi, way off the beaten path. The kid (maybe 10 years old) who gave me directions from the main house out to the cabin was adorably professional.
I slept sparsely and restlessly, and got up at 4:30 am to get back to the park in time for the sunrise. I’d planned ahead with some much needed gas station coffee in the car.
I only saw a few humans out and about, mostly professional looking photographers. But the park was full of singing birds, some fluffy beautiful deer, molting bighorn sheep and bison…
I have about 500 photos – many of which I can’t wait to paint from!
