It's a Prairieman's World, It's Wide Open
Ok, I know I am a little late on this, but here are some pics from my trip to South Dakota over Labor Day weekend. It was a great time and despite the mrs. just recovering from pneumonia, she hung in there pretty well. We had great weather the whole weekend and got to see a lot of pretty cool stuff.
I want to say first off that the Black Hills area is definitely some pretty country. I can see the attraction for motorcyclists to that area for sure. There are many picturesque, well-paved roads perfect for driving or riding with lots of curves and awesome views. We drove both the vaunted Needles and Iron Mountain scenic highways, respectively, and both lived up to their hype. That being said, the area is also very touristy. It kind of reminded me of Colorado Springs. You get equal parts natural beauty and kitsch. But, hey, that’s what the whole plan was for the area when they started carving Mount Rushmore almost a century ago. They wanted to turn the place into a tourist destination. And, well, I guess they succeeded because they at least got me to go there (for my second time, even).
We tried to avoid most of the super-touristy stuff, though. I mean, there is plenty to do and enjoy naturally in the area. For example, you can visit Wind Cave National Park. Faithful readers will remember that awhile back I made it a personal goal to visit all 58 US national parks. Well, guess what? I’m up to 8! Yee-haw! Anyway, Wind Cave is one of the oldest national parks (#6, 1903) and was protected for its unusually large collection of boxwork formations inside the cave. In fact, around 95% of the world’s boxwork is found in this cave alone. At around 120 miles in length, it is also the fourth longest cave in the world. Pretty groovy.
Anyway, we took a tour and it was very informative (as you can tell by my Cliff Claven-like factoids in the preceding paragraph). No, we did not spelunk for all 120 miles of the cave. We did, however, spend just over an hour down there and got to see a whole lot of cool formations. One thing about trying to take pictures in a cave, though, is that it is hard to get really good pictures of the formations due to the lack of good lighting and depth. They also refuse to smile for you and tend to blink a lot. But here is one shot of some boxwork that kinda turned out when we flipped it to black and white.
Basically boxwork forms when calcite oozes between softer minerals and then when the softer rock wears away, it leaves the criss-cross patterns of the calcite remaining. Ah, screw it, here’s the wikipedia entry. That explains it a whole lot better (and has a better picture, too).
Once we finished at Wind Cave, we drove up into Custer State Park. This place was really cool and is famous for its large herds of buffalo and other wildlife protected at the site. When we pulled in, the ranger told us that if we wanted to see the buffalo that we should follow a couple of gravel roads into a more secluded section of the park. Well, she was right. We followed her directions and sure enough we saw buffalo. Lots of ‘em. They weren’t stampeding like on Dances with Wolves or anything, but it was still amazing to see so many of them together wandering free. It is hard to imagine that these huge beasts were once on the brink of extinction due to humanity’s own carelessness. I saw a lot of cool stuff that weekend, but this may have been the highlight. This wasn’t like being in a zoo. We literally drove up into the middle of a herd of buffalo. They were right there and we were right there with them. They came right up to the car window. Words cannot explain the experience. Neither can the pictures, but I’ll post a couple anyway.
I think there's a joke about a buffalo crossing the road here somewhere...
Herd of buffalo. What? Of course I’ve heard of buffalo. Sheesh…
The next day we visited the Cosmos Mystery Area. This place is a pure tourist trap, but it was one of the less-corny things to do in the area, had good reviews on Trip Advisor, and wasn’t too expensive so we thought we would give it a shot. The basic premise to this place is that a couple of college students years ago discovered that this area “defied physics and the laws of nature” so they built a cabin in which to demonstrate this phenomenon through wacky experiments all the while charging admission to passing tourists. So, during this tour I did indeed see water flow uphill, a ball roll uphill, a guy stand at a 45-degree angle off of a wall, people standing on level ground change heights, felt the strange “pull” of the mountain, and several other “unexplainable” feats and demonstrations. I say unexplainable, because I myself will admit that I can not explain them. However, as someone who is deeply cynical and doesn’t believe in anything that can’t be proven, I highly doubt that there is any magic or “unexplainable” paranormal phenomena behind any of it. I think it was all a bunch of well-constructed optical illusions and perception tweeks. That being said, I would have to say it was still fairly entertaining. Here is a picture of our tour guide standing 45-degrees out from what was shown to be a flat ledge with a bubble level. As you can see, the audience appears to be standing uphill on what should be level ground… (insert spooky music here). Whoa!!!
