TR: Sage Creek Wilderness, Badlands NP - May 28-31 2020
Posted: Thu Jun 04, 2020 7:31 pm
Having spent ten weeks cooped up with my lovely daughters and my beloved spouse, I decided it was time for some much needed Family Distancing. Badlands National Park is a mere 750 mile drive from home and contains the Sage Creek Wilderness, for which no permit is required for backcountry camping. So I gathered my gear and headed out for a three night stay with the bison and other denizens of this remnant of mixed-grass prairie.
The wilderness is small by Sierra standards — only about 100 square miles — and it is bordered by ranches with their attendant fences on the south and a park road on the north situated at the edge of the bluffs, which means you can see moving vehicles from the creek basins below. (Currently there is also an earth moving machine being used for road repairs silhouetted against the sky like a modern day Sue.) Nevertheless, there are plenty of pristine viewsheds and secluded spots among the buttes.
There is no potable water in the wilderness unless it happens to be falling out of the sky. I have used the alum-as-flocculent technique to make Colorado River water filterable, but I don’t think it would work here. There is just too much fine silt in the water — I managed to fall into Sage Creek and emerged coated in watery clay. And when it dries, it adheres tenaciously and doesn’t just brush off. It reminded me of the contents of my slip bucket in pottery class back in junior high. Anyway, I brought my big pack and managed to start out with 13 liters of water in addition to my usual gear. Using four liters per day left me a bit thirsty even with moderate temperatures (70s-to-low-80s °F during the day) and overcast skies about half of each day. (One of the salutary benefits of becoming desiccated by the Badlands is the ability to drive from a fuel stop in Sioux Falls SD to my home in Oshkosh WI without even thinking about stopping to pee. 450 road miles & about 7 hours drive time.)
A short use trail extends from the Conata Picnic Area to Deer Haven on the southeast side of the wilderness. There is also a stretch of trail over Sage Creek Pass, but otherwise you get to choose your own path from Point A to Point B. You can make use of the enormous number of bison trails that criss-cross the prairie (clearly and frequently marked with organic cairns) or just walk through the grass. The bison seemingly go *everywhere* and churn up the soft earth, but it isn’t much lumpier than my backyard. Watercourse bluffs and the buttes themselves are the major landform barriers to travel — bison and bighorn sheep herds are the major zoological ones. Fortunately, I did not encounter any rattlesnakes which can also necessitate route alterations.
Day 1 — May 28
I left the Conata Picnic Area trailhead at about 9 AM and moved slowly westward under the burden of 27 lbs of water plus other gear. Skies were overcast and gradually cleared in the afternoon. I made the poor decision to cross a ridge without the benefit of a bison trail or a use trail. The footing was treacherous and I was forced to lower my pack at one point. At around 2 PM I gratefully shrugged off my pack and pitched my tent about 1.25 miles southwest of Sage Creek Pass. Let’s be clear about the scale here: the “pass” involved maybe 60’ of elevation gain. Under sunny skies I explored a half mile or so to the west and came back for a nap in my sunbaked tent. All sorts of birds were singing throughout the day. My birding skillset is quite limited and I could only identify swallows and red-winged blackbirds, but I assure you there are many others with melodious voices out there. Speaking of which, coyotes sang me to sleep.
Day 2 — May 29
I took a long day hike to the west with no particular goal in mind other than to weave in and out of the formations and get a feel for the terrain. The day again started out overcast but cleared starting around noon. In the morning I tried following a watercourse up to the top of a ridge where some deer were grazing, but it necked down quickly to an impassable crevice. I encountered a lone bison, a pair of bison, and a small herd of bison throughout the day. They were very skittish and tended to run away to maintain appropriate Bison Distancing which was just fine with me. I don’t think we were ever closer than 100 yards or so. I found some viewing notches in the south and west walls of the formations that looked out over Buffalo Gap National Grassland. The wind picked up as the sun came out from behind the clouds and built to a sustained low roar throughout the afternoon and into the evening. It blew grit and dust into everything back at camp where I partook of another sun drenched nap. And then thunderstorms rolled through and the grit and dust were no longer a problem.
Dennis
The wilderness is small by Sierra standards — only about 100 square miles — and it is bordered by ranches with their attendant fences on the south and a park road on the north situated at the edge of the bluffs, which means you can see moving vehicles from the creek basins below. (Currently there is also an earth moving machine being used for road repairs silhouetted against the sky like a modern day Sue.) Nevertheless, there are plenty of pristine viewsheds and secluded spots among the buttes.
There is no potable water in the wilderness unless it happens to be falling out of the sky. I have used the alum-as-flocculent technique to make Colorado River water filterable, but I don’t think it would work here. There is just too much fine silt in the water — I managed to fall into Sage Creek and emerged coated in watery clay. And when it dries, it adheres tenaciously and doesn’t just brush off. It reminded me of the contents of my slip bucket in pottery class back in junior high. Anyway, I brought my big pack and managed to start out with 13 liters of water in addition to my usual gear. Using four liters per day left me a bit thirsty even with moderate temperatures (70s-to-low-80s °F during the day) and overcast skies about half of each day. (One of the salutary benefits of becoming desiccated by the Badlands is the ability to drive from a fuel stop in Sioux Falls SD to my home in Oshkosh WI without even thinking about stopping to pee. 450 road miles & about 7 hours drive time.)
A short use trail extends from the Conata Picnic Area to Deer Haven on the southeast side of the wilderness. There is also a stretch of trail over Sage Creek Pass, but otherwise you get to choose your own path from Point A to Point B. You can make use of the enormous number of bison trails that criss-cross the prairie (clearly and frequently marked with organic cairns) or just walk through the grass. The bison seemingly go *everywhere* and churn up the soft earth, but it isn’t much lumpier than my backyard. Watercourse bluffs and the buttes themselves are the major landform barriers to travel — bison and bighorn sheep herds are the major zoological ones. Fortunately, I did not encounter any rattlesnakes which can also necessitate route alterations.
Day 1 — May 28
I left the Conata Picnic Area trailhead at about 9 AM and moved slowly westward under the burden of 27 lbs of water plus other gear. Skies were overcast and gradually cleared in the afternoon. I made the poor decision to cross a ridge without the benefit of a bison trail or a use trail. The footing was treacherous and I was forced to lower my pack at one point. At around 2 PM I gratefully shrugged off my pack and pitched my tent about 1.25 miles southwest of Sage Creek Pass. Let’s be clear about the scale here: the “pass” involved maybe 60’ of elevation gain. Under sunny skies I explored a half mile or so to the west and came back for a nap in my sunbaked tent. All sorts of birds were singing throughout the day. My birding skillset is quite limited and I could only identify swallows and red-winged blackbirds, but I assure you there are many others with melodious voices out there. Speaking of which, coyotes sang me to sleep.
Day 2 — May 29
I took a long day hike to the west with no particular goal in mind other than to weave in and out of the formations and get a feel for the terrain. The day again started out overcast but cleared starting around noon. In the morning I tried following a watercourse up to the top of a ridge where some deer were grazing, but it necked down quickly to an impassable crevice. I encountered a lone bison, a pair of bison, and a small herd of bison throughout the day. They were very skittish and tended to run away to maintain appropriate Bison Distancing which was just fine with me. I don’t think we were ever closer than 100 yards or so. I found some viewing notches in the south and west walls of the formations that looked out over Buffalo Gap National Grassland. The wind picked up as the sun came out from behind the clouds and built to a sustained low roar throughout the afternoon and into the evening. It blew grit and dust into everything back at camp where I partook of another sun drenched nap. And then thunderstorms rolled through and the grit and dust were no longer a problem.
Dennis