We had indeed found an endless sea of sand dunes, and now it was time to find the pine-covered ridges. We headed north by west and into the Pine Ridge District. Here, the federal land is interspersed with private and state land, so keeping an eye on maps and signs is vital to keep from trespassing. In this part of the state, the landscape is totally different. The Sand Hills are replaced by rocky escarpments and ridges covered with native forest.
Soils also change from sand to clay.
By the time we made our way to this amazing area, most of the new-fallen snow had melted into muddy quagmires. The surface of the track would look just a bit moist, but as soon as you stepped on it, your feet would either sink ankle deep or else slip right out from under you. We found what we hoped was just a short stretch of mud and shifted into four-wheel drive. When the trail go worse, we decided to save the track and uncoiled the winch cable to a big old pine. With the engine running at a fast idle, we engaged the PTO and watched as our Ramsey winch easily pulled us up the a hill.