After that we toured another cave, The Sitting Bull Crystal Caverns. Seriously, there are like a hundred caves around this area. This cave found fame as the sometimes-home of Sitting Bull, who used to camp in the entrance during the winter months. This one is privately owned (the family claims to have known Sitting Bull himself), though, and you could totally tell the difference between this one and the one at the national park. It was still pretty neat since it was a completely different kind of cave than Wind Cave. Instead of having boxwork, it was chock-full of pointy crystals hanging down from the ceiling like you were inside a giant geode. There was also a section of the cave that you could explore by yourself with flashlights that my oldest daughter really dug. Alas, the pictures of the crystals really didn’t turn out that well. But, man, wait until next time when I have that cave lens…
There was some other stuff that we did, but that was pretty much it for sight seeing. But in a place like this there was a sight to be seen everywhere you go. I would have liked to have driven through the Badlands, but it would have been an hour just to go there, a drive for at least another hour through the park, and then the drive back which would have been a bit too much. I’ve seen the Badlands before, though, so it wasn’t too big of a disappointment. But, man, that place is pretty cool to see as well.
Oh, we did see the Crazy Horse Memorial on the way out. We didn’t go in, but I did get a chance to snap this picture from the road. They are a bit farther along than when I last saw it over ten years ago, but they still have a way to go until they are finally done. You have to appreciate the persistence and determination, though. They’ve been working on that thing for forever.
I want to say first off that the Black Hills area is definitely some pretty country. I can see the attraction for motorcyclists to that area for sure. There are many picturesque, well-paved roads perfect for driving or riding with lots of curves and awesome views. We drove both the vaunted Needles and Iron Mountain scenic highways, respectively, and both lived up to their hype. That being said, the area is also very touristy. It kind of reminded me of Colorado Springs. You get equal parts natural beauty and kitsch. But, hey, that’s what the whole plan was for the area when they started carving Mount Rushmore almost a century ago. They wanted to turn the place into a tourist destination. And, well, I guess they succeeded because they at least got me to go there (for my second time, even).
We tried to avoid most of the super-touristy stuff, though. I mean, there is plenty to do and enjoy naturally in the area. For example, you can visit Wind Cave National Park. Faithful readers will remember that awhile back I made it a personal goal to visit all 58 US national parks. Well, guess what? I’m up to 8! Yee-haw! Anyway, Wind Cave is one of the oldest national parks (#6, 1903) and was protected for its unusually large collection of boxwork formations inside the cave. In fact, around 95% of the world’s boxwork is found in this cave alone. At around 120 miles in length, it is also the fourth longest cave in the world. Pretty groovy.
Anyway, we took a tour and it was very informative (as you can tell by my Cliff Claven-like factoids in the preceding paragraph). No, we did not spelunk for all 120 miles of the cave. We did, however, spend just over an hour down there and got to see a whole lot of cool formations. One thing about trying to take pictures in a cave, though, is that it is hard to get really good pictures of the formations due to the lack of good lighting and depth. They also refuse to smile for you and tend to blink a lot. But here is one shot of some boxwork that kinda turned out when we flipped it to black and white.
Basically boxwork forms when calcite oozes between softer minerals and then when the softer rock wears away, it leaves the criss-cross patterns of the calcite remaining. Ah, screw it, here’s the wikipedia entry. That explains it a whole lot better (and has a better picture, too).
