堪萨斯小耶路撒冷荒地州立公园 Little Jerusalem Badlands State Park —— 毕业之旅第五天（下）

Little Jerusalem Badlands State Park - The 5th Day Afternoon of the Graduation Travel

 

上午从内布拉斯加沙丘出来之后，一路上都一直在往garden city的方向上面开，garden city是这次旅行的一个重要的目的地，上面有几个点当初特别感兴趣，并且我的毕业设计当时候也是找到garden city附近的一个site去构想和思考的。而今天下午到达的这个Little Jerusalem Badlands State Park，更多是路途上的一个观景点，不至于长途跋涉十分劳累。

In the morning we drove from the Nebraska sandhills, all the way to the Garden City, driving in the direction of the south. The Garden City is an important destination for this trip, there are a few points above the initial special interest, and my graduation design at the time is to find a site near the Garden City to conceptualize and think about. The Little Jerusalem Badlands State Park that I arrived at this afternoon is more of a viewpoint on the road, so I didn't get very tired from the long-distance driving.

 

一路上开始看到越来越多灌溉的设施，这个灌溉系统就要比在内布拉斯加看到的到处喷射的系统相对来说要高效一些，这种下垂式的灌溉系统相对来说可以节省一些水，很多水就不会飘到空气中，而在内布拉斯加的灌溉系统似乎相对来说就比较落后，出现这种原因，我想很大程度上是因为是相对来说内布拉斯加的地下水还比较充足，而越往南边走，越靠近德州，地下水在常年累月开采之下变得越来越少，所以就需要更节水的灌溉设施去浇灌农田。

Along the way, I started to see more and more irrigation facilities, this type of center-pivot irrigation system is relatively more efficient than the system of spraying everywhere in Nebraska, this kind of sagging irrigation system can relatively save some water, and a lot of water will not float into the air, while the irrigation system in Nebraska seems to be relatively backward, the reason for this, I think a lot of it is because of Nebraska is relatively well endowed with groundwater, and the farther south you go, the closer you get to Texas, where groundwater becomes less and less available after years and years of mining, so more water-efficient irrigation facilities are needed to water the farmland.

 

一路上会看到无数一望无际的大农田，同样，有灌溉系统的农田相对来说比较绿，其他田相对来说比较黄。

Along the way, you will see countless large, endless farmlands, again, the ones with irrigation systems are relatively green, while the others are relatively yellow.

 

 

在路上途径了一个小公园，这个小公园叫做Red Willow Reservoir State Recreation Area，感觉到了这种干旱的中部地区，有一个这样的小水库，边边就会恨不得整出很多可以进行活动的场所。基本上很多人在此房车旅行或者是在这里camping。

On the way, there is a small park called Red Willow Reservoir State Recreation Area, which is a small reservoir in the middle of the arid region, and there are a lot of places to do activities in the area. Basically, a lot of people are RVing or camping here.

 

 

而这些公园的设计也体现到极简主义，没有过多的装饰也没有过度的投入，就是提供一些可以给不同车大车小车残疾人停车的停车位以及一些通电的停车位，可以给RV供电的地方就足以。

These parks are designed with "minimalism", not too much decoration or over-investment, just provide some parking spaces that can be given to different cars big cars and small cars handicapped parking as well as some electrified parking spaces that can be given to the RV power.

 

然后就会吸引一些人在水面上开摩托艇，钓鱼或者皮划艇等其他娱乐项目，以此度过炎炎夏日。而这样的郊野露营公园的好处在于没有什么光污染，在晚上可以有绝美的星星。所以很多人也愿意开着房车在此过夜。

Then it will attract some people to spend the hot summer days on the water with motorboats, fishing or kayaks, and other recreational programs. And the good thing about such a country camping park is that there is little light pollution and you can have stunning stars at night. That's why many people are willing to spend the night in their RVs.

 

 

整个中部大平原如果么没有充足的降水和灌溉，加上崎岖不平的土地的话，就会变得越来越脆弱，上面的新的植物不好生长出来，而有斜坡的地方，突然遇到降水等的情况，侵蚀的程度又会加强。所以最后情况就是越来越严重的水土流失，而中部大平原上面的气候炎热干燥大风，又很难有新的植物能够在上面生长固定土壤，最终就是将会导致荒漠化desertification。

Without adequate precipitation and irrigation, the rugged terrain of the Central Great Plains becomes increasingly vulnerable to new plant growth, and the slopes are subject to sudden precipitation and erosion. So the final situation is more and more serious soil erosion, and the climate above the Central Great Plains is hot, dry, and windy, and it is difficult for new plants to grow on it to fix the soil, and ultimately it will lead to desertification.

