Missouri Buttes Archives - Bliss Photographics

Posted on May 17, 2020May 17, 2020 by Frank Bliss

Crook County Wyoming

I have to drive about 10 miles to get to this location viewing the Devils Tower/Missouri Butte Volcanic Neck Complex. This is a rare sunset early golden hour photon hunt. I’m not usually headed this direction in the afternoon with a tendency to go deep backcountry. This hunt was a road trip mostly watching the storm move through. My bucket list is to get a rainbow against this scene….

Devils Tower was the nations first National Monument is on the left. The “Three Sisters” (right) as they were known to the wagon train pioneers, are related to the Devil’s Tower. Related in space and time and are all remnants of ancient volcanic necks. Exposed by eroding the material away from above/around them.

Formerly deeply buried, these volcanic necks have been exposed on sand grain at a time. The “Little Missouri River” washed away thousands of feet of sediment down to the Gulf of Mexico a little at a time. Rivers very slowly but surely move miles of thicknesses of sediment to expose structures of very deep origin. The 3 Missouri Buttes the real name) is about 30 miles drive from my cameras vantage. The tower is closer to 45 miles out. View from the Northwest (the side the tourists NEVER see).

The lighting this evening was spectacular. I find you are where you are when the “Golden Hour” hits with it’s long shadows and rich earthy tones. This is big country here in the borderlands of Wyoming and Montana (looking southeasterly into Wyoming). Thousands of square miles of less than 2 people per mile population density.

Location: Wyotana

Title: Crook County Wyoming

Posted on April 13, 2020April 7, 2020 by Frank Bliss

Rockypoint Pass Back Show

Later in the Golden Hour having worked the scenes leading up to this spot, the sunset over my right shoulder. I position myself at the top of the pass on Trail Creek Road that leads from remote to very remote country. The 35 mile distance to the Devils Tower on a day where only the sheltered hollows have snow remaining. The sublimating snow added moisture haze directly to the atmosphere bypassing the water phase entirely in this dry air.

The clouds to the west Shaded the National Monument (Devil’s Tower) to the far left and the subject of this composition the Missouri Buttes. These Exposed Volcanic Necks are erosional remnants of certainly thousands of feet of “volcanic neck” that have been removed. The Original Material (Volcanic Porphyry) stands tall. The sedimentary aprons surrounding the central mounds are the alluvial fans all merged together over time. The google word is “Fanglomerate”.

IT was the light that attracted me to capture this scene. I see this stuff visually and have to coerce my camera’s to properly configure. It’s a process up stream against the chaos principal certainly. After all I do deal with various rules of the universe in my daily travels. Unfortunately for me I can’t ignore some of them. Others I can’t miss. The play of light in this image led to a nice brown season layered landscape. Taken two weeks ago when as this posts.

Location: Bliss Dinosaur Ranch, Wyoming / Montana borderlands (Wyotana)

Title: Rockypoint Pass Back Show

Posted on March 14, 2020March 6, 2020 by Frank Bliss

Sunrise over NE Wyoming

The Three Missouri Butte volcanic neck complex to the right horizon, Add the Devil’s Tower and the Bear Lodge Mountains to their left. This early morning shortly after sunrise on the Pass to RockyPoint Wyoming was clear sky. I’m less than 4 miles to Montana over my shoulder.

Alpenglow was lit up by the low angle far traveled light. Those colors surviving surviving the atmospheres gauntlet are yellow and reds. They are the only light to make it through the hundreds of miles of atmosphere. Only then they refract off ice to my camera. Resultant this color scheme. . A yellow sky in the morning is a VERY common thing in the winter. This is a view toward the south west . From a high overlook for sure. Light snow this spring so far as is evident.

This wonderful location which overlooks MOST of northern Crook County in Wyoming with the Bear Lodge Mountains coinciding with the South Dakota border. A REALLY big area covered in this wide image. I must admit that I like panoramic cell phone camera images very much. Handy as heck. However they will not quite be the file size that these Sony Cameras give me up to 60 meg jpg’s. This is close to a 90 degree arc in the corner of the county so this is pretty much about 1/2 of the county under this photo. The Bear Lodge range is around 80 miles distant from this spot. This is still big country out there.

The air was crisp and clean as can be.

Location: Trail Creek Road, The Pass at RockyPoint Wyoming.

