By Scott Shephard

I don’t often fly my drone before or after the sun rises or sets but this morning when I stepped out of our little camper, I was fascinated by the low, humid haze that seemed to blanket our surroundings. And so I took a few photos.

Deb and I are staying in the Chief White Crane Recreation Area camp ground, which is below the Gavins Point dam west of Yankton, SD. The dam, which is somewhat hard to see here, runs across the top of this photo and the body of water that stretches out behind it is Lewis and Clark Lake, the first of 4 large reservoirs on the Missouri River in South Dakota.

And the Missouri River, which isn’t a “real” river because of the reservoirs, is set free just below the Gavin’s Point spillway, visible in the upper left.

As a South Dakotan, I am a dam fan and have camped at most campgrounds along what some of us call The River. At the risk of further boring you, the dams in South Dakota have 4 purposes (listed in order of importance): 1)Flood control, 2)Providing water to cities and farms in South Dakota, 3)Hydroelectric power generation and 4)Recreation.

For the next two days, Deb and I are enjoying the 4th of these purposes. Thank you Army Corps of Engineers!

DJI Minnie 3 Pro 5 frame HDR