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Thought I'd share some pics from our short trip to the Hills this week with my youngest son. First stop was Reptile Gardens,a place where the Mrs will not step foot in:LOL: The Tortoise behind us is 50 yrs old, there is another one there that is about 115 yrs old, they live to be around 150.
These are some pics around Harney Peak and Sylvan Lake, the highest point in the hills. I'm not sure how far you can see from here but it is beautiful.
Woke up to some guests wed morning outside our cabin,we seen quite a few of them around. They like to keep about 1600 Bison on graze in the park, that is how much the grass can handle during a normal year. With all the trees I thought the one could have found something better to scratch an itch :LOL: This was taken in Custer state park, again its amazing how many miles you can see.
A pic of the faces of course, and in Keystone, we came across these two relics still in use. The other pic is inside Wind Cave, I always like cave tours.
We watched a comedy/history skit about Wild Bill Hickok at a Saloon. T shirts are always more funny on vacation.
And of course this awesome 54 needed to a pic. Looked mostly stock except for the V8 in it, or it least it had dual exhaust.
Thanks for sharing, looks like you guys are having a great time
Almost went there today was going to take the long way to Kansa(Power Tour) changed my mind now I wish I went . love that part of country.
Had to take pic of the ketchup shirt my dad puts it on everything. back in the day he put it on hershey chocolate. Yuck . sorry to ramble
Chris and I did that trip a few years back. Going to the "buffalo round up" at the end of the season was cool. We had a trip through the Custer State Park and the buffalo walked out onto the road stopping traffic. There was a CJ jeep in front of us with no top on, one of the animals began to walk over to check out the driver and the guy kept trying to back up... until he got an inch from our bumper! Made for quite a memory!!
Thanks for sharing the pics.
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I was going to ask how dangerous the Bison are and if Buffalo are the same as Bison ? Beautiful piece of real estate that I have explored via goggle earth as I've always been interested in the American West and the story of the early law officers and infamous bad boys that roamed there. Thanks so much for the interesting photo's Seth and I hope you both enjoyed the trip together .
You must not have made it around to the back side of Rushmore, another interesting shot to add to your collection.
Though the Bison can be pretty cantankerous and dangerous, this one was grazing behind the store next to the Lodge at Old Faithful.
We are fortunate to live about 6 hours away from there , weather was perfect 50's at night and mid 70's during the day, sounds like this week it's really going to heat up there. We only seen the front side of Rushmore :LOL:, The Bison kinda remind me of any cow or bull, very content until they get mad. I was reading how the they are actually Bison and not Buffalo in the Hills, I don't know what the difference is but I don't think it's much.The reason there is so many old Buffalo named things in the Hills is because they were always thought to be Buffalo in the 1800's and mid 1900's until they learned different. I learned that the roundup is to count the animals, remove the sick ones and adjust the herd to the foretasted forage amount for the next year according to the rain for the grass. Over grazing takes a long time to repair with the limited rain they get. Jematt, I think I'll use Ketchup on burgers but leave it off my candy bar:LOL:
I used to lead wilderness trips around the Western United States in my younger days. We were based out of Cody Wyoming but would travel 7,500 mile each summer throughout the western states. Yellowstone Park was always a interesting backpacking place because of the Bison(Buffalo) herds that free range there. Interesting statistic, more people gored , injured or killed by Buffalo and Elk there than from Bear attacks.
razy article here:
CHEYENNE, Wyo. – A pamphlet drawing of a man being gored and flung into the air graphically warns tourists in Yellowstone National Park not to get too close to bison: They're wild animals and can be very dangerous.
Rangers distribute the flier to people as they enter the park, but some visitors still aren't getting the message. Bison have gored two people in the Old Faithful area within the past three weeks.
The latest attack Tuesday was an especially violent scene, as a bison charged a 62-year-old Australian man and flung him into the air several times.
A male American bison can weigh up to 2,000 pounds, bigger than a Smart car. They have horns that aren't just for grubbing around for tasty shoots.
Bison often behave much like cattle, lumbering about and lazing in the sunshine. But when they get a mind to, they can run up to 40 mph, or almost twice as fast as Usain Bolt's world-record speed in the 100-meter dash.
"I just don't think people realize how fast bison move. They're big animals, but they move quickly. And so when a bison becomes agitated, it doesn't take him long to cover that short distance," Yellowstone spokeswoman Amy Bartlett said.
The unidentified Australian was flown by helicopter to a hospital where he was treated for serious injuries and released Tuesday night.
The attack happened as a group of people crowded near the bison as it lay on grass near a paved trail. The man was taking photos of the shaggy beast from just a few feet, but the whole crowd was much too close, park officials said.
Any less than 75 feet is unsafe, they warn. Also, stop staring at your camera or phone, be aware of your surroundings, and know that Yellowstone's wild animals are free to roam where they please.
If a bison is near a trail, don't go down that trail.
"Just because the animal is near the trail or boardwalk doesn't mean it's tame," Bartlett said.
Yellowstone's summer tourist season began a month ago and already the park has had some dicey run-ins between wildlife and tourists. A recent videotape showed camera-clicking tourists scrambling for their vehicles as a black bear and her cubs tried to cross a bridge in Yellowstone and began running in their direction.
Then on May 16, a bison in the Old Faithful area gored a 16-year-old girl from Taiwan as she posed for a picture near the animal. She also was treated at a hospital for serious injuries and released.
Some who encounter bears in Yellowstone aren't so fortunate. Grizzly and black bears have killed more than 40 people in Yellowstone in the past 30 years.
But bison – and elk, especially the big-antlered males during mating season each fall – are responsible more injuries to people, at least a couple every year. And Yellowstone has far too many tourists and wildlife for park rangers to even try to police every possible situation.
"A ranger can't be at every bison all the time," Bartlett said. "So people need to keep that common sense."
One summer I was orientating my new staff to the backcountry, and we were backpack camping in the Yellowstone back country. We found a nice meadow set up camp, left our heavy packs and gear we didn't need in the tents and took a dayhike to some picturesque spot. We returned a few hours later to find our camp site shared with a small heard of say 50 Buffalo, They eventually wandered off after one started to urinate almost on top of a tent and I sorta lost it(think acted stupidly) and ran toward them yelling. After a few yards the shear stupidity on my part set in and seeking cover became a better idea. The Bison must of thought oh no not another stupid tourist and mossied off to another place. That night while laying down to sleep, I heard a loud snort, yep the heard came back and were grazing about a foot away from the tent. Moral of story not a good idea to mess with a 2000lb creature!
Nice pics Seth! It looks like you guys had a great trip!