Cedar Pass Lodge, South Dakota, United StatesCedar Pass Lodge Campground, Badlands NP, Interior SD
Badlands has been a very windy place.
I had hoped for a more sheltered campground spot to put up the tent, but I did manage to get one of the horse trailer spots so I could park the car off the road and not have to sleep in it on the road.W \
Well, last night turned out to be a bit of a downer. When I went to lock the car for the night, I realized that I did not have my car key. where it should have been. I had gone for a walk, then come back to the car, opened it to get out stuff, ate dinner, watched the sun go down, and then decided it was time to go to bed. Once I realized, I looked in all my pockets and anywhere I thought I might have put them, but no key. So I went to sleep just after 7 pm - a bit early - but what else was there to do....except worry and panic. I thought I would do a more thorough search in the morning when I could see better. In the middle of the night, I had a brainwave that I had put the key in my hiking boot when I took them off. I did put something in one of the shoes - maybe the socks - and then had a vague recollection of putting something else in the other shoe.
It had to be the key, but rather than get up and look and be disapppointed an not be able to sleep, I postponed looking until the morning. I woke up around 3:30 am and checked out the stars and the Milky Way - lovely....
I woke up again at 6:45 am. Now I could look in my boot. NADA! I had planned my next step to be to call AAA. This turned out to be a real ordeal because I could not hear the dispatcher unless she talked loud and she did not talk loud unless I said I could not hear what she said and then she repeated it more loudly. This went on for the whole conversation except for the extended periords when I was on hold. I was also concerned becqause my phone battery was low and I could not charge it without being able to turn on the ignition. She asked me if I had a problem with the battery - and I had to tell her no, but I could not charge the phone if I could not run the car if I did not have my key. After calling, I was told it would be 50 minutes or less. So I fixed my breakfast and started eating and looking for my keys in between bites of muesli.
My campground neighbor came over and asked if she could help me find my keys. She had overheard my conversation with AAA. That was very nice of her....and I probably should have let her because she probbly would have found them immediately. Her male companion said that he had had a lot of experience with Subarus and lost keys by putting them on the roof and having them slide into the roof racks. He suggested I get one of those magnetic key holders and I told him that I had bought 5 of the boxes but never used them because I was afraid I would lose the magnetic box. I also checked for my spare car key - which I found - but which did not turn in the keyhole.
I then went back to my picnic table to continue my search and something shiny caught my eye - a bit of silver sticking up in the picnic table - turned out to be my key that had fallen between the slats in the picnic table to the brace below. Hallelejah, I cried out to my helpful neighbors. I found the key!! They rejoiced with me and then I called AAA to cancel my emergency request.
As I am writing this blog, I am thinking the light is almost good for taking some photos so maybe I will go and do that now.
Back to this morning, I left the campground and returned to Wall - had I been to Wall before?? - I missed the short cut to wall and went back the long way more like how I had come at firrst. The gps wasnt working prperly. I saw some bison along the way. I got gas,, ice and coffee - the essentials. But I forgot to get any other drinks or water since I was in an area both hot and windy and dry which all make you need to drink lots of water and it is very bad if you don't have any.
I found the Grasslands National Forest Visitor Center but it was closed. I did pick up a few more mpas from the adjacent Ranger Station with the Badlands since I did not have a Badlands brochure or a passport stamp. I did eventaully get a brochure at one of the Badlands NP entrance booths - they seem to pop up at odd places along the way interspersed with the other federal land entitiies. I hadn't realized the National Forests were part of the Agriculture Dept.
After I left Wall, I took rt 240 in the Badlands NP and stopped at all the overlooks plus some exra unnamed pull-outs, but did skip the last trailhead pull-out.until I got to the Cedar Pass Lodge campground just in time to find a suitable site. I had trouble keeping track of the free ones and the ones I might want. I ended up with two possible numbers - both horse trailer sites so I could sleep in the car again since it was too windy to try to put up the tent.
Even though the Badlands are pretty extraordinary, I was not as impressed as I flet I should have been. Maybe because it was mid-day and the colors were mostly gray and white. I kept thinking maybe I would do all my high-noon photos in black and white or sepia tones to see if that help thems. As it turns out, some of the ones with the polarizing filter are quite dramatic and turned out to be interesting even if they do not have the subtle colors of the real Badlands. I felt rushed for time to get to the capground and be able to get a space before dark so I didn't take and hikes, only the short little walks on the boardwalks or stairs or whatever. I was also a bit afraid of finding rattlesnakes.
In my notes from the evening of the 7th, I did not write about the nice couple who pointed out the big-horned sleep lying on the rock and then, when I couldn't get a decent photo with my phone or the LUmix, I asked if I could take a photo of one of their photos and the man graciously offered to take a photo for me with my phone using his binoculars or telescope to get a closer picture. I was really gratefrul because seeing the lovely animal was a big thrill, but having aphoto was a thrill of a different order! This sighting - and I could see the sheep with my binoculars - even with my phone camera - I just couldn't hold it still enough to get a clear photo. So, this sighting made the most different kinds of wildlife spotted in any of the national parks so far - bison prairie dog, black-tailed sheep, coyote, and big-horned sheep. I also saw at least 3 different kinds of birds - the long-tailed one, the one with the orange blob on breast, and the brown-streaked waling bird - I can't think if I saw any crows in the Badlands, though.
Seems as if I should have more to saw about one the the primo National Parks, but I guess this was all I came up with....at least for now.
2025-05-22