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Visit to Custer State Park, SD

Saturday, September 24th, 2011

August 21st

After spending a day exploring the plains, we decided to spend a day exploring the surrounding mountains, the Black Hills, where we had been camping for three days. Surprisingly, the highest peak between the Alps and the Rockies is here in the Black Hills. The granite mountains with their lakes and forests are a nice contrast to the vast plains that characterize the region.

We started by taking the same scenic road we had taken a few days before. The weather was on our side and in place of rain and fog, we had pretty blue sky. We made a couple of stops to do some short hikes: first at the needles (granite spires jutting into the sky), then at a popular area with rock climbers and finally at a pretty lake with large boulders that appeared natural but on further inspection, turned out to be dammed. After a full morning of hiking, we decided to relax a little bit at the campground before doing an evening “wildlife” tour. We saw bison, pronghorn antelope (from close), wild turkeys and donkeys (while not wild, they were entertaining.)

Posted from Williamsburg, VA

Badlands National Park and Wall, SD

Saturday, September 24th, 2011

August 20th

We awoke to a nice sunny day, refreshed and ready for our next visit…this time to Badlands, a national park about 100 miles east of where we were staying. After leaving the Black Hills, we took an unremarkable highway through vast prairies. We were at the edge of the Great Plains which covers almost half of the continental U.S. We made a quick stop at an old nuclear missile site, another relic of the Cold War. This one had been decommissioned and now serves as a museum. Shortly after, we arrived in the Badlands, named by French trappers who had difficulty crossing this unusual landscape.  

The Badlands consist of a giant wall, around 100 miles long, which divides the land into two vast plains, one significantly higher than altitude than the other. It’s no surprise that the trapper, Native Americans and later the American settlers had difficulty crossing this land. From a distance, it looks like a collection of sand castles with rain-carved spires. We took a scenic road which follows the wall. There were plenty of turnouts and nature trails to get different perspectives of the landscape. When we stopped at the visitors’ center we were impressed as usual with the extremely informative displays about the geologic history, fossils of animals that lived there millions of years ago and more contemporary history, notably about the settlers who came as part of the Homestead Act. The U.S. government sponsored a program to settle the west which gave tracts of land to settlers who inhabited and worked it for a minimum of 5 years. The extreme conditions in this region led to the failure of many of these adventures. Eventually following the Dust Bowl and the Great Depression, the U.S. government repurchased this land from the homesteaders and turned it in to a national park.

Before leaving the park, we made stop in a Prairie Dog City to get some pictures of the fun little burrowing animals. To complete the photo there was a herd of bison behind. The final stop on the way back to Custer State Park was in the town of Wall. There isn’t much to see in the small town, but a pharmacist in the early 20th century ha d a crazy advertising scheming to post signs advertising free ice water and 5¢ coffee along the highway. Today, the drug store is a veritable mini-mall of tacky souvenirs and cheap entertainment. We enjoyed an ice cream at the old-fashioned soda fountain and took advantage of the free ice water.

Posted from Williamsburg, VA

Mount Rushmore National Monument, South Dakota

Friday, September 9th, 2011
August 19th It was a gray, drizzly morning. Since it wasn’t great hiking weather, we decided to visit Mt. Rushmore, an iconic American landmark. We took the scenic highway which winded its way through the Black Hills, giving tiny glimpses of ... [Continue reading this entry]

Road to South Dakota: Jewel Cave National Monument and Custer State Park

Thursday, September 8th, 2011
August 18th After the mine tour, we hit the road again towards South Dakota. We arrived at Jewel Cave, named for the sparkling calcite crystals that look like sparkling jewels. It is the second longest mapped cave in the world.  We ... [Continue reading this entry]

The Million Dollar Highway, Medicine Wheel and Gillette, WY

Saturday, September 3rd, 2011
August 17th-18th The road took us back into Wyoming and east towards South Dakota. Before climbing into the mountains again, we stopped off at an old ranch, now historic site. It was so secluded I don’t know how anyone lived out ... [Continue reading this entry]

Cody and the Bighorn Canyon NRA, Wyoming

Saturday, September 3rd, 2011
August 16th-17th We arrived in Cody, founded by Buffalo Bill Cody of the Wild Wild West Show as a sort of holiday resort. We were a little disappointed as we had expected more authentic old architecture but the town was centered ... [Continue reading this entry]

Return to Yellowstone NP: the Geyser Basin

Saturday, September 3rd, 2011
August 15th-16th Following Grand Teton, we reserved another night in Yellowstone National Park (we needed to return in this direction to make our way towards South Dakota) to spend some more time admiring the geysers and the wildlife. So after packing ... [Continue reading this entry]

Grand Teton National Park: Jenny Lake and Jackson Lake

Saturday, September 3rd, 2011
August 14th We finished our trek around 11:30 in the morning, so we had a full day to explore the “front country” of Grand Teton. We started with the Menor’s Ferry Historic District which consisted of the remains of an old ... [Continue reading this entry]

Trekking in the Tetons

Saturday, September 3rd, 2011
August 12th- 13th We woke up early Friday morning, excited about our trek. On the way to the Death Canyon Trailhead, we stopped to visit the ruins of an old Mormon settlement. This was one of many places we passed on ... [Continue reading this entry]

Grand Teton National Park and Jackson Hole, Wyoming

Monday, August 29th, 2011
August 11th The morning started with some necessary chores: showers (first in 4 days), laundry and packing up camp. We drove about twenty miles from Grant Village to Grand Teton National Park. The first views were spectacular of the snowcapped Teton ... [Continue reading this entry]