September 14-19, Hill City SD, Part 1

Sept 14-19  Drive west across to Hill City, SD (Horse Thief Campground for 6 nights) 

Saturday Sept 14 - Today it was quite breezy on US 44 making driving the RV a little tricky, with sweaty hands for Tony.  Through the Buffalo Gap National Grasslands, past white sandy areas and short, flat grass topped buttes.  The neatly stacked bales of hay in many configurations made me think of the saying "Make Hay While the Sun Shines".  These farmers and ranchers certainly don't waste the sunny days.  There was a lone yard sale sign on a fairly empty stretch of road that advertised "Free Hot Dogs".  That was either a great marketing idea or they are really lonely and want people to stop.  No we did not stop, too much weight pushing us and by the time it registers that it might be cool to investigate we were long past the spot. 

Our first sighting of the Black Hills of South Dakota via US 44, surprised that they really look Black.  The dark bark on the tall ponderosa pines (yellow pines) and the density of the trees causes them to look black and they were called Paha Sapa by the Lakota Sioux Indians.  The area was originally scouted by General Custer and his 1874 expedition.  Custer was a young brash, charismatic, whipper snapper, almost kicked out of West Point for demerits and grades, engaged the Indians (Crazy Horse) when he wasn't supposed to, thereby being responsible for one of the largest massacres in history.   Yet he is still memorialized with a town name, and a 100 year old state park name among the top items.  Go figure!  Between the scenery, the buildings, the antique train, and the advertisements, there was so much to look at I wondered how we would ever do the area justice in the few days we had allotted here. 

At Horse Thief Campground in Hill City we checked in and headed to our site narrowly averting a disaster as Tony tried to make a sharp left into our site coming through a passage way marked by two towering ponderosa pines.  There was no way!  He backed up and called the office to request another site.  They moved us on down the row about six sites but then wanted to charge extra since it was a 50 amp site vs a 30 amp.  We protested, said we only needed a 30 amp site.  In the end the owner dropped the extra charge and we told him he should consider only putting shorter units in that site.  Had to order new batteries for the Tire Pressure monitors.

Mt Rushmore is less than 30 minutes from our camp
so we decided today was as good a day as any to head there, explore, and stay for the evening lighting ceremony.  About 2.5 million people from all over the world visit this iconic monument annually. It took 14 years (1927-1941) to carve (with 400 workers).  The four presidents selected by the artist (Gutson Borglum) were for very specific contributions to our nation at critical times in our history.  Washington helped FOUND the country, Jefferson helped EXPAND (Louisiana Purchase), Roosevelt  DEVELOP (link oceans with Panama Canal), and Lincoln PRESERVING the Union.  We took lots of photos, approach shots,
profile shots and close ups that look like the
evergreens are tickling George Washington's nose. The heads are proportioned to fit a 465 ft tall man!  Major disappointment set in when we saw all of the construction fencing and barricades at the monument area.  The visitor center is closed, no informative movie, no big evening show because the amphitheater is being redone, and the President's trail is under construction too.  The trail is no longer a loop but an out and back because of the construction.  Hiking the 0.6 mile Presidents trail to the sculptors studio and the base of the mountain we encountered lots of steps (422) and elevation that had us stopping several times to catch our breath.  We always do it under the auspices of reading all of the interpretive signs along the way, just like all the other heavy breathers do. 

Back at the Food Court area we snagged a table and chairs with a great view of the sculptures because they will still light it up at dark and sing the national anthem and we had about 90 minutes to wait for that to happen.  The park ranger gave a short informative talk at dusk about each president and all the veterans were invited to gather for the flag lowering ceremony.  As full dark hit, the mountain was bathed in white light and it almost made the hair on the back our your neck stand up as we sang the,The Star Spangled Banner.  Well those of us who knew it sang.  There were many visitors from foreign countries in the audience including a group of foreign exchange students touring our great country as they prepared to spend one of their high school years here in the USA.  Their shirts said "change isn't a year in your life, it's a lifetime in a year".

Sunday September 15th - On the way to church we
passed the turn in for the Crazy Horse Memorial. This Sculpture has been in process for six decades.  That is not a typo! The Sioux Warrior, Crazy Horse,  was born in the Black Hills and partially credited for Custer's defeat at the Battle of Little Bighorn.   I snapped a few
pictures as Tony turned around after the docent gave us a site map and guide.  Depending on our schedule we may come back later in the week but now our goal was 8am Mass at St. John the Baptist
in Custer. The Deacon's sermon was an interesting take on the
prodigal son parable.  Usually the message is about the father forgiving the son, but today he emphasized going home and how hard it is to take that step to ask for forgiveness rather than putting it off for one more day.   Breakfast just a block away was at Skogen.  It was an eclectic spot recommended by Trilogy friends Dee and Tim.  Their menu included items like Japanese French toast and walleye with eggs.  We enjoyed our breakfast; I had avocado toast with poached eggs and Tony had Custers first meal (the works).  Sitting out on the patio was nice because even though the morning still had a bit of a chill they had overhead heaters and cozy lap blankets.  Remember that saying about the best laid plans of mice and men?   Well that was us today. 

