South Dakota: Custer Critters

      Departing the Legends in Lights laser show on Crazy Horse mountain, we drove the few short miles back into Custer to the Rocket Motel...a blast from the past! It is an American Roadside Classic, though I think Jaime felt a bit let down after staying in a bed and breakfast the night before. :-) We woke up early Thurs. morning to hit Custer State Park and the famed Wildlife loop. For outdoorsmen, Custer State Park is the stuff of dreams; it covers 71,000 acres in South Dakota's Black Hills filled with roaming bison, trout-filled mountain streams, soaring granite peaks beckoning climbers, and the howls of coyotes on starry nights. We were looking for critters and they did not disappoint. Right off the bat, we saw different types of deer, bison, pronghorns, wild turkey, prairie dogs, and even the elusive coyote. The Buffalo sure are majestic, we kept breaking into song.."O, give me a home, where the buffalo roam..." At one time, they even blocked the road and we had to wait till they slowly ambled past. Jaime's favorite probably were the prairie dogs...we came upon a whole little town! They make these interesting "bark" like noises as they communicate with each other. They took a liking to Jaime and she was able to get real close and get some spectacular shots.
       There's more to Custer though than the wildlife. After several hours of critter hunting, we were ready to get out of our car and stretch our legs. We browsed around the Peter Norbeck Visitor Center, and discovered that a cool hiking trail started right nearby. A 3.5 mile loop, it would take us high atop a ridge and wind its way through several creek crossings. Along the way, we came upon the famous Lover's Leap, so named because as legend has it, a pair of young Indian lovers leapt to their deaths from there many moons ago. The hike sure worked up our appetite, so we headed to the nearby State Game Lodge. This magnificient facility is also known as the Summer White House as Pres. Calvin Coolidge once spent several summer months there as well as a short visit by President Dwight D. Eisenhower. Today, there are fancy state rooms named after Ike and Coolidge. The dining room serves us fabulous wild game, and I took great pleasure in downing some buffalo soup with a dinner of wild pheasant.
      Next came the 14 mile long, "Needles Highway," an incredible feat of engineering winding its way through hairpin curves and narrow granite tunnels to beautiful Sylvan Lake. From here, there are gorgeous views of the lake and nearby Harney Peak, the tallest mountain between the Rockies and the Pyrennees. The Needles Highway also passes by the Cathedral Spires, a series of pinnacles that resemble church spires and the famous granite formation, Needles Eye, that looks like the eye of a needle. Finally, there is one more road, the Iron Mountain Road also attributed to the vision of the late, great Peter Norbeck who was ultimately responsible for preserving this treasure for generations of Americans to come. His scenic byway connects the Park with Mt. Rushmore displaying the incredible beauty of the mountains and perfectly framing Mt. Rushmore through three granite tunnels. It is also one of the most fun roads I have ever driven on in my life. At times, the road splits into two separate one way sections, so you just have one way, one lane roads that resembles the yellow brick road winding your way through the sun-dappled forest. Just, absolutely gorgeous!
     We ended the day with a visit at Mt. Rushmore. As nice as it is, it really can't compare to the majesty of Crazy Horse. We got there too late to visit the museums, but we did have a nice walk on the Presidential Trail as sunset approached. Enjoy these pics, they are some of the most spectacular on this trip.