 

而当有作物覆盖的时候，上面绿油油一大片，简直随时随地都是winXP的桌面壁纸，看到之后心情极好，一望无际。

But when there is crop cover, the top of a large green, simply anytime, anywhere is the desktop wallpaper of WinXP, see after seeing these endless you feel your heart open.

 

路上看到的一些养牛场，想起了《透视美国》里面的一个牛场里面的情景。实际上这些cattle场变得密集了之后，就会产生废水处理的问题。而如果是养猪场，就不但有废水处理的问题，还有噪声， 气味等等的一系列问题，所以一般这些养牛场都不会距离居住区太近，以减少各种因素的影像，这些牛就这样每天关在这个笼子里，然后也不能出去外面散步，天气又热，很是可怜。

Some of the cattle ranches I saw on the road reminded me of the scene inside one of the cattle ranches in America Review. In fact, when these cattle farms become densely populated, there is the problem of wastewater treatment. And if it's a hog farm, not only is there the problem of wastewater treatment, but there is also a series of problems such as noise, odor, and so on, so generally these cattle farms are not too close to the residential area, to minimize the image of various factors, these cows are just like this every day in the cage, and then can't go out to walk outside, and the weather is hot, it is very pitiful.

 

路上堆积如山的干草堆，大概率是用来喂给这些cattle吃的食物 。

The hay stacks piled up on the road, odds are they are used to feed these cattle food .

 

一望无际的大平原上，这里可以很容易有西南风，东南风，还有就是好像是西北风三股风汇聚在一起，然后因为没有什么阻挡，这些风相互缠绕，互相乱吹，后果就是刮起龙卷风。龙卷风在中部大平原简直就是常见。

On the endless great plain, there can easily be southwest wind, southeast wind, and what seems to be the northwest wind three winds converge together, and then because there is no obstruction, these winds are entangled with each other, blowing around each other, and the consequence is to blow a tornado. Tornadoes are common in the Central Great Plains.

 

前往这个公园的路上可以看到很多已经被收割的农田，大部分为了减少水土流失和土壤荒漠化，上面都不会清理掉这些已经收割了的残渣，一方面这些农业残渣剩余的根茎叶可以起到保护水土的作用，另一方面这些作物残渣慢慢分解，也可以给土壤提供一点点养分。相对来说会土壤比较好。

On the way to this park, you can see a lot of harvested farmland, mostly to reduce soil erosion and desertification of the soil, the top will not clean up these already harvested residues, on the one hand, these agricultural residues of the remaining roots and stems and leaves can play a role in protecting soil and water, on the other hand, these crop residues slowly decompose, but also provide a little bit of nutrients to the soil. Relatively speaking, the soil will be better.

 

 

 

路上的大风车，一排又一排，可以想象这里的风将会有多大，一个接着一个，孤零零，看上去不高，但是实际到达的时候应该将会是一个庞然大物，很多外国人似乎特别喜欢爬上去上面base jump跳下来。

The windmills on the road, row after row, you can imagine how strong the wind will be here, one after another, alone, does not look high, but when you actually reach it should be a huge thing.

 

 

公园就藏在农田里道路，在这些泥泞小路的尽头。

The park is tucked away in the farmland, at the end of these dirt roads.

 

随处可见的大型收割机，充满了现代化农业的气息。

Large harvesters can be seen everywhere, full of the of modern agriculture.

 

想要进入公园也并没有门卫，也没有人管理，门口一个收费的机器设在那里，入场只需要5美金。

If you want to enter the park and there are no guards, and no management, the entrance of a fee machine is located there, the entrance only needs 5 dollars.

 

比较可惜的是美国大部分公园都禁止飞无人机， 也就只好逛逛去感受一下公园的整个场地。

Unfortunately, most parks in the U.S. prohibit flying drones, so I had to wander around to get a feel for the park's entire grounds.

 

 

公园外面即是已经收割了大片农田，这里的土壤看起来不是特别干，应该是才收割每多久的，要么就是刚刚下的雨打湿了。

Outside the park is a large piece of harvested farmland, the soil here doesn't look particularly dry, it should have only been harvested a long time ago, or it was wet from the rain that just fell.

