The Bad, the Black, and the Underground

One would assume that after so many weeks on the road and numerous park visits that the thrill (or rather the excitement) that comes with arriving at a destination would fade over time or possibly become monotonous. Well, as we enter our 3 month mark, we can attest to the opposite.
With each new place, we are still experiencing the anticipation and giddiness of what adventures we may find ahead.  More so for places that we have "been to" before, but want to explore again this time around. This was the exact scenario for Badlands National Park.  

Back in 2010 we drove my first MR2 from Idaho to Pennsylvania through one small section of the Badlands, not even doing any hikes... just a few hours and some quickly snapped photos from the road.  Even with that small taste, I knew there was something special in that rugged and dramatic landscape that I wanted to see more of.  Since then, I have been nagging Karl about my desire to give this particular park the time and energy it deserved.  Enraptured, I was by the Badlands, as we visited it a second time... and it did not disappoint.

I do not wield magic with words, usually letting my photos tell the stories but if I had to put a descriptor phrase to Badlands it would be this: deceptively beautiful.

The beautiful part is easily explained.  

Everywhere you look there are jagged lines that cut across the horizon, vivid colors you never expected, abundant wildlife including bison, deer, bighorn sheep, prairie dogs, pronghorns, coyotes, etc, and the best night skies I have ever witnessed. 

The deceptive part is what makes this park though. What you think is hard ground, crumbles like sand under your feet/what looks soft is unforgiving; Colors change with vivid differences along with the lighting of the day; temperatures fluctuate with the wind and shadows; and when the boardwalks or establish trail ends, you are just beginning and are encouraged to explore further!

At first, we began by taking the typical recommended boardwalk and trail jaunts that are popular and easily accessible.  

Karl immediately made the whole area (railings included) his own parkour gym to jump around and play on. It was like letting a starving kid loose in a candy store. 

After a few small hikes, we got some recommendations at the visitor center on what else to do (this is now a standard for us- talk to a ranger about what cool things to do) and then drove the long road through the park to the Sage Creek Campground. It is a free, first come first serve large open primitive campground, where the bison like to roam just as much as the people. 

We even witnessed a guy that got too close to a bison that was wandering within the camp, get chased and within inches of being hooked on a big bison horn... All within a few yards of where we were parked.  I, being the brave soul that I am, climbed on top of Ele to watch the drama go down from a safe, non-bison trampling distance.

Once the bison established that he was the boss and things settled down, the real show began... the stars came out like I have never seen them before.  We took the moonroof completely out of Ele, and just stared up at the stars all night (and attempted some nighttime long exposure shots too, as you might have seen on Instagram *cough cough @krenbic cough cough*).  

And that is probably the moment I fell in love with this place. The next day, we ventured "off trail" (I put this in quotes because we followed a bison path, so there was something of a trail to explore) up to a place called Deer Haven.  

Getting off the beaten path is easier than some National Parks due to the nature of the land and how much erosion (at least an inch per year) that occurs either way, so a few footprints in the back country that will disappear after a good wind or the first rainfall are inconsequential.  

So, we chased deer mice through the tall grasses, climbed crazy spires and pinnacles, and even followed a coyote through a dry creek bed.  

Funny to think how we seek these crazy routes of cliffs and ravines which frustrated earlier travelers, all in order to gain that visual "gateway to forever" for a view that can stretch for miles and find solitude beyond compare.

After getting all hot and sweaty on that exploration, we decided to take a drive along Sheep Mountain Table in the Stronghold Unit of the Badlands. 

It was a beautiful (yet sometimes sketchy) drive that Karl wanted to take to see how far Ele could go on rough terrain. Seriously, there were points that the car was at such an extreme angle or the grasses were taller than the roof... 

but Karl and Ele did it, and I just enjoyed the bumpy ride!

I could go on and on about the Badlands, but instead I will just leave a photo of a colorful sunset.

Enough of the "Bad"... onto the "Black".  After leaving the Badlands, we of course visited Wall Drug and if anyone had ever driven through South Dakota, you have seen the signs for this place, everywhere.

After riding the jackalope, we continued towards the Black Hills. With Labor Day Weekend approaching, we wanted to stake a claim on a campsite and set up the kingdom before all the weekend warriors did, so we found a first come site at Grizzly Creek, near Mt. Rushmore.  Once again, we visited this area before to see the stoney faces but, never at night... 

Honestly, the monument is much less crowded (we had the place to ourselves) and very cool to witness by the spotlights that pierce through the shadows of the night.  But, the highlight of this area were the rocks around those rocky faces. 

Yep, lots of climbing. 

On sharp crystal-like rock. And we learnt a lot, like how to get a rope unstuck from a razor edge... 

Good Times. 

Once we spent a few days reaching the tops of cliffs, we decided to descend under them next. Onto the "Underground" portion of the trip. Wind Cave National Park was an easy and beautiful drive along the Iron Mountain Road and Needles Highway. 

