I’ve been in the herd of buffalo at the Wild Idea Buffalo Ranch countless times before and it is never anything less than a mind blowing experience. But this weekend I got to experience the herd one on one – just me and them (and a 4 wheeler).

I quickly jotted down notes as Jill told me, over the phone, which gates to go through and what direction to go to get to the buffalo. I didn’t really need to, I was so hungry for the experience, it seemed that her words just seared themselves in my brain.

I took the long way to the ranch from HWY 79 onto the Lower Spring Creek Road. I stopped to snap a shot or two along the way, but mostly I was just enjoying my freedom from the constrictions of time and obligation. I knew all I had to do was get to the ranch by sunset.

I had planned to spend the night there on Friday night and then most of my day on Saturday. I considered my options and figured my time would be best spent with the herd on Friday night as the sun went down. Then, on Saturday I would do my best to get up with the sun and explore along the Cheyenne River.  The first part worked out perfectly, I was able to get to the ranch with plenty of time to hop on the 4-wheeler and head into the prairie in search of the buffalo.

I had to wrangle two gates to get to the herd. When I first pulled up I noticed that they were sort of split into two chunks. The smaller of the two was just in front of me. The slowly sinking, low hanging sun was just touching the tops of the prairie grass in a way that was irresistible to a photographer, so I decided I needed to head out into the larger group first. I found a big ol’ bull standing in front of the rest of the buffalo and decided he was the first to receive my attention. After a little time spent enjoying the light and the beasts, I decided that the smaller herd had much higher photographic potential because they had chosen to position themselves in front of much more attractive scenery. So I cruised over to check them out and noticed that each of the large animals were accompanied by a baby. I learned later that when the mommas give birth, they create these smaller side herds to collectively raise and protect the calves. The momma’s didn’t seem overly excited about me wanting to join them for the sunset show, but they also seemed to put up with me as much as their instincts would allow. I had the most incredible time watching the babies hop about and scamper childishly around, but never far from their mothers. I shot until there was no longer any light to do so. With a very full soul I packed up my gear and headed back to the ranch house.

Now… I had every intention of getting up with the sun and witnessing a Cheyenne River sunrise, but when the time came, my alarm went off and I was simply too comfortable to be bothered. I decided that that was an adventure for another time, rolled over and enjoyed my freedom to do so. I woke up at about 8:30, had a quick breakfast, headed back out to my old friend, the 4-wheeler and headed down to the river. I spent several hours crawling at a snail’s pace along the shore of the great river. I found myself inside a massive grove of old mangled cotton woods that had yet to dress themselves in their summer leaves. I sat quietly for a long time and watched the various birds call and chase  and dance for each other before heading back out and taking another final, long moment river side. I laid out my jacket and did my best to submerse myself in the moment, letting the rest of it all go. I let the sun lay heavy on me and warm my skin, but I was also very aware that as heavy as the sun felt, the lightest breeze was able to blow it off of me like feathers. I thought about how that place out there, on that river, being cared for by those people is a special place. All of the elements involved make it so. The thought constantly ran through my mind of what it would be like to spend all of my time out there like my friends do. How they must know so much more about everything I was seeing for the first time.

I determined, after my rest on the side of the river, that it was time to leave the ranch. I had no more turned off the gravel driveway and back onto Lower Spring Creek Road that I noticed something unusual in a tree. I took out my camera, and as I often do when trying to identify something, I used it like binoculars to simply reveal a closer look at something far away. I was excited and astonished to discover the thing I was looking at was a porcupine. The tree was growing very close to the side of another driveway and I decided the precarious creature was worth the trespass and I drove down to get a better shot. While I was setting up, a woman pulled down the drive after me and stopped. I smiled and walked up to her window and pointed out that I was only there taking pictures of the poky creature. She exclaimed “Oh, I saw that bastard wandering around my stock dam the other day and I tried to shoot him but he got away!” I instantly felt very bad for the little guy. I felt like I had blown his cover and still fear that my discovery may have led to the end of his life. When I left him he was still with us and I choose to believe he was able to scamper down and wonder on before the lady was able to return with her gun. Sadly, we have to accept that some things are beyond our control and, as I stated before, I am not a rancher, I’m certain that if the lady felt my tree friend was a nuisance, she had good reason.

I had several hours left in my day though and didn’t want to head back to “real life” just yet. So, when I reached highway 44, instead of turning left to head back to town I took a right which I knew was going to take me straight to the Badlands. I was excited even though it was a road I have traveled many times before, I was just anxious to see what it was going to serve up today. My decision to turn right was rewarded almost instantly when a coyote ran across the road and stopped on a ridge before bounding off just before I was able to get a good shot. Moments later, a large hawk flew up in front of me dangling a snake from its fiercely gripped talons.  I wasn’t able to get a good shot of either of them but took it as a clear sign that I had made the right choice and that my journey would continue to be rewarding.

The highlight of my side adventure was meeting a lovely couple at the Sage Creek Campground named Randy and Sheri. I was instantly struck by their curious travel rig – they were inhabiting a strange looking ‘camper’ pulled by a Subaru, both covered from top to bottom in vinyl wrapped endorsements and logos. The most prominent of which being Eddie Bauer and Back Packer magazine. I conjured up the courage to ask about their get-up and they were happy to educate me. They said:

“We are on a mobile tour called “Get Out More” sponsored by Backpacker Magazine and several other outfitters advertised on the vehicles.  We specialize in outdoor education about practical skills, techniques used to enjoy outdoor life.”
(learn more about them at www.getoutmoretour.com)

“the money shot”

I couldn’t help but inquire about ways to submit photography to the magazine on a freelance basis and the Randy was happily invited me to email him and he would send me all the information I needed to know about that topic.

We said our farewells only to have one more encounter down the road as I was precariously perched on the side of a drainage ditch attempting to capture a photograph of another great buffalo doing his best “Iconic Buffalo-Perched-on-a-Hill” impression (he was doing a fine job, by the way). My friends in the Subaru stopped and shouted from the road “That’s the money shot right there!” I waved and smiled and said “It’s certainly not a bad one at all” and they drove off. The encounter delighted me on several levels. If there’s some sort of future developments there for me, and Backpacker Magazine feels my photos are worthy of printing, that would be great. But there was a second level of appreciation I had meeting two people living their dreams.

My excursion lead me across the western rim of the badlands that cuts just above the Sage Creek Basin, and back to Wall with a few more buffalo encounters and some fun time with the prairie dogs. The return home on I-90 was fairly uneventful but that’s completely ok. It gave me the chance to reflect on my experience on the plains and about how lucky I am. They weren’t lying when they said it’s all who you know. To my friends at Wild Idea, thank you again soooooooo much and a hundred times more. The gift you gave me this weekend is un-repayable. I am just simply grateful.