H.A.G. Corps of Discovery II Road Trip Day 8

Typical view of the Black Hills from Iron Mountain Highway

Today was a day we stayed locally.  We felt there was enough to see in the Custer, South Dakota area that we didn't need to travel.

We started the day with a "wonderful" hotel breakfast.  Always wonderful! NOT!  But we weren't complaining as it saves us a little bit of money.

We then headed out to Mt. Rushmore as the sky was clear blue and we wanted to catch the morning light in order to have the sun in the best position for a good photograph.  I suggest you get there in the morning to avoid side or backlighting and the creation of shadows in the wrong places.  By the time we reached Mt. Rushmore, cumulus clouds had rolled in, which was great as a partly cloudy day, with blue sky peeking through, is much better than a pure blue sky of a bald white sky.

We attended the requisite historical movies and exhibits and made the requisite "record" images of us being at this historic and nationally important spot.  Everyone should see Mt. Rushmore as it is amazing how Mr. Borglum caved the presidential heads into pure granite.

One of the tunnels that barely fit a car in The Needles

From there, we drove the Iron Mountain Highway, then the Needles Highway.  These two roads through the Black Hills National Forest and partly through Custer State Park are spectacular drives.  They are a "do not miss" if you are in this area.  The Needles, especially are a sight to see. They are spires of rock shooting straight into the sky, eroded in a way that the rocks become thin columns of bedrock intermixed with pine trees.

After spending a few hours driving through the Needles, we drove over to the Crazy Horse Memorial. This is another "do not miss" place. Reading the history of the monument as well as the local Native American history gives one a fascinating look into the past in our country.  It is taking many, many years to carve Chief Crazy Horse on his galloping horse and pointing to the lands of his long buried ancestors, but this is one of those rare projects that is not using any public money. I admire them for that.

Afterwards, we returned to Custer for a nice lunch/dinner at a local establishment where we discussed our day and started preliminary plans for tomorrow.  A quiet evening of reading is in store for me if I can complete this blog in a reasonable amount of time!

The partially finished sculpture of Crazy Horse
You can see his completed face in front of the white cloud
on the top, just left of center.

Thanks for looking.

Dennis Mook

Many of my images can be found at www.dennismook.com.  Please pay it a visit.  I add new images regularly.  Thank you.


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