This black-tailed prairie dog (a jurvie) lived with his extended family in Sage Creek Basin of Badlands National Park in South Dakota. Most ran away when I came closer, but this little guy just stood his ground and continued chewing on his delicious grass.

That same evening (after sunset) a silly Prairie Dog ran out to the road, saw our car approaching, panicked, stood straight up, froze and stared at the headlights. He's lucky that there was no oncoming traffic, hence we were able to steer the car away from him.

Here are some facts about these intelligent and adorable animals:

www.worldwildlife.org/stories/8-surprising-prairie-dog-facts

Thanks for stopping by, and have a Happy Monday!

Tags:   scenery composition photography outdoor nature mirrorless Canon EOS R5 Full Frame travel photography travel RF 100-500mm f/4.5-7.1 L IS USM Badlands Badlands National Park National Park South Dakota Prairie Dog

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Scotts Bluff is a remnant of ancestral high plains that were hundreds of feet higher than today's Great Plains.

I took this photo from North Overlook, at the summit of Scotts Bluff (4649ft / 1417m), overlooking the old Oregon Trail (that straight road), to the left was the entrance and headquarters of Scotts Bluff National Park. We drove up here from that cool looking curvy road and through the tunnel.

We were heading north to South Dakota (from Colorado), passing through many farmlands and green pastures (tons of cows). We really couldn't ask for a better scenery until these BEAUTIFUL bluffs came into view.

I said to myself, there's no way these interesting rock formations would not be enlisted into the state park system. Oh how wrong I was (or how right I was?) - they didn't made it to the state level, they made it the national's!

Quick quick quick, we must turn around and head into the park!

We ended up spending about 1.5 hour hiking along the summit rim (would have been longer if we were not pressed for time, this was an unplanned stop), then met a lady (and her dog) from the Houston area, and ended up talking to her for at least another 30 minutes (under the strong sun). (I will talk more about her in a later post.)

A brief history for my non-USA friends: The Oregon Trail was a 2,170-mile (3,490 km) east-west, large-wheeled wagon route, stretching from Independence, Missouri to Oregon City, Oregon. It was laid by fur traders and trappers from about 1811 to 1840, and was only passable on foot or by horseback. The Oregon Trail and its many offshoots were used by about 400,000 settlers, farmers, miners, ranchers, and business owners and their families mainly between 1846 and 1869. This route allowed 700 to 1,000 emigrants to join the wagon trains to leave for Oregon in 1843, dubbed as "The Great Migration of 1843".

Thank you for your visit!

Tags:   scenery composition photography outdoor nature mirrorless Canon EOS R5 Full Frame travel photography travel RF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM Nebraska Scotts Bluff Oregon Trail Historical Summit

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"White Lens Alert, White Lens Alert!", cried the Bighorn lambs.

"Don't worry, she's harmless and respects all wildlife, as to humans, I'm not so sure!"

(Just a little humor from my last post I've Been Following You" ... 😊)

Here's a group of bighorn sheeps and lambs grazing on the grassland with the golden hour sky (hazy and diffused light) in the backdrop.

Sidenote: At the time of capturing this photo, the sheeps were very silhouetted against the sky and I thought there were only a few big ones out there. To my delight, not only did the camera capture all the shadows with amazing details, there were many babies among the grown ups!

This is a quick and interesting read on "Where do Bighorn Sheep come from?" and "A Day in the Life":

www.nps.gov/articles/000/bighorn-sheep-badl.htm

Have a pleasant day!!!

Tags:   scenery composition photography outdoor outside nature mirrorless Canon EOS R5 Full Frame travel photography travel RF 100-500mm f/4.5-7.1 L IS USM Badlands National Park Bighorn Sheep Lamb Golden Hour Sky Grazing Wildlife Respect All Wildlife Respect Nature

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With the extreme temperatures (hot in summer and cold in winter) and lack of water, the exposed rugged Badlands National Park got its name from the Lakota - "mako sica" or "land bad".

The French-Canadian fur trappers called it "les mauvais terres pour traverse" or "bad land to travel through" - summers are hot and dry, winters are cold and windy, there is very little drinking water and the land is hard to travel through.

Today, the term ‘badlands’ has a more geologic definition - soft sedimentary rock clay-rich soils that are extensively eroded in a dry climate by wind and water, resulting in a topography with sharp spires, gullies, and ridges.

The unforgiving landscape makes it a great place to visit but this is not the kind of place that many would like to call home.

The daytime temperature was ~95F (35C) (no shades) during our two-day visit. It was so hot that we did the unthinkable - hiding out inside the hotel room on Day 2 until 4pm, after having ventured out for less than 2 hours that morning.

This view was taken from the White River Valley Overlook on Day 1 of our two days visit at the park.

Tags:   composition photography outdoor outside nature mirrorless Canon EOS R5 Full Frame travel photography travel RF 100-500mm f/4.5-7.1 L IS USM Tints and Shadows Badlands National Park Badlands South Dakota Unforgiving scenery

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It was so hot during our visit at Badlands National Park (~95F/35C, no shade), after venturing out for less than 2 hours one morning, we crawled back and hid in the A/C hotel room until the late afternoon.

When we got back to the park, the sun was still strong, so we only did a nice and easy hike, Door Trail, which took us to the extra-terrestrial landscape with strangely shaped buttes and spires.

This photo was taken from the Door Trail's trailhead on Day 2 at the beginning of the hike.

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Badlands National Park:

With the extreme temperatures (hot in summer and cold in winter) and lack of water, the exposed rugged Badlands National Park got its name from the Lakota - "mako sica" or "land bad".

The French-Canadian fur trappers called it "les mauvais terres pour traverse" or "bad land to travel through" - summers are hot and dry, winters are cold and windy, there is very little drinking water and the land is hard to travel through.

Today, the term ‘badlands’ has a more geologic definition - soft sedimentary rock clay-rich soils that are extensively eroded in a dry climate by wind and water, resulting in a topography with sharp spires, gullies, and ridges.

The unforgiving landscape makes it a great place to visit but this is not the kind of place that many would like to call home.

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Many thanks for your kind visit and support, wishing you a very happy Saturday!

Tags:   scenery composition photography outdoor outside mirrorless Canon EOS R5 Full Frame RF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM travel photography travel landscape Badlands National Park South Dakota Door Trail Hiking

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