Jacob Usher
Fun weather fact: the wind often dies down quickly once the sun sets. The ground cools and a layer of cooler air near the surface forms. This is called a temperature inversion. This layer of air is more stable and does not mix as easily with the faster moving air above it. Therefore less gusts of winds.
This morning started with a 30 mile northwest jaunt to Wall before taking a sharp right turn. The strong winds also happened to be blowing from the northwest. We decided to take advantage of the previous fun weather fact by waking up at 4:45.
Sunrise from Interior, SD
4:45 is way too early in my opinion and I did not start the day in a good mood. However… the wind was calm and the morning light highlighted the faded colors of the layers of sediment in buttes.
Early morning light in the Badlands
We hit a couple short and steep climbs as we left the jagged landscape below us for the prairie on top. During this time our headwind began to build. We were met by prairie dog towns, mountain goats, and bison. In fact, we accidentally startled a bison which is not something you want to do. Fortunately it left us alone. We probably didn’t catch the plague either.
Mountain goat near the Pinnacles Overlook
The wind was mostly behind us after leaving the Badlands. Even so, the remaining 60 miles of riding was not particularly fun for me. Maybe I didn’t get enough sleep or it was just one of those days. We mostly passed rolling hills and open grasslands. With that being said, both of our stops for the day were a lot of fun.
First was Wall Drug. We’ve been getting excited about the advertisements for a while now. We hit the cafe hard for multiple rounds of breakfast sandwiches, donuts, 5 cent coffee and more. I think Michael wants to move to Wall.
Wall Drug, Wall, SD
We later ate lunch in a town called Phillip. I was on my way to the town park with groceries for lunch when I was flagged down by a man in a red pickup truck. We chatted for a little bit and he said he wrote columns for the newspaper sometimes. He mentioned he went to school in Raleigh NC and I interrupted to ask which one. Turns out he was part of the Wolfpack—the good guys :). We never would have expected to meet someone from NC State in the middle of South Dakota.
We also met a local kid riding his bike. We told him about our trip and he told us about growing up in Phillip and his experience hunting. He found us eating at the park and generously offered us Pringles.
Tonight we are camping at a town park in Midland. I really love when towns allow us to camp in the park. There aren’t many amenities, but it is free and quiet.
Midland, SD