Our trip to South Dakota was based in Rapid City whose downtown is embellished with statues of all presidents -
no doubt to emphasize the proximity of a famous national landmark - Mt Rushmore.
Our trip to South Dakota was based in Rapid City
whose downtown is embellished with statues of all presidents -
no doubt to emphasize the proximity of a famous
national landmark - Mt Rushmore.
Both Dakotas have significant Scandinavian population, so it is no surprise
that Rapid City features a copy of the famous wooden church in Borgund, Norway.
The first day we visited two famous stone carvings -
first, the well known Mount Rushmore monument...
...and second the tribute to the Native Indian Chieftain - Crazy Horse
a monumental project that started in 1948 and is still far from being finished.
From there we moved to the neighboring Wyoming for a hike around Devils Tower
(a towering rock made popular by the movie "Close Encounters of the Third Kind")
We even spotted some souls climbing its daunting face.
At the sunset, we got the technicolor version of the monument.
The next day we drove to the scenic Sylvan Lake (in Custer State Park)...
...where we planned to conquer the highest point of South Dakota -
Harney Peak (circled).
This was a beautiful 3.6 mile hike through seemingly endless rocky formations.
After about two hours we reached an old fire station at the top.
On our way back we had plenty of opportunities to get to know the
rocks on a first name basis.
For our trip back to Rapid City we took the so called "Needles Highway" (road 87)
which traces (and derives its name from) the same rocks we just hiked through.
As the road makes its way through the rocks, sometimes it squeezes through tunnels
which are entertainingly narrow...
...and often cause a bit of traffic misunderstandings when two cars try
to enter at the same time.
(Honking is the accepted form of claiming your right of passage)
But the road offers some scenic views and is well worth taking.
After about 15 miles we switched to the Iron Mountain Road and headed north.
This road sometimes splits and creates narrow and meandering one way streets.
Another fun feature of this road are its corkscrew turns -
you cross a bridge and keep turning right until you pass underneath it.
Our last day belonged to the famous Badlands -
they looked fairly mundane form a distance...
...but when we got closer they revealed full richness of their shapes.
In fact, deep inside they harbored canyons of impressive proportions.
We tried several trails that were marked by vertical rods.
Due to the dry and rugged nature, hiking here made me feel like Moses wandering
across the Sinai peninsula
(an impression reinforced by the fact that I was wearing my favorite
hiking shoes: flip-flops)
Some hikes were a bit steep...
...but the views were always rewarding.
Besides amazing shapes, Badlands also offer dazzling colors
(here at the Yellow Mounds Overlook)
When the Sun went down a bit, the shapes became deeper and much more pronounced.
We also took the cooler temperature as an opportunity for a longer
hike on the Castle Trail...
...and plodded along the endless prairie until we came to those bizarre formations again.
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