The Dakotas – Day 43 – The Badlands

48 miles cycling, 1919′ of climbing (2235.1 tot) – to read from the beginning, click here.

Started the morning off with breakfast at the campground and our own coffee and then we went to Wall drugs for their $0.05 coffee, and rode the 8 miles to the entrance to the park. Cool day for the desert in the low 80s to start then up to 88 in the afternoon but it was very dry and didn’t feel anywhere near that hot. We stopped at almost every viewpoint and hiked up the Saddle Pass Trail and later in the day, the Door and the Notch.

I was in the Badlands before in 2005 with Chris Fahey sagging me through South Dakota. We also stopped the Wall Drug and then I rode through the park. The scenery is much the same, but the roads are so much better — now with shoulders and the 15-18% grades smoothed out to a reasonable 7%. Mentally toasted Chris as I rode the roads we once traveled.

Of all the places I wanted Dana to see on this trip, the Badlands of SD were at the top of the list and I think it lived up to my expectations for her.

Tonight we’re in a campground in Interior South Dakota. We will be trying to figure out where we’re going next and how we’re getting into Nebraska. We worked on that at the Wagon Wheel Bar which was staffed by a couple of Colombians. Dana worked on her Spanish with them and they were very appreciative of that. Had a great veggie pizza, fries, and a couple of Schlitz’s and PBRs. 

Back in the campground we met Chad and Gloria from Mentor, Ohio and sat at their campfire with them for a while. Heading off to bed for a long day to White River, SD and then to Valentine NE.