Thursday, December 5, 2013

Badlands National Park: Sunrise

Next stop on the Thanksgiving weekend tour: Badlands National Park. Up at 5 a.m., on the road by 5:15 to be in the park before sunrise. Consensus from the interwebz was that the Big Badlands Overlook was the best place to see it.  And who am I to argue with the interwebz?

Badlands National Park Sunrise
Well, technically the first stop was the parking area where the Door, Window and Notch Trails begin.  It had a bathroom, and it's a long drive from Rapid City.  I feel like I commemorated the stop appropriately.

Badlands National Park: Big Badlands Overlook Sunrise
I can't say enough how fortunate I got with the weather.  Sure, it was chilly.  But it could have been frigid.  I'll take chilly given those options.

Badlands National Park: Big Badlands Overlook Sunrise
To get the most color from the sunrise, you gotta have clouds.  And to the north, there were some.

Badlands National Park: Big Badlands Overlook Sunrise
That moment -- that split-second -- when the sun first breaks the horizon.  I hope I never cease to be awed by it.

Badlands National Park: Big Badlands Overlook Sunrise
When are the Badlands not so bad?  When the newly risen sun paints them pale pink.

Badlands National Park: Big Badlands Overlook Sunrise
And just a few minutes later, the sunrise was technically over.  But my time in the park had barely begun!

2 comments:

Orontes said...

Badlands was my first stop on my first trip to the West. It's when I realized I was not in the East anymore; where my wide eyed wonder started. Beautiful pics that took me back 20+ years.

SteveHarbula said...

Thanks! I hope to bring back more great memories for you with my next few posts. :)