02 December 2005

buffalo gap

shards

Ah. I love camping. I really need to get out and camp more often. I spent Thanksgiving Break in Buffalo Gap National Grassland, an area of wide open prairies, bordering the South Dakotan Badlands. It was beautiful. Wide horizons, blue skies, golden grasses. I really want to come back in the spring and see it when everything is green. Here's a brief synposis of my trip.

What I saw: 2 coyotes, 4 hawks, 4 pronghorn antelope, 7 somethings (probably antelope, but they were too far away to be certain), 2 rabbits, 3 other birds, and hundreds of prairie dogs, expansive vistas, the badlands formations, grasses, forbs, yucca, junipers, a dry creek bed, the milky way

What I heard: lots of coyotes, some owls, wind, silence, prairie dog alarm calls, a couple of planes

What I felt: bitter wind, warm sunshine, warmth from a cow chip fire, sore feet and shoulders

What I smelt: pretty much nothing

What I tasted: ramen, lipton's instant thai noodles, whole wheat bagels with fresh havarti cheese, raw tender bits, nature valley crunchy granola bars, instant oatmeal

Unfortunately, I left behind my 35mm camera due to weight considerations, so I couldn't get any decent photos of the animals that I saw, but I did take quite a few shots of the scenery. Here's a few. If you want to see shots of some of the flora, visit biophilia.