The cave system is one of the largest and most complex caves in the world, and much of it is still being discovered.  Seriously, there is a whole world hidden underneath the prairie lands. We attempted to get on a "Wild Cave" tour, which would have been 4 hours of crawling on hands and knees through the less visited parts of the cave, but sadly, only 1 spot opened up... And if both of us couldn't do it, neither of us would.  Instead we took the standard/most popular option, Natural Entrance Tour that allowed us to see the small hole that would breath with the wind and was the first way people entered this unknown abyss.  People no longer attempt to slink their bodies into this small opening, choosing to use the elevator shaft they installed later as a less claustrophobic option BUT, with that said... I can fit into the Natural Entrance! 

This tour was one of those look (and take photos) but don't touch, kind of experiences.  

Photos taken inside the cave though can never encompass all the sensations of being down there or portray the beauty of the formations truly (the cave is best known for its wonderful boxwork formations).

Loving the cooler temperatures, eerie winds, and spectacular formations we took the chance on a second tour...  the Historical Candlelight Tour.  And, just like it sounds, you enter the caves with just the light of a small candle.  No cameras were allowed on this excursion (yes, normally I would complain about that) but the experience of only seeing what a small flicker of flame above a wax candle contained in a old tin bucket could illuminate is in itself well... illuminating.  The smell of the wax and smoke; the blowing out of your candle to plunge yourself into the most complete darkness you have ever known; the ability to walk on and touch parts of the cave only few have the chance to is daunting and magnificent (as long as you aren't afraid of the dark, or tight spaces)!

Enjoying the cave experience so much/taking advantage of being the the area, the very next day we visited Jewel Cave National Monument and took the scenic tour.  

Another underground world, yet still so very different. 

The maze of passageways and splendid fragile formations found in these expansive cave systems are so mysterious yet magical, a hidden environment that baffles me yet I want to immerse myself into more... I admit- I caught the caving fever and am so glad these places are national parks/monuments and I can't wait to explore more.

<3S  

The Worst Day Hiking Yet & Cake

What followed from Alaska was a tedious four day drive back to the lower 48.  The logistics of trying to visit most of the national parks in a one year period is difficult.  There are a handful of parks that are best visited during July, August, or September.  Our research yielded some of these parks to be Rocky, Yosemite, most of the PNW parks, all of Alaska, and....Isle Royale.  What the heck is Isle Royale?

A lesser known park to most of us, it is an island in the northern reaches of Lake Superior, very close to the Canadian border.  It is somewhere between 40-50 miles long and about 10 miles across.  It is ecologically significant because back when the lake froze solid, a population of wolves crossed onto the island chasing after herd of Moose that occupied the island.  The intertwined relationship between the two populations has been the subject of much study through the years.  Other than some mildly fruitless copper mining back in the day the island has remained relatively untouched boreal forest.

After a long boat ride. We decided to do the 'big deal' hike along the Greenstone Ridge.  It is 40 miles from one end (Windigo Visitor Center) to the other (Rock Harbor Visitor Center) along the backbone of the island, a good 4 day jaunt.  We couldn't split it into 10 even miles a day because of the campsite spacing, so it went ~11, ~15, ~8, ~7.  Overall the hike was nice, good trails, Adirondack shelters with screens, few bugs, loons calling, and nice scenery.

The sunsets were nice too...

And sunrises...

So why the blog title?  Day two.  The long day. 15 miles.  Which turned into 10 hours of hiking in the consistent rain, with low brush that soaks your pants and boots.  Along a flat trail on smooth (and in the rain very slippy) rock, with no scenery, little elevation change, and very little turns.  It was an endless, boring, soaking, miserable day.  Stacy added to the moisture 3 times via tears throughout the hike. It all began when a toad hopped into the path of her descending boot (squish). #2 waterworks was after more wet miles when she took a fall on said slippy rock, and #3 was near the end when she realized she dropped her Buff and had to backtrack to find it. We were both on a low when we arrived drenched to a flooded campsite, to set up a tent in the rain.  On the bright side, the tent and bags were dry.  Oh! I almost forgot.  Due to tapeworm cysts, we carried all of our water, which meant Stacy's pack weighed 55 lbs (aka half her weight) and mine weighed 65 lbs. So, we vowed from now on when we are having a bad day, to repeat the mantra "...at least this isn't Isle Royale day two...".

Thankfully, day three was warm and bright, and with day four being so short, the worst was over.  We dried our stuff in the morning, and headed out.  We even managed to snag a covered shelter that afternoon and the next night.

Our departure being in the morning of the 5th day, the second half of day four was an additional 5.5 miles (because 40 already wasn't enough) to Scoville Point.

After that, beers in the shelter and soaking up the afternoon sun.  FOCUS.

A small consolation was what happened to the little squirrel that lived above the shelter, constantly yelling at us and shitting on our picnic table...  The morning we are to leave, I am outside tying my boots and a rustling in the bushes turned out to be a sly red fox with a certain plump squirrel in his mouth.  Karma.

