Wall, South Dakota, pt. 1

10/10/08

The name “Badlands” comes from the French “les mauvaises terres traverser” or “bad lands to travel”. Seeing as how I needed to be towed out of the park, I couldn’t agree more.

Let’s rewind a bit. The drive to the park was only about 20 miles from Kadoka. Passing through the gate, I opted to pick up the inter agency annual pass since I plan on visiting several more national parks over the course this trip. It was still gray outside, and also quite cold and a little rainy. It’s at this time I realized I forgot to pack gloves.

The badlands are quite impressive. It’s difficult to describe with words, but they’re a combination of canyon and plateau. Maybe a picture would help.

After a few stops, the VW liked the view so much that it decided to stay permanently and refused to start.

The situation is this. I’m in the Badlands, it’s cold, it’s rainy, my van won’t start, and I have no phone signal.

What now.

Well, I did what any guy would do. I opened up the engine compartment and stared at it cluelessly for a while and played with various connections and wires hoping that somehow the slightest adjustment will fix the whole problem.

This actually worked out well, since my look of hopelessness caused a patrolling park ranger to stop and ask me if I needed help. He called a tow truck for me and after about an hour I was on my way.

Doug the tow truck driver was a nice guy. After chatting with him about my trip, he informed me that he was paid by the hour, not the mile and gladly stopped the truck anytime the surrounding wildlife was close enough to take a picture.

I snapped this from the cab of the tow truck through the driver's side window.

The van and I got dropped off at a repair shop in Wall, SD. The mechanic was about to close, but he said he’d take a look at it in the morning.

I strolled on over to a bar called the cactus lounge and took a seat at the end of the bar and ordered a beer.

A couple noticed me trying to catch up on my journal and after an explanation, I starting chatting to them about my travels up to that point. Her name was Elizabeth – originally from back East, and his was Colin – a Kadoka native. They turned out to be incredibly nice people, who seem to enjoy their surroundings and their hobby of rock hunting almost as much as each other’s company. Upon hearing of my predicament, try as I might, I was unable to pay for another drink that as they knew the bartender.

I exchanged contact info with my new friends and headed back to the van for the night to await tomorrows verdict.