The Black Hills | EP.02 | BTS
Welcome back for episode 2 of our new series A Long Time Coming! The blog starts with the episode, then keep scrolling for the behind the scenes photos!
Custer State Park
Pronghorn Antelope in Custer State Park
Custer State Park is our second state park on our journey into the midwest. We’ve long heard of its incredible wildlife and knew that we couldn’t go through the area without checking it out! Within minutes of being in the park we came across two Pronghorns and knew that we were in for a treat!
Our primary reasons for visiting the park was to visit with the park’s prolific Bison herd which is one of the largest herds anywhere in the world! We spent two days just hanging out around the bison to get all the shots that are in the episode which was such a blast. I think that this what is so fun about capturing wildlife is that no two days ever feel the same. You never know what you are going to see, hear or capture.
Though Custer State Park offers a lot of camping and lodging options, some of which are so luxurious we were surprised to find them in a state park! The camping was anywhere from $25 - $40 a night and required reservations 90 days ahead of time. We can’t plan that far ahead so we decided to stay out of the park on public land and commute in which also saved us a good bit of money. Much like Theodore Roosevelt NP we commonly needed to drive 30-45 mins to find camp for the night. But we didn’t mind because of how much there was to do in the area that we never felt far from anything. So from one camp spot we could spend one day in Custer State Park, then the next day easily head over to Wind Cave National Park!
Mama and baby bison cruising the plains of Custer State Park
Wind Cave National Park
Wind Cave National Park Visitor Center
Sadly we don’t have a ton of pictures from Wind Cave National Park. We arrived, bought tickets to a cave tour, then immediately went below ground. The lighting is a challenge in an environment like that, then being on a tour we didn’t have the ability to capture much. So for more visuals of the cave you will want to refer to the video. Wind Cave offers a bunch of different types of tours for different comfort levels and ages in the cave!
As seen on our ticket below we did the Natural Entrance tour because we liked how much time it gave us in the tour. However, there was a cavers tour… which you have to ask for that would take you deep into the cave well off the paved paths. That tour would be hours, require crawling, helmets, and pre-approved clothing by the guide. Sadly, they didn’t think our trail runners offered enough foot protection so we were unable to be admitted into that tour group. We were pretty sad about it, but also didn’t want to have to go buy a pair of boots just so we could crawl around in a cave for a few hours. So we settled for our Natural Entrance tour. We were able to just show up and buy tickets for the same day, though during the busy season they do recommend that you make your reservations ahead of time here.
Black Hills National Forest
Owen taking a plunge in a swimming hole on a hot day in Black Hills National Forest
I know that National Forests are not often on the top of people’s lists of destinations. So naturally they often go overlooked. However, the Black Hills are incredible and I recommend you add them to your list! This area is known for its tower rock climbing which is what we originally planned to do. However, when we arrived a heatwave came crashing in making the rock too hot to touch, let alone climb. So instead we hiked and found a swimming hole to fill our time.
I can best describe the black hills as a beautiful Chinese landscape painting… in the midwestern US. When you come across the rock outcroppings they are hard to pull your eyes from as they are pretty different than any we’ve had the pleasure of seeing in our travels. Though there are tons of hikes in the area, we had our sights set on the Black Elk Peak trail that would take us to the highest peak in the state! Word to the wise, this trail gets very busy, so I recommend starting early to be sure you can get a packing spot within a mile or two of the trailhead. Also, as mentioned in the episode, it gets hot! So the earlier you can start the better. The trail is very tame and a lot of fun! When we were done, we returned to the trailhead which was conveniently located right next to Sylvan Lake.
The Black Hills
So before leaving the area, we traded out hiking gear out for bathing suits and soaked in the cool, albeit busy lake! We didn’t end up filming at the lake at all because of how much of a zoo it was, but I gotta say, it’s a remarkable lake. If you have the pleasure of catching it on a quiet day it is something to behold!
After braving the heat and crowds we decided to spend our last day in the area hanging around camp to relax a little before moving to a new area of the state. With temps predicted to climb well above 100 degrees, we knew we wouldn’t survive the day (happily) if we didn’t find some water to soak in. Not far off from camp Owen found a little swimming hole that we went to find!
MAK Taking her turn in the water… cautiously after seeing a water snake on the edge of the pool
The water was a much needed relief and gave us the opportunity to reflect on our time in the area. Though I don’t mention it in the episode Owen and I have spent a little time in this area before. It was so lovely to return and get to know it more deeply. I won’t lie to you and say that we were surprised to see how busy this area was but we suspected that it had something to do with the Sturgis Bike Rally that was starting a week after our visit. However, it did not keep us from having a great time.
Our lil home on the plains
This is a pretty big aside, but I’m sure someone out there will appreciate this info, so I will share it anyways. In Rapid City, SD we found a few incredible international markets! Being that we’re an asian household we eat a lot of Japanese/Korean foods that can be hard to find in certain parts of the country. We started this trip into the Midwest fully stoked our favorites but had long since started to run out of some staples. Rapid City really impressed us with not only a great Japanese market, but also a fully stoked Indian grocery store called Masala Mart! Between the two we were able to load up on all of our favorite snacks, oils, rice, mochi and other staples! It’s always a pleasure to be able to support small family owned grocery stores across the country while getting the foods we love!
Pro tip: When you find things you like, such as a good grocery store, be sure to save a pin on Google Maps so you can refer to it if you ever pass back through the area. It will save you time and energy trying to re-track these places down. Owen and I save pins for things like international grocery stores, good restaurants, breweries, distilleries, where our friends live, and every camp spot we have ever stayed at! If we like something, we have a pin on our map for it to be sure we can find it later!
Now that I’ve taken this blog post fully off topic, I’m signing off! Thank you again for watching & reading this weeks installment of A Long Time Coming! We will see you next week!
Love, MAK
Thank you to our sponsors
These brands made it possible for us to document our travels through the Northern Midwest and turn it into this series! Without their support none of this would be possible! We’re forever grateful to have brands we already use and love on our side to help us create something we’re proud of!
Presenting Sponsors
We’ve trusted our Jetboil cooking systems for years. Our favorite, the Flash Cooking system is lightweight, compact and perfect for any trip! If we are cooking on trail, or making coffee with a view… it’s with a Jetboil.
Maps are your best friend when you’re on the road. On X makes it easy to find open routes and trails no matter where we are. On X allows us to access saved maps offline so we can locate ourselves in the wild when there’s no service.
We’ve now been living out of our flat-bed Four Wheel Camper for 3 years. FWC builds comfortable and durable campers that can fit on any truck. We can confidently say that our FWC is the most comfortable and livable rig we’ve had in all our years on the road!
Tires can be some of the best insurance when you are out in remote places. We love and trust our Toyo ATIII’s to get us in and out safely, no matter the terrain. They’re amazing in mud, moon dust, loose rocks, slick rock, you name it!
Power and power management are key to living and working full time from the road. Our mobile lives run on a Redarc Manager 30. It’s a state-of-the-art battery management system that charges and maintains auxiliary batteries by incorporating AC, DC and solar inputs. We’re not sure where we’d be without it!
Supporting Sponsors
Our work life is powered by Battle Born. They make the best lithium batteries on the market and are a crucial part of our power system that enables us to work from the road!
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Our photo and video gear lives a tough life out on the road. Pelican protects everything from our microphones to our film cameras! They are tough and take the fear out of bringing the equipment we need with us!
Sawyer has been our go-to water filtration system for as long as we’ve been hiking. We love them for their Clean Water For All program that brings clean water to those without all over the world!
