Tag Archives: North Dakota

Destination, Nature, Photography, Travel, Wildlife

Theodore Roosevelt National Park – North Dakota, The Wild Horses #TRNP

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Theodore Roosevelt National Park (TRNP) – The Wild Horses

Viewing and photographing the wild horses was the primary goal of the trip in early October 2018.  We had the good fortune of a prior consultation with Deb Lee Carson before our trip.  Deb has spent a lot of time with the Wild Horses of TRNP.  Having never been to TRNP, her insights were very helpful and greatly appreciated.  TRNP - Wild Horse

“It is difficult to explain one’s love for horses, it cannot be explained, it is simply felt.” ~ Deb Lee Carson

The Wild Horses of TRNP are majestic animals to say the least.  Their unbridled beauty roaming free was amazing to witness in person and photograph.  Three days total time in the park didn’t seem near long enough.  I was grateful for the exposure and the time I had with the horses.

[Read about the background and history of horses at TRNP]

The 46000 acre South Unit of TRNP is an incredible backdrop for these beautiful creatures.  All that space does make for a lot of places to roam out of sight.  Tuesday afternoon when we arrived we did not see a single horse.  The next morning we had a dusting of snow and it was cold and windy.  We managed to find a few horses.

Our luck turned around on Thursday.  After photographing sunrise from Badlands Overlook we continued on the loop counter-clockwise and found Grey Ghost grazing by himself.

Grey Ghost

We encountered Flax and his band a few different times on Thursday.  He is a handsome stallion.  Dolly and Kat are two of his mares.

Flax

Dolly

Kat

We saw quite a few more on Thursday just after sunrise.  Lots of horses snoozing in the warm early morning sunlight.

Bad weather in Wyoming brought Deb Lee Carson to Medora late Thursday evening.  She accompanied us in the morning to photograph.  A sunrise opportunity didn’t really present itself, but the light was pretty amazing that Friday morning regardless.  The clear skies and the bright sunlight back-lit the horses and illuminated their surroundings.  What a great end to a terrific photo trip to TRNP.  We saw a nice large group of horses that morning and spend a good amount of time photographing and observing them.

Deb Lee Carson
Deb Lee Carson
Deb Lee Carson
Deb Lee Carson

See also Deb Lee Carson Photography fb page

Pleas also check out This Mustang Life and their project: Taking Back The West.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i-_7j5I2M60

 

 

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Destination, Nature, Photography, Travel, Wildlife

Theodore Roosevelt National Park – North Dakota, The Wildlife #TRNP

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Theodore Roosevelt National Park (TRNP) – The Wildlife

Wildlife – South Unit

Locating wildlife in TRNP – South Unit was challenging the first few days.  All the critters hunkered down in the cool and windy weather.   As the weather improved, so did the wildlife viewing.  We saw a Coyote hunting prairie dogs in the early a.m.; must to dark for a photograph.  We also met a porcupine in the early morning hours crossing the road.  Plenty of Cottontail Rabbits in the early a.m. too.

Bison

Bison roam around all over the place; there are plenty to see throughout the park.  Large herds congregated by the campground by the river on the West side of the park.

Prairie Dogs

Prairie Dogs were plentiful as well.  There are three really large towns right along side the road.  They are fun to watch.

Pronghorns

Pronghorns in park were sparse.  We happened upon two bucks that had just finished a battle.  They were noticeably fatigued and bloody.

Mule Deer

Mule Deer are plentiful.  They were everywhere and ran around like squirrels in the park.  We saw mostly does, but did manage to locate two nice bucks and one spike buck.

Whitetail Deer

The Whitetail Deer were very elusive.  Most of the sightings were along the river by the campground.  We did spot a nice buck by the Jones Creek Trail Head.  I was shooting out the passenger window and the temp different between the vehicle and the outside was significant which softens the image considerably.

ELK

We saw two different bull Elk just outside of Medora the first afternoon when we arrived, but did not stop to photograph.  I was surprised to see them so close to the road, but thought photographing them would be a snap – WRONG.  ELK in the park are very elusive.  We didn’t see a single Elk – cow or bull – until the last morning we were there.  Two full days of exploring the park and not even a glimpse.  When we did manage to find them, they were a good 1/2 mile off on top of a butte.  The light was low and the photos grainy.  I was just happy to see them and hear them.  There were three different bulls bugling at one point; it was pretty fantastic.

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Destination, Nature, Photography, Travel

Theodore Roosevelt National Park – North Dakota, The Landscape #TRNP

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Theodore Roosevelt National Park (TRNP) – The Landscape

Roosevelt first came to the North Dakota badlands to hunt bison in September 1883. During that first short trip, he got his bison and fell in love with the rugged lifestyle and the “perfect freedom” of the West.

