One of the inherent joys of living in the Black Hills and working in the Great Plains is the long drives through the region's diverse landscapes. The Great Plains are chock-full of unique landforms, roadside attractions, second-take oddities, giant mining operations, spectacular views, and an ever-changing sky.
Going north, the plains ranch country rises to the breaks near the North Dakota border, after which suddenly farms start popping out of nowhere. Heading south, you drop out of the Hills and roll over the spare prairie until you hit the Pine Ridge and then veer east to the Sand Hills. If you head more straight south, you are headed towards Denver, but this is the windswept eastern landscape of SE Wyoming. In Chugwater, hurricane-force winds are a light gust on a Tuesday. Going East from Hermosa, you drive through the short grass until suddenly the landscape drops away and the Badlands scrape the sky, carving on the horizon line like a snaggle-toothed jawline. There is a strong feeling of open space over the Badlands that is hot and hard to describe.
My (Matt) personal favorite is to take a right at the end of the driveway and head West, into Wyoming - loop the 180 at the bottom of Hell Canyon, across the limestone, over the western hogback, on to the rolling pronghorn country, where austere buttes and impossibly large coal operations provide regular landmarks to the hours long commutes. I like the sense of space over there where you have a view 50 miles long.
Driving these long hours is a time for reflection on why design is important for the rural communities that we work with. Sometimes we are simply helpers, facilitating the vision. Sometimes folks need help seeing the beauty of their place. Almost everyone we run into loves this landscape - and the space. We like measuring our density in people per square mile. Or people vs cows. Or in % of the road to a job site that is gravel. We love the geologic icons that locate us in space (you know Devil’s Tower, but do you know the Deers Ears?). The geological jokes the earth plays on us are intriguing: dome-shaped rocks, eerie landforms, optical illusions, roads that have turned into waves, mountain ranges 60 miles away that seem close. An understanding of the forces at work doesn’t reduce the fascination. It does keep us humble and awed by the monumental nature of the West.
Do you know these roads?
North of the Black Hills.
Jewel Cave is owned by this gruff squad and you must pay homage.
The road to Pine Ridge is beautiful.
Black Thunder's dragline excavator Ursa Major is the biggest working dragline in North America
People are always doing stuff. You’ll be 20 miles from the nearest town and there will be a group of people standing around talking like they are waiting for the light to change at Shibuya Crossing.
Dang. Sometimes it is hard to pay attention to the driving.
Sometimes there are even other cars on the road! But not usually.
Ugh. Wyoming. Stop being so dramatic!
Drive safe! Pull over if you are feeling tired! See you at the destination!