Day 4: (Friday 9/12/25)

Posted on September 12, 2025 by Kent Jarrett

Day 4: (Friday 9/12/25), Slept great last night. The camper bed with the mattress topper sleeps better than our bed at home. Guess it is time to be looking for a new mattress yet again. Seem to only get about 8 years out of them. Anybody have a brand a model they love?

We did Mount Rushmore in the morning, got some required photos, did the tour and looked around a little. We headed into the quaint little town of Custer SD for lunch and to give Sharon some much needed retail therapy. Then we headed back to camper to give the dogs a break.

We headed back out at 4:00, we did the Custer State Park wildlife loop again, I say we because Sharon stayed home yesterday. She is my good luck charm. Large bison herd. Even saw a couple nursing. Couple more big bulls. Sharon even spotted and found a mature prong horn buck laying down, I never saw it. We then left the loop and headed to do the Needles highway for Sharon to experience it. That is when the real magic happened. We found 20 big horn sheep, with one alpha male. (Yeah!). Still looking for the white goats, maybe tomorrow or Sunday.

Next up, then Badlands National Parks, and a supply run in Rapid City, SD.

Mount Rushmore in morning light. I really enjoyed this!

Bison herd. North America has NO Buffalo, we have Bison.

Red Dog, this springs calf.

One year old still nursing.

Juvenile Prong horn buck. North America does not have Antelope, we have Prong Horn

Not a huge buck, but he was the alpha male in a herd of about 20-25.

The family jewels.

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Life is good and I am blessed!

Kent

2025 Spring Great Smoky Mountains National Park (GSMNP)

Posted on May 8, 2025 by Kent Jarrett

My sister (Deb) and her husband (Dave) go to the Smokey Mountains 3 or 4 times a year and have been going for over 50 years. It is one of their happy places! They own a time share there, as well as their 40’ RV. Just about every year they go for all of April for her wildflowers. This year I decided to drag our travel trailer out to meet them for a week (4/22 – 4/29). I was more about photographing the Black Bears and the spring cubs. Once the moms bring the cubs out of their winter dens, it is easier to find them due to the fact that the little cubs can only travel so far. I am good friends with several of the local photographers that knew where the winter dens were and was lucky enough to find 4 or 5 sets of cubs.

PBKJ1039-FrameShop

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Deb and Dave have been staying at the same campground since they bought their RV in 2007. Riverbend Campground is a Christian ran business that most sites back up to the Little Pigeon River in Pigeon Forge TN. All sites have full hook-ups and concrete pads. From behind our campsites, I photographed Great Blue Heron, Mallards, and Wood Ducks. The truck and camper did great!

I went to Cades Cove 4 of my 6 days there and have over 600 full frame bear photos left to process. I will continue to add them to this newly created Black Bear Gallery. We also did a couple of hikes I had not been on before. One morning we hiked to Grotto Falls, and a couple days later we hiked to the Walker Sisters cabin and school.

I love the Black Raspberry Jam from the Apple Barn in Pigeon Forge, On our way to go get my yearly supply, my sister spotted a Texas Longhorn running loose. So of course we had to stop and watch. I called the local police and reported the quickly growing steer jam. It was pretty exciting to watch the hands from the Skyland ranch try and convince him to go back up the hill. He charged them and almost got one of the hands. He ran right behind my truck. I was happy he didn’t decide to ram it.

On Sunday, Jarrett, Deb & Dave’s grandson, and their son-in-law, Jeff, met us at the campground with Jarrett’s girlfriend, Sara. Sara’s family owns and operates the NASCAR Speed Park in Pigeon Forge. They have 8 or 9 tracks. We got the full VIP experience and all of us boys drove all the different tracks with the faster cars. It was a blast and we even went behind the walls to see them working on the cars and carts.

A few other captures:

Super happy with the Canon R5, R52, and the RF600mm f4.

Sorry for the mix of professional photos with a few iPhone ones mixed in. I noticed the last update to Word Press broke all my “Galleries”. Guess I know what I’ll be working on soon.

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Life is good and I am blessed!

Kent

Prayer

Posted on January 24, 2025 by Kent Jarrett

Please lord, let all the people be gone when I look up. Really this Great Gray Owl was just preening after eating another vole.

Thanks for stopping by and taking a look!
Life is good and I am blessed!
Kent

Mississippi River Eagles

Posted on January 22, 2025 by Kent Jarrett

It has been 9 winters since I have photographed American Bald Eagles on the mighty Mississippi River below Lock and Dam 14, just north of the Quad Cities. This is one of my happy winter places as this is where the entire wildlife photography journey started back in 2010. The light was all over the place today from heavy clouds, snow, and partial sunshine. Wind was perfect for most of the afternoon, strong from the South. At L&D 14 you want a North or South wind, otherwise you end up with nothing but butt shots. I think I might go back Friday, but we really need more snow on the ground and more ice on the river.