South Dakota, the Badlands, North Dakota

Tourists

The tourists pushed me north.  I was warned – August is the worst time of the year to visit our national parks.  So this post is mostly pictures made along my way.  Sadly, that includes the Badlands although I took a 30 mile gravel road through on the park border that avoided most of the hoards.

My last image from the Sandhills – two hawks search for dinner in a freshly rolled hayfield.

The old stands unused –

The new replaced the old – but not in our hearts.

The scale of operations always amazes me.  The farmhouse, barns, and storage sit on tens of thousands of acres of fertile – and thirsty – fields.

I can’t imagine the work necessary to “put up” this much hay!

No wonder huge machines,

high capacity irrigation systems,

and huge storage systems dominate farming today.

Still, the beauty

the wildlife – here a small herd of pronghorns –

and the color are there to delight our eyes.

Even as modern technology moves in…

Rolling through the Badlands…

And a few closing images

 

 

Next: Glacier …