Once we finished at Wind Cave, we drove up into Custer State Park. This place was really cool and is famous for its large herds of buffalo and other wildlife protected at the site. When we pulled in, the ranger told us that if we wanted to see the buffalo that we should follow a couple of gravel roads into a more secluded section of the park. Well, she was right. We followed her directions and sure enough we saw buffalo. Lots of ‘em. They weren’t stampeding like on Dances with Wolves or anything, but it was still amazing to see so many of them together wandering free. It is hard to imagine that these huge beasts were once on the brink of extinction due to humanity’s own carelessness. I saw a lot of cool stuff that weekend, but this may have been the highlight. This wasn’t like being in a zoo. We literally drove up into the middle of a herd of buffalo. They were right there and we were right there with them. They came right up to the car window. Words cannot explain the experience. Neither can the pictures, but I’ll post a couple anyway.
I think there's a joke about a buffalo crossing the road here somewhere...
Herd of buffalo. What? Of course I’ve heard of buffalo. Sheesh…
We also saw lots of mule deer, pronghorn antelope, prairie dogs, and even a free-roaming gang of burros that are the remnants of an old pack of trail mules that were simply released into the park when the trail expeditions ended years ago. They are now nicknamed the “Begging Burros” because of their tendency to block the road until approaching cars give them food. We fed them pretzels and were allowed to pass on up the Iron Mountain Highway. I guess it beats having to fight the Black Knight…
The Iron Mountain Highway was awesome. This is one of the routes you can take to Mt. Rushmore from the south, and was designed to not only show off the region’s beauty, but also to boost your anticipation and excitement for the carved heads ahead. There are several tunnels through the mountain specifically aimed so that you see Mt. Rushmore perfectly framed through the rock as you drive through them. That was super cool. I tried to snap some pictures, but unfortunately, none of them turned out because the darkness of the tunnel washed out the light at the end. I know: excuses, excuses. First the cave, and now the tunnel. I guess if you are going to be taking pictures in dark places surrounded by rock, you need a special attachment or something. Next time I’m going to go into Wolf Camera beforehand and ask for the “Cave Lens.”
Eventually we made it to Mt. Rushmore where my heart swelled with patriotic pride… Ok, I admit it was pretty neat. It was kinda weird because on one hand I’m thinking, “man, what a waste of a perfectly good mountain” and on the other hand I’m thinking, “Wow! This is cool!” just from the sheer magnitude and hard work put into the thing. It is the largest work of art in the world, surpassing both the pyramids and the sphinx. Plus, as an American, I’ve had this image jammed into my brain pretty much since birth, so to see it in person is pretty surreal (even for my second time). I’ve never seen the Statue of Liberty, the Eiffel Tower, or the Mona Lisa, but I’m sure the feeling when seeing those iconic emblems would probably be about the same. Just the strange disbelief of seeing it in person alone is worth the experience.
The Iron Mountain Highway was awesome. This is one of the routes you can take to Mt. Rushmore from the south, and was designed to not only show off the region’s beauty, but also to boost your anticipation and excitement for the carved heads ahead. There are several tunnels through the mountain specifically aimed so that you see Mt. Rushmore perfectly framed through the rock as you drive through them. That was super cool. I tried to snap some pictures, but unfortunately, none of them turned out because the darkness of the tunnel washed out the light at the end. I know: excuses, excuses. First the cave, and now the tunnel. I guess if you are going to be taking pictures in dark places surrounded by rock, you need a special attachment or something. Next time I’m going to go into Wolf Camera beforehand and ask for the “Cave Lens.”
