Marc patiently explained that it was called that because parents could take very naughty children and drop them off there when the children were being particularly bad.
The boys received this information in stunned silence.
I kind of wish we would have left it at that. Maybe they would have been better behaved at the visitors center if they thought they were in danger of being left behind. Instead, while I was in the restroom, they ran around in the gift shop and were chased out by a park ranger.
Of course, the area is really called the Badlands for both historic and geologic reasons which can be read about here if you are interested.
I, however, am more interested in showing you some of the pictures from our picnic and hike adventure in painted canyon. My brave mother accompanied us while Marc was working hard at the office and frequently running to the hospital to attend baby deliveries. Everyone had a wonderful (and tiring) day.
This is the iconic view of painted canyon. Looking out over the valley is breathtaking every time.
To me, it looks like God took an ice cream scoop to the great plains, gouging out huge areas and revealing beautiful swirls and striations. I think if the badlands were an ice cream flavor, it would be rocky road... or maybe neapolitan.
I can't get over the intensely blue skies here after living under the gray skies of Cleveland for so long. Benjamin was a little trooper during the long hike, although he wanted to jump off of anything and everything he could find to climb on.
The rock formations are unique and varied. In some places it looked as though a torrent of water suddenly solidified.
Upon closer inspection, it might look like elephant skin, or shattered pottery fragments...
...or bark.
The boys went "mountain climbing" at every opportunity.
Elijah and Gabriel literally felt as though they were on top of the world.
The air was filled with the thrumming and chirps of locusts. Hearing them was no problem, seeing them was a little trickier. My boys struggled to see this guy even when I was pointing right at him.
I loved this set of stone tables. It made me want to believe in fairy creatures that would come out at dusk and feast.
Even the flatter areas were just beautiful with the abundance of wild grasses.
This was one of the trickier "mountains" to climb.
David John was pretty proud of himself for making it to the top.
We did have a couple of mildly scary moments when boys would strand themselves pretty high up, but we always got them down.
Gabriel did end up with some rock rash on him stomach when he slid down a ways. By the end of the hike, we had very tired boys - some of whom even claimed they were just going to have to sit down and die rather than hike out of the canyon and back to the car. Happily, there were no casualties. The Badlands weren't so bad after all.
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