September 14-17, 2007 - After watching Devil's Tower retreat in the
distance, we made a brief stop in the Black Hills, visiting Custer State
Park and Mt. Rushmore. There was lots of wildlife in Custer State Park.
A group of buffalo took their time crossing the road and caused quite a
traffic tie-up. The burros were wandering across the road and lazing in
the shade of a tree near the road as well. Some wild turkeys caught
our eye as they pecked along at the roadside, and a deer stopped to
look at us.
We enjoyed the three dimensional nature of Mt. Rushmore's famous
sculptures of the four presidents as we caught them first from one side
and then from the other. Another famous sculpture in the area is of
the Indian Crazy Horse. It was begun shortly after Mt. Rushmore was
completed in the 1940's, but has been funded solely by private
donation, making progress very slow. The organization leading its
creation has turned down federal funding several times.
We drove through The
Needles. These granite
formations are very thin and
tall, and the road is extremely
narrow and twisty. After we
barely squeaked through a
tunnel carved in the rock, we
watched in awe as an
experienced tour bus driver
expertly took his bus through
the same opening. His
passengers reached out their
windows to touch the rock wall
on either side of the bus.
Custer State Park was a real jewel, and we would have
happiy stayed several weeks. However, the cold weather
was starting to penetrate our sweaters and jackets and we
had a long way to go to get back to the warmer climate in
Arizona. So we headed west through Wyoming, making
our way to northern Utah, stopping first at Flaming Gorge
National Recreation Area.