What a Difference a Decade Makes...

In early May 2015 I was undergoing a transition in life. I was three years into my six-year enlistment in the US Air Force. From 2012-2015 I had gone to Basic Military Training in San Antonio, TX; to Weather Forecasting School in Biloxi, MS; served a two-year stint at Shaw AFB, SC forecasting for the Middle East; and had returned to Mississippi for the two-month long Advanced Weather Interpretation Course (AWIC) in March-April 2015. In early May 2015, after completing AWIC, I went on leave to visit my family in Wyoming before continuing to my next assignment, at Ellsworth AFB, Rapid City, South Dakota.

While home on leave, a large late spring snowstorm hit the Black Hills. The National Weather Service in Rapid City reported 13.6 inches of snowfall on May 9-10, 2015. I was due to report at Ellsworth on Monday May 10th, and I was a little bit worried the roads would still be covered in snow. The snowstorm became known as the “Mother’s Day Snowstorm,” and my own mother had some good advice, “the one good thing about it snowing so late in the spring, you know that it will melt quickly.” I left my parent’s home in Buffalo, WY on May 10, 2015, and made the three-hour drive over to Rapid City. And, sure to my mom’s advice, the snow on the roads had largely begun to melt and I encountered no issues.

Marking my new adventure in life, I took several photos along the way. Including – as countless tourist have done – take a photo of South Dakota’s Welcome sign along the Wyoming-South Dakota border.

Wyoming - South Dakota border

A decade later.. I find myself living in Gillette, Wyoming and traveling over to Spearfish, South Dakota to attend a church event. The weather is gorgeous. Sunny and in the 80s°F, --- if anything, too hot. The heat has me remembering, “it was about 10 years ago that I moved to South Dakota… the first time.., and it was snowing!” Luckily, while I have changed phones several times over the preceding 10-years, I have pictures of my 2015 drive on my phone. Why not try to recreate the images and see what has changed?!

Sundance, Wyoming

Surprisingly, very little. The obvious difference is the weather. Snow blankets the 2015 image while spring has sprung in the 2025 image. The manmade South Dakota sign has been replaced and updated. Unsurprisingly, Crow Peak still sits watching in the background. In 2015, I did not know it’s name. Since then, I have climbed it twice. Slightly more surprisingly, the trees seem unchanged. With the warmer spring of 2025, they are further in leaf than 10 years ago, but hard to tell any significant difference. (Another difference is the obvious change in camera lenses. My 2025 phone clearly takes wider angle photos than my 2015 phone, making it almost impossible to line the images up perfectly).

While a pleasant turn of fortune to find myself in the same location 10-years later, I did not stay in the Wyo-SoDak area the last 10-years. I deployed to Qatar. I deployed to Guam. I went to the University of Nebraska-Kearney for my master’s degree. I went to visit London and Paris. Had my first kiss. Worked for the US National Park Service. Worked for the US National Archives. And worked for the US Postal Service. Came back to the Catholic faith. In addition to climbing Crow Peak, I climbed Harney (Black Elk) Peak, Bear Butte, Laramie Peak, and Mount Lamlam (Lightning), and Mount Garfield.

So, what is the point? Seeing Sundance Mountain, Crow Peak, and the Wyo-SoDak border 10-years apart really got me reflecting on the last decade of my life. While the geography hasn't changed. Hopefully, I have. And hopefully for the better.