Wind Cave stop was a spur of the moment stop for me on my journey. I was going from the Grand Tetons to Custer State Park in SD and need to find a place to sleep for the night. Well I could have gone all the way to Custer but Wind Cave’s campground is quiet and is virtually never full. I made my way to Wind Cave and there were plenty of spots open at the park. The campground had plenty of people even with the cave closed until October due to an elevator issue. On the way into the park, I spotted bison, prong horns, and even a turkey. When turning to the campground I spotted a herd of about 40 bison on the hill and put it into my memory to hurry and get back to photograph so of the bison before it was too dark. When stopping to get a site, I notice an additional herd of about 10 bison very close to the entrance of the campground. Hurry was in order to try and get photos of these beautiful animals. Well I did take some pictures of the two herds and not sure if any of the photos are great but if I don’t try then I will not get better. Perfect practice makes perfect or so Bill Welch of 49’ers fame used to say.
On my last day in the park, I was up at 0630 since the evening before was too cloudy for night time photographs. At that time of day it hit me that this is why I do this park journey. It was quiet and all you could hear is birds chirping, and other animal sounds. It was peaceful to the mind and soul to take a walk and hear only Mother Nature along with seeing rolling hills, and a few bison. As I write this I am sitting in the van looking up a hill with pine trees and grass just listening to birds chirping. That has put me into my peaceful place and to think I was going to stay in a truck stop or other rest area for the night last night instead of going to Wind Cave.
Thanks Wind Cave for your peacefulness and allowing me to get a bit more relaxed after 25 days on the road!
