Badlands...Not Bad at All

" There's actually water here," said Andy, pointing to a puddle along Window Trail in Badlands National Park.
"Oh wow!" I told him. "I'm glad I'm not in survival mode." The puddle was a couple feet of muddy clay, drying up after rain storms two or three days ago.
We hiked more than eight miles of back country trails in the 244,000-acre park, very glad to be carrying our own water as the 70 degree sun parched the land again.
We passed two younger couples, going different directions at junctions, and chatted with a family of five from Boulder at Notch Overlook. "We're home schooled," explained the little girl, "and today is our two-month anniversary of driving across the country."
Not long after, as we left the grassland of Medicine Root Trail and rounded a clay formation on the last mile of the Castle Trail, we spooked five bighorn sheep. What a treat to watch them dart up the side of the hill to the safety of their mesa. For them, this land is not "Bad" at all.
After dinner at Dairy Queen, Andy headed outside with his soft drink cup of ice cubes. "I'm going to share what is left with the plants in this dry land," he told me.
"I'm not so sure that's a good idea," I answered.
"Why?" he called back.
"Because I think those are artificial flowers."
Saturday morning we were up and out early on Castle Trail to Saddle Pass before the sun warmed the blustery 33-degree air. "I'm driving to the hike first," said Andy. "Then we will do the overlooks. That way the rattlesnake that the lady from Baltimore saw yesterday will still be sleeping."
Heading toward the trail head, we stopped for three small groups of pronghorn antelope, grazing near the road. A herd of American bison lolled on the other side of the park, near Robert's Prairie Dog Town. Oblivious to humans and the little dogs, the buffalo grazed contentedly. The prairie dogs, on the other hand, impolitely barked at us to leave.