Arriving in the Badlands

After a week of driving across the country (1,882 miles), we finally reached Badlands National Park. We were tired enough that after setting up camp and taking care of the dogs, an afternoon nap sounded like a better idea than sightseeing. After dinner, we decided to head into the park. The light wasn’t great for photography, but it didn’t matter. I was eager to see what the park had in store. I only got one landscape photo worth keeping, but sometimes that’s enough. The first evening was less about the photographs than becoming acquainted with a place I love.

Our first wildlife sighting was a group of pronghorns. Then, we saw prairie dogs. Lots of prairie dogs. Scientific estimates place the population somewhere between “more than I can count” and “everywhere I looked.”

I was satisfied with the prairie dogs and the pronghorns but on the way back to the campground, we saw mule deer, a white-tailed jack rabbit and a red-tailed hawk.