Black Hills of South Dakota

5^th July

Off we set for South Dakota.  The rolling grass plains continued, although once we got into South Dakota we started to see the odd bush or tree.  Eventually we arrived in the town of Custer in the Black Hills.  We spent the afternoon wandering around Custer.  They have a number of life size Buffalo statues, painted by different artists, all along the main street.

 

 

In the evening we sat under the RV awning as a thunderstorm came over.

 

 

 

 

 

6^th July Bismark Lake

We spent the day on Bismark Lake with the kayak. Paul had no luck fishing but there were several ducks and geese to watch.
There were also four Blue Herons and a pair of Osprey with a nest that we could just about see the heads of the two chicks.
 

7^th July Custer State Park and Mt Rushmore

We drove the loop road in the upper half of Custer SP – Iron Mt road and the Needles.  The road is amazing.  It twists and turns up and down the hills.  In several places they have built the road to spiral downwards, underneath itself like a corkscrew, they have also dug tunnels through the rock.   Our first sight of Mt Rushmore and the President’s Heads was through one of the tunnels.

We did a quick detour to see the Crazy Horse Monument.  This was first started in 1948 and you can see the carved face of Crazy Horse (Lakota Sioux leader) and the horses head has been outlined on the rock below. 


Unfortunately the sculptor commissioned to do the work died in 1982 but his family  
are determined to finish the carving to become the world’s largest mountain carving.

We stopped at Needle Rock to watch some rock climbers.  At the Cathedral Spires formation overlook we spotted some white mountain goats at the top of the mountains; four adults and a baby.

8^th July Stockade Lake

Another day spent on Stockade Lake.  Being a Monday it was much quieter than the weekend and was very peaceful paddling around the lake and watching the geese and ducks. Fishing was a little more successful this time.

Back in camp, sat having our evening meal two wild turkeys passed in the long grass.  They had about 15 youngsters with them. After they had passed by we realised that one of the youngsters had flown up into a tree and was being left behind.  We tried to persuade it to come down but it just flew higher up into the tree.  The two adult turkeys had disappeared into the woods. 

Later in the evening when Paul was fishing on Bismark Lake we saw two beaver swimming the length of the lake.

9^th July Little Devil’s Tower and Harney Peak.

We drove up to Sylvan Lake and set off to hike to Harney Peak, the highest point between the Alps and the Rockies at 7242ft.  But first we took a detour up Little Devil’s Tower, which was not a Tower but a rock formation which required climbing on our hands and knees between a crevasse.


From the top we could see the other side of the Needles rocks and Cathedral Spires that we saw on Sunday and also across to Harney Peak which is a Fire Lookout Tower. At the top of Devils Tower we came across a Mountain Goat.

 

We hiked on to Harney Peak another 3 miles or so.  We were pleased to get to the top where there was a much appreciated cool breeze as temperatures rose to around 30C.  We passed many other visitors on this trail including horse riders, although they have to get off and walk the last part which is a series of steps up to the Lookout Tower.

The whole trial was very enjoyable.  The scenery was lovely as we walked through the pine forests and meadows of grasses and wild flowers.  Sadly the Mountain Pine Beetle is having a detrimental effect on the trees.  The beetle larvae underneath the bark, hinders the tree’s ability to send nutrients from the roots to the needles, which start to turn brown and eventually the tree dies. Various ways of tackling the problems include the removal of infested trees before the larvae pupate and fly onto other trees.  Spraying the trees with chemicals is effective but expensive.

10^th July Hermosa

We packed up camp and drove to Hermosa on the edge of the Custer SP. On the way we stopped at the old stockade just outside of Custer. Once we had parked up we went into Rapid City to do some shopping. 


Mid-afternoon there was a thunderstorm with hailstones the size of small pebbles.
After the storm had passed we had a quick dip in the campground swimming pool.
 

11^th July Custer SP Wildlife Loop

We had a short drive back into Custer SP to drive the Wildlife Loop in the lower half of the park.  We saw Pronghorn Antelope, Prairie Dogs, Deer, Burros and a lot of Bison.  The park has a large heard of around 1300 bison. 

They have a round-up every September and auction off some of the stock; some of which go to other bison breeders.  There were many calves as well as the big bulls, and some adults were still shedding their winter coats; the ratio of bulls to cows is around 1:4.


At the visitors centre we came across a family of Swallows that had
yet to fly the nest. 

Tomorrow we move to the Bad Lands.