 

这块土地本来是属于私人的，在五代人之后终于变成的了公众的一个公园可以参观了。想想，五代人是一个什么概念， 1860年代颁布了Homested Act宅地法之后大家开始往西边迁移，1930s美国中部被大量开垦种地，但是又出现了史无前例的干旱，Dust bowl尘暴事件就是在那段时间产生的，天天都沙尘遍地。农业经济不好，土地荒漠化的事件在1930s年代已经发生过一次，然后联邦政府后期为了保护中部大平原，才逐渐从农民手里收回来一些不合适耕种的土地，1940-1860=80，20年一代人的话，算上第一代已经到达这里开荒一辈，刚好就是五代，虽然我没有查公园究竟什么时候开放，但是可以推测应该就是那个时候开始收归政府或者联邦。虽然没有查到什么历史资料，但是这个公园是2018年才建立的，相对来说还比较新，还有一些比较新一点的设施。

This land was originally private property, but after five generations, it has finally become a public park to visit. Think about it, five generations is a concept, the 1860s enacted the Homestead Act homestead law after everyone began to move to the West, 1930s the central United States had a large number of reclaimed land, but then there was an unprecedented drought, Dust bowl dust storm event is produced during that time, every day all over the dust. The agricultural economy was not good, land desertification occurred once in the 1930s, and then the federal government to protect the central Great Plains, only gradually from the hands of farmers to retrieve some of the land that was not suitable for farming, 1940-1860 = 80, 20 years a generation of people, counting the first generation has arrived here to open up the land for a generation, just five generations, although I did not find out when the park was actually Although I didn't check when the park was actually opened, I can guess that it should be the time when it started to be returned to the government or the federal government. Although I didn't find any historical information, the park was established only in 2018, and it is relatively new, with some newer facilities.

 

https://ksoutdoors.com/State-Parks/Locations/Little-Jerusalem-Badlands

 

 

整个中部大平原上面的草大部分其实基本上都是这两种。

Most of the grasses above the entire central Great Plains are actually basically these two.

 

所有这些trail都有个小门在这里，也不知道究竟是不是为了防止外面的牲口走进来，总之出入需要自觉把这个小门关上。

All of these trails have a little gate here and there, and I don't know if it's actually to keep outside livestock from walking in or not, but in any case you need to consciously close this little gate when entering and exiting.

 

前面的内布拉斯加大学的博物馆里才说到，整个中部大平原很早以前其实都是海洋，这里能够形成这样的地貌，实际上这是以前的海床环境暴露出来的，上面还有很多贝壳等等的化石痕迹。

The University of Nebraska Museum showed us that the entire Central Great Plains was actually the ocean a long time ago, and the formation of this landscape is actually the former seabed environment exposed, and there are many fossilized traces of shells and so on.

 

整个公园上面也就只有两条trail，路径不长，也就只有最长的一条只有一英里多， 短的只有三四百米，这些简易的园路上面都时刻提醒你不要到处乱走，不然可能会掉下去。外面的那些沙地，十分疏松，并不是很稳固，适合行走，走着走着不知道就会不会下面踩空了掉下去。今天是阴天，相对就不用带大量的水和防晒，但是可以想象这里如果是炎热的晴天将会非常炎热，阳光会加热附近的岩石，所以如果你不小心失足在这些脆弱的沙土上面掉下去，就可能被困住，到处都很热很难走，造成危险。

There are only two trails in the whole park, and the path is not long, only the longest one is only more than one mile, and the short one is only three to four hundred meters, these simple paths always remind you not to walk around, or you may fall down. The sandy ground outside is very loose and not very stable for walking, and you don't know if you will fall down when you step on it. It's cloudy today, so there's relatively no need to bring a lot of water and sun protection, but you can imagine it will be very hot here if it's a hot sunny day, and the sun will heat up the rocks nearby, so if you accidentally lose your footing and fall on top of these fragile sands, you could be trapped, and it's very hot and hard to walk everywhere, creating a hazard.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

想想以前在海洋里，有如此丰富的下垫面性质，应该能够成为很多鱼类等海洋动物的栖息之所吧。

Think about how it used to be in the ocean, with such a rich nature of the subsurface, it would have been able to be a habitat for a lot of fish and other marine animals.

