Wind Cave National Park

The third and final stop on my whirlwind Thanksgiving tour of Wyoming and South Dakota was Wind Cave National Park. I'd been with family several years ago, but didn't spend much time here. And effectively no time at all above ground, opting for a cave tour instead. This time, I was determined to take in the sights both above and below ground.

I nearly missed the sunrise when one of the roads I'd planned to take to get there from Rapid City turned out to be closed for the season.  After doubling back and exceeding the speed limit once or twice, I managed to get into the park and to a scenic overlook just in time for this.

Since I still had a six-hour drive home ahead of me I only budgeted enough time to squeeze in one hike -- the Rankin Ridge Nature Trail.  Overcast skies made the landscape views fairly dull, but the fire tower at the summit was visually interesting itself in a geometric sort of way.

Bison enjoying their morning silflay.

Bison are an interesting paradox to me.  Majestic and strong on the one hand, but when you look in their eyes you can tell they're really just shaggy cattle.

Wary of me for a while, too.  Until their interest in the salt from the dust caked on my car overcame their caution.  Side note: Bison pay no heed to automobile horns.

Mule deer are also fairly abundant in the park.  This gal had an itch she just couldn't scratch.

When you have ears like mule deer, most facial expressions end up appearing a bit comical.

I didn't expect to see velvet on the buck's antlers this time of year.  My knowledge of seasonal changes in mule deer physiology is clearly limited.

I was captivated by this scene of a lone bison grazing below a stately bridge.  Enough so to scramble down a rocky hillside with my tripod and big glass to get what I considered to be just the right angle.  The sun and clouds still didn't want to cooperate and give me interesting light, but you can't have everything.

I was disappointed to learn that I couldn't bring my tripod on the cave tour.  And the shots I took handheld pretty much stink, so they're not making the cut for the blog.  Still, all in all five solid hours to cap off my weekend.  The drive home even passed fairly quickly, thanks to the Broncos-Chiefs game.  Side note: Southeastern Wyoming has five AM radio stations, four of which carry the Broncos on Sundays.

Will this be the last photo trip to a new destination I can do by car?  For now, most likely.  Until I get restless and talk myself into eight hours one way being a reasonable amount of time to drive, anyway.  Then 10 hours isn't much of a jump from eight, and at that point Yellowstone is in range.  And with extra vacation time I can turn three-day weekends into four a little easier ...

So, I guess you can expect more photo trips in 2014 after all!