Day Eighty Nine

South Dakota

We left bright and early to get a good start on our adventurous day in southwestern South Dakota, it has got it going on. Excited to have found our first Safeway heading west, we picked up a few groceries before driving to Keystone. Mt Rushmore was our next stop. Thrilled for Mitch’s first glance of the heads, we enjoyed the parade like walk through each state flag to the climaxing view of four of our presidents carved into the side of the mountain. At the visitor’s center we learned all about the artist/engineer, Gutzon Borglum, who put the dream into action. Although his masterpiece remains “unfinished” it is a sight to see! We hiked down the Presidents Trail, below the sculpture for different views at new angles. It’s amazing to imagine the scale of each face, two of me could stand erect in George Washington’s eye! So much precision with something as destructive as dynamite, and so much labor from locals in the area, pick axing away at nostrils and Jeffersons curls.; it’s spectacular, the detail!!
Amazed by the beauty of it all, we drove further into the Black Hills toward Custer State Park. Rolling along the Peter Norbeck Scenic Byway, with views of the Mountains along the road, we spiraled up pigtail turns, honked through one way tunnels, and drove down single lane roads through gorgeous evergreen tree forests. Eventually, we popped out into the rolling prairie hills of Custer. Within a mile, we came across an entire herd of Buffalo grazing along the side of the shoulder. Some crossing directly in front of the car! It was exciting but chilling to be so near a humongous wild animal. Lots of baby calves frolicked along side their parents. When suddenly a motorcyclist passing in the other lane veered to near to one of their young. Mitch and I could hear the low guttural rumble from the angry adult bison, scuffing up a cloud of dust before thrusting its ginormous head to ram the bike! The motorbike cleared in perfect timing, avoiding a near accident. We were thankful it didn’t start a chain reaction, we were within feet of the entire scene and would have been the obvious next victim. Reminded again of the wildness of these majestic beasts, we rolled on once the road was clear. Emerging from the trees we entered beautiful valleys with Pronghorn antelope grazing in the tall whispery grasses. Seemingly endless green prairies wave in the wind to the base of rolling hills. Wildflowers scatter across the fields with sporadic outcroppings of rock. The view is straight from the Little House series. We sat on a rock in the grass and gazed out, imagining how once this expanse covered the majority of the west before settlers changed and developed the landscape. A place where herds of wild buffalo, and wild horses ran freely. A place where hundreds of different grasses seeded themselves. A place where tall pine tree forests regularly burned in wild fires to reproduce. Mostly, we were so thankful to hold the little gem of land remaining untouched, to produce an imagine of a memory we long for. In experiencing our National Parks and other protected areas, we both have developed an intense motivation to continue to save this land, more than just for the enjoyment of future human generations, although that is extremely important, but also for the living plants, animals, and forces at work in these areas for THEIR future generations to live as naturally as possible. After exiting Custer, the prairie continues into Wind Cave National Park. It was getting to be late afternoon so we opted to relax at the campground and enjoy an expedition through the underground caverns in the morning. At our site Mitch identified two trees perfect to sling the hammock between. We read books, ate dinner and enjoyed the sunsetting on the grassland around us.