First, let me try to explain the Great Plains.... undulating hills, vast green fields ( many used for hay ) and hundreds of acres of seemingly unproductive land that is a mixture of dead grass or dirt, dotted with big tufts of weeds. Now imagine that, as far as the eye can see.
The Black Hills, in contrast, is a small, isolated mountain range that dramatically rises right up from the Plains here in western South Dakota, and extends into Wyoming. The Black Hills got their name from the dark appearance the trees give them from a distance.
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| Devastation from the Mountain Pine Beetle |
Unfortunately, there is an ongoing, historically unprecedented epidemic of the Mountain Pine Beetle. This hungry, rice-kernel sized insect is wiping out Ponderosa and other pines throughout the west and in both the Black Hills of South Dakota and Wyoming. This little guy ( notice I use the male gender ) threatens public safety ( we couldn't hike one area because of the danger of falling trees if the wind should kick up ) watersheds, animal and bird habitats, and the increased risk of intense wildfires. Not to mention the swaths of dead trees really made those areas unattractive. Brown, not black.
Sunday, June 22nd and Monday, June 23rd 2014 -
Days 23 &24
Today we are driving just a couple of hours to get from the Badlands to the Black Hills. We stopped on the way at Walmart to stock up on some supplies, then headed toward the campground.
When we approached what we thought must be an RV dealership literally right beside the main highway, we were horrified to find that it actually was
Heartland RV Park and Campground. The staff was incredibly rude and did not want to answer any questions about the area sights, or even the weather! We were really concerned about the traffic noise, but they assured us that it was quiet at night. We drove about 15 miles to get some info on the area, and luckily the Visitor Center personnel were wonderfully helpful and enthusiastic. There is so very much to see and do in this area, we decided to do it in "chunks".
We decided to go to
Mount Rushmore National Memorial that evening and take advantage of the Lighting Ceremony that all the guides refer to it as a "must see" destination
Carved into the Black Hills of South Dakota are the iconic
faces of four former presidents of the United States. George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore
Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln. These
men were chosen to represent the first 150 years of the American history and
America’s cultural heritage, each chosen for what they most stood for.
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| Avenue of the flags |
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| Mt. Rushmore from afar... |
PBS states:
"The story of Mount Rushmore's creation is as bizarre and wonderful as the monument itself. It is the tale of a hyperactive, temperamental artist whose talent and determination propelled the project, even as his ego and obsession threatened to tear it apart. It is the story of hucksterism and hyperbole, of a massive public project in the midst of an economic depression. And it is the story of dozens of ordinary Americans who suddenly found themselves suspended high on a cliff face with drills and hammers as a Danish sculptor they considered insane directed them in a creation what some would call a monstrosity, and others a masterpiece. " Click this link if you want to watch this piece from PBS.
What is interesting is that in my research for this blog, in the many articles I read about the history of this monument, I found quite a few variations.
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| Wow, how did I manage to get this shot at precisely the right angle? Weird! |
As we approached Mt Rushmore, we stopped many times to take photos of this magnificent carving! Instead of auto bumper stickers that say " I brake for yard sales", we need one that states " I brake for views "!
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| The eyes are unbelievable! How do they do that? Amazing! |
We had read in many places that the evening lighting
ceremony is a wonder to behold. We found
it “okay”. The film they showed on the
history of the sculpture and its presidents was very interesting, but the rest of the
program was very long and rather boring. It was perhaps the monotone that the speaker used that made it less than fascinating.
We both were expecting some great “show” of lights, but in actuality, it
was a mere lighting up of the faces. We were tired, and a long, winding drive back in the dark, so left a little early to beat the traffic out of there.
At the campground, the traffic roared behind us all night long not allowing much sleep. Norm found out the next day that this road, in fact, was the main road for truckers to get to Kansas! Time to move!
