Category: gallery-outdoors

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Caverns Amid the Prairie

The Cave Hills rise from the plains north of Buffalo in Harding County. Its mesas and hills are pockmarked with many cave-like entrances; the best known is Ludlow Cave. Early explorers called the 22,000 lonely acres the “Little Mountains.” Today, wildlife and cattle greatly outnumber human inhabitants. Christian Begeman explored the area this fall.

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Record Harvest

Fall is in full swing in South Dakota and farmers across the state are hard at work in the fields. Warmer than average temps and dry weather are aiding this year’s harvest. The USDA predicts South Dakota farmers will harvest their second largest corn crop as well as a record soybean crop. Sorghum production in South Dakota is also up 73 percent. Here some photos from farms around our state.

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Beautiful Buttes

Slim Buttes is a mix of badlands, ponderosa pine forest and mesas surrounded by West River grasslands. It runs 40 miles north-to-south and is just 20 miles wide. Most travelers only see the buttes as they climb the high hill east of Buffalo on Highway 20. Looming south of the highway are the Castles, twin white buttes that look like royal ruins. Most of the other peaks and promontories have names, too. Ranchers dubbed one formation The Seals, and another Three sisters. Official names include Doc Hodge Draw, Adam and Eve Butte, Battleship Rock and Government Rock, the highest point. Photos by Christian Begeman.
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Roundup Record

A record 21,000 visitors from around the world attended Custer State Park’s 50th annual Buffalo Roundup last weekend. Park employees and volunteers gathered about 1,300 buffalo into corrals using horses and all terrain vehicles. Once rounded up, some buffalo were branded, vaccinated and checked for pregnancy. The Custer State Park herd is one of the largest in the state. About 400 buffalo will be auctioned off on November 21 to keep the herd size manageable. Photos by Joel Schwader.
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Nature’s Fireworks

The Northern lights, or aurora borealis, have been casting an amazing glow across the northern part of the continent this week. It’s not common to see them in South Dakota, but last weekend’s geomagnetic storm on the sun’s surface was one of the strongest since September of 2005. The aurora is caused when those charged particles from the sun interact with gaseous particles in the Earth’s atmosphere, producing a rainbow of colors.
Christian Begeman took these photos late Monday night and early Tuesday morning. Another solar storm is forecast for tonight (Wednesday), so there’s a good chance to see the lights again. The best viewing time is between 11 p.m. and 4 a.m., when skies are clear and dark. Look to the north and hope.
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World Archery Youth Championships

The World Teen Archery Tournament opened in Yankton on Sunday (June 7). A procession of flags from around the globe kicked off the ceremonies. Tom Dielen of Switzerland, secretary-general of the World Archery Association, welcomed the teen athletes and said,”Yankton may not be the largest city in the world but this week it is the heart of world archery.” Photos by Bernie Hunhoff.