 

 

弯弯曲曲的小路，真是优美，有种曲径通幽的感觉。

The winding paths are so beautiful and have the feeling of a winding road.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

远处的牛，成群结队，在吃路上的野草。高压电线塔，像是巨人，撑起整片天。

Cows in the distance, in herds, were eating the weeds on the road. High-voltage power line towers, like giants, hold up the whole sky.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

看见的小麻雀，嘴上叼着一只蝗虫。

Small sparrow holding a locust in its mouth.

 

 

主要的四五种草，在这种环境下野蛮生长。

The main four or five species of grass, growing wild in this environment.

 

 

 

从公园的第二个trail看第一个trail的景色。总感觉要是在对面的trail放一个钢琴，这里应该成为绝佳的观赏音乐的地方吧，自然之声和人造乐器肯定将融为一体。

The view of the first trail from the second trail in the park. I always feel that if we put a piano on the opposite trail, it would be a great place to watch music, and the sounds of nature and man-made instruments would surely blend together.

 

 

 

 

上帝在此时，也放出了耶稣光。现场比手机拍出来的效果更为震撼。

God also released the God's Light at this time. The scene is even more stunning than the cell phone shot.

 

 

 

 

这种灌木就已经能够成为鸟类栖息之所，甚至车是早期本地当地美洲土著的食物。

This shrub has been able to become a habitat for birds, and even cars were food for the local Native Americans in the early days.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

两条trail走完，也不会觉得太累，两条trail尽头都提供了一些坐凳方便歇脚，在每天不同的光影下，这些机理和结构显示出丰富多彩的颜色。沧海桑田的变化之大，让人感到震撼。

Two trails to walk through, which will not feel too tiring, and two trails at the end of the provision of some benches to facilitate the rest of the feet. During the different light conditions on the day, these mechanisms and structures show colorful colors. The magnitude of change in the sea is striking.

 

总是会不知不觉中想起苏轼的诗句：

One always thinks of Su Shi's poem without realizing it

 

时光的流逝将会很快， 唯有珍惜这些美好的瞬间。

Time will pass quickly, and only these beautiful moments can be cherished.

在这个公园游览了很久之后，终于依依不舍地离开这个公园，前往下一个目的地， Garden City。

After visiting this park for a long time, I was reluctant to leave the park and head to my next destination, Garden City.

 

 

这天是2022年6月22日， 正是夏至，这天太阳下山得很晚。

It was June 22, 2022, the summer solstice, and the sun set late.

 

各式各样的储存设备。

There were all kinds of storage facilities.

 

 

当时正值美国油价最贵的时候，5刀一加仑，遍地都是这种石油开采设备。

It was at the height of gas prices in the U.S., $5 a gallon, and there was all this oil extraction equipment all over the place.

 

 

路上的防风林东倒西歪。

The windbreaks on the road were all over the place.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

路上正在运作的的center pivot irrigation，可见这种的水不会大量挥发到空气中。

Center pivot irrigation was in operation on the road, so that the water would not evaporate into the air.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

附近的农舍，后面种植了防护林，可惜还没有长大，这些树还很矮，暂时不能起到太大的效果，但是这里如果想要舒适的环境，大部分家庭都会种植私家的防护林。

Nearby farmhouses with shelterbelts planted behind them, but unfortunately they have not grown up yet, and these trees are still too short to make much of a difference for the time being, but most families here plant private shelterbelts if they want a comfortable environment.

 

 

 

中部大平原随处可见的晚上10点才日落的情景。因为四面八方都没有山地高楼遮挡，日落似乎变得越来越晚，不会像城市一样， 晚上8点就已经看不到太阳了。这里的视野十分开阔，可以看到很远的地方。这晚路边店买了墨西哥卷饼当作晚餐，入住了garden city 路边的酒店。下一站开始正式探索Garden City附近。此行进度已经过半。

The sun doesn't set until 10 p.m. everywhere in the central Great Plains. Since there are no mountainous buildings in all directions, the sunset seems to be getting later and later, unlike in the city where the sun is no longer visible at 8:00 pm. The view from here is very open and you can see a long way off. I bought tacos from a sidewalk store for dinner and checked into a hotel in Garden City. The next stop was to officially explore the Garden City neighborhood. We are now halfway through the trip.

 

 

写完这篇文章，一看时间，原来已经是2023年6月22日，一年前的旅游，终于在一年把游历的记忆写出来。 虽迟但到，但是我会坚持继续写下去的。

After writing this post, I looked at the time, it was already June 22, 2023, the travel was a year ago, and finally in a year to write out the memories of the trip. It's late but it's here, but I'll keep writing.