After a short 37-mile drive from our KOA campground in Rapid City to another KOA in Hill City, we settled in for a couple of days to visit the area and maybe the most famous mountain carving ever.  You may all know it as Mt. Rushmore!   

Our RV park was a very short drive to the Mount Rushmore National Monument visitor center, so we headed out almost immediately to check it out.  I had been here several times when we lived in Rapid City, but it was Gail’s first opportunity to see the sculpture in person.  On the drive to the park, we had a nice surprise of a nanny mountain goat and a baby munching along the side of the road.  And they didn’t seem disturbed as they “posed” for some photos!

Arriving at the park, the first impression is inspiring!  And as expected, the park was very crowded with a little unexpected drizzly rain.  In the visitor center, we got in on the video about the history and construction of the monument and the men who designed and built it.  In summary, it was built starting in 1927 and finished 14 years later.  Small fact is that Jefferson was supposed be on Washington’s right side but after starting working on his likeness, they decided the granite was not strong enough and changed to the left side.  Also, as we discovered at the Sculptor’s Studio, the figures were supposed to show their full torso but again the lower granite was judged not strong enough to continue.  After the video, we went out to the Avenue of the Flags for a closer look. 

We did a short hike called the Presidential Trail that takes you up to the base of the rock pile and you are basically looking up to their chins and noses!  The trail is about .6 miles and ascends using 422 steps (although I didn’t count them this time!). 

For those of you who have not visited the memorial, I hope our photos show the absolute grandeur of the sculptures.  It was interesting how it changed as the day progressed. And for those who have, I hope the photos bring back good memories.

After returning to the RV park and after dinner, we returned for the evening lighting ceremony.  There is a large amphitheater that looks down on a stage and up at the faces.  The seats were full!  At dusk their faces were highlighted with strong light beams, and a ranger came out to make some introductory remarks.  Then a very patriotic video was presented about the park, the presidents and the history.  It was very moving. 

Then they invited all active duty and veterans of the military, their families, and gold star family members to join them on the stage while the colors were lowered for the evening.  I would estimate about 20% of the crowd went down.  And as the flag was lowered with the members on the stage at present arms, and the crowd with their hands over their hearts, the closing was perfect!  Very moving and a very proud moment.

Up early the next day for lots of driving and exploring around the Black Hills.  First stop was at the Crazy Horse Memorial.  It is another mountain carving only a few miles from Mt. Rushmore, but its history is longer and more complicated.  Chief Henry Sitting Bull approached Korczak Ziolkowski (we saw some of his work at the memorial outside of the capital in Pierre) in 1939, but the work didn’t get started until 1948.  And being privately funded the work has been slow.  Ziolkowski died in 1982 and his work is being continued today by his grandchildren.  The sculpture is still a work in progress.  As you can see in the photos, the head, hair and face are about done as is his arm and hand, but his horse is barely started.  You can imagine the finished result will be majestic.  But there is still a lot to do.

To raise funds, the visitor center is also the Indian Museum of North America, the Native American Education and Cultural Center, and the Indian University of North America.  The museum is amazing and full of history.  We spent another hour or so at the center.

Then, we headed further south to Wind Cave National Park.  It was the 5^th National Park created by Roosevelt in 1933. The cave network underground is huge, and the exploration is still continuing.  The visitor center museum had a lot of displays about the geology you would see in the cave.  We checked into a tour, but they were all sold out for the time we had allotted. 

So, we went to the ranger welcome desk to inquire about bit of family lore and the cave that I remembered as a 10-year-old.  We met Tom Farrell, Chief of Interpretation for the park, who had also been there for many years.  I explained that I visited the cave about 66 years ago and I think there was a wooden toolbox found in the cave that had my Great-great (maybe Great-great-great) Grandfather Buck’s name carved in the lid in a museum display.  He was known to have spent time in the area and had married a native (My grandfather, not Tom) so it was a possibility.  He (Tom) had worked at the park for about 20 years and could not remember anything fitting that description from the past, but he agreed to review the historical inventory and records and send if there was a reference to the toolbox.  I thanked him for anything he could do and sure enough we did receive an email from him a few days later stating that he could not find anything.  Oh well. 

We left the park and headed back north toward our RV.  Across the prairie, we spotted bison, lots of prairie dogs, and some pronghorns.  We stopped for a hike on the Rankin Ridge Trail for some nice views of the Black Hills.  Not a long hike but it did have a 260 ft elevation!

Then through Custer State Park and the Wildlife Trail loop we saw more bison, pronghorns, and a small herd of donkeys.  The people seemed to have come prepared as they were feeding the “somewhat” tamed donkeys Fritos and carrots.  There were a couple of very cute young donkeys among the group!  I guess this is a condoned practice in the park as there were no rangers around policing the feeding.

On the way out of the park, we saw many more bison.  We learned that there are about 1500 in total in the park, so it was not unexpected.

Finally, closer to the RV park, we took the Iron Mountain Road with the famous Pigtail bridges and one lane tunnels!  Being in the Jeep we had no problems with size.  And two of the tunnels have famous, direct views of Mt. Rushmore looking through the other end.  Check the photos.

We made it back by 5:00pm after 9 hours of driving, hiking and exploring!  And we crashed to get ready for more the next day.  Next on the agenda was a drive on the famous Needles Highway!  This is a Blue Star Memorial Highway through the Black Hills and the amazing rock formations.  It has lots of switchbacks, tunnels, and one lane bridges.  And photo ops galore! 

The first stop was at Sylvan Lake where we got out for a nice mile hike around the lake. Then we stopped at the “eye of the needle” rock spire and tunnel.  This is a famous photo that gives the drive its name.  Check it out.  At the end of the drive, we were back in Custer State Park where we stopped for another hike at Cathedral Spires. 

Finally, we went into the town of Hill City and did a walk around before a dinner out at the Bumpin’ Buffalo.   (A quick note here.  We had seen many trees blown over and broken during our walks and had heard about a recent storm that came through the area.  I asked the waiter if the new plywood roofing was because of the storm and he said no but told us more about the winds.  It was late December last year and, besides rain and snow, there had been over 100 mph winds.)

Speaking of wind, I seem to have gotten a little windy myself so I’m going to end here and continue up into the Hills more in the next posting.  It may be even more windy so hang onto your hat!