I've already written a little bit about this day previously here, so I won't go into too much repetitive detail, but this was going to follow suit with being amazing.

After getting in so late the night before, I let myself sleep in a little bit and had a leisurely morning with lots of coffee. My drive today was nothing compared to the day before, so I wasn't too stressed. Often, when I go exploring, I like to get into it with not too much information. Usually, I might know of a few things I know I shouldn't miss, but most often I prefer to leave the day wide open to opportunity, to let the day take me where it needs to go. Today was no exception, I had no idea what to expect or where to go, and I loved it.

The Badlands are stunning; I couldn't think of a better name for how it looks. The formations made from erosion makes you feel like you're on Mars or something. I stopped a few times to explore some of the cracks and small canyons that go on for what seems like forever. At one point I could see halfway up the side a bunch of tumbleweeds that all collected together that peaked my interest.

Though it ended up being nothing crazy, it did get me closer to something exciting. Just above the tumbleweeds was what I thought was an abandoned colony of Swallow nests, so I climbed up further to get a closer look. At this point, my footing was getting pretty bad as the hillside was turning into a cliff the higher I climbed. As I was up there looking around, my assumption of "abandoned" was quickly disproven as the colony came home to find a visitor lurking in their neighborhood.  There must have been hundreds of them swooping and flying around me.  After a few quick pics, I scrambled down the hill not wanting to stress these little guys out. I couldn't help but think of Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds.

Next was the most exciting moment of the day, but I went into depth around that moment here as mentioned above so that I won't relive it here. But after getting that shot of the lightning, which was all wrong I later learned, and now that I think about it how crazy is it to click the shutter button at the same time lightning struck?... Regardless, I was riding incredibly high in adrenaline. I made my way towards the western section of the Park to a dirt road that looked like an excellent adventure.

Unfortunately, due to the very recent rain of the thunderstorm, I wasn't able to get very far, but I did get on top of this plateau to some fantastic views. I also found an old abandoned farmhouse. I love abandoned buildings, but I have to admit, they are always just a bit creepy. 

After missing the sunset the night before, I was making it a priority to capturing it today. I didn't have a plan, and I didn't know what or where I was going to shoot, so I just kept driving west and trusted that an opportunity would present itself and it did. 

Photography Date: 5-28-17
Writing Date: 7-25-18