Road Trip '07 - Day 5

Custer State Park (2)
Lakes and Mountains
We went back to Custer State Park today. We wanted to see some of the other sights that make this such a wonderful state park.
We began at Sylvan Lake. This is the trailhead for the hike up to the top of Harney Peak which you see in the background. Harney Peak is considered the navel of the world in Lakota spirituality. Black Elk was transported there in his vision- and later was taken there physically at the end of the book, Black Elk Speaks. It is a hike of at least half to three-quarters of a day to get to the fire tower at the top.

Here's another shot of Harney Peak from around the side of Sylvan Lake. Harney is the highest mountain between the Swiss Alps and the Rockies. It has an elevation of 7,242' above sea level. I would have loved to have tried the 6-mile round trip hike, but I didn't want to test the recovery of my lower back that way yet. I guess I will just have to come back

Standard wildlife runs around the rocky shores of the lake, like this average everyday chipmunk. It's always fun to try to get a good picture of them as they move so fast.

What is even more interesting is to ponder the tenacity of life. In this day and age a wilderness like this may not appear all that daunting. But it is, of course. It is harsh and difficult. But not as much to us as it may be for the flora that have to grow on the rocks. Here, in the middle of Sylvan Lake the tree and her cousins have found a way to do that. We saw that in many different places on the trip. How they get such a foothold and manage to keep it is beyond me.

I was always taught that you don't want to scare away the fish when you are trying to catch them. But I guess sometimes the temptation to just sit and keep cool in the heat is too much to overcome.

While we were hiking around we met a couple and their three children. Nothing unusual about it other than it illustrated again the possibilities of meeting people and striking up interesting conversations. They were a farm family from central South Dakota taking a few days after they got all the hay in. We talked about weather and business and just the beauty of life in this part of the world. The opportunities while traveling are neat.

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Custer State Park (3)
Highways and Byways
Leaving Sylvan Lake we headed toward the Needles highway. It is a narrow winding road with these tunnels cut into the solid rock for cars to get through. Well, we had traveled through one and thought that was interesting. We came around a curve and came upon this sight
Oh- a parking lot in order to see something interesting, was our first thought. Until we stopped, got out of the car and looked around that rock to the left of center above, right behind where the RV is parked.
Hence, the name, Needles Highway. We were at the eye of the needle. Not just the opening above the tunnel, but this one here looking off into the Black Hills.
Yes, that RV in the earlier picture did go through the tunnel. It had inches to spare on all sides and had to do a couple stop and back-up and shift sides a little, but he did make it. Interestingly, I don't think he was all that sure that he would. He left his family at the starting end knowing that if they got stuck they couldn't have opened the doors to get out. Hmmmmm. What if.....? But he did make it, and so did we.
We were about 10 - 12 days before the annual Motorcycle Rally at Sturgis but there were a good number of bikers around. I can understand why. This is beautiful country to ride a motorcycle in. The vistas, the fresh air smells, the open roads, the curving, wandering byways. Lots and lots and lots of Harleys, of course. But there were the share of BMWs and Honda Gold Wings. I haven't owned a motorcycle for many years. I keep wanting to, but chances are it won't happen. My #1 choice would be a BMW. What a classy way to ride. And if, if, I ever did have one, this is one place I would certainly plan on traveling.

If you don't believe the turns were sharp- you can't go much more slowly than this and still be traveling. According to Wikipedia the 14-mile long highway was completed in 1922 and, needless to say, is almost exclusively used by either park workers or tourists.

These granite "needles" are what it is all about. What a sight.
After that we were hungry. We stopped at one of the State Park-run lodges for a great lunch. I had a Buffalo burger. Yeah, I could taste a difference. Not enough to write home about. But there was a difference between the flavors. Can't say I liked it better or worse. It just was.
Then we decided to head up another winding road back toward Mt. Rushmore. This is known as the Iron Mountain Road and we were clearly told by signs at its start that this is not maintained in the winter. It was another interesting drive. The wildlife we saw this time were the wild burros.
They appeared tame, but they are used to people stopping and feeding them- which we aren't supposed to do- but we are so used to feeding these kind of animals that people think its okay.

