Spirit of the Hills Wildlife Sanctuary.

     Well since I have been out here I have had the chance to go one some adventures. One I recently went on was to the wild life sanctuary in Spearfish Called Spirt of the Hills with Austin's brothers.  Man did this place melt my heart. I love animals and all of theses animals have a story to tell. Not only do you learn about there story but about them but the individual animal species as well. The tour guides volunteer there time and help keep the place running and the sanctuary runs off donations, money from the tours and volunteers time to take care of it.  It is a non profit animal rescue that takes care of over 320 animals and 40 different species that call this amazing place home.  There are tigers , lions and bears (Oh my)  farm animals dogs,cats, and many more. The animals are not bread and or sold so it is there forever home to be safe and for people to learn about the animals.  This  place that takes care many animals that have been in homes, breading facilities, circus and etc. that just can't take care of them any more or rules changed on licensing or people who think that is awesome to own a big cat or other big animals that will eat you once it grows up. Seriously don't get a large dangers animal as a pet just don't.
     So I went to this place when I was a kid and I really wanted to go back before I went home. I grew up on animal planet as a kid and I have always been fascinated with animals and nature. This place was amazing to view the animal.You aren't aloud to pet them however, the fences are there for your safety but most the animals will walk up to them. I would recommend going to there night tour because the animals are up and moving around since most them are more active in the evening.  Plus in our group there wasn't very many people so we could ask lots of questions and spend time to get great pictures. As you are walking around  you can hear the lions roaring and talking to each other, and see tigers and bears playing with  each. The Mountain Lions are pretty amazing too. I know that we have them in the Hills and they can be pretty scary but they are beautiful and they really are more scared of us and try to leave us alone. It is pretty crazy to see one just sitting in a tree and trying to find them since they blend in so well. While I love animals tigers are my favorite and they have 10 of them there. I was madly in love and I took mostly pictures of them. A few of them were from a breading program and one that we heard about was from a circus. They were simply amazing. They also have a very rare lion his name is Hercules his bread  only has a hand full left in the world called Barbary Lion. The sanctuary also has lots of birds they take care of and some talk you and dance with you. They are so funny Austin's brothers had a fun time with them getting them to talk and dance. It was so much fun to experience these animals . I would really recommend going if you like animals or have kids that like animals.

Hiking Storm

Hello world,

Sorry I haven't been up to date with this blogging thing. I have been very busy working and having a bit of fun here and there . So one of great things I have done this summer was I climbed Storm Mountain all by myself. It was pretty strange going hiking by myself and making sure I was on the right trail. I wasn't racing to the top with a million other campers like have done in the past. I took my time to look around and take pictures and just breath in the fresh air. The only thing that made me nervous was when I had to rock climb with my back pack pulling me the other way. I got scared in a few parts but I also have been rock climbing before so I knew a few things to help me not freak out. Always have three points of contact with the rocks you are climbing. Plus I really  wanted to make it so I pushed my self. When I made it up to the top  it was a big relief and amazing feeling of accomplishment. I just chilled up at the top and looked around took some pictures and just took some time to myself to think. I also had a few turkey vultures who were circling me while I was up there which was cool but also made me a little nervous that I was going to be there lunch. It really was confidence booster for me to make it to the top and back down all by myself.  When I was coming back down  I also saw the most crazy thing,I was going to take a picture of this bee on a thistle plant and then all of a sudden a white spider jumped out and tried to grab it. Now for those of you who know me well I hate spiders with a burning passion. So for me taking pictures of this and not freaking out it was a miracle. So I captured it in a few pictures and ind it turned out pretty  awesome. I love capturing nature photos. Maybe one day I can do it for a living. I am so lucky to be living in this place, it is so beautiful and I am so glad I got to spend some time out here and enjoy it. It is crazy that it is my last few days up here. 

( If you don't like bugs, spiders don't  scroll and get a better look. However,it is cool and not that freaky.)