BADLANDS (Day 2 - part 5)

For sunset, we went to the Three Trails parking lot and opted for the short Window Trail... or at least we tried. In the end, we found ourselves wandering aimless along the base of a low ridge, which was still very pleasant, especially in the changing light.

There were several opportunities to look over the ridge (via 'windows' perhaps) to the expansive landscape on the other side.


The fragile, soft formations


A mud ball... in the wild!


A window


The view on the other side


Looking through another window


The photoshoot


The vultures were getting closer!


The light begins to pull back from the valley.

We had to pull over on the drive back to the campsite to enjoy the amazing colors of the sky.

Things just kept getting prettier and prettier back at the campsite. Unfortunately this could only be said for visually, not auditorily... generators, loud tvs (inside the campers), dogs barking, car alarms honking, etc, reminded us we were not even remotely alone in spite of being in the wilderness.


A robin hops through camp.

There was an evening ranger program at the nearby amphitheater. But it was cut short primarily because it was on the stars... and by that time, the clouds had moved back in and blotted almost everything out (although we did get a glimpse of the space station in its orbit around our planet.