Yesterday we had the longest of our hikes. We started out early in the morning to beat the heat. Our original intent was to hike the Castle and Medicine Trails from the Notch/Door parking lot. These trails are flat and meander through prairie grass for a couple of miles, leading to the backside of the buttes that we saw driving along the park roads.
With all the rain that fell on the Badlands this year, the grass is still green in mid-July heat. Green and yellow. An invasive clover weed blankets the prairie for as far as the eye can see. This botanical grows tall and crowds out native species. Into a sea of yellow flowered weeds we set out upon the Castle Trail. After about a city block we stopped. The weeds were taller than a few people in our group. Not only did the grass cover the trail, it contained our natural nemesis of the week - mosquitoes. The rainfall produced not only green prairies but filled them with an uncountable number of needle-armed pests. As a group we decided to head back to the vehicles. On the park map, I was able to locate another trail that would get us to where we wanted to go.
So, we went to the Saddle Pass trailhead. Up the steep slope we ascended what is known as “the Wall.” For a quarter of a mile, we climbed. Both young and young-at-heart were out of breath at the summit where we were able to look out across the White River Valley. It was beautiful. From there we found the Castle Trail again and hiked into an area that most visitors to the Badlands never see. For about three miles, we hiked along a path filled with visual surprises caused by water’s heavy erosion. The dry and cracked ground crumbled under our feet. At a couple of points we had to jump over crevasses. It was fun.
Following our approximately three-mile hike we had a picnic lunch, did a little souvenir shopping at the tribal gift shop. Then it was off to the Minuteman Missile National Historic monument. Here we saw a video on the Cold War and the Cuban missile crises. From the visitor center, we traveled out to Delta 9, one of 150 nuclear missile silos that were part of the vast United States missile arsenal. At the silo, we were able to see one of the deactivated missiles that thankfully never took flight. One of our St. James group, John Schlutz is retired Air Force. He served during the Cuban missile crises to train bombardiers on specific targets in Russia. As John shared his story, it became all too real just how close we got to firing our missiles and annihilating the world as we live in it today.
From our pause for historical reflection, we went to Wall Drug store. This was purely for fun - and of course, for the free ice water. Did I mention, it was hot out?
After our final meal of smoked ribs on the campfire, we gave thanks for the week we spent together. Tired, swatting mosquitoes, we still smiled and shared gratitude for each other.
Although it was a part of the canceled agenda - on account of the storms - for the first four nights of our stay, we finally got to the National Park Star program with clear skies. It was beautiful to stare into the heavens and see the beauty of stars and planets in the night sky.
In Christ’s Light,
Walt