Last night we turned in relatively early. I awoke just before 7:00 am and T was up shortly thereafter. We dined at the hotel and left around 9:00 am for Mount Rushmore. It was a 25 mile trip from the hotel. This was T's first visit to the memorial and my second. My first was at an age of 10-12 years old. I don't remember a lot about it except it was extremely hot. Today however, the weather was very good. It got up to about 81F just before noon with clear skies. Humidity was low at an elevation of around 5,500 feet. A front came through in the afternoon and by the time we got back to Rapid City, it was 57F. The high tomorrow is only supposed to be 60F.
It was not overly crowded. No problem finding a parking spot. We sat through a 20 minute video and only stayed about 90 minutes.
After leaving Mt. Rushmore, we went back through Keystone and took the scenic drive down through the Black Hills National Forest and the Custer State Park. It was only a 67 mile trek, but the roads were so winding, we averaged only about 30 mph. Beautiful scenery. There were several one-lane tunnels carved through rock that made it very interesting.
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| The CC Gideon Tunnel |
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| Mt. Rushmore seen from the Norbeck Overlook |
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| This tunnel was only 8 feet 11 inches wide |
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| Needles Highway |
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| A needle |
The highest elevation we knowingly achieved was at Sylvan Lake in Custer State Park (6,145 feet). It is a man-made lake created in 1881 by building a dam across Sunday Gulch.
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| Sylvan Lake, Custer State Park, 6,145 ft |
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| The Dam Spillway |
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| The Gulch |
Then we proceed over to the Crazy Horse memorial. Started in 1949, it will be impressive if it is ever completed. What is impressive now is the all the commercialization (visitor center, restaurant, exhibitions, etc.) that the Crazy Horse Foundation has spent its money on. I mentioned to T that if they had spent that money on the monument itself, they would probably be much further along.
Tomorrow we check out of our Rapid City hotel. T wants to visit the Geological Museum. Then we will head up to Deadwood where we will stay two nights.
