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Navajo Wind Chant: Remember what you have seen because everything forgotten returns to the circling winds. 


The awesome power of the weather in the high plains is very evident in the Badlands. The prairie looks like a vast sea because it once was filled with water when what is now the Gulf of Mexico reached far north almost dividing the continent. All of this space conjures ferocious winds where temperatures vary dramatically. Nothing like experiencing it first hand. Last week when the temperature reached 104, the fever in the sky finally broke when the fireball of the sun dropped below the horizon. Suddenly, everything was eerily still. Then slowly a vast hot wind from the east rose and roared for two hours into the evening. Everything in the campsite was flying around and the tent was fluttering violently. It was a thermal wind created by the sudden release of the sun's heat at sundown allowing the surrounding cooler air to collapse into the prairie. The next day, when I broke camp, I pulled out these two tents stakes bent by the pull of the wind. ... See more

While I am in the Badlands National Park, I will be searching for quiet places and posting those locations on this page. I must admit, I was a little discouraged when on the first day in the park I heard the sound of an approaching helicopter. Yes, you can survey these vast formations of the park from above for a fee. It appeared that the helicopter was making its rounds on a designated route though. I did find this spot that registered -10 db (decibels) on my meter. It indeed was very still and the evergreens helped absorb the sound of tourists chattering in the distance. I found this spot on the Cliff Shelf Nature Trail right off of the Badlands Loop road. The GSP coordinates are Lattitude 43.7649 and Longitude -101.9459. Ironically, when I walked away, I heard the sound of rocks avalanching from above the rock shelf in the distance. Whether it was mother nature adjusting itself, or a hiker above misstepping, I don't know. ... See more