After we left breakfast we spotted a drive through car wash.  Tony splurged an got the undercarriage wash since on the drive to the Badlands from Medora it rained a lot and was muddy.  The touch-less feature left what looked like Spiro-graph (remember that kids craft set?), patterns in the dirt on the truck.  He called the owner to complain as no one was at the business on Sunday and he plans to dispute the charge.  The truck looked worse than before.  As we headed out of Custer we stopped at a rock shop so I could buy a chunk of rose quartz which is the SD state stone:  at fifty cents a pound who could resist?   Of course it is not gemstone quality but I can set it in my yard to remind us of our journey.

Up the road a bit we turned into Custer State Park (100 years old this year), the largest SD state park and one of the largest state parks in the USA.  Our friends Noel and Karen had bought a park pass which is good for a week and since we are staying at the same campground they did they left it at the desk for us.  Just as I was settling in for the drive and getting the map open and situated Tony pulled over and said "Water in Fuel". I asked what that was supposed to mean.  A dash warning light had come on. Out comes the owners manual and he reads that you have to open the fuel filter to let water drain.  As we all know water in the engine is not good.  Of course all of the tools are in the trailer so there is no way to open the filter.  We are probably about 20 miles from camp and of course it is Sunday.  We opt to head back through the town of Custer versus through the park which is more remote with even less cell coverage than in town.  Tony shoots off a couple of e-mails to previous co-workers to find out if this is a known issue or what.  Of course we fueled up last night on the way home from Mt. Rushmore so could there have been water in the fuel.  A call to the gas station and they reported they have had no issues: in reality what else would they say?!  So we spent the whole afternoon sitting at camp reading and finishing the books we had in progress.  Bad memories of last year's problems are resurfacing.   My stomach is in knots, as needless to say I am about ready to go home. There's a Chevy dealer in Rapid City, 40 minutes back north, and Tony will head there first thing tomorrow morning.

Monday September 16th - By 6:15 am Tony was on the road.  I stayed back at the camp and cleaned stuff including wiping down all of the woodwork in the RV.  By noon the truck and Tony were back with the oil changed, tires rotated, new passenger compartment air filter and a new fuel filter housing and sensor.  The failed sensor was the culprit setting
off the warning light.  So now we headed into Custer State Park albeit from a different entrance (there are three) than yesterday.  Our camp, Horse Thief camp is right on the Scenic Needles Highway.  The dramatic tall granite spires, low, narrow tunnels  and towering Cathedral Spires were magnificent gaze up at.  The three tunnels in the park, including the Eye of the Needle are one car only and have pull outs to take pictures.  All the drivers were courteous and since the tunnels were not long you could always see the other end to be able to take turns passing through.  

The rest of the Wild Life Loop made for a lovely afternoon drive.  The Black Hills in the distance, the rolling meadows, passing by several lakes and a  few wildlife sightings made a memorable afternoon.  My favorite were the pronghorn antelope, though we only saw a couple up close, since we had seen more than enough bison (Tatanka is the Lakota Indian word),  at Theodore Roosevelt National Park and at the Badlands National Park.   Most people like the little prairie
dogs but they are kind of creepy to me, little rodents scampering around.   One lone turtle was spied sunning on a rock in a pond.   We stopped at all of the scenic lodges including the State Game Lodge where President Calvin Coolidge spent some time.  The brand new visitor center is awesome including the 100 seat amphitheater

and large curved screen to watch the movie about the history of the park and it's many features.   The new visitor center has only been open for three years.  There is even a summer theater program in the Black Hills Playhouse in Custer State Park but all of the summer shows are done for the season.  We did not see any of the begging donkeys that everyone talks about so now we have an extra bag of apples to cram in our fridge.  Very disappointing!

As we neared the southern end of the Wild Life Loop there was sign that said Wind Cave National Park, 5 miles.  We both looked at each other and said what's another five miles.  Well that was ONLY to the park boundary.  It was at least another 10 miles past that.  Luckily, we made the last informative 18 minute park movie of the afternoon, rolling in at 4:25 for the 4:30 start time in the visitor center  which closed at 5 pm.   Wind Cave is currently the sixth longest cave in the world and was the first park established (1903) to protect a cave.  The wind rushes in and out of the mouth of the cave (up to 70mph sometimes) so that the natives say the earth is breathing.  Unfortunately the elevators down to the caves are under repair, contractors are not making good on completion dates, so no cave tours.  It is a pretty cool concept though, two parks, one above ground, one below.  The pictures of the cave formations in the movie looked pretty cool, so this park, now ranked about 6th in the world for the length of mapped

caves, may be worth a return trip.  The meadows and grasslands were shining as the sun dropped lower in the sky and indeed swaying like ocean waves as the winds gently blew across the landscape. We saw only a few of the bison from the herd which was one of the first free roaming herds to be  established after they were almost entirely wiped out by over hunting by the white man.  The was a unique cement bridge we passed along the way, The Beaver Creek Bridge, but it came up so fast at a curve in the road I was not prepared to get a good picture.  It is 225 ft long and 115 ft tall.  The picture in the article looks striking! Two reasons to return to the Black Hills area, Wind Cave and Jewel Cave (third longest in the world) National Parks.  The elevators are under repair in both locations. 

Coming back into Custer State Park we were at the southern end of the Wild Life Loop and there was still several hours of daylight so we completed our trek.  At the Blue Bell Lodge we indulged in an ice cream sandwich while we walked around the grounds and chatted with the desk clerk.  Stockade Lake near the end of the loop was larger than the other lakes (Sylvan, Center and Legion) but each had it's charm whether for fishing, swimming, kayaking or hiking.