On the road to Landmark: Theodore Roosevelt National Park

So I recently made the move from Guelph, ON to the American Prairie Reserve near Malta, Montana to volunteer for the Landmark Project. It's a volunteer-based wildlife monitoring project run by Adventurers and Scientists for Conservation, where volunteers get to live on a ranch in the prairies and hike transects to spot wildlife, maintain and analyse trap cameras, and count certain species of interest such as sage grouse and prairie dogs on APR land. But that isn't what this blog post is about. This post is about Theodore Roosevelt National Park! 

I drove from Guelph to Montana, driving by day and sleeping in my car in McDonald's and Wal-mart parking lots by night. Typical road trip lifestyle. On the third night I slept over at Theodore Roosevelt National Park on the western border of North Dakota. I arrived fairly late so I only saw the badlands in the dim evening light before I tucked in for the night. But I woke up bright and early to the prairie sunrise bursting in my car's frosted-up windows, casting a gorgeous glow on the fractal ice. Unfortunately my camera was too cold to function for a shot of this :( Oh well! I hit the road further into the park, only to stumble upon a herd of wild bison, which I eagerly photographed, a herd of wild pronghorn, which I eagerly photographed, and a small herd of wild horses, which I eagerly photographed. Here, of course, are the results of the sunrise safari:

The bison were still covered in frost from the night.

This one's probably my favourite bison shot of the day. Something about the frost on both the bison and the grass, and the way they're positioned so linearly, and the contrast of the dark fur and white frost...

I really loved the way the sun caught in her eye here.

The pronghorn did not stick around for long.

I'd never seen wild horses before so these were a great find!! There were only four altogether but they were very majestic. 

They actually seemed pretty accustomed to people; they allowed me to get very close :)

Sooo majestic. 

I definitely don't remember exactly where I found this great-looked abandoned farmhouse; somewhere along a highway in Montana. But I loved the combination of red roof, blue sky and golden grass.

And later that day I made it to the American Prairie Reserve, and the start of a whole new adventure in Great Plains of Montana!

And as always,  check out my photography web site at www.elainekennedyphotography.com :)