Photo Blog with Waterfalls, Hiking, Outdoors, and other Adventures
2016 road trip through western US. Because I was a contractor at my company they gifted me a 30 day furlough (layoff) as part of mandatory practices. What better time to take a vacation?
Left Yellowstone from the west gate and headed to Idaho Falls. Coming down the mountain through the pass in the rain and dark was not my idea of fun, but made it safe. Make sure you have good brakes and a change of underwear if you go down 8% gradients! Didn’t really see anything in … Read more
Arrived at Yellowstone and the weather was very temperamental – gray skies with rain, then sun, then thunderstorms. Drove almost the entire main circle through the park minus area just west of the southern gate. Saw tons of bison and elk but no bears. Saw Old Faithful and by dumb luck showed up during its … Read more
Couchsurfed at a place in Cody, WY. My host Paladin and his wife Donna were extremely friendly, knowledgeable about Yellowstone, and even made me pancakes! Cody has several herds of protected deer that inhabit the city streets. Upon arrival, one showed up and started eating the landscaping 5 feet away! The next morning I visited … Read more
Leaving Devils Tower I checked weather for Yellowstone and it’s too cold to camp (lows in 10’s/20’s). Threw out a last minute Hail Mary on Couchsurfing.com and was answered by a guy in Cody, WY which is only an hour drive to the park for tomorrow. Passed through the Bighorn Mountains on the way which … Read more
Crossed into Wyoming to see the Devils Tower (aka Bear Lodge, the true / non-whitey appropriated name). Did the 1.3 mile Tower Trail which was very peaceful. If you ever do this yourself, find a bench and wait for all people to leave your sight. Listen to the wind through the trees and enjoy the … Read more
North of Deadwood in the town of Belle Fourche, SD there is a monument for the geographical center of the US (factoring in AK and HI). Also they have preserved the first house ever built in that town and it turns out he was from Wisconsin. The tour guides were volunteers and provided me with … Read more
At the suggestion of a park ranger at Mount Rushmore, I backtracked from Deadwood and drove the Spearfish Canyon Scenic Byway. These photos are only a sample of what I took – rest are on my bigger camera and can’t pull them until I have laptop access. None of them can truly give a good … Read more
Visited the Mount Moriah Cemetary where Wild Bill and Calamity Jane are buried. I’m not a graveyard geek but this would be an excellent final resting place. View overlooking Deadwood. Some photos of the Starlight casino displays as well. Kevin Costner owns the joint if you can’t tell. And a few of Main Street and … Read more
After scouting all the campsites and running out of daylight, I made an executive decision and gave up my camping dreams for the night. On the advice of some super helpful locals at a place called Pizza Lab in Lead, SD, I made my way to Deadwood (yes like the movies, Kevin Costner and all … Read more
Just inside the Black Hills National Forest, the Mount Rushmore National Monument is easily accessible and a quick place to see (or longer if you like, there are plenty of displays to read). It also gave me the first glimpse of how spectacular the Black Hills are this time of year. Not quite peak colors … Read more