Eerily eroded "badlands" -- what other word would you use to describe these naked hills? -- are front and center in Badlands National Park, evidence of the harsh environment and the poor soils. But there's more geology to the Badlands than just its namesake hills.

This national park Twitter feed ain't rogue. It might better be viewed as "the resistance."

Proper preparation often makes the difference between merely seeing some good birds and coming home with a trip list bursting at the seams and a few lifers to boot. It’s easy to enjoy a birding trip without studying your field guides and knowing your geography, but to many birders the prep is half the fun.

Otherworldly. The spires, buttes, and indescribable angles on badlands formations that rose inexplicably out of the flat plains caught my attention, but it was the weather that felt otherworldly. All night long winds shook my tent as I shivered in a 0° sleeping bag covered by a 30° sleeping bag. Despite the sub-zero temps, by noon the thermometer in my car read 50°. Fifty wasn’t what I was expecting for winter temperatures in Badlands National Park.