CUSTER STATE PARK, SOUTH DAKOTA

In early May I was off to South Dakota to photograph in Badlands National Park. Before I went there I visited Custer State Park for two days.

I flew into some weather which greeted me in Salt Lake City as I transferred to a flight to Rapid City, S. D. All seemed to be going fine, until we were informed that we were landing in Casper, WY, instead. The ceiling for landing in Rapid City was too low.

In Casper we were given the option of 1) de-planing and being bussed to Rapid City. The bus trip would be about four hours. The other option was to try to return to Rapid City, and if we could not land, we would be flown onto Minneapolis. We would then be put up for the night, but the flights on the next day were a bit of a c--- shoot. I opted for the bus ride back to Rapid City. We go to Rapid City about midnight. I then had an hour drive to the town of Custer in drizzle and snow flurries.
It was a short night, and an early morning followed.

WEDNESDAY, MAY 8TH:

The weather was rainy, with snow flurries, and very gray skies all day. After breakfast at the Motel, I headed off to visit Mt. Rushmore first. As I drove into the area I was greeted by two mountain goats that were browsing right alongside the road. They were not disturbed as I stopped and photographed them while using the car as a blind. I was able to get out of the car and photograph from the backside of the car.

MOUNTAIN GOAT

HERE IS LOOKING AT YOU

Mt. Rushmore was impressive though the weather was not conducive to dramatic photography. I enjoyed visiting the museum to see how the artist created the large figures to scale. There was a lot of geometry and blasting to create the monument.

AVENUE OF FLAGS

MT. RUSHMORE

PRESIDENT WASHINGTON

Afterwards I was off to Custer State Park. I had read up a bit on the area, and had hoped to do a sunset shoot in the area of Sylvan Lake. However the weather was not going to cooperate, but I enjoyed the visit to the lake area. What caught my eye was the large granite boulders. This day it was foggy with a low cloud cover which created a mood but not promising light. As you can see there was a thin layer of fresh snow on the shore line.

It was then onto Wildlife Loop Road which is about about 18 miles in length through open grasslands speckled with pine trees. Again the traffic was very light and I thoroughly enjoyed myself. The only  wildlife that I saw on this road today was bison. Custer State Park has one of the largest publicly owned bison herds which is maintained at about 1300 head. 

Every fall they round up the herd to inoculate them, and get a count on the size of the herd. Animals deemed to be in excess are then separated and eventually auctioned off. Some of these go to meat producers, but the majority go to bison ranchers as breeding stock. This allows the range to sustain the herd and not allow it to be overgrazed. It was a beautiful drive, and I enjoyed photographing the bison safely from my car. I used a borrowed bean bag to help stabilize the camera and lens.

Dinner was early as I wanted to visit the State Game Lodge which had been the summer home of President Cleveland, and also visited by President Eisenhower. It is one of the traditional summer lodges/Park lodges of the early 20th century. I had a
delightful meal before heading back to the City of Custer for the evening.

STATE GAME LODGE