Update Archive

Archive 9/1 - 9/7/2005:
9/1/2005 - (195 miles - 8 hrs – L:39F – H:84F) We moved today - 152 miles northeast to Custer, SD. What a difference in scenery! We’re surrounded by the Black Hills National Forest, and it’s beautiful. Our campsite is surrounded by towering Ponderosa Pines. The ground is a bit uneven and it’s very possible that I’ll have trouble hooking the trailer back up. But I don’t have to worry about that for a week.
Since it was such a short trip and still early, we headed over to the Crazy Horse Memorial. Korczak Ziolkowski was chosen by the Lakota Indians to carve Crazy Horse in the Black Hills. (“My fellow chiefs and I would like the white man to know the red man has great heroes, too,” wrote Chief Henry Standing Bear – which may be why Crazy Horse is within 15 miles of Mt. Rushmore.) Korczak arrived to start work in 1949. As of 1994 an estimated 8.4-million tons of rock have been removed as part of the sculpting process. That was over ten years ago but I can’t find a more recent figure. The face of Crazy Horse, which was completed in 1998, is 87.5-feet (9 stories) tall and the entire carving is being done in the round. The carving is huge. All of the past, present and future work is funded by donations and admissions to the park, they don’t accept any federal or state money. It’s an amazing work of art, but the emphasis is placed squarely on honoring the Native American culture and heritage. The inscription to go with the Memorial: “My lands are where my dead lie buried”, is the reply Crazy Horse made in answer to the derisive question asked by a white man, “Where are you lands now?”
Next we drove over to Mount Rushmore – the Shrine of Democracy. The site was selected in 1927 and worked on through 1941. The faces are scaled to a figure 465 feet tall, with the full sculpture measuring 185-feet across and 150-feet tall. Over 450,000 tons of Harney Peak granite was blasted from the mountain to complete the bass relief carving. It’s kind of spooky, like the faces might move at any moment. They are very lifelike. Maybe the solemn atmosphere at the park is due in part to feeling like these historical giants are looking down, watching. Only, they aren’t really looking down into the park, they’re looking out, like they can still see some goal left unfinished. I took the Presidents Trail, a paved trail along the front of the sculptures and down to the sculptor’s studio. The Black Hills are beautiful, the whole setting is perfect… peaceful… reflective. It’s an inspiring place.
9/2/2005 - (297 miles - 9 hrs – L:43F – H:82F) What a great day. It’s so beautiful here.
We started out heading for Deadwood, SD. It’s the town that the HBO series is based on. I stopped for a bit to find out when all the re-enactments are being done. We’ll come back tomorrow and spend the day.
Our trip continued on through the Black Hills National Forest, toward Wyoming and Devil’s Tower. This is where the movie ‘Close Encounters of the Third Kind’ was filmed. What an amazing place. In 1906 President Theodore Roosevelt named Devils Tower the first national monument, making Wyoming the home of both our first national park – Yellowstone in 1872 – and our first national monument. The Tower rises 867 feet from its base and stands 1,267 feet above the river and 5,112 feet above sea level. The base diameter is 1,000 feet while the teardrop shaped top is 1.5 acres. I took the 1.3-mile trail around the base. There were climbers all over the tower. The first ascent was made on July 4, 1893. The first ascent by a woman was in 1895. Records of climbs have been kept since 1937. Approximately 5,000 climbers from all over the world make the ascent every year. One day, I’m going to climb it too.
We left the Devils Tower and headed back toward South Dakota. A brief foray onto Scenic Byway 14A led us through beautiful Spearfish Canyon.
Back on I-90 we headed toward Sturgis, SD, the home of the annual bikers rally. During the second week in August, Sturgis turns into Motorcycle City, USA when over 300,000 bikers arrive from all over the world. How this town with a population of 7,000 deals with such an influx must be interesting to watch. Driving through, it’s hard to imagine where you would even put 300,000 people.
On the way back to camp we drove through Rapid City, SD. A perfect day marred only by the increasing price of gas.
9/3/2005 - (183 miles - 12 hrs – L:44F – H:93F) What a day! It was another bright, beautiful day in South Dakota. We went up to Deadwood, taking the Iron Mountain Road (aka 16A), which is a scenic and different from yesterday way to get there. The Iron Mountain road was commissioned by Mr. Peter Norbeck (1870-1936) who was a well driller, statesman, first native Governor of South Dakota, U.S. Senator, founder of Custer State Park, sponsor of Mt. Rushmore Memorial, road builder, and more. It’s a beautiful drive that takes you through part of the Custer State Park. We saw tons of buffalo on the drive. That’s the closest I’ve ever been to buffalo, almost hit one actually. Iron Mountain Road has several tunnels and bridges that are narrow and low. The smallest tunnel is only 12ft 2in high and 13ft 2in wide. Each of the tunnels were cut in such a way that they frame Mt. Rushmore. It’s a great drive.
