Beautiful Badlands
The texture of the clouds seems to mirror that of the eroded columns of Gooseberry Creek Badlands.
Just the word “badlands” brings a vision to mind of a parched landscape, eroded by time. The term comes from the Lakota words “Mako Sica”, literally “land bad”, used to describe the terrain of South Dakota that today we know as Badlands National Park.
There are lots of similar and equally fascinating landscapes in the state of Wyoming. The recipe for a badlands includes softer, erodible sedimentary rocks, soils rich in clay, minimal vegetation and a dry climate interrupted by the occasional heavy downpour. Wind erosion can also be a factor and wind is certainly something we have plenty of in Wyoming
Pillars of eroded sedimentary rock stretch skyward, often sporting harder caps that seem to defy gravity.
A harder layer of horizontal rock is decorated by a coating of orange lichen.
I am a member of a group of female photographers known as “Shoot Like A Woman” or SLAW. We are wrapping up our eighth year of activity, devoting one day a month to exploring and photographing various landscapes and wildlife that are within a day’s drive and back of the Big Horn Basin where we all reside.
This past Saturday we drove to a spot a little more than an hour south of Cody known as Gooseberry Creek Badlands Trail. Visitors would be hard pressed to find a gooseberry or a creek this time of year but the badlands are evident on all sides.
We spent several hours roaming the trail, searching for unique vantage points to best convey the immensity of the landscape through images.
I was drawn to this scene because of the large hole in the rocks - approximately the size of a small car. I went so far as to walk up and look through the opening, only realizing once I got home just how precariously the rock at the top of the hole is being held in place!
The wooden treads making up this primitive staircase have taken on the hues of the adjacent soil.
The unique landscape of Gooseberry Creek Badlands has been a point of interest for as long as the nearby highway has been in place but it is only recently that the trail system was constructed. From the parking area a series of numbered markers lead hikers on a beautiful 2-3 mile loop with the path winding through an ever changing terrain. In one place visitors are directed up a hillside on a series of carefully placed steps as seen in the photo, above.
The effect of wind and water serve to create organic looking rock forms.
An eroded cliff is lit by the sun.
Many of the cliffs and towers remind me of Ancient Rome. It is easy to imagine a city constructed around the immense, naturally sculpted structures.
The day of our visit was unseasonably warm and dry. It is hard to believe we are nearing the end of November. I fear that as our planet warms, we will find more and more land turning into badlands, an unwelcome change despite the beauty of the landscape.