Happy Arbor Day!!!

This is my tribute to the tree! Ok don't worry I haven't turned into a Tree Hugger or anything. Here is a selection of my favorite tree pictures during my travels. The first picture is my favorite tree in Gettysburg, along cemetery ridge. I took this picture while I lived there the year after I graduated from college. The next tree I found along the James River, while visiting plantation in Virginia. On my trip to the Bahamas I visited a National Park there and took this picture of this tree while in a cave, and like the lighting effect in this one. Of course I had to include the old white oak tree at Rock Creek. And the last one is an example of the trees that I see around here; well not really... this is an old Juniper tree on a butte's North Slope that was a result of fire many years ago. Ok now go plant a tree, or at least appreciate their beauty.

Thats just Bullshit.... NO its not

The Dogs of the Prairie

Painted Canyon

This is the view from the overlook at the Painted Canyon Visitor Center for TRNP, and guess what the overlook overlooks Painted Canyon. This visitor center is located right of off I94, but people really think of it as a rest area. But the colors are beautiful and they differentiate between the areas with sunlight and the areas subjected to cloud cover. This is the area where you can find elk at dawn and dusk.

Spring Time in TRNP

Well apparently this little flower, something like a prairie crocus, marks the coming of spring. Also snakes have come out now as well, there have been two Bull Snake sightings, and of course after hiking I found the season’s first tick crawling up my leg. The beloved Canada geese have returned and sit in the badland formations right outside my apartment, they make so much noise and every time someone leaves the park housing they do a fly by right over your head. The winter has been very dry so everything is pretty brown, but as soon as the rain comes the park will turn completely green and people say it resembles Ireland. But I would have no idea, because I have never been to Ireland before anyways. I am looking forward to seeing the park with a little green pigment... but I have enjoyed the colors of winter, time to make way for spring!!!

A North Dakota Sun Set

I enjoyed this beautiful Sunday North Dakota sunset on a quick trip to Knife River. Knife River is a historical site were Lewis and Clark picked up their famous guide Sakakawea on their exposition out to the Pacific Ocean. We arrived at the visitor center after hours, so I know I will be venturing back to this park site to learn as much as I can. Knife River Indian Villages is one of the three park sites in North Dakota, and all the parks work closely together. There have been talks that seasonals get to go on work time fieldtrips to the North Unit of TRNP, Fort Union Trading Post, and Knife River, so I'm really looking forward to seeing if that truly happens!!!

Fire in the Park..... AAAAHHHHH!!!!!!

Oh give me a Home, Where the Buffalo roam...

Well I made it to my final destination, well at least for the next 5 months, but I think my adventures have only just begun. I decided to take a look around the new park I will now be working at Theodore Roosevelt National Park in North Dakota. I was not driving for ten minutes and I came around a bend to see a wild horse prancing down the road. As I approached he exited and allowed me to pass, but not without posing for a picture. The bison at Custer don't even hold a candle to the bison (buffalo) here. The Roosevelt bison are larger and the coloring is different, but in a good way. I really don't know whats going on with this Mule Deer walking up this cliff... it looks like she got a hair cut by Edward Scissorhands . And of course my little friend the Prairie Dog who lives so very close to the road, but he or she wasn't afraid of me at all... by the way how can you tell the difference between a male and female Prairie Dog, without getting your nose bitten off??? I guess that’s a question for someone in the Natural Resource department.

Well the badlands here are very interesting compared to the ones in South Dakota. They have more ground vegetation living on them, which I think makes it more habitable for small and large cliff dwelling animals. As I was driving along I saw chipmunks and rabbits hopping in and out of cracks and holes looking for the perfect home for them.

Well my new home is definitely where the buffalos roam, and the deer and the antelope play.... among with a hundred other species. I just pray I don't wake up one morning with a Prairie Dog in my bed.

The Brazell Family Park Service Tradition

Apparently I descend from a famous Park Service linage.... Who Knew???

I saw this display at Wind Cave while waiting for the tour to begin. Esther Brazell was the first female park ranger for the National Park Service and she worked at Wind Cave, she later married the superintendent of the park and died just a few years ago... maybe my last name might help me get some jobs in the future!

Wind Cave National Park

Wind Cave was the first National Park to protect a cave in 1903, I think. It is the fourth longest cave in the world at 127 miles and the cave holds 90% of the worlds Boxwork which is a limestone formation, pictured above. Wind Cave got its name due to the extreme pressure changes that makes the cave inhale and exhale at the cave's natural entrance. This was my first cave tour so I was pretty excited, but my flash for whatever reason didn't work down in the cave, so please forgive the crudeness of the picture quality. But the ranger talked mostly about the history of people exploring Wind Cave. He wanted to show us how the first explorers saw the cave, so he turned off all the cave lights and then this kid freaked out because how dark it was. At lest when I gave a planetarium program I gave everyone a heads up and even then it wasn't completely pitch black. But the most interesting formations in the cave was the boxwork, and cave popcorn. Wind Cave is different from any other cave and we have the Black Hills to thank for that, so the lack of variety of formations, gives way to the abundance of Limestone Boxwork. But Wind Cave above ground is just as pretty as below. The National Park Service has to protect the conditions above ground to preserve the cave below. Change in vegetation for example would alter the amount of water entering into the cave, and the same formations would not occur.

