Sunrise at 5:32

Saturday, July 18, 2020 – Badlands National Park, SD to Custer State Park, SD

Sunrise is my favorite time of the day. I love the beauty of the glowing orb rising out of Lake Michigan on my summertime morning runs. The rays piercing through the clouds, the colors on the sky – each day exactly the same and completely different. But beyond the beauty, I love the breaking of a new day. The accomplishments and mistakes of yesterday are behind. Each sunrise is pregnant with potential. What experiences and achievements will today bring? Some days are disappointments and others are delights, but all have equal possibility at sunrise.

Sunrise at Interior, SD is at 5:32 am on July 17. So if you want to be out on the Door Trail at sunrise, you need to get up at 4:30, and it is worth it. The beauty of sunset on the Castle Trail was magnified on the Door Trail at sunrise. The Door Trail is a short walk east through the Badlands wall and along the canyon. As the sky starts to glow over the plains to the east, the canyon slowly illuminates with red, orange, pink, and purple colors. And along with the sun came warmth and the morning breeze. The sun heats the air and as it expands the wind starts to blow. My words and pictures cannot do it justice. It is worth the early wake up to experience sunrise on the Badlands.

We hiked the short Cliff Shelf Nature Trail on the way back to the campground. It is an oasis amid the desolation all around. A small amount of water goes a long way to nourishing the junipers that grow here in the shadow of the Badlands wall.

Two hikes, coffee, camp broken down, and out of the campground by 8:00 am. That’s what happens when you wake up at 4:30. We took a leisurely drive west, splitting off the paved road and avoiding the tourist trap at Wall Drug to take the gravel Sage Creek Road to the western edge of the park. We stopped to explore a prairie dog town, watching them scurry about. Chrissy especially likes it when they sit up, and we have lots of photographic evidence. At an overlook we ran into another Wisconsinite who visits the Badlands every year and was disappointed by the absence of bison. As we continued up the road we found him and the bison herd. They are magnificent creatures. It boggles my mind to think about them roaming the plains and it is equally boggling to think about how we wiped them out.  Human beings are impressive. Sometimes for good, sometimes for bad, but impressive all the same.

Our route from Badlands National Park to Custer State Park took us around the outskirts of Rapid City. Custer State Park is quite large and has more than one visitor center. If you put the wrong one in your GPS device you will have a longer trip than planned. Don’t ask how I know this. Custer State Park

We arrived at the Game Lodge Campground early in the afternoon. Our site was empty so we were able to set up camp. We chatted with the friendly campground host for a bit and he pointed out leftover firewood in adjacent empty sites that I should scavenge. I must have had that free firewood look about me. Campfire wood is relatively cheap in the grand scheme of things – a bundle is usually around $5.00. I don’t balk at paying $5.00 for a pint of good (or even bad) pale ale, but I will spend half an afternoon scavenging for firewood around a campground.

With camp set up and firewood gathered, we set off to hike the Lover’s Leap Trail. It’s a four-mile loop that climbs to the top of a ridge, then back down along a creek with several footbridge creek crossings. Fortunately, we met someone at the trailhead who told us to go clockwise to get the climb out of the way first. It would be enjoyable either way, but I think it was better to climb first and have the gentle slope down.

Back at the campsite we had dinner, a bit of fire, and our first rain of the trip. I was glad to have the rain because I wanted to test our new tent. After a very wet night last summer in our porous old tent, we bought a new tent with a rain fly that goes all the way to the ground. I was quite excited and pleased that we stayed dry all night.