During the height of a day areas of badlands do not always reveal their beauty completely. This is in particular true for days with a lot of sunshine and hazy weather conditions. That wasn’t any different at our next destination, Makoshika State Park in eastern Montana. It is the largest state park in Montana (11,538 acres, 46.7 square kilometer) and the name originates from the Lakota phrase Ma-ko’-shi-ka, meaning ‘bad land’ or ‘bad earth’. The park is not just known for its badland formations but also for fossil remains of Tyrannosaurus Rex, Triceratops and others. (source: http://stateparks.mt.gov/makoshika/)
Getting out of the sleeping bag at dawn and having the camera ready before the first rays of sun hit the rocks isn’t always easy, but there was no regret when the warm light started filling the canyons below our campsite.
All images: Nikon D750, Nikon Nikkor AF-S 70-200mm, f/4G ED VR