I really, really, REALLY loved this place. It was fucking amazing. AMAZING. I wanted to stay longer, but all the dogs were pretty wiped, even Sasha who did a lot of nothing that entire trip. Anyways, with how little Conker was eating, and how quickly my ginormous jug of water was running out, I decided to cut the trip short and only spent a day in the Badlands. I wish I hadn't, but really, when you've got just one gallon of water left to share amongst four guzzling creatures, it's not wise to push it.
The overall scenery was, to most people I would say, blah. but to me, it was gorgeous. The above was taken on the drive in, as I was scouting for a campsite. It was about 9:15PM.
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| Obligatory pick-nick table picture |
I ended up staying in an "OHV Staging Area". There was nobody there, and no signs that said I couldn't sleep in my Jeep (Conker and I were in the back cargo area, the Girls in the front seats. It was cramped, but worked), and nobody came by to tell me not to, so I did. I probably wouldn't do it again unless I was actually using the area for off-roading over a period of days, but hey, it worked, and it was free.
We heard a bunch of coyotes howling, which was cool. I love hearing coyotes, their sounds are so creepy and awesome at the same time. I think it was the dog's first time hearing them that close. They were all very quiet, and looked curious, but nervous at the same time.
Finding a usable trailhead was a bit of a challenge. The trail I wanted to use was, I guess "closed" since the road leading to it was blocked for vehicle traffic. I was miffed, so I found a small lake and let the dogs run around it for a bit. (No pictures of that.)
I drove around a bit and found an unblocked trailhead, geared up all the dogs and set off into the Wilderness.
There were lots of spiffy looking lava rock formations in the Badlands.
At first, like usual, Juneau ran off in a spaztastic endeavor to see how far away she could get before I realized she was not on the trail and started yelling at her. Sasha kept herself busy with sniffing horseshit, and Conker patrolled the front of the pack.
After Juneau got over her first bout of "I'M HIKING OFF LEASH WHEEEE!" She kept her butt on the trail, for the most part.
Then she found a "creek" which was actually an irrigation ditch for the farms neighboring the Wilderness. All the dogs thought this was amazing and all took a swim in the ditch.
After the swim we pressed on. And ran into some horses, but thankfully, I grabbed all the dogs before they spotted the horses. After the horses passed, I let them go and Juneau made a beeline for the horses, but came right back when I yelled "Juneau NO!" In the deepest, meanest voice I could muster.
Conker waits for Juneau to come back to the trail as she explores the high desert on one of her off-trail expeditions.
Despite having run three 600 yard courses in the two days beforehand, Juneau was very energetic for most of the hike. She carried all the water for the dogs, about 2 liters or so.
Since Conker wasn't eating much, and had also run three 600 yard courses, he did not carry a pack. But he did wear a cowbell.
Around the 6 mile mark, the dogs began to get tired. It was probably at the hottest, about 72, but it was very dry. We had to make frequent water stops to make sure everyone stayed hydrated and cool.
The terrain was relatively flat, and the scenery stayed about the same during the entire hike. Some of it was slightly more desrtish, other parts slightly more scrub pineish (I forget what those are called). The ground was a mix of sand and sandy dirt. I did not like the sand parts, but once it got a bit harder I was okay with it.
OH MY GOD IT'S A PICTURE OF LOSECH! (Don't get used to it.)
It was partly cloudy that day, and wasn't sunny nor cloudy for any particular length of time. But for most of the last mile, the clouds covered the sun and it cooled off a bit. This gave the dogs a bit more energy and they started ranging out more than when the sun was out. They stayed pretty close for most of the hike, except when Juneau decided to go on off-trail excursions.
As we were about 1/4 mile from the trailhead, the sun came back out and all the dogs dropped in close again. They visited the irrigation ditch once more and cooled off, which was good since the Jeep was pretty warm when we got back.
As I was loading up the dogs, a group pf horses came by. The riders were very interested in Conker, and lure coursing when I told them why I was there. They also thought Juneau was a badass, which was cool. I hardly ever get compliments on the Girls.
Overall it was a very fun hike, which went for about 8 miles or so. I know to bring much more water next time (if I hadn't gone lure coursing, I would have had enough, but the dogs sucked it all up after their runs) and Conker learned that anthills are a very bad place to take a nap.
