Nature, travel, pets, home renovation, and geekery
I have visited a lot of parks on my trip out west, and in a lot of those parks were prairie dogs. A lot of prairie dogs were in those parks. I have to admit that I couldn’t get enough of them. They are just so cute. Here is a collection of photos of prairie dogs from several different parks.
Prairie dog
Prairie dog
Prairie dog
Prairie dogs
Prairie dogs
Prairie dogs
Prairie dog
Prairie dogs
Prairie dogs
Prairie dog
From the Black Hills area, I traveled north to North Dakota to go to Theodore Roosevelt National Park. Theodore Roosevelt National Park is classic badlands. The coloration of the sedimentary layers are less colorful than Badlands National Park, but Theodore Roosevelt National Park has some unexpected beautiful green areas in the middle of it. It also has some gorgeous views of the Little Missouri River.
Theodore Roosevelt NP south unit
Theodore Roosevelt NP south unit
Theodore Roosevelt NP south unit
Theodore Roosevelt NP south unit
Theodore Roosevelt NP south unit
Theodore Roosevelt NP north unit
Theodore Roosevelt NP north unit
Theodore Roosevelt NP north unit
Theodore Roosevelt NP north unit
Theodore Roosevelt NP north unit
I spent a total of five days in the Rapid City area, but I barely spent any time in Rapid City itself. The last day I was there, I spent a little bit of time wandering around downtown Rapid City. It is a rather cute town. I have clear preferences in towns. I like towns that still have some of their old buildings, and Rapid City does. It also has some new art and a town square of sorts. On several street corners, there are statues of various Presidents, presumably with keeping with the theme set by Mt. Rushmore. Most unique, it has an art alley, where people can paint the backs of buildings and evidently everything else in the alley that doesn’t generally move. Permits are required for the painting, which is a rather interesting touch considering some of it looks like graffiti.
Downtown Rapid City
Downtown Rapid City
Downtown Rapid City
Town square of sorts that kids clearly like
Art Alley
Art Alley
Art Alley
Statues of Presidents on most corners
I have said it before, and I will say it again, the Black Hills are gorgeous. I have posted some of my photos in their respective blog posts: Custer State Park, Wind Cave National Park, 1880 Train ride, Crazy Horse and Mt. Rushmore, and Deadwood. Here are just a few more photos that didn’t fit anywhere because they weren’t in any particular park. Of particular note are three tunnels on US 16A that were made by tunneling straight through the rock for only the small amount needed for a (single) car to go through. That in itself is an engineering feat, considering when they were built, but also they were built to frame Mt. Rushmore. It is not easy to see in the photo, but with all three, depending on the direction you are driving, you can see Mt. Rushmore, and it is really neat. Consider also the crazy route that the road had to take to get to those exact angles to frame Mt. Rushmore.
Horse Thief Lake
US 16A, the scenic drive
Black Hills
Tunnel that frames Mt. Rushmore
Tunnel that frames Mt. Rushmore
Tunnel that frames Mt. Rushmore
Black Hills
Black Hills
As I was driving from the Rapid City area up to North Dakota, a storm was coming through. I was lucky in that I only went through a little bit of rain. I was also lucky because I had decided to take entirely back roads. (Of course in truth, almost all roads in the area I was in was a back road.) There was almost no one else on the road, so I could occasionally stop and take photos of the storms. I also lucked out because there were numerous sunflower farms, which made for very nice foregrounds. Anyway, here are a few of the photos.
I saw and photographed quite a few bison while at Custer State Park, so I wanted to share some more photos in a separate blog post of just them. The first four photographs are of the same bison, who rather enjoys rolling around in the dirt.
Buffalo who likes to roll in dirt
Buffalo who likes to roll in dirt
Buffalo who likes to roll in dirt
Buffalo who likes to roll in dirt
Buffalo
Buffalo creating traffic jam in Custer State Park
Herd of buffalo
I am probably prone to superlatives on my blog, but Custer State Park is, in fact, stunningly gorgeous. It has lovely grasslands where you can find bison, prairie dogs, and donkeys and probably others. Those are the ones I saw. I have to also admit that I am a little sketchy on wild donkeys being in a park, but I digress. The park also has the granite peaks and spires that make the Black Hills so famous. There is a manmade lake called Sylvan Lake that has the granite spires lining it and popping out of it. There is Needles Highway, which is an engineering feat of wonder, where you drive around the granite spires and in two cases drive through them in the most ridiculous small, just cut out the exact space needed for a car, tunnels. There is the Wildlife Loop where you can see the wildlife and just take in the gorgeous grasslands. My photos probably don’t do it justice, but if you are ever in the area, make time and go to this park.
Custer State Park grasslands
Buffalo on the grasslands
Donkeys (or burros) on the grasslands
Buffalo on the grasslands
Custer State Park
Needles Highway tunnel
Needles Highway
Sylvan Lake
Sylvan Lake
This afternoon was spent in the Black Hills. I first visited the Crazy Horse memorial being built. The scale of it is amazing. I spotted it from the road, and I was in awe. They are carving a sculpture out of an entire hill of rock. Only the face is complete thus far, but the work is impressive, and it is interesting to watch it being carved.
Crazy Horse and the model from which the hill is being carved
Crazy Horse
Crazy Horse
Next I visited Mount Rushmore National Memorial. I have to say, after visiting Crazy Horse, Mt. Rushmore was slightly underwhelming. The carving is really impressive, especially considering when it was all done without some of our modern day tools. However compared to Crazy Horse, it is kind of small. Calling Mt. Rushmore small is ridiculous, but in comparison, it is.
Mt. Rushmore
Mt. Rushmore and the plaza walk to it
Mt. Rushmore, profile of George Washington can be seen from road
This morning I visited Wind Cave National Park. On the surface, the park looks like much of same lovely grassland as the surrounding area. Underground, however, lies a huge cave system filled with gorgeous formations. The cave is famous for its boxwork formations and has most of the known boxwork in the world. You can take tours of a small portion of the cave, enough to get a glimpse of the gorgeous boxwork.
Wind Cave National Park, grasslands above ground
Boxwork in Wind Cave
Boxwork in Wind Cave
Crystals in Wind Cave
Crystals in Wind Cave
Wind Cave
Boxwork in Wind Cave
Boxwork in Wind Cave
For my trip out west, I wanted to visit many sites that were kind of in the middle of nowhere. Devil’s Tower fits in that category. I don’t think photos can do it justice. As I was driving to it, the road I was on curved, and then Devil’s Tower just appeared. That is what is so amazing about it. The area around it is pretty rolling countryside with some of the black hills, but then this columnar rock tower just appears. The trail to walk around it is a little over a mile, and even while walking that trail, I still was amazed by its size and how much it stuck out of the surrounding countryside. There are exhibits on the trail that give good visuals to describe how it formed. Still I find it awesome.
Devil’s Tower
Devil’s Tower
Devil’s Tower
Devil’s Tower
Devil’s Tower
Devil’s Tower, close up of columns
Devil’s Tower, close up of columns