Title: Sunrise over NE Wyoming

Posted on March 4, 2020March 2, 2020 by Frank Bliss

Devils Tower Landscape Ladder

Devils Tower Landscape Ladder (7 months ago for Wayback Wednesday)

There are some contradictions in this image of the landscape leading up the the Devil’s Tower. Viewed from the northwest, this image has green fields with cut hay bales on top. This last fall of 2019 capture resulted from a very well rained on summer. Wet late in the high borderlands of MT/WY.. Captured in August, it ALL should be brown. The grass was a green as the spring in the sub-irrigated fields overlying the Fox Hill Sandstone aquifer . Usually the sub-surface geology controls the vegetation on the surface.

That 5112 foot tall Devil’s Tower National Monument is standing 1267 feet high above the surrounding ground. The high ground looks pretty close but those mounds of phenolytic porphyry are pretty distant/ big. The Tower buried by thousands of feet of sediments, stands unsupported. Those rocks surrounding them and supporting the hard rock volcanic neck up thousands of feet higher than it is now.. The soft sediments were removed all by the action of the Little Missouri River plus the Belle Fourche River Drainage. Those two drainages providing the bulk of that work locally. The soft rock is removed while the harder material makes mountains. That’s pretty much the way it works all over the planet.

The Devils tower about 40 from my vantage point on the Pass to Rocky Point Wyoming on Trail Creek Road. I’m standing Campbell County Wyoming.
This is the view that tourists never see as they are all on the other side of those hills. You can see South Dakota from this site on a very clear day…completely across Crook County Wyoming. That is a BIG county 80 miles wide anyway.

Location: Bliss DInosaur Ranch, Wyoming/Montana border (Wyotana).

Title: Devils Tower Landscape Ladder

Posted on February 24, 2020March 2, 2020 by Frank Bliss

Twilight Crook County Overlook

Crook County Wyoming has the 3rd lowest population of all other Wyoming Counties. A grand total of 7083 a decade ago which seems to be the most recent number out there. The area of the whole county is 2854 square miles and this photo covers about 1/2 of that quite literally.. It’s about 100 miles to the horizon which is in South Dakota partially.

On the left horizon is the Bear Lodge Mountains pushing up into the cloud bank. That range has a mountain up to 6480 feet above mean sea level. In contrast the lowest point in Wyoming a few miles away. Located where the Belle Fourche River crosses the border into South Dakota at 3099 feet above mean sea level. That river bounds those mountains to the north with most of the drainage from those mountains west side draining into same.

The Bear Lodge Mountains are geologically related to the Black Hills Uplift. They are actually governed as part of the Black Hills Ranger District. Exposed on the high peaks, a few deep sourced igneous rocks outcrop there. This testifies to the scale of the upheaval geologically. To the right, both Devil’s Tower peaking up center of the horizon along with the “3 Sisters” otherwise known as the Missouri Buttes. These both are volcanic rocks. These formerly deeply buried volcanic pipes/necks intrusion into the surrounding sedimentary rocks stand above the plains. The softer sedimentary rocks being removed by the LIttle Missouri Drainage and the Belle Fource Drainage one sand grain at a time. Such things take a while.

Location: A high ridge standing barely in Campbell County looking east to almost straight south with this 90 degree wide image.
Title: Twilight Crook County Overlook

Posted on February 4, 2020January 29, 2020 by Frank Bliss

Exposed Volcanic Necks

This view from the Pass at Rockypoint Wyoming to the Southeast across northern Crook County Wyoming. I’m actually standing in Campbell County with the camera. The sky was fully involved in a wonderful twilight sky snow.

Well you know those distant Mountains as Devils Tower (left) and the three Missouri Buttes (right). 4 ancient volcanos throats exposed by erosion remain elevated over the surrounding debris plains. The volcanos fed by these conduits didn’t erupt all at the same time precisely but were in the same general geologic time frame of a few million years. They are certainly all related and in the same volcanic “field”. Devils tower is 35 miles out from this spot…

Eruptions supplied by these pipes which occurred far above on ground that is no longer up there. Erosion removed a LOT of material that used to be above the Tower and the buttes. Deeply buried these rocks were originally. The harder rock making up the Eventually the pressure in the original volcanic system dropped to the point where it was not pushing magma up the pipes. Insulated by the surrounding rock, the magma froze slowly in place. Because of that insulation and the slow cooling, the rock (Phonolitic Porphyry) was able to “crystallize” and freeze into columns. Known for it’s columns, the Devil’s Tower has it’s status as our nations first national monument. The Missouri buttes only have SOME columns. Not as many or as well formed. So they are not considered monument worth lolol.