Following Theodore Roosevelt’s death in 1919, the Little Missouri Badlands were explored to determine possible park sites. Civilian Conservation Corps camps were established in both of the future park units from 1934 to 1941, and they developed roads and other structures in use today.   President Truman established the Theodore Roosevelt National Memorial Park on April 25, 1947, the only National Memorial Park ever established. In 1978, in addition to boundary adjustments and the establishment of 29,920 acres of the Theodore Roosevelt Wilderness, the park’s designation was changed to Theodore Roosevelt National Park. -wikipedia

I recently had the pleasure of spending 3 nights/4 days in TRNP with two other photog friends.  My goal was to photograph the wild horses in the park as well as capture a sunrise and sunset.  I also wanted to photograph the Elk and Bison in the park.  We accomplished all of that an more.

Sunset along East River Road, South of Wind Canyon Trail Head

Sunrise at Badlands Overlook

We arrived late afternoon on a Tuesday in early October.  It was windy and cold.  Watching the forecast leading up to the trip was interesting to say the least.  Weather, though, can change at any moment; it did.  There was no freezing rain to speak of and only a dusting of snow on the first and last morning we were there – all of which added to the already incredible beauty around us.  The frost on the second morning was epic.  At 19 degrees in the a.m., it stuck around for a long while even after sunrise.

A truly rugged and beautiful landscape awaits you at TRNP.  The vast open expanses of land inspire awe and wonder to those that gaze upon it.  Looking out across the land today it is hard to imagine the forests and swamps that used to be there.  [More on the geologic formations]

TRNP – South Unit

We spent the majority of our time in the South Unit looking for the wild horses.  There was plenty of time between sightings given the weather to take in the scenery.  So much beauty; so many acres.

There are coal veins burning in the park.  They were hard to detect the first few days because of the wind.  Once things calmed down some, the smoke was easy to see.  We first noticed it at sunrise on day 3 when it was 19 degrees.  We didn’t realize what it was until we got closer and could smell it; then we saw exactly where it was coming from.

I saw a smaller coal vein burning pretty close to the road

TRNP – North Unit

We took a short [long] break from the South Unit and headed to the North Unit.  It’s a quick one-hour jaunt one-way through the grasslands.  We did find an old cabin along the road to photography along with two dandy longhorn cattle.  The pronghorn’s were laying in the field until sensed I was stopping – off they ran.

The North Unit landscape if very pretty.  It is much like the South Unit, but seemingly with more trees; especially along the river.  The road is out and back; not a loop like the North Unit.

Cannonballs

The North Unit is home to bizarre cannonball rock formations.

Mineral-rich water deposits minerals as it seeps through porous sediment layers.  The minerals act like glue, binding the sediments together and forming concretions.  Concretions form in many different shapes and sizes.  Those that are spherical are called “cannonballs.”  For now, scientists can only guess why some concretions take on such a spherical shapes.

EXTRA

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Destination, Photography, Wildlife

Abandoned Hunting: The In-Between | MN, SD & ND

This is the follow up post to Abandoned Hunting | MN, SD & ND.

We were afforded quite a variety of scenery and subjects in our travels.  The wildlife was plentiful and spectacular.  The sheer number of geese that will congregate in one area can be quite the spectacle.  We were reminded how nature can often be raw and brutal.  We witnessed a bald eagle ripping away at a deer carcass and another that dispatched Fluffy on the side of a road and then proceeded to carry it away.  The Whitetail deer were seemingly as numerous as grains of sands.  There were three different occasions that we spotted entire herds milling about in the middle of the day.  I very much enjoyed the small towns we passed through.  I could have spent a lot of time photographing their character, but per usual, we were on a mission.

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Abandoned, Destination, Photography

Abandoned Hunting | MN, SD & ND

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Cyndie and I had time last weekend to do some abandoned hunting.  We drove through West Central MN (212), NE South Dakota and SE North Dakota.  We were amazed at the number of abandoned farms and homes still standing.  The first two images are two of many that “got away.”  The snow was somewhat of a hindrance.  Minimum Maintenance roads are nothing to mess around with this time of year.  The roads to several properties where minimum maintenance or simply were just not plowed.  GPS coordinates will come in handy for a return trip 🙂

d200-mn-sd-nd-weekend-125 d200-mn-sd-nd-weekend-139

The next few images are of an almost abandoned town in SD called Hammer.  There was one home there still occupied – not quite a complete ghost town yet.

Further along you will see that we did find a couple of abandoned homes that we could actually explore (Montevideo and Big Stone City).

 

We both would have liked to get inside the 1911 brick schoolhouse in Louisburg, MN, but that just wasn’t possible.

A few more abandoned places we encountered.


It was a great few days to get away and capture rural decay and commit historic visions to pixels.  The post to follow will include all of the photos of all points in between the abandoned places.

 

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Destination, Nature, Photography, Wildlife

North Dakota Safari | ND Drift Prairie

img_0286There wasn’t any extreme off-roading at all on our trip to North Dakota; there were roads everywhere.  We roamed about freely; pretty much uninhibited by obstacles with the exception of the “bridge out” signs in the middle of nowhere and the occasional pond/lake right in the middle of a road.  The GPS was rather amusing with its informative display of where we were driving.  Often it stated unpaved road or simply – Driving on Road.  You can truly find the middle of nowhere in ND.  I love it.