We were lucky to find
The Hart Ranch, an ownership RV resort, about 10 miles north in Rapid City. Wow! I have never experienced such wonderful staff! They made you feel like you were their most important guests. They even were able to mail some packages I had to send out, and accept a delivery, which saved me trying to find a post office somewhere downtown. Oh how great was that!
Because Norm had little sleep, and we had to wait to get our site, we decided to use this day to get things done "around the house". I was going through fresh veggie withdrawal, so headed out to a grocery store that had organic foods, and Norm fixed a few minor things that needed attention. One of which was to wash the RV. Not a small task.
Tuesday June 24th, 2014 - Day 25
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I think this guy gets the right-of-way, don't you?
Custer State Park, Wildlife Loop Road |
We got up early ( well, early for our personal RV-way of life where total black-out curtains seem to make us continuously sleep between 7:30 and 8:00AM ) and got out the door to get a jump on a lot of driving and sight-seeing. Today's destination?
Custer State Park. What interested us most was the Needles Highway and the Wildlife Loop Road that is within the park. There is also a herd of 1500 Bison, Elk, Pronghorn, Donkeys and other large animals roaming freely that we wanted to see.
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No, this was not us! We had sense enough to take the car
due to many of these tunnels along with switchbacks at about 270 degrees! |
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A short hike just off the Needles Highway, named after the needle-like granite
protruding from the cliffs.
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| Internet photo of the Needles Hwy. Check out the curves! |
It was a long day but when we arrived back at camp I was so happy that beef stew was already to eat. God Bless crock-pots!
Wednesday, June 25th, 2014 - Day 26
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| Beautiful lake in Custer State Park |
Well, there was still a lot to see here, and it seemed everything was at least an hour or more away. We did, however, plan our day wisely. Checked the weather ( severe thunderstorms predicted for the afternoon ) packed our lunches, loaded the car once again with all the other crap I take with us everyday.
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| Pronghorn seen at Custer State Park |
Wind Cave National Park was the first stop. Norm had wanted to sign up for the most aggressive, action-packed tour of the cave a month ago, but due to some knee issues, wisely decided to wait and see how it felt. Now, of course, it was full. No surprise. Since we were about to take a hike, and the day would be really long, we decided to take the "natural entrance tour" ( a moderately aggressive tour with 300 stairs - mostly down. ) It fills on a first come basis, so we arrived shortly after opening to sign up for the mid-afternoon tour. ( The storms will not affect us because it is completely underground ).With that done, we took a 1 mile, very steep hike to a fabulous overlook. My, the day was glorious!
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These Mustangs were behind a barbed wire fence, so I don't know
how " wild " these are. They are so beautiful I just had to add them here! |
We then headed south to see the wild mustang reservation I had read about.
We drove past miles of rugged prairies. Looked like a great place to see wild horses! Or make a movie!
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I loved the Movie Hidalgo!
A 2004 film based on the American long distance rider Frank Hopkins and
his mustang Hidalgo. I will have to watch it again when I get back home. |
What I had not read, was that the only way to see these horses in their natural habitat was to take a tour for $150.00 each, and it would take several hours. We were on a schedule today. Norm is not that into horses, and frankly, I am too cheap. Now to do that at sunset would be another story........ We shared a bison hot dog, and headed to the great Mammoth Fossil Site.
Now what in the world would make us go to yet another fossil site?
This one is an actual, honest to goodness active dig, with the actual bones, not replicas.
A beautiful environmentally controlled building was built around it. ( again, good for us if the rains came early ). Here, at this site in Hot Springs, South Dakota they have discovered 58 North American Colombian Mammoths, from the east, and evidence of 3 Woolly Mammoths, from the west. This was the first time these two creatures were ever found together. A significant discovery to paleontologists, we were told.
Remember reading about large sink holes and the damage they can cause? Well, 26,000 years ago, during the age where these huge herbivores ( plant eating mammals ) roamed, a huge sinkhole ( 65 feet deep and 120 x 150 feet wide ) appeared and filled with water.
