The Badlands

Please bear with the number of pictures that I am posting. This is how my mom can keep up with us.

The Badlands was our first national park. I still don't really understand how they were formed. I almost called my geologist friend, Renee, on several occasions because they are so interesting. The sources that I looked at gave a variety of explanations involving water, ash, and dirt. While I am glad that I wasn't around for the flood of Noah's days, I wonder what the earth was like and how it changed immediately afterward.

I took this from the website "How Stuff Works." "Badlands National Park features the unique topography characterized by sharply eroded buttes, gullies and ridges that has come to be known as badlands. The Badlands are cut from deep alluvial and volcanic ash deposits that have been sculptured and carved into fantastic forms by the continuous action of wind and water falling in infrequent but torrential downpours."

Some parts of the formations are eroding at an inch or more/year.

Here are another set of Notables:
* Mackenzie let out a genuine scream of horror when we were getting started on a trail in the Badlands. She saw the "Beware of Rattlesnake" sign right after she thought she had heard one near where Grant had been standing.
* The yellow and redish "dunes" of the Badlands added a rich beauty to this geography.
* Mackenzie and Grant did enjoy the Badlands, but their favorite part might have been chasing the Prairie Dogs...then we saw the warning sign!
* Dan's favorite part of the Prairie Dogs was their standing and squeaking salute to each other. We never caught that on camera though.