Location: Near the Bliss DInosaur Ranch, Wyoming/Montana borderlands (Wyotana)

Title: Exposed Volcanic Necks

Posted on January 21, 2020January 14, 2020 by Frank Bliss

Islands in a Sea of Mist

I set sail early enough under this sea to achieve the vantage point I knew was on the hill. The fog bank moved over my homestead a full hour before sunrise. A window in that cover to the stars gave me a good idea of how thick/tall the bank was. I jumped in my rig driving through this lavender pea soup. Not until I climbed enough ridge to get above they tops of the waves of clouds that were hugging the ground rolling in.

The “Islands” at 30 miles from my lens, were looking back at me. The Missouri Buttes were a big sign post to the wagon trains known to them as the “3 Sisters”. Remember that those 3 hills are all related volcanic necks. Made of hard rock. they stick up above the softer rock the volcanic neck melted through to the surface. Much sediment has been removed around this volcanic pipes now more than a 1000 feet in the air. They used to be miles deep. Everybody known about the Devils Tower (left off frame about 20 miles), but also part of the same “Volcanic neck” complex formed around the same time as the MIssouri Buttes. This is the Non tourist angle from the north east .. Devils tower had more time to cool slowly and the columns formed much better

Location: near Bliss Dinosaur Ranch, Wyoming/Montana borderlands (Wyotana), (Crook County/Campbell Count line about 4 miles south of the Montana/Wyoming border. Looking south east.

Title: Islands in a Sea of Mist

Posted on January 9, 2020January 4, 2020 by Frank Bliss

Missouri Buttes Photo Session

I have to drive about 10 miles to get to this location viewing the Devils Tower/Missouri Butte Volcanic Neck Complex. You have to arrive well before twilight to set up.

Devils Tower was the nations first National Monument. The “Three Sisters” as they were known to the wagon train pioneers, are related to the Devil’s Tower. Related in space and time and are all remnants of ancient volcanic neck. Exposed by eroding the material away from above. Formerly deeply buried, these volcanic necks have been exposed. The “Little Missouri River” washed away thousands of feet of sediment down to the Gulf of Mexico a little at a time. RIvers very slowly but surely move miles of thicknesses of sediment to expose structures of very deep origin.

The 3 Missouri Buttes the real name) is about 30 miles drive from my cameras vantage. The tower is closer to 45 miles out. View from the Northwest (the side the tourists NEVER see).

Alpenglow in the summer as this shot is rare. There has been a LOT of the Pink Belt of Venus in the skies of Wyoming this winter. Not sure why more than normal though. The “Belt of Venus” caused by by atmospheric Ice reflecting back the only light making the journey to it. Only the red wavelengths make it through the hundreds of miles of atmosphere and the hundred back to my cameras. The more ice, the redder the display becomes.

Location: Trail Creek Road, Pass at Rockypoint Wyoming. (Wyotana)

Title: Missouri Buttes Photo Session

Posted on November 26, 2019November 19, 2019 by Frank Bliss

Missouri Buttes 3:1 Aspect

Missouri Buttes 3:1 Aspect is literally 3 for the 1. Add the Devil’s Tower and the Bear Lodge Mountains to their left.

This early morning (2 minutes after sunrise) on the Pass to RockyPoint Wyoming was clear sky. Alpenglow was lit up by the low angle far traveled rays. Those long yellow and reds are the only light to make it through the hundreds of miles of atmosphere. Only then they refract off the ice needles to my camera. A yellow sky in the morning is a VERY common thing in the winter.

This is a view to the south west . This location overlooks MOST of northern Crook County in Wyoming with the Bear Lodge Mountains coinciding with the South Dakota border. A REALLY big area covered in this 3:1 Aspect image (60 inches by 20 inches). Triplet aside, this is one wide image.

This is a 3 photo (left/center/right) composite) corrected for perspective and seamlessly integrated together). This is not a panoramic telephone image lol. I must admit that I like panoramic cell phone camera images very much. Handy as heck. However they will not quite go to 60 inches wide lol.

This was a beautiful morning for a clear sky sunrise. These kind of morning are all about the side shows, not the sunrise itself. It was calm, little or no wind (rare), you could hear cattle calling from miles around. The air was crisp and clean as can be.

Location: Trail Creek Road, The Pass at RockyPoint Wyoming.

