Day FIVE | Scaling the Wall

We awoke on Friday, the fifth day of Savanna Studio to an eery landscape covered by a surreal-looking sky; we were still in the Badlands, SD, and there was much to be done. The day began with a short breakfast, after which we hurried to fill the vans. We drove first to a place where we were able to look down upon the Badlands and study the complexities of its many ravines and the separate levels of rock of which it was composed. One of the things that stuck out to me as very bizarre was how these massive rises and drops in the landscape were made not out of solid rock, but of sedimentary rock.

white river valley overlook

As we looked down into the expansive gullies, we were instructed to draw a topographic map of what we saw. Essentially, we were drawing the changes in elevation using contour lands, which was a new concept to many of us. We then drew a section of our maps, cutting right through it and showing the rising slopes from an entirely different perspective.

the wall

After this drawing exercise, we decided on an early lunch, and headed back to camp. We tried to keep it fairly short, because we knew that we would be hiking directly afterwards. As it turns out, we would be hiking what is known as “the Wall”, which is a dramatic change in elevation that separates the Badlands into two different areas. The hike was rough for many of us, but it was also a lot of fun. Some of the more adventurous hikers would attempt to climb the highest peak they would see, and they were rewarded with beautiful views.

When we all reached the top, we explored the vast prairie that lay there. We saw familiar and exotic plants alike, and drew several quick sketches. Personally, this reminded me a lot of the plant walks we would take back in Ames, but the view that lay beyond the prairie was exponentially more breath taking.

lunch time!

            After hurrying back down the wall and checking out the visitor center, there was only one thing left on the agenda for the day. We piled back into the vans and drove to a place Gary had in mind for our colored pencil drawing. When we arrived, we walked a ways through another complex canyon into an area with an astounding view. Personally, I hadn’t attempted to draw with colored pencils since I was very young, so I thought it would be quite the challenge. I was surprised to see that the drawing came much more naturally than I had thought, and I was very impressed to see everyone else’s when we laid them all down as we left.

color pencil drawing spot

         













            We all knew that it was our last day in the Badlands, so after dinner, many of us rushed off to climb whatever cliff looked the most dangerous. It was quite the experience, and some of us came back with wounds to prove it. Those of us that had gone returned to camp to bad news; it had become very windy, and some of the tents had begun to fly away.

As the evening went on, more and more tents were taken down, and we knew that it would be a pain to try fitting everyone into the tents that remained. As a matter of fact, it was so windy that it was as much of a pain to cram everyone into the tents as it was to walk around outside! This made for a very uncomfortable last night at the Badlands, but we had had such a great time there that it was hard to dwell on.

- Written by Sam Kirchner, with pictures by Qiyi Li