As you go further north you realize you are approaching Mt. Rushmore. One of the ways is that the tunnels on part of this road were built in such a direction that you see the faces through them.
The other way was this rest area where if you just stood at the right spot and looked between the trees- well, there's good old George W- the very first one- right in the center. For me this was one of the most interesting ways of seeing Mt. Rushmore in its more rustic context without all the touristy stuff that has been built up. Some century or millennium someone will probably be writing some great legend about how and who and why these faces exist on a mountain side. It would be interesting to know how that will spin long after we are gone.

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Mt. Rushmore (2)
Going back to Mt. Rushmore when we were feeling a lot more relaxed sure gave it a different feel. I could explore it and look at it and get a different feel for it. The first picture is actually from the road to the side of Mt. Rushmore. It is a great profile of George Washington.
They tell us that George's mouth is 18' wide; his nose is 20' high; the whole head is 60' tall. And, like the picture from the Iron Mt. Highway, this angle gives a better idea of Mt. Rushmore's setting in the picture of the rocks and hills of the greater Black Hills.

The sculptor of Mt. Rushmore was Gutzon Borglum. Borglum came to South Dakota in 1924 at the age of 57 and work on the sculpture began in 1927 when he was 60! Borglum worked until his death in Chicago following surgery on March 6, 1941, several days before his 74th birthday. His son saw the project to its finish in October of that year just as the United States was about to be brought into World War II. Over 90% of Mount Rushmore was carved by using dynamite. Dynamite blasts removed approximately 450,000 tons of rock from the mountain. --from Mt. Rushmore web site.

I was struck by the detail, in spite of all the dynamite. When I look at the eyes, for example, they look like they are reflecting light and even crystal like. Actually, after the big blasts that took the big chunks, they did small work- and then, almost like fine sanding on a large scale- they smoothed it out and gave us quite a scene. Here are some close-ups of the faces.
Washington
Jefferson
T. Roosevelt
Lincoln

The evening show here at Mt. Rushmore was a lot different from the one at Crazy Horse. It had an obviously more patriotic and even military feel. Instead of slides projected on a mountain side, we had a video giving the history of the memorial as well as the stories of the four presidents pictured on the mountain. I was struck by the careful and sensitive manner in which the script dealt with how history took over Native American lands. It was appropriate and, I am sure, a difficult thing to put together, but they did okay.
They start with a group of scouts doing the flag ceremony. Then, after showing the video they bring up the lights on the mountain itself. They asked all who had served in the military to come down to the stage. My reaction was the shocked (?) awareness that the ones who "looked" to me like I thought veterans of World War II should look- were actually Vietnam-era veterans. I keep forgetting that the youngest Vietnam veterans are probably older than the WW II veterans were when I was even a teenager.
Then, slowly, a few older veterans make their way to the stage. These were the WW II vets. They were helped to the stage by those already there and received a warm and grateful response.
Yes, it is easy to fall into patriotic overstatement and jingoism. But I was moved, especially by the video. I found myself tearing up at the end with gratitude for what I have been so very lucky to have been born into in a country that truly does work at providing freedom. We don't succeed as well as we should or could, but I do believe that most of the time we do really try. It is too bad that the extremists give patriotism such a bad name when they use it as a cover over ills and sins or worse to quiet disagreement and dissent. A very basic tenet of American democracy has always been- and should always remain- the opportunity to disagree without becoming an enemy of the state. It is a very thin line to walk at the extremes - both right and left! But without it we are not the land of the free and the home of the brave and our history will become an empty shell being used to take away freedom instead of giving it.Enough then for tonight. It was another good day. My back is relaxing, my calves aren't whining. I feel good.

Miles today: 95 (Total: 900)