Where the Buffalo Roam: Dakotas Road Trip
Where the Buffalo Roam: Dakotas Road Trip
The gold prairie against blue sky shines brilliantly. Though the Dakotas don’t own the “Big Sky country” nickname, they’re members of the club. The land seems to go on forever, too. The combination makes the buttes look like mere bumps on the flat vista, rather than masses that, at times, stretch up into the sky more than 3,000 feet. Tears, unexpectedly soaking my cheeks, are the only response I can muster.
The stillness that settled down on me at Bear Butte holds for my first few days at Theodore Roosevelt National Park, named for the conservationist president who tested his mettle ranching cattle here as a young man. For the most part, I’m a solo act until a guy shows up at my campsite’s splintered picnic table. His earth-toned outfit camouflaged against the landscape, he looks like a birder.
LITTLE PICTURES. BIG MOMENTS.