Notes from Friday, August 30: We carry the curse of being morning people no matter what time zone we inhabit. So, we got up at 6:00 am and made coffee and discussed our plans for the day. It was too cool to sit on the porch this morning and it rained a bit. We determined our path and then I made breakfast for us. Then we both showered and dressed and hit the road.
Morning view from our cabin
Our plan was to take the Needles Highway up to Mt Rushmore and take the Iron Mountain Highway back to Custer State Park and drive the Wildlife Loop. We accidentally turned onto the Iron Mountain Highway instead. As it turned, that was a happy mistake because the Iron Mountain road was the place to be. We were stopped by a highway worker when the road turned to a one lane road because of construction. She told us that there was "difficulty with the buffalo" this morning and she did not know how long we would have to wait. After about ten minutes, the lead truck came for us and we moved forward - slowly.
We found ourselves surrounded by bison. They were taking their time and taking their share of the road. Since the bison are so much bigger than most cars, we all let them have the right of way. This was our first chance to take pictures of bison and we took lots! After we passed the herd (or they passed us), we continued on toward Mt Rushmore. The road had three one-lane tunnels on the way. One tunnel framed the president faces - very cool.
Look closely above the oncoming car.
When we got close to the Mt Rushmore entrance, there was a pull-off so we cold take a long distance picture. The National Monument was not wildly busy (Remember that morning people thing? There are benefits.) so we found a good parking place and headed up to the monument. It was a beautiful clear day and we had many opportunities to take great pictures of Mt Rushmore as a whole and of each president individually. Washington and Lincoln are the most compelling, but I wanted to spend some time with Jefferson and Roosevelt - we would live in a very different nation without them! As we have traveled through the mountains, Dennis and I have commented that the rocky hillsides often seem to contain faces. When we took pictures of the whole scope of Mt Rushmore, we thought we could still see potential faces in the un-carved rock next to the presidents.
Faces from a distance
Faces carved and un-carved
Mt Rushmore's grandeur
I have to admit that I was most strongly attracted to the Lincoln sculpture. Several times as we walked and viewed, it looked like he was looking right at me - probably saying that the work he started is not done and I should get about helping. The monument is an impressive sculpture and a real tribute to perseverance and to having a vision. We were both in a reflective mood when we left.
We drove back on the Needles Highway. Oh my goodness, what a road! It did not just curve, it jackknifed. There were many times when we thought oncoming cars wold just crash into us. And several tunnels and passes were carved out of solid rock and only carved to hold one car at a time. The needles for which the highway was named are giant, jagged pillars of stone.
The Needles
The eye of the Needles
After we came down from the heights of Needles Highway, we drove the Wildlife Loop and finally saw lots of wild life. We saw more bison, wild burros, pronghorn deer. It was great to see the animals up close in their environment. Seeing the wildlife was a great way to end today's tour.
Big, up close bison - still roaming
Wild burro, hoping wild Dennis will feed him even though it's against the rules.
Pronghorn deer keeping their distance.
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