Leaving the Black Hills, Devils Tower, Arriving in Yellowstone

After grabbing a hotel for the night to avoid freezing to death, we knew climbing Harney Peak was out of the question.  So to fill the morning we decided to take Needles Highway to see the supposed crown jewel of the Black Hills, Sylvan Lake.  Alas, Needles Highway was closed and we suddenly found ourselves hours ahead of schedule.  So we headed north out of the Black Hills and discovered Pactola Reservoir. 

 Now I haven't seen Sylvan Lake so I can't be sure which is better but Pactola Reservoir would be hard to beat in beauty. 

As we drove to I-90, thick fog made visibility very low and we had 2000 feet of elevation to descend on winding mountain roads.  We made it to the interstate but there were portions of the road were the fog took visibility down to 0.  It is slightly disconcerting to be driving 70 miles an hour and suddenly cannot see anything at all.  Luckily it was short lived but fog and snow were a problem the whole day.  As we arrived at Devils Tower, with "Mars, Bringer of War" blasting on the stereo,  we discovered the top 1/3 of the tower was obscured by thick fog.

 There wasn't any snow in the area so we did the hike that circled the monument.  Unfortunately, about halfway through the bitterly cold hike, fog completely obscured the tower to the point that we could not even tell it was there.  We warmed up in the visitor center and got my souvenir shot glass and headed left down the road.  Oh, did I say left?  I meant right.  16 miles down the road we arrive in a town I didn't recognize from my directions and we realize we are going north, not south towards I-90.  34 miles later we again saw Devils Tower and to our pleasant surprise, the fog had cleared and the tower was perfectly visible.

 It was getting late at this point so while we didn't go all the way back to the base it was nice to get some clear pictures of it after all.

We got into Sheridan, WY right before a winter storm came through and dumped 6 inches of snow on the area.  I-90 was mostly clear the whole way to Gardiner but the storm closed the scenic byway through the Big Horn Mountains I had been looking forward to taking.  That had been the only thing on our itinerary for the day, so we slept in and headed straight for the North Entrance of Yellowstone.  Seeing the Rocky Mountains outside Livingston, MT was truly amazing.  I've seen the Rocky Mountains four times before but each time I see them I am blown away at their sheer size and presence.   Even though we had yet to do anything in them they definitely blew the Black Hills out of the water.  We arrived in Gardiner around dinner and got a discount and upgrade at the Super 8 for being there to work in the park.  Though we didn't get to do a lot of the things we had planned on the trip to Yellowstone due to an unusually cold April (even for South Dakota and Wyoming) it was an amazing journey and I'm glad we took the time to see some beautiful and interesting places along the way.

Black Hills

After passing Chamberlain River just before the Badlands I could finally, after hours and hours of flat, boring, grassland landscape, tell that we were moving higher and to more unique parts of the country.  As we arrived in the Black Hills we turned left towards Mount Rushmore, our first stop, and immediately started up a long, steep mountain road that left no doubt that these were definitely not just hills as the name suggests.  One of the first things that stood out to Clarise as she tried to get some pictures of the mountains was that every single shot was ruined by billboard after billboard.  Never in my life had I seen commercialization ruin such a beautiful place.  Keystone, South Dakota, a small town of about 300, was more billboard than town. (Though we did stop for Subway while we were there.) 

Mount Rushmore was honestly underwhelming.  Maybe I had just seen too many pictures of it before but when I was there it was really just a feeling of, "Is this it?"  We left after less than 30 minutes after saying hi to a friendly couple heading towards Tucson we had seen earlier that day in Badlands NP and wound our way down Iron Mountain Road.

Iron Mountain Road was the best part of our trip through the Black Hills.  It was very beautiful as we winded through the forest, through stone tunnels (Clarise's favorite), up and around pig tale bridges, and soared by open cliffs.



At the end of the road we turned down Wildlife Loop Road and saw an amazing assortment of wildlife native to the High Plains.  Buffalo grazed right next to the road, Pronghorns seemed to be everywhere you looked, and some Burros entertained us by coming right up to the car until we had to leave them because one started chewing on our bike tires.

From there we headed south to Wind Cave National Park to see what I thought was a scenic overlook.  It turned out to be a one mile hike to the top of a mountain where an old fire tower was stationed. We hadn't planned to hike at this point but we were unable to do any of the numerous hikes that we'd planned due to significant snow on the ground and the high temperatures being in the 30's the whole trip.  But one mile seemed doable so we went for it.  It took over an hour to complete and was not for the faint of heart. It was almost entirely uphill on a narrow, snow covered ledge with no footprints to follow.  Perhaps the lack of footprints should have been a clue but I was tired of driving and wanted to hike somewhere.  We made it up alive and found the downhill was actually a mostly snow free gravel road down the backside of the mountain.  It was certainly an experience but we were definitely done with hiking in the snow for a while.

Omaha and the Badlands

As you know, our first stop on the way to Yellowstone was my best friend Sarah's house so I got a chance to say goodbye to her in person. I also got to see her turn 21. It was great. The only thing I can say about  the two of us having a long distance best friendship, is that at least I'm getting used to having my bestie far away and I don't feel nervous about us keeping in touch at all. We have this distance thing on lock.

