{"id":3018,"date":"2014-10-27T15:22:51","date_gmt":"2014-10-27T20:22:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/traun-photo.com\/dan\/?p=3018"},"modified":"2016-05-14T11:17:51","modified_gmt":"2016-05-14T16:17:51","slug":"south-dakota-black-hills-day-6","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/traun-photo.com\/dan\/south-dakota-black-hills-day-6\/","title":{"rendered":"South Dakota \u2013 Black Hills \u2013 Day 6"},"content":{"rendered":"

SD – Black Hills \/ Custer State Park | Day 3<\/a> | Day 4<\/a> | Day 5<\/a> | Day 6 <\/a>| Day 7<\/a><\/p>\n

\"untitled-IMG_1299-1299\"A quick peek outside around 11:30 p.m. gave us a good idea of what was in store for us on Day 6. \u00a0We were so glad we moved from the tent to a cabin. \u00a0The scene was all too familiar – the first snow – but it was way too early. \u00a0Snow is not necessarily what I want to see on September 11th, but it was quite beautiful and hard to get too upset about. \u00a0The fresh blanket of snow was going to make for lovely photos. \u00a0We awoke to an accurate forecast – about 6″ of fresh snow fell overnight. \u00a0It was a bone chilling 27 degrees as promised. \u00a0It was brrrrrrr-eautiful!<\/p>\n

I made short work of the snow on car with the broom from the cabin – no brush in the car this time of year. \u00a0It just didn’t feel right turning on the heated seat this time of year, butt<\/em> it felt alright soon enough \ud83d\ude42 \u00a0We headed into town for our coffee and bagel at the 1881 Bank Coffee House<\/a>. \u00a0This was our third visit. \u00a0As the name implies, the store was originally a bank; the interior is quite nice. \u00a0The coffee was wonderful. \u00a0The bagel situation on the other hand had issues every day for some reason. \u00a0Two of the three days a cream cheese or butter was missing each day and this day one was toasted and one was not. \u00a0FYI, the dash defrost barely provides enough warmth to reasonably heat up a bagel. \u00a0Check your bagels before departing \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n

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The Scenery<\/p>\n

We didn’t really have a plan for today. \u00a0We didn’t know what to expect from the snow fall. \u00a0We ventured into Custer State Park<\/a>\u00a0to see what we could find. \u00a0The fresh blanket of snow was quite pretty. \u00a0Back-roading was out of the question today; we tried. \u00a0The roads were snowy, wet and extremely muddy. \u00a0We made it as far North as Pactola Reservoir<\/a> (last photo) on the main roads and decided to head back to the park to look for wildlife. \u00a0We ran into a group of long horns that where pretty lively in the fresh snow – especially the little one. \u00a0Cute lil bugger.<\/p>\n

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\"Pactola <\/a>
Pactola Reservoir <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n

The Wildlife<\/p>\n

We explored several Custer State Park roads today in addition to well-traveled Wildlife Loop Road. \u00a04 Mile Draw Road (CSP 7), Swint Road (CSP 5), Fisherman Flats Road (CSP 2) and Oak Draw Road (CSP 3) were all nice to drive. \u00a0You never know what is around the next corner. \u00a0We were pleasantly surprised to stumble upon several Mountain Bluebirds<\/a> having just read about them at the Wind Cave National Monument. \u00a0We found more Elk, but the herd was not any closer than earlier\u00a0days sightings. \u00a0The buffalo and pronghorn looked great against a snowy backdrop. \/\/Custer State Park map<\/a>\/\/<\/p>\n

\"Buffalo\" <\/a>
Buffalo <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Buffalo\" <\/a>
Buffalo <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Mountain <\/a>
Mountain Bluebird <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Mountain <\/a>
Mountain Bluebird <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Buffalo\" <\/a>
Buffalo <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Pronghorn\" <\/a>
Pronghorn <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Mountain <\/a>
Mountain Bluebird <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Mountain <\/a>
Mountain Bluebird <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Mountain <\/a>
Mountain Bluebird <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Mountain <\/a>
Mountain Bluebird <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Elk\" <\/a>
Elk <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Blue <\/a>
Blue Heron <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n

Here is a video clip from heading into Custer State Park the morning after the snow fell.<\/p>\n

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