When traveling through the middle of nowhere don’t be surprised if you encounter a train of machinery blocking your way.  You can see the dust cloud miles away.  That is your hint to pull off and get out of their way.  Harvest time was in full gear when we were there.  The dust from the roads and the picking of corn and beans made for some interesting photos.

know I have used the term “dirt road” rather loosely; to include gravel roads, etc. – anything not paved.  We were actually on dirt roads in ND – black fertile dirt very compacted from grain trucks and other farming machinery.  These field roads were smooth.  In fact, they were often smoother-riding than some of the black top roads.  The weeds on these dirt roads were a bit tall in spots though.  There were several times that we stopped to shoot some wildlife and all you could smell was simmering grasshopper guts and burnt weeds.

There was plenty of wildlife between each town and abandoned place we happened upon.  I very much enjoyed my close encounter with a hawk and just the sheer numbers of them that we saw.  We chased around egrets for a while as well and stumbled upon some baby turkeys.  They are not cute at all – as most baby animals usually are.  Everyone of those puddles held an abundance of waterfowl with no shortage of goose poop.

This was two of the better days we have enjoyed out shooting in a while.  Great locations, weather and of course my company is always wonderful.

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Abandoned, Destination, Photography

Binford Abandoned Farmstead | ND Drift Prairie

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After some much-needed rest in Jamestown, we set out on day two of our North Dakota abandoned hunt.  The Jamestown Reservoir provided for some lovely early a.m. scenery as we meandered away from the populated city and into the vast and open country of North Dakota.

north-dakota-reservoir

There were numerous wetlands as we made our way west of the reservoir.  Some of which were not so wet, but extremely or completely dry altogether.  There wasn’t a shortage of wildlife despite these dry conditions.  There were still plenty of areas that still held water along with your typical fowl for this time of year.  Although this is not consider prime pheasant country, I was a bit disappointing that I only saw one the whole time.

With this type of scenery between abandoned farmsteads the miles just fly by.  I have several photos of all the points between here and there of this trip that will soon become our North Dakota Safari post.

We stumbled on this farmstead out in the middle of nowhere near Binford.  This must have been a musical household as there were sheet music strewn about the place.  There was also remnants of a piano at the bottom of a heap of yesteryear.  There was also a skeleton of an acoustic guitar on the second level surround by more sheet music.

 

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Abandoned, Destination, Photography

Ellendale Abandoned Farmstead | ND Drift Prairie

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The last farmstead of the day was near Ellendale and the Tatanka Wind Farm.  The timing couldn’t have been more perfect.  The light cast out by the setting sun was fantastic.  All the dust in the air for harvesting corn added a nice effect across the landscape.

This place had some real character; more so around the grounds than in the tiny house.  The tulip wall paper that covered the pink walls wasn’t much of an improvement 🙂  The little Allis Chalmers in between the house and a shed made for an interesting subject to photography as well.  This was a great spot to finish out our day.

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Abandoned, Destination, Photography

Merricout Abandoned Farmstead | ND Drift Prairie

After we explored the Forbes area we headed North towards Merricourt.  This was another location that we found through the GhostsOfNorthDakota.com website.  Merricourt was completely uninhabited.  The only sign of life was the local farmer harvesting corn on the North side of town.  There were several buildings and homes in town – all of which we would have loved to shoot inside and out, if not for the NO TRESPASSING signs everywhere :-/  I can’t blame the owners though, I wouldn’t want my property vandalized.  Seeing very little opportunity here, we moved on.

It wasn’t long until we found another abandoned farmstead West of town.  This farmstead had some really amazing texture in the flaky, pealing paint of the two-story house.  The crown moldings and trim where in surprisingly great condition.  This little gem is in its prime.  A finite moment; a balance between what was and the inevitable decay to come.

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Abandoned, Destination, Photography

Forbes Abandoned Farmstead | ND Drift Prairie

This abandoned farmstead was located just North of Forbes.  This property has several out building along with a house that was partially hidden by trees.  I did see this on the way to Forbes.  Cyndie was too busy surveying the gazetteer to notice this nugget of abandonment.  I wanted to stop, but figured we would on the way back through – our first goal was to get to the school.

It was already 1:00 p.m. when we got to the abandoned school in Forbes.  I wanted to burn some of the harsh mid-day light there and hope for a tamer glow later on at the farm and hopefully other sites.  We spent some time in Forbes shooting the sites.  There were several other locations of interest.  It was 3:45 p.m. by the time we returned to the farmstead and there was still plenty of bright light.  It was a gorgeous day; sadly we spent a fair chuck of the day in the car getting here.  It was all good though as we were in the middle of an abandoned haven of sorts.

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