After our visit with Sarah Fae, Daniel and I got on the road and headed to the Badlands. Turns out we are both allergic to Nebraska and caught some kind of...something. I wouldn't say that we were sick, but there were definitely runny noses and sore throats involved. I also found out that I definitely did not have enough layers on if we were going to be back-country hiking, especially if we were going to be traveling more and more north. A quick run to Wal-Mart for another pair of pants solved that and then we were off!

Did you know that both Nebraska and South Dakota are both essentially the same scenery as western Kansas? Well it is. And it's kind of torture to realize this when you have been crazy excited to see horizons that Kansas can't offer. We did see approximately 3,000 signs for some place called Wal Drug, however, and after 6 hours of driving we truly came to hate this mysterious place and vowed never to visit it.

First pretty scenery 

There was some nice scenery on the border of South Dakota. It came out of nowhere :) But it reverted pretty quickly to stupid farmland. Luckily Badlands National Park was only a few hours away.

If I am being honest, the Badlands were the highlight of the trip for me. They honestly made me forget about the previous lack luster scenery we had before. I am actually not too much of a mountain girl. I definitely have a good appreciation for them and think they are beautiful to look at and play in, but I guess you could say they leave me cold ;-) The desert on the other hand really gets me excited though and the Badlands (though not desert) definitely hit the spot for me. When we were pulling up to the park I screamed a little with excitement and once we were in the park I literally could not stop saying wow. I was astonished...amazed...captivated...in complete  and total awe of the formations I was witnessing. There are really no words to explain how incredible I found the Badlands.

We intended to hike the Door, Shelf, and Notch Trails, but due to snow-melt from the storm the previous week we ended up only being able to hike the Door Trail and the Shelf Trail. We also did the Window Trail but it was so short I barely want to count it. The Door was my all time favorite. We got to hike on pretty much unaltered rock and take in the beauty from all angles plus it ended on the edge of a steep cliff. I don't know what is more epic than that!

The trail head :-)

After our hikes we drove along the scenic road to find out where we could camp. After exploring a little we decided it would be pretty difficult to set up anywhere in the back-country so we just used the regular camping area.

The night was COLD. I don't know if my side of the tent had a little extra ventilation or what but Daniel said he was fine and I was shivering most of the night. At one point I thought my toes were going to fall off. It was miserable. But it was still incredible to wake up in such a cool place. I would do it again anytime.

Anyway, after a pretty wretched night we warmed up at the Visitor's Center and looked through the mini museum they had and watched the award winning video they played for us in the theater  Daniel got a shot glass for his collection and we headed on out. All in all it was a delightful start to our adventure.

Learned Something Today

Daniel A. Truex has no concept at all of what its like for a congested asthmatic in high altitude to hike uphill for a mile. But I must say I'm glad he is not a slow learner or I would have passed out from lack of oxygen today...

Things I'll Miss About Working at the Zoo

I started working at Sunset Zoo last June on the weekends and for the first couple of weeks, I was unsure about whether or not I was allowed to leave the main building I was assigned to in order to explore the rest of the 26-acre zoo. After I got to know the main keeper, Kirk, and became more comfortable in my new job, I began to visit all the animals every day, multiple times a day.

I got to know the sleep patterns and what time of day I could expect to see certain animals active or hiding under a rock in the back of their enclosure. I learned the exact path the tiger took when he paced the edge of his cage and though it took a couple passes I finally discovered the Snow Leopard cage was not empty, he was just very good at hiding, and also, a little shy. My favorite animal undoubtedly became the baby chimp. She was 4 years old when I met her and the first thing she did when I saw her was put her hand on the glass against mine. Before long we would chase each other from one end of her cage to the other in a lively game of tag. It was also fun to watch her behave in typical child fashion by antagonizing the older chimps seemingly just for the fun of it.

I saw some newborns while I was there such as a baby bobcat, baby colobus monkey and another baby chimp who was only 6 weeks old when I left. I saw a tiger disappear after dying of cancer and a staff favorite ferret died of old age. We received 2 new wolves in my time there and some new Wallabies too.

Many exciting things happened to me during my time at the zoo. One memory is playing with the snow leopard. I would creep around the corner of his cage and see him crouch down but not move. If I hid my head back around the corner and suddenly looked back he would be in a slightly closer spot, but would stop moving when he saw my head again. If I did this long enough he would eventually get frustrated and jump at the chain link fence right at me. I guess he wasn't enjoying it as much as I was. :)

My personal favorite memory was assisting the keepers in giving a snake some medical care. The volunteer who was supposed to help out with the snake didn't show up so they enlisted me to help pin down the 400 lb python in order to give it it's shots. So myself and two keepers held the middle, the front, and the end of the huge reptile. When the needle went in, the entire snake seized up and writhed in my hands in an incredible display of it strength. I could tell it was made of pure muscle.

I did not expect to be so involved in the lives of the animals when the city hired me at the zoo and I could not have asked for a more exciting 10 months of experience. Hopefully I can use what I learned about animals in captivity towards wildlife viewing in the wilds of Yellowstone.