Upon reaching Deadwood the Mt. Moriah Cemetery was our first stop. This is where Wild Bill Hickok and Calamity Jane are buried… among many others. There are over 3,400 people buried in this cemetery, which was established in 1877 or 1878. The drive up to the cemetery is very steep, and so are the grounds. I walked all the way up to where Seth Bullock is buried, 750ft above the cemetery grounds. What a hike. I figured it was a good thing I was already in a cemetery, in case my heart burst from the climb.
Next we headed into town. The entire city of Deadwood is a National Historic Landmark. The city was established in 1876 during the Black Hills gold rush. The 2000 Census cites Deadwood’s population as 1,380 and it serves as the county seat for Lawrence County. The business district has burned down twice, first in 1879 and again in 1894. President Taft delivered a speech here in 1911. President Coolidge vacationed here in 1927. Gambling flourished, even through the Prohibition, until 1947. The last house of prostitution didn’t close until 1980. In 1989 gambling was allowed to resume after a statewide vote took place. It’s a fascinating place and according to what I’ve read, the show on HBO has stayed true to the story. I watched a re-enactment of Wild Bill’s murder (kind of morbid), had a soda at the No. 10 Saloon, walked up and down Main Street and thoroughly enjoyed the atmosphere. It’s not only a historic place, it’s beautiful.
We took the road up to Leads (pronounced Leeds) to see the Homestake Mine. Gold was discovered here in 1876 and the mine sold to George Hearst in 1877. When the Homestake Gold Mine finally closed in 2001, 40 million troy ounces of gold had been mined from 8,000 feet below ground, making it the largest gold mine in the western hemisphere and oldest in the world. We stopped for pictures at the Open Cut, which was the location of the first gold discovery out here. The massive man-made bowl now measures 1,250 feet deep and one-half mile across.
On the way back toward Custer we stopped at the Thunder Head Underground Falls. It’s an old mine dating back to 1874. You can walk back 600-feet along the original tunnel that was hand-drilled and blasted out with black gunpowder. At the end of the tunnel is a 30-foot waterfall that gushes 8 cubic-feet of water per second. The quartz in the tunnel walls sparkles and the lighting illuminates the greens and purples caused by minerals in the rock.
Bear Country USA wasn’t that far away, so we took the 3-mile loop drive through what is essentially an open zoo. Admission is $12 and you can’t get out of your car and aren’t supposed to have the windows down. The park rules state that if you develop car trouble, don’t leave your car, turn on your hazard lights and honk your horn, someone will come out and help you. We saw elk, reindeer, mountain goats, big horn sheep, dall sheep, arctic wolves, timber wolves, mountain lions, black and brown bears, buffalo and a few turkeys. Max was out of his mind. He wanted out of the truck so bad it wasn’t even funny. Okay, it was funny for a while, then I felt bad for him.
Since we were in the general area, we stopped at the Cosmos Mystery Area. It was kind of goofy, but interesting none the less. The guide was funny and entertaining, showing us the mysteries that they can’t really explain. He said that people have been through with Geiger counters, gravity measuring devices, all kinds of things, trying to explain why your height changes when moving from one block to another, when both are completely level. It was pretty neat.
On the way back we passed Mt. Rushmore in time for the evening show. It was a good show, very patriotic. A park ranger gives a speech about the origins of the US flag and then there is a brief movie highlighting each of the four presidents on Mt. Rushmore. After the movie the sculptures on the mountain are lit up. Very moving.
9/4/2005 - (107 miles – 8.5 hrs – L:49F – H:82F) We drove over to Jewel Cave National Monument to take a tour. They were already sold out for the next few hours so I made a reservation for 3PM and we headed out toward Hot Springs. Just outside of Hot Springs, SD is the Mammoth Site. It’s not a large museum, it’s a mammoth museum…. That came from their site, I couldn’t possibly take credit for it. Anyway, 27,000 some years ago a sinkhole collapsed creating a 60-foot pond with a warm spring bubbling to the top. Animals would climb down the steeps sides to drink and then were unable to climb back out. A huge building has been built over the dried pond so that excavation work on the bones can be done year round. They spend seven weeks a year digging and uncovering, then spend the remainder of the year pouring over what they uncovered in those seven weeks. Since its discovery in 1974, 53 mammoths (mostly Columbian and a few woolly) have been identified, along with the remains of a giant short-faced bear, camel, llama, prairie dog, wolf, fish, and numerous invertebrates. Walkways wind through the actual dig site for an “in-situ” exhibit. It was interesting to note that these bones are not petrified, they are still bone and ivory. I took the tour, which was very fascinating, and tons of pictures.
