[Gayla K. Hiss] A Wild Encounter

Last June, my husband Jeff and I took an RV road trip to several national parks in the Dakotas. Having recently completed my latest book, COLD PURSUIT, which is set in Yellowstone National Park and features bison in the story, I was delighted to see bison in the wild, roaming freely throughout the buttes and prairielands. In fact, the animals were so prevalent and unafraid of people we frequently spotted them near the road and even at the Visitors Center parking lot where we snapped pictures from a safe distance.

The last park we visited was Wind Cave National Park in South Dakota. Known for its caves, the park also has a number of trails and abundant wildlife. By now, we’d done quite a bit of hiking on some challenging trails, and I was ready for an easy, straightforward hike, so I picked a benign trail that went along a level gravel road through a canyon.

We hadn’t hiked long when we began climbing a steep hill, and I began to suspect this wouldn’t be the cake walk I had hoped for that day. When we reached the top of the hill, we were surprised to find that a fence blocked the road. That’s when we realized we must have taken a wrong turn. After retracing our steps, we found the main road again, and I assumed it would be smooth sailing from there on.

After we hiked for about a mile without further incident, we encountered another unexpected roadblock. This time it was huge bull bison standing near the trail. We immediately halted and waited at a safe distance, hoping he would cross the trail quickly so we could continue on. Though powerful and imposing, the solitary buffalo appeared calm and unbothered by our presence. However, three more humongous bulls appeared on a ridge on the other side of the trail. To our relief, the first bull crossed the path and joined his friends grazing on the hillside.

Once the bull had moved away, Jeff and I were able to continue on without giving the buffalo much more thought. We soon reached the end of the trail at the park boundary and turned to head back. Since we’d only crossed paths with one other person the whole time, it felt like we had the trail to ourselves.

As we approached the place of our earlier bison encounter, we froze. All four of the bulls we saw earlier were now grazing next to the trail. We stood silently waiting──and praying──that they would go quietly, but they were in no hurry.

After attempting to tramp through the field on the other side of the trail to go around the small herd, we decided it was still too close for comfort and returned to the gravel road and studied the buffalo from a distance. Finally, three of the four moseyed to the other side of the trail, leaving only one stubborn bull. But he wouldn’t budge, and he kept staring at us as if to let us know we were unwelcome in his backyard.

Not wanting to rile him further, we kept our distance and quietly assessed the situation as afternoon storm clouds gathered overhead. The only way around him required climbing the steep slope of a nearby butte. The mere thought triggered my leg muscles to revolt.

Jeff scaled the hill first and checked out the view from the top. He then gestured for me to start climbing. I cringed. This was not going to be easy. As I scrambled up, clinging to whatever I could get a hold of to keep from slipping in the loose dirt, I wished I was back in our comfortable RV drinking a large smoothie and relaxing in a comfortable chair.

Somehow I managed to reach the summit. Relieved that I could no longer see the bison──and more importantly, that he couldn’t see me──I wanted to shout in triumph. However, the dark clouds looming in the sky and the steep way down to the trail kept me from celebrating. A gust of wind came up and it started to rain.

Jeff gamely went first and began carefully navigating the treacherous slope. Lacking his sense of balance and coordination, I quickly decided I’d rather replace my favorite pair of hiking pants than my knees, so I crouched down to slide the rest of the way on my backside. When I finally reached the bottom, I thanked God that I’d made it down in one piece and that we were safely out of view of the bison on the other side of the butte.

As Jeff and I walked the rest of the way to the parking lot, we chuckled at the irony that bison are featured in my new book and now I’d just had my own real-life encounter with one. I’m just glad this story had a happy ending—and the stains in my hiking pants came out too!