Wind Cave National Park, Black Hills, South Dakota

(8/27)

Today, we had our introduction to the Black Hills, which are actually mountains, higher than the Appalachians at 7,000 feet.

We hiked a canyon below Triassic red sandstone cliffs on the periphery of the Black Hills . . .

. . . then stopped to see Precambrian igneous rock in the park's interior.

Today was also our first day to see big wildlife. The biggest were the Bison . . .

. . . a point brought home by the huge leg bone Tom found on the trail.

But the most exciting were the Pronghorns, and we first saw them before we even got into the park. We spied a group of them from the highway, resting in the prairie hills, so stopped and observed (and photographed) them through a spotting scope. There was a big male with horns and a harem of 14 females. After a while, they suddenly got up and bounded away a short distance, then the male herded them in a different direction. About this time, Judy pointed out a Coyote not too far from them. Eventually, the Coyote disappeared from view, and we left them, still standing and alert.