We left Hot Springs and headed back toward town, taking the long scenic way. We stopped by Wind Cave National Park to see if they had any tours available but I was running out of time if I was going to make it for my 3PM tour at Jewel Cave. I stayed for the short video and then headed back over to Jewel Cave.
The tour at Jewel Cave was great. The cave network here is one of the largest in the world and they haven’t found the end yet. Over 100 miles of caves have been mapped and they keep finding more. Some of the formations are spectacular, but we only saw the more common ones. The tour was an hour and a half in length, taking us through ½ mile of cave and over 724 stairs.
9/5/2005 - (103 miles - 5 hrs – L:49F – H:88F) We drove the Needles Highway today. It cuts through portions of Custer State Park and is a narrow, windy drive with spectacular scenery. The rock formations are awe-inspiring.
After finishing the Needles Highway drive, we wound back around to the Wildlife Loop inside Custer State Park. The park fee is $5 for 7 days, which isn’t bad at all. The Wildlife Loop takes you through forest, meadow and prairie. A beautiful drive… and we even saw some wildlife! I’ve discovered that there is no such thing as ‘enough’ pictures of buffalo. If there are buffalo nearby I am compelled to take pictures of them. And there were lots of buffalo nearby. They make the oddest sounds, a guttural moan totally unlike a cow’s moo. After our drive we headed home for the day. It’s time to do laundry…. Man, I hate doing laundry.
9/6/2005 - (19 miles - 6 hrs – L:50F – H:74F) I swung by the Post Office to buy stamps and then we headed back out to Custer State Park. There is a trail to Harney Peak that I wanted to take. Harney Peak (7,242ft) is the highest point east of the Rocky Mountains and west of the Pyrenees Mountains of Europe. The hike was three miles one way, and not nearly as strenuous as I thought it would be. The trailhead elevation is 6,250 – so we climbed 992 feet in three miles. I was thinking, finally, I’m getting into shape. I can take this kind of trail and not be gasping for breath the whole way. Yep, I was feeling pretty proud. Then I noticed a family coming down the mountain toward me… with a stroller. Yeah, whatever. I don’t know what they were thinking. It wasn’t a smooth trail by any means. There were rocks, big ones, on portions of the trail. Show-offs. Actually they were really nice. We discussed how we all thought this trail was going to be a lot harder (then why bring the kids – and the stroller???) but that it was a pleasant kind of surprise. We (I was able to bring Max with me, which was great) continued up the mountain and paused at an overlook. There is a lookout tower at the very top of Harney Peak so it’s really easy to identify. But it’s really hard to imagine that the peak is only three miles away when viewed from the trail. It took us exactly 2 hours to get to the top. We spent some time exploring the lookout tower and clamoring over the rocks, looking for the best vantage to take pictures from. Once we left, Max all but pulled me down the mountain. I don’t know why he was in such a hurry, but we made the return trip in less than an hour and a half… and it wasn’t all downhill either. We were bookin’.
I worked up the nerve to go into one of the local restaurants for dinner. I was starving and decided it was a perfect time to go out to eat and have a buffalo steak. It was delicious! After dinner we headed home, what a fantastic day!
9/7/2005 - (56 miles - 9 hrs – L:43F – H:76F) We’re leaving tomorrow so we didn’t do a whole lot. I took the truck into a local place for an oil change and then stopped by the National Museum of Woodcarvers that’s just a mile or so away. All of the carvings and animation were done by Dr. Harley Niblack (1894-1966), a practicing Denver chiropractor, who became financially independent by inventing diathermy and weight-reducing machines. He retired at the age of 42, focusing his time and energy on woodcarving and animation. Over 70,000 hours of his life were spent carving miniature and life-size figures, miniature steam engines, paintings, furniture, etc. Three of his animated scenes appeared in the Smithsonian Institute. In 1954-55 he designed and built the animation at Disneyland.
After leaving the museum I headed out to the Wind Cave National Park to see if we could hear the Elk bugle. One of the park rangers had mentioned that this is the time of year to hear them, so I thought we’d give it a try. I heard something that sounded kind of like a noise a donkey would make. I don’t know if that was the Elk or not. At any rate, we saw numerous buffalo, fantastic clouds that turned bright pink at sunset, and the moonrise at twilight. Once it started getting dark the deer and elk came out in droves… but they were hard to see unless passing headlights happened to find them.
It’s beautiful out here…. So many stars!


New Pictures: SD, WY