Day 5: (Saturday 9/13/25)

Posted on September 14, 2025 by Kent Jarrett

Day 5: (Saturday 9/13/25), Badlands, Rapid City, and Spearfish Canyon.

The forecast was rain so decided best use of time was to do the 2-hour trip over to the Badlands National Park. Weather ended up perfect all day. I knew it was going a long day, so we took the dogs. They did great! I really enjoyed the drive over and the Badlands were very interesting. Saw and photographed more big Bison bulls, Prong horns, and tons of Prairie Dogs. Took the interstate back to Rapid City for a Wal-Mart run. Then headed to Spearfish Canyon to try and find the white long haired Mountain Goats. Mission accomplished. Ran dogs back to camper around 6 pm, super quick bite to eat, and headed back up the mountain to observe the Mount Rushmore flag ceremony. It was really well done.

Super long day! Thirteen hours + 410 miles = Priceless memories!

I am a wildlife photographer and help my son with people. Not very good at landscapes, but working on trying to improve.

My first North American Mountain Goat and baby. I am guessing this to be a female as both the males and females have antlers.

Even the little guys have the start of their antlers.

I love my Canon R5mk2 + Canon 600mm f4, but sometimes it is just too much lens.

I really liked this pose, but he was WAY up there. This was shot at 840mm and a 50% crop.

Crazy Horse Mountain tomorrow morning and who knows what will end up on the agenda for the afternoon and evening.

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Life is good and I am blessed!

Kent

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.

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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

GGO Fly By

Posted on February 26, 2025 by Kent Jarrett

Are you sick of Owls yet? Edited some more Great Gray Owl photos from this year’s trip up to Sax Zim Bog.

Right to left fly by this time.

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Life is good and I am blessed.

Kent

Stare, Launch, Flight, Kill, Reward

Posted on January 25, 2025 by Kent Jarrett

The stare, launch, flight, kill, and the reward!The Stare. It is like they look right into your soul or through you. Their eyesight is so good I wonder if they are looking at their reflection in the lens.