JB said there would be stairs

The Badlands National Park, South Dakota:

"It's a national park," he said. "There'll be stairs and stuff. We'll be back at the car in an hour."

It's important to note that my buddy JB's outdoor experience dwarfs mine. Given that my idea of "roughing it" is walking barefoot on the carpet at the Four Seasons, that may not be saying much. However, JB's experience includes instructing at the continent's only technical mountaineering school, climbing things I'd think twice about flying over, and running distances I'd hesitate to drive. He knows what he's doing.

Unfortunately, sometimes that means it's hard for him to translate from outdoor-guy-ese into the vernacular of the office-bound city-dweller. This might be an illustrative example.

Badlands National Park

www.nps.gov/badl