The next day however I was very disappointed with Jewel Cave the second largest cave in the world. I drove all the way there and arrived at 10AM and there wasn't a cave tour until 2PM. I was going to wait around but the ranger said they won’t give the tour unless there are two visitors to go on it, so I left. I was disappointed because the cave has beautiful rare formations, oh well I guess I'll just have to go back another time.

Custer State Park Wildlife encounters

As I said earlier the wildlife in Custer was amazing, and all of these pictures were taken from my driver’s seat. I encountered most of the wildlife along the Wildlife Loop... go figure. But I saw lots of other animals mostly birds that aren't posted. I saw herds, not flocks, herds of Wild Turkeys, but every time I tried to take their snapshot they bolted. Flocks of Dark-eyed Juncos littered the sides of the road and would fly on in front of you as you drove.

I saw White-tailed deer in the Black Hills portion of the park, and the Mule Deer with their larger ears and black dipped tip tail live mostly on the prairie. The Pronghorn is the smaller animal that is photographed; I really know little about this animal but hope to learn more at Roosevelt NPS. But now the crème-de-la-crème the American Bison, I was so ready to see one you these amazing creatures, but you never see just one of them. I saw hundreds and of course they were in the middle of the street blocking the way. They won’t move for anything, I had to drive around them. This one Bison just stared at me, and he is the one pictured above, and of course not being around people for awhile I talked to him, and I said "you looking at me" in a Deniro type accent. Of course he just stood there the whole time and I had to wait until he moved slightly so I could finally continue on my way.

Custer State Park

Well Custer State Park beat out all the National Park sites for my favorite places I visited while on my road trip. Because it was still considered the "Winter Season" some roads were closed, along with ranger stations. So I didn't know where to pick up any hiking trails or even get a park map, so I just winged it and it was a blast. I didn't get a chance to see the famous Black Hills "Needle Eye" or visit some of the parks beautiful lakes, but now that gives me the reason to go back in the summer months and maybe drag someone along with me.

Custer State park encompasses portions of the Black Hills and then prairie habitat as well. It was ever changing from habitat to habitat, and even climate to climate. Higher altitudes were colder with snow, and the flatlands were breezy, pleasant, and snow free. The amount of wildlife I saw was unreal and it was all visible from my car. But since there was a lot of wildlife there also are a lot of the substances that come from wildlife, that’s right there was a lot of shit. You didn't have to worry about road kill at Custer State Park, you had to worry about terd kill. Its like the animals purposely crap in the middle of the street. It’s like the circus came to town and the clowns forgot the pooper scooper. I really wanted to see my first American Bison (aka Buffalo) in the wild, and I was getting pretty mad that I didn't see one at any of the other parks yet. But when I came to Custer I saw Buffalo chips (buffalo shit) everywhere, so I knew they were there, but where.... finally towards the end of my journey I started seeing herds and herds of them and it was the most beautiful thing I have ever seen, but it wasn't the most pleasant smelling thing in the world.

Black Hills National Forest

When I entered into the Black Hills in the morning they weren’t black at all, I wanted to call them the White Hills because the ground, rocks, and pine trees were covered with a fresh blanket of snow. The snow did not make it easy to drive among the hills which were really like mountains. They truly were a beautiful sight to see. As the day went on the snow melted away to revile the 2.5-billion-year-old blackish Precambrian granite. But due to the winter conditions I couldn’t access many of the roads that took you to the locations of the well know Black Hills Needles and the higher elevated scenic areas.

The Black Hills just look like massive rocks in a sea of pines, but if you take a closer look at them you can see the variation of colors due to the life that the rocks support. It is an amazing ecosystem that supports a variety of living things. But the Black Hills aren’t just known for their beauty above ground, below ground you can explore many of the caves in the area as well.

Another neat thing about the Black Hills was how many movies were shot around the area. There were signs that stated which movies were filmed where, like North by Northwest with Cary Grant. And I know what your thinking... I did not see Nick Cage looking for the City of Gold.

Its Just Crazy...

Well the only crazy thing about the Crazy Horse Monument site is the people that actually think that it will be completed some day. When it is completed it will be the largest sculpture of all time, big than Mount Rushmore, the Washington Monument, and even the Great Pyramids. Mount Rushmore can actually fit where Crazy Horse's head is. He is pointing to where is people are buried and where their land was. Other then the unfinished monument there was many buildings that housed native American artifacts and displays about their culture. Also I took a picture of the model of what the sculpture will look like, with the actual monument in the background. While I was there I did here blasting, so they were working on it, but I really don't see an end in sight for this project.