Photo Blog with Waterfalls, Hiking, Outdoors, and other Adventures
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
Once again against my better judgement I went off course and stopped at a tourist trap. This time it was Wall Drug. They had signs littering I-90 for 200 miles before you even get there. This place was made for old people who collect crappy knick-knacks. On the plus side I saw a giant jackelope … Read more
Woke up freezing in my tent. Either the wind chills got very low or my 20 degree bag isn’t quite up to par, but will make due for now. Wind died early morning and gave way to a lone coyote howling in the distance. Camp stove and pot work well and the freezer bag cooking … Read more
Made it to the Badlands in South Dakota. Once I crossed the Missouri River it was a white-knuckle drive due to 40mph sustained winds today with stronger gusts. Watched the terrain go from flat, boring corn fields to rolling grass hills with sunflower fields and hundreds of free-grazing cattle. Then the rock formations appeared and … Read more
Against my better judgement I decided to stop at a tourist trap called the Corn Palace. It’s the world’s only one so they have that going for them. Cool points for the huge eternal Willie Nelson and Elvis corn murals but not much else. Kinda corny. Only about 55F outside and feels like fall so … Read more
It was a long drive from Madison to Sioux Falls due to heavy rain and road construction. Hard to get any good photos since it was overcast all day, but the fall colors are starting to show near LaCrosse. Caught part of the sunset at the last test stop in Minnesota. Stayed with a guy … Read more