Saturday, June 12, 2010

Rushmore, Crazy Horse, Wind Cave, Black Hills, Devil's Tower

We went to so many places today as we drove through South Dakota into Wyoming this evening. My favorite, by far, was Wind Cave National Park. Amazing. I wish I could crawl through and discover every noon and cranny of every underground tunnel. That would be amazing. Sirhc is posing on a piece of Box Formation from the cave. Very unusual formation. Not sure it is found in any other cave.





We drove by and took pictures of Mount Rushmore and Crazy Horse as we did not want to pay $20 at each site to park our car. We found a couple of nice pull-offs (that were free) to snap a few pictures and go. We saw them back in 1997 as well. Pretty much looked the same this time. Mount Rushmore has added a parking garage right in front of the 4 faces though. Lovely.




After Wind Cave we drove through the Black Hills of South Dakota in the rain and fog, but it was beautiful. Glad we took the back road and stayed away from the highway that time. (Lisa and Chris - take 14a through this area - you'll be happy you did!). This is Spearfish Canyon, which was created by Spearfish Creek in the Black Hills.




We pulled into Devil's Tower at sundown, so we'll be exploring around the base of it tomorrow. It was a rainy, foggy, cloudy day today. It was in the upper 40's and low 50's all day. We're sleeping in the Prius tonight at a campground. Thunderstorms are predicted, so no tenting tonight. All of our gear fits in the front seats, so we can sleep all stretched out in the back. Dad's already asleep next to me as I type this.

I love that this campground has both cell phone service and wireless internet! Excellent!

Our campsite is right at the base of Devil's Tower, so when we wake up in the morning we'll see it front and center through the window. Cool! It's huge and I'm curious to find out how that thing came to be there.
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3 comments:

  1. LisaJune 13, 2010 at 5:43 AM

    $20 to park your car?? That's crazy!?!? Is that IN the park?

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  2. AmyJune 13, 2010 at 8:04 AM

    Crazy Horse is private, so park pass doesn't get you anything. Mount Rushmore I'm not sure how that works. Here is what I found on the website: "The $10.00 parking fee is a special use fee and is valid for the entire calendar year and is the only fee within the park. This is not a Federal entrance fee, so the America the Beautiful Pass, National Park Passes, Golden Age, Access and Eagle Passports are not accepted." So anyway, $10 to park at Rushmore, $20 to park at Crazy Horse = we don't park. Too expensive.

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  3. LisaJune 13, 2010 at 9:06 AM

    That's a good point - with Mt. Rushmore once you see it - that's really all there is!
    Tell Dad I owe him some staples for his staple gun when he gets back! But the chickens really appreciate it...

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