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Day 67 - Badlands

Badlands means very difficult and dangerous to travel through-- Badlands lived up to this name. 

I began my eight mile loop hike by climbing up a steep canyon side to the mesa wall on top. From here I travelled east towards the popular window, door and notch trails via a wet, muddy and slippery Medicine Root trail that left me covered in mud up to my knees. Of the popular trails the notch was my favorite because it involved a wooden ladder climb and then a hill scramble past crumbling rock up to a six foot "notch" step that required a almost-rock climbing move to ascend.  The views up at the top cliff were sensational. Even more fun, two girls from New York-driving to Portland and a young couple saw me up there and followed the path up-- with a bit of my help at the notch. I love helping people get a bit beyond their comfort zone. We all enjoyed the view then descended safely to find that this notch was not actually the trail but a side canyon-- haha. 




I then hiked back along the Castle trail for four miles back to the van. The sun was out and the trail was beautiful-- going by a group of Bighorn Sheep on a high plateau and also by lovely rock formations. Pure bliss afternoon. 



Driving the scenic road west, I passed multiple scenic views, more Bighorn Sheep and a Buffalo rolling in the grass, before coming to my remote and free Sage Creek campground. This campground was surrounded by grasslands and Buffalo meandering through the campground and surrounding hills like they owned the place. They are big creatures so they did own the place. 






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