Tallgrass prairie once covered 170 million acres of North America. Today less than 4% remains, some of it under the protection of the Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve in the Kansas Flint Hills. A ranch since the 1880s, the land in the preserve wasn’t used for agriculture, conserving the tallgrass prairie. We spent a few hours in the preserve on our return from Texas last March. After a stop at the visitor center and a brief tour of the historic ranch buildings, we set off for a hike (3.5 miles – Ranch Legacy/Scenic Overlook Trail loop). Although the prairie was still partially snow-covered, the sheer expanse of the land was striking, as well as the silence. While hiking we encountered our second bison herd of the trip. The ranger had warned us that they were “rather moody lately” but they didn’t seem to mind my antics as we walked through their pasture. The bison are a relatively new addition to the preserve, reintroduced to the area in 2009 with 13 bison from Wind Cave National Park, with the hopes of growing the herd to near 100 in the future.
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Happy National Trails day 2023!04.04.23 : Roads? Where we’re going, we don’t need roads… In order to get to Mariscal Canyon, one of the most remote areas of the park, we had to drive 29 miles each way on “primitive dirt roads. Our big red truck opened up tons of new experiences in Big Bend.04.03.23 : Views from the top. We hiked the 10-mile round trip from Chisos Basin to the top of Emory Peak, the highest point in Big Bend. First pic is looking south over the South Rim toward Mexico, second one is looking north into Chisos Basin with Casa Grande Peak at the right.04.03.23 : Looking out through the V-shaped “Window” of Chisos Basin. We were on our way to the summit of Emory Peak along the Pinnacles Trail.04.03.23 : More sunrise scenes from our shipping container home Airbnb in Terlingua.04.03.23 : Waking up to sunrise over the Chisos Mountains and also my favorite desert plant, the ocotillo.
What a Great pic !