 
The hike was nice, I don't know if I would do it again.  It reminded me of the LHHT (Laurel Highlands), elevation at the ends, flat in the middle.  But Isle Royale had more shrubs and less sights.  Still, it is a very isolated place and lovely place.  Oh and a note on the wolves:  Due to climate change, no ice bridges have formed, and the gene pool is sour.  There are only 2 left, and they will not produce viable offspring.  End of an era.  Wah-wah...


Onto the next park nearby, Voyageurs National Park  Rather than an island in a big lake, it is a series of lakes in northern Minnesota that once again borders Canada.  After our 'miserable' hike, we wanted an easy going park experience.  We also wanted to be present in a park for the official 100th birthday of the National Park Service, August 25!  We booked a campsite on an island 3 miles across from the main launch, and loaded Ele up with a new hat.

For 2 nights we would be the only people on Sugarbush Island with a nice weekend of relaxing without having to pack up and move.

The best part was the morning we left, there was cake! The downside was 20 knot winds (good thing we were sugared up with cake and icing)!

But we made it fine and just cut wood for the afternoon so we could have a fire and make tons of delicious mountain pies.

The following day we visited a rock garden (Ellsworth Rock Gardens) built by a retired contractor who owned land in park, before it was a park.  It was a pretty cool place.

We then paddled back to camp and burned more wood and ate more mountain pies.  It is a hard life, I know.  The following morning was a departure to 10 knot winds, so not as bad.  Overall, Voyageurs is a very lovely park for your boat lover or fisherman and it was a lovely place to wind down and eat pie.  Until next time...

-K

The Presidential Candidate's Mountain

My future plans include investing in cinder blocks and barbed wire.  I am aware of a presidential candidate that plans on increasing the value of said items through shrewd economics and international affairs.  How do I gain favor with them?  I will name a recognizable location after them!  They will never visit the place, and it already has a long standing different name everyone recognizes, but screw it.  I wouldn't be the first.

The place we speak of is the tallest mountain in North America and instead of wall materials, they were seeking gold.  Hence the name ambiguity.   This happened in 1896.  Last year it was officially changed back to its proper native name of Denali but for the record, the only place we saw the M word was on random old park documentation here and there.  Nobody really called it McKinley up here.

The parks in AK are very large and most of them are only accessible via bush plane.  There are very few established trails and you must bushwhack most of your own route.  Denali is the popular park because it actually has a road to the main gate accessible from major cities AND, wouldn't you know it, the road actually continues into the park.  The 90 mile dirt road bisects the 6.1 million acres.  You must take a park bus past the 15 mile marker and the round trip to the end is 11 hours.  We didn't venture all the way in, but did spend a day riding the bus and hiking the backcountry.

The first day was spent getting acquainted with our campsite and the visitors center and attending ranger talks.

The following day we decided to view the sled dog demo (or rather Stacy decided that visiting the dogs was a must).  Since a large chunk of the park is designated a "wilderness area", which is the highest level of federal land protection, no motorized vehicles are permitted.  The NPS maintains several teams of sled dogs for winter maintenance and patrolling. 

The dogs, being working dogs, need to keep working in the summer, so there are 3 demos daily (and lots of puppy loving with the visitors).  FYI: they have a litter once a year at the dog sled kennels, and pick a theme to name all the pups. This year being the NPS Centennial, the newest additions were the "Birthday" litter: Cupcake, Pinata, Party, Happy, and Hundo. 

We then ventured off to hike around Savage River, and more importantly, play in the rocks. 

I climbed around and as some of you know, Stacy made friends with her patronus, a Pika.

The next day was predicted to be good weather, so we had signed up for a ranger led hike.  We managed to see the mountain on the drive out which is apparently rare enough to begin with (random information said that only 30% of visitors actually get to see Denali the mountain while visiting Denali the park).

The hike was off-path, and above the tree line in field of scree.  I loved it.  More playing in the rocks.  

Ranger Peter was very knowledgeable with belly/butt botany (as he called it) and we learned a lot about the local plant life and I picked a bunch of fresh blueberries.  

After the hike, we split from the ranger group and decided to take the bus further into the park, where there were plenty of wildlife visible from the bus to make Stacy happy.

After Denali we headed back down to the small town of Talkeetna, where we chilled in the hostel and filled up on beer and brats and listened to wolves howl in the night.  It was a pretty cool town.  The mayor is a cat.   Our host speculates that it died 2 years ago and they won't tell anyone because then they would have to elect a person to replace it. 

Despite it being the middle of August, it is 60 and rainy every day.  Even though we are already thinking about when we can come visit Alaska again in the future we were ready to head back down to the lower 48 to catch the last heat of summer, more standard hours of daylight, and non-AK prices for everything. On that long drive back down we spotted 9 black bears along the side of the road in one day but the most exciting moment was an unique sighting of adorable canadian mountain lynx kits trying to cross the highway. 

-K