Story by Nicole

For Memorial Day weekend 2016, we loaded our camping stuff and our roommate, Martin, into Jason’s tiny car and drove to Wyoming and South Dakota. We headed to South Dakota because neither of the guys had ever been there and to see my uncle. Because we wanted to have Monday in Denver to catch up on things, we planned a Friday through Sunday trip.

After work on Friday we drove to Guernsey State Park, Wyoming, and spent the night camping next to the Guernsey Reservoir. Since it was Memorial Day weekend and we were showing up at 7:30 p.m. to try to get a first-come, first-serve camping spot, we were a little concerned, but we were able to get in and get a space without issue. We even had our entire campsite area to ourselves until a huge caravan of cars showed up over an hour later.

The reservoir was really beautiful, especially at sunset.

Martin staves off the evening chill (Photo/Jason Rafal)

Our campsite view (Photo/Jason Rafal)

A non-functional but attractive remnant of the past (Photo/Jason Rafal)

Dusk falls (Photo/Jason Rafal)

In the morning, we got up and drove to Lusk, where we ate breakfast at a greasy diner before heading north. When we got to my uncle’s house, we wandered around the property for a while before heading to Custer State Park.

An old motor home (Photo/Jason Rafal)

A very colorful rock (Photo/Jason Rafal)

Hiking up the hill (Photo/Jason Rafal)

We spent most of the rest of the trip hanging out with my uncle and exploring Custer State Park, which is a lovely place (and quite peaceful when the threat of rain has driven off most tourists).

Unattributed words (Photo/Jason Rafal)

Watching the rain roll past our perch (Photo/Jason Rafal)

A large heard of bison (Photo/Jason Rafal)

At one point, when we were driving along the park roads, we found ourselves between two large bison walking down the road. We stopped the car and waited, hoping they would ignore us. It is very humbling to be so near an animal that could so easily ruin you and the vehicle in which you sit.

Bison coming toward the car (Photo/Jason Rafal)

Awesomely but uncomfortably close (Photo/Nicole Harrison)

Right before we left South Dakota to head back to Colorado, we went to the Sylvan lake area. The lake is really stunning, and there are lots of great rocks to climb.

Martin squeezes in with a small waterfall (Photo/Jason Rafal)

Nicole and Jason pose in someone else’s wedding setup (Photo/Martin Brandt)

Our last stop was the Cathedral Spires. It’s a really incredible area of narrow, high-reaching rocks, and climbing around was a great way to finish up the trip.

Nicole sits on one of the shorter, squatter rocks (Photo/Jason Rafal)

The Spires (Photo/Nicole Harrison)