This park post is going to have a ton of bonus pictures! I packed a lot into this day – First I explored Badlands, then I did the Minute Man, Mount Rushmore, and Devil’s Tower before I finally made my way to Theodore Roosevelt.
There is no need to wonder why they call these the bad lands. I can’t imagine trying to hike or travel through ground like this. The name was well deserved! But very cool to look at.
Got to see some mountain sheep? I am pretty sure these are the female ones since they don’t have the big round horns. They were clearly being tracked by someone since most of them had collars on. They came right up to the edge of the road/trail so I got some great pictures.
So I probably did not learn enough about this area, but there were historically a ton of missile silos in this areas. I watched a few videos of some older people talking about what it was like to work here, and how it felt to watch the silos be destroyed. Very cool. Also one of the education videos was from Northrop Grumman! Represent 🙂 Also I posted the picture of that Sun Tzu quote because it was incredibly accurate and appropriate for this monument.
Bonus stop number two was Mount Rushmore! I couldn’t resist stopping by since I was so close. Every one says its smaller than they were expecting – I wasn’t quite sure what to expect so I wasn’t disappointed. I thought it was a good size? 
Had to do a close up of this champion! I think if it weren’t for Teddy Roosevelt many of the places I have visited in the last 3 years wouldn’t be nearly as amazing as they are today. Thank you for your service and dedication to the National Park cause. 
Alright bonus stop #3 for the day was Devil’s Tower. You can see this thing jutting up from miles away! It is so bizzarre! I got to the visitor’s center and walked all the way around the base. It was hot but very cool to see from a ton of different angles.
This day was packed with amazing landmarks! And who said there was nothing out in the Dakotas 🙂
Kelsey's Climb to 59 (+4) 