February 2018 – Michael Rappa

American Northwest Trip, 2017: Devils Tower

February 28, 2018January 9, 2019 Michael Rappa

A lifelong dream sparked by Close Encounters of the Third Kind was finally realized when I visited Devils Tower last August–40 years (and many plates of sculpted mashed potatoes) after I first saw the tower on film. Alas, I didn’t find any facilities for hosting spaceships during my hike around its base, but had I made my visit two days later, I could have enjoyed a 40th anniversary screening of Close Encounters at the base of the tower itself. That would have been an amazing experience.

Devils Tower is a sacred site to Native Americans. You can find prayer offerings tied to the trees around the base of the tower (I included a photo of one of these below). Native American names for the monument include “Bear’s House” or “Bear’s Lodge” and it is likely that the name “Devils Tower” came from a mistranslation of the Lakota word for “bear.”

A couple of the closeup shots below feature climbers scaling the tower. Pretty soon, climbing will no longer be necessary because, according to a sign I saw at the site, they are apparently installing an elevator to the top. Although it would be neat to see the top of the tower, I think it’s unfortunate that they are going to ruin its appearance with an elevator apparatus. I’m glad that I was able to see Devils Tower in all its natural glory before this happens.

Click on any photo to open a gallery.

Climbers on the tower.

Native American prayer offerings tied to the trees.

Climbers on tower (lower right).

View More Photos from This Trip

American Northwest Trip, 2017: Deadwood

February 21, 2018January 9, 2019 Michael Rappa

Greetings, fellow readers, travelers, photographers, and writers. This is my first post since merging my blog with my author page. Hopefully, everyone who followed the old blog has been successfully migrated to this one.

I’ve posted a couple of teasers from my two-week trip out west last summer, including panoramas and my experience watching the total solar eclipse in Oregon. This group of photos is from my visit to Deadwood. I chose to stay there during my three nights in South Dakota because I was a huge fan of the HBO show and have always been fascinated with the Wild West. I thought it would be cool to walk in the footsteps of Deadwood’s famous residents.

I only had time to explore the main strip because I spent most of my visit taking day trips out of town, so it’s not really fair to render a judgment without having taken the time to fully check out everything Deadwood had to offer. Still, I found it to be kind of a disappointment, mostly just your average casino town, which isn’t really my cup of tea. Nevertheless, fans of the show will find a few points of interest in the photos below, such as the spots where Wild Bill was shot and his assassin was caught, the Bullock Hotel that was built by Seth Bullock after the events of the show, and a few establishments named after notable people and places such as Charlie Utter and the Gem Theater.

The drive in to town is interesting, as you steadily climb the Black Hills while passing “Bighorn Sheep Crossing” signs. Visitors to Deadwood also have the opportunity to view “gunfights” recreated in the middle of the street on a daily basis. I caught the tail end of one on video, which will be shared when I finish editing the movie that compiles all of my trip videos.

Click on any photo below to open a gallery.

View More Photos from This Trip

American Northwest Trip 2017 – The Panoramas

February 1, 2018February 18, 2018 Michael Rappa1 Comment

At last, nearly five months after returning from my trip out West, I finished processing my final batch of photos (sometimes this photography hobby is like having a second job). This collection of horizontal and vertical panoramas feature photos from my visits to Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks, as well as Mount Rushmore and Portland, Oregon.

Uncharacteristically for me, I took almost no real panorama shots on this trip. In fact, only two of the photos below were shot as panoramas. The rest were created by stitching together pairs of similar shots that I thought would look better combined than as individual photos.

Click on any photo to open a gallery.