These discovered Mammoths were, interestingly enough, all male teenagers. It is guessed ( or shall I call it in scientific terms, "Hypothesised " ? ) that these risk-taking teenagers might have wanted to take a swim in the water that had collected in the sinkhole. Due to the sheer sides of the hole, they could not get out. They drowned, and silt and sediment covered them. Over the years, others came to play, and the same thing happened to them. The result was the discovery of 60 mammoths in this one site, stacked, intact, and perfectly preserved!
Most fossils are not intact due to their being swept away by rivers, or torn apart and dragged off by their predators.
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| A perfect, complete skeleton of a Mammoth! |
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| These folks had the right idea! |
It was now about 2:20PM, so it was time to switch from fossils to caves. Wind Cave National Park, to be exact. This cave is the first to be designated as a National Park in 1903. It is the 6th longest in the world with currently 140 miles explored.
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The Ranger/Tour guide demonstrating the force of the
wind at the mouth of the cave. It will either blow out, or
suck in, depending on the barometric pressure. Fascinating! This is the only natural entrance to the cave. |
It received it's name because of the "breathing" of the cave due to changes in atmospheric pressure ( which I learned, all caves do, but since this is a very large cave, having only a couple of very small openings, making the "wind" of the cave much more significant).
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95 % of the world's "Boxwork" is found on the ceilings here at Wind Cave.
The guide carefully explained how they were formed. |
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| Alison inside cave |
Thursday, June 25th,2014 Day
One last day, and we still have a bit of this
fabulous road the Civilian Conservation Corp finished in 1922 to see, plus the statue of Crazy Horse. We had been planning all week to see Crazy Horse on Thursday night when they were holding a bi-annual pyrotechnic "blast", along with their nightly laser show. However the forecast was bad. Really bad. Thunderstorms and hail, flash flood warnings. We decided we had better see it by early afternoon, or perhaps not see it at all, so we packed our lunches once again, and headed out.
The Crazy Horse Memorial is a currently under construction mountain carving of Crazy Horse, an Oglala
Lakota warrior riding a horse pointing into the distance . It consists of the Indian Museum of
North America, and the Native American Cultural Center. When done, it will be the largest sculpture in
the world,with final
dimensions to be 641 feet wide and 563 feet high. The head of Crazy Horse will be 87 feet
high. By comparison, the heads of the four
US Presidents at Mount Rushmore are each 60 feet high.
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Model of the planned statue of Crazy Horse
They have a long way to go. Will probably take 3 lifetimes. |
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| I can't believe the detail! The lips! |
It was started in 1948 by the sculptor Koczak
Ziolkowski and since his passing his
family has taken over the dream.
This is another case where listening to lectures and reading
a lot of information, the conflicts are almost amusing. One example is that here at the memorial we learned that there
was never an actual picture ever taken of Crazy Horse, yet when we travel
around the area, posters of him are proudly displayed everywhere.
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This fellow is part of the Lakota Tribe. He spoke of
his Native American Heritage and Customs as
well as demonstrated a traditional "grass dance". |
The recounting of Custer’s last stand is another story
that varies depending on who’s telling the story.
The Lakota Indians speak of the 13 teenage warrior boys who were tending to their horses; they heard Custer’s army coming, and not wanting to
disturb their families and elders, attacked and killed Custer and his men. Or is it the other way around?
This was a lovely day. We saw a lot of animals, trees,
a winding drive through narrow rock tunnels, and took in Crazy Horse.
Thank goodness for the tow car - we have driven hundreds of miles in the past few days.
We arrived back just in time to beat the horrendous storm.
Newscasters said at Crazy Horse area there was a danger
of floods, and they were experiencing hail! We made the
right choice in going this afternoon!
The only regret about things left undone here was not hiking, and not riding our bicycles on the 109 mile ( only a portion of it ) abandoned railroad bed that is charming with trussel bridges and railroad tunnels.
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| Alison, will you get down from there? What are you doing?I |