Title: Missouri Buttes 3:1 Aspect

Posted on November 11, 2019November 16, 2019 by Bliss

Devil’s Tower/Missouri Buttes 3:1 Aspect

This Capture of Devil’s Tower/Missouri Buttes 3:1 Aspect is very high resolution composite:

It is composited from three high resolution 1200 mm telephoto images combined back into one image in the digital darkroom. Left image + center image+ right image = this photo… This is not taking a cell phone and swinging a phone lol… I’m considering this one of the best daytime shots I have of Devils Tower from the Pass at Rocky Point and that’s saying something 📸 This is a distance of 35 miles. The sun was setting golden hour, the air was full of ice but hadn’t gone pink just yet. Maybe 1/2 hour to sundown.

This image was taken from the snow line on the pass I was on but you can see the valleys were not covered at this capture about 10 days ago as it publishes. The snow we got last night and today took care of the snow cover in the valley. We’ve had a very early winter up here so far. The long term forecast looks to be cold and snowy. We always need the moisture but it’s a trudge sometimes to deal with all the snowfall each year.

In all fairness to the rough weather we have here in the NE part of the state. Hat’s off to the folks in Jackson Hole and the high country along the western part of the state. It’s relatively mild living here compared to the decade I lived in Jackson Hole Wyoming. We used to get 6 feet flat in the back yard every year. Closer to the range folks would get 10. Cleaning snow off roofs is an industry there :).

We just enjoy MUCH more wind than Jackson Hole does. I’m not sure anyone living there appreciates the difference but I may be wrong. Migration of Wyoming folks are moving outwards not toward that area. 🙁

Location: Bliss DInosaur Ranch, Wyoming/Montana borderlands.

Devil’s Tower/Missouri Buttes 3:1 Aspect

Posted on October 2, 2019September 27, 2019 by Bliss

Devil’s Tower and The “Three Sisters” Deep in Winter

Taken January 2019, this image of the Devil’s Tower and the “Three Sisters” (Missouri Buttes) deep in winter in sub-zero temps. THe Pink is late in the day alpenglow with all the long shadows.

The Three sisters are about 30 miles out and the Devils tower about 40 from my vantage point on the Pass to Rocky Point Wyoming on Trail Creek Road. Campbell County Wyoming.
This is the view that tourists never see as they are all on the other side of those hills. You can see South Dakota from this site on a very clear day…completely across Crook County.

Posted on October 1, 2019September 27, 2019 by Bliss

Devils Tower/Missouri Butte Volcanic Complex in Twilight

I have to drive about 10 miles to get to this location viewing the Devils Tower/Missouri Butte Volcanic Neck Complex well before twilight to set up.

Devils Tower was the nations first National Monument. The “Three Sisters” as they were known to the wagon train pioneers, are related to the tower in space and time and are all remnants of ancient volcanic neck that have been exposed by eroding the material away from above. Many thousands of feet of sediment were washed down by the “Little Missouri River” to the Gulf of Mexico.

The 3 Missouri Buttes the real name) is about 30 miles drive from my cameras vantage and the tower is closer to 45 miles out. View from the Northwest (the side the tourists NEVER see). There has been a LOT of purple in the skies of Wyoming this fall. Not sure why more than normal though. 🤔

Location: Trail Creek Road, Pass at Rockypoint Wyoming.

Posted on September 20, 2019September 17, 2019 by Bliss

The “Three Sisters” aka The “Missouri Buttes” in Alpenglow

Three Sisters were lit up by alpenglow and the rising sun. (Known as the Missouri Buttes they were a landmark to the old wagon trains and settlers out in this country. , Again a tad out of season but I will be posting all sorts of images from my timeline from this point on. Once I post an image on my personal FB page, it goes to most social media sites too. Don’t forget it also goes for sale in the Blissphotographics.com gallery .

We are working hard to get you more products and images. There are actually two of us “working” this production. Both Bliss. We try to keep it in the family lolol.

You all have a great day and be safe for the rest of the evening. (Late post).

Location: The Pass to Rockypoint on Trail Creek Road. Campbell County Wyoming.

Posted on September 4, 2019September 4, 2019 by Bliss

Missouri Buttes and Devils Tower

Way earlier as this storm was traveling from left to right over the Missouri Buttes and Devils tower *left center horizon out at 40 miles… The Storm was completely in South Dakota……
I was on Rocky Point pass… Went there 3 times in 2 days.

Posted on September 2, 2019September 3, 2019 by Bliss

Devils Tower Volcanic Neck

Everybody known about the Devils Tower but also part of the “Volcanic neck” complex around the same time are the MIssouri Buttes. Non tourist angle from the north east .. Devils tower had more time to cool slowly and the columns formed much better….. Yesterday afternoon late…The grass is heading toward the golden side.