Luxury of Time.....

Luckily we have the time to explore a little more in the park, and take a little more time to really see it...out of the car. One  morning, we took our breakfast up to the Cliff Shelf NatureTrail, mainly to see if we could spot any wildlife. Since it was pretty early and we were high up, we thought we'd see something in the meadow below....but no. The views were still nice though and the walk was peaceful.We even spotted cactus for the first time here. There were warning signs everywhere for cactus and poisonous snakes (eeks!), so we were always looking down. Well, at least I WAS!

early morning sun on the Badlands

Cliff Shelf Nature Trail

Cheerios and water anyone?

Cactus

spot of color!

 We then proceeded to take a really nice hike on the Medicine Root Trail Loop, through prairie grassland and rock formations. Its 4 miles long, and winds through prairie grassland and badlands formations. Amazing! I've never been on a hike like this before. Seriously, I sometimes felt like I was on another planet.

Trailhead

I was tempted to turn around, but glad I didn't!

prairie grassland and rock outcroppings

walking through prairie grasses (with tons of birds chirping like crazy!)

 The landscape was so striking and varied...barren and dry in parts, and then a pop of color with some spring flowers.

see the bird? Brown...in the middle of the pic

striking landscape

prairie

nice and refreshing sight

 Once again, we pretty much had the trail to ourselves. We only passed two other (young) people the entire time. Where is everyone?

where is the trailmarker?

oh, there it is!

Still with me Susie?

check out the cactus on the edge here

rabbit prints?

flat tops

flowers breaking through the clay

 After a while, I got the feeling I was hiking in the desert. The ground was so dry and mostly barren. There were canyons and spikes everywhere. The ground was dry, cracked and flaky.

sun is getting strong now

canyons and spikes

watch your step Tom!

 You'd think we were into birding by the amount of bird pictures we take. They were everywhere...we could hear them loud and clear, but they were very difficult to spot. Its become sort of a competition with us....see who could get a picture of the bird! ahahahah

can't be comfortable standing on a cactus plant

birds were hard to spot

This is where I really got that "desert feeling". Just look at the landscape. The cactus were plentiful here too. AND THEN THE SUN CAME OUT! Oh my my my....if you weren't prepared with sunblock, a hat and water, you were cooked! No way I could do this hike in the summer!!

getting parched now

cool cactus 

more

I'm getting a little hot!

 Also, much of the hike was through prairie grasslands. The entire time we were hiking (through grassland area), we heard birds chirping. They were in the grass, so you couldn't see them. But what a chorus! Not to mention the rock formations...amazing!

aahh, refreshing grasslands and flat tops

another bird shot

the views were amazing

the path clearly marked

weather coming in the distance

 Luckily for me, half of the hike was in cloudy weather, with a little bit of raindrops. At one point, we were a little worried about the really dark clouds moving in.We should have been so lucky with a little rain!  Once the sun was shining, it was really hot. The air temperature was in the low 70's, but I'm not sure what it actully was where we were hiking. Hot and harsh are the only words that come to mind. Check out the ground. When its sunny and hot like that, and you are looking down to make sure you don't step on a poisonous prairie rattlesnake, you feel really parched and hotter!! Mind games, right? Is it just me??

 paw-prints in the clay

following the Castle Trail back to the car

wow...just wow!

amazing landscape

looking for the trail markers

more stunning scenery on the hike

fissures and canyons in this area

isn't this amazing?

I see the car...I'm gonna blast the a/c....yeah!!

This was a great hike...very different...and a great way to explore the park. These pictures just do not do it justice! (Click on the pictures to see them larger).  Amazing!