Tuesday, 5/14/2024: Badlands & Wall Drug

We got up early this morning and headed for Badlands National Park to get in some hiking before the forecast rain. We haven't gotten a lot of use out of our $10 Lifetime Senior Pass for national parks that we got eight years ago on our Route 66 roadtrip. But admission to Badlands was $30 per car, so even at the current $80 cost for the lifetime pass, that would be worth it for visiting only a few national parks.
The weather held out until around noon, so we got in a few short easy hikes and one longer, more challenging hike where we had to climb a trail that was steep and often covered in loose gravel-like rock. We didn't make it to the top of that one. I had to call it quits at about the three-quarter mark, and a good thing, too, because I wouldn't have wanted to try that descent in the rain.
The scenery here is amazing. I've read that it's like seeing the surface of the moon, very alien.

We headed back into town for a late lunch at Wall Drug. If you've ever traveled anywhere with 200 miles of Wall, SD, you've seen the signs for Wall Drug. It started out as a small drug store but is now a mega-complex of shops and other attractions, and a 500+ seat restaurant that serves 5-cent coffee and $10 pie. They even have a tiny chapel.

Tomorrow we head for the Black Hills. We'll be in that area for about five days. Lots to see: Mount Rushmore, the Crazy Horse monument, Custer State Park, etc.