Eventually we made it to Mt. Rushmore where my heart swelled with patriotic pride… Ok, I admit it was pretty neat. It was kinda weird because on one hand I’m thinking, “man, what a waste of a perfectly good mountain” and on the other hand I’m thinking, “Wow! This is cool!” just from the sheer magnitude and hard work put into the thing. It is the largest work of art in the world, surpassing both the pyramids and the sphinx. Plus, as an American, I’ve had this image jammed into my brain pretty much since birth, so to see it in person is pretty surreal (even for my second time). I’ve never seen the Statue of Liberty, the Eiffel Tower, or the Mona Lisa, but I’m sure the feeling when seeing those iconic emblems would probably be about the same. Just the strange disbelief of seeing it in person alone is worth the experience.
The next day we visited the Cosmos Mystery Area. This place is a pure tourist trap, but it was one of the less-corny things to do in the area, had good reviews on Trip Advisor, and wasn’t too expensive so we thought we would give it a shot. The basic premise to this place is that a couple of college students years ago discovered that this area “defied physics and the laws of nature” so they built a cabin in which to demonstrate this phenomenon through wacky experiments all the while charging admission to passing tourists. So, during this tour I did indeed see water flow uphill, a ball roll uphill, a guy stand at a 45-degree angle off of a wall, people standing on level ground change heights, felt the strange “pull” of the mountain, and several other “unexplainable” feats and demonstrations. I say unexplainable, because I myself will admit that I can not explain them. However, as someone who is deeply cynical and doesn’t believe in anything that can’t be proven, I highly doubt that there is any magic or “unexplainable” paranormal phenomena behind any of it. I think it was all a bunch of well-constructed optical illusions and perception tweeks. That being said, I would have to say it was still fairly entertaining. Here is a picture of our tour guide standing 45-degrees out from what was shown to be a flat ledge with a bubble level. As you can see, the audience appears to be standing uphill on what should be level ground… (insert spooky music here). Whoa!!!
After that we toured another cave, The Sitting Bull Crystal Caverns. Seriously, there are like a hundred caves around this area. This cave found fame as the sometimes-home of Sitting Bull, who used to camp in the entrance during the winter months. This one is privately owned (the family claims to have known Sitting Bull himself), though, and you could totally tell the difference between this one and the one at the national park. It was still pretty neat since it was a completely different kind of cave than Wind Cave. Instead of having boxwork, it was chock-full of pointy crystals hanging down from the ceiling like you were inside a giant geode. There was also a section of the cave that you could explore by yourself with flashlights that my oldest daughter really dug. Alas, the pictures of the crystals really didn’t turn out that well. But, man, wait until next time when I have that cave lens…
There was some other stuff that we did, but that was pretty much it for sight seeing. But in a place like this there was a sight to be seen everywhere you go. I would have liked to have driven through the Badlands, but it would have been an hour just to go there, a drive for at least another hour through the park, and then the drive back which would have been a bit too much. I’ve seen the Badlands before, though, so it wasn’t too big of a disappointment. But, man, that place is pretty cool to see as well.
Oh, we did see the Crazy Horse Memorial on the way out. We didn’t go in, but I did get a chance to snap this picture from the road. They are a bit farther along than when I last saw it over ten years ago, but they still have a way to go until they are finally done. You have to appreciate the persistence and determination, though. They’ve been working on that thing for forever.
Well, that’s the trip. The mrs. did really well despite still feeling a bit under the weather. The only time she said that anything really got to her was when we climbed the 180-something steps back up out of the Crystal Caverns. That’s understandable. Something like that would get people who don’t have lungs full of fluid. So, I was pretty proud of her for not letting a minor setback like bacterial pneumonia keep her from having a good time. Ok, this post is getting way long so I am going to end it now before next Labor Day rolls around. Sass, I’ve been listening to Mother Mother and will let you know what I think in my next post. Take care, faithful readers, until then.
posted by john at 8:39 AM
9 Comments:
Wow, that looked like an amazing experience! Sometimes I slip into this place where I think of the US as a collection of cities and towns, and forget about how much gorgeous and diverse landscape you have protected on your side of the border (it's kind of the anti-Canada stereotype... where we are all igloos and moose and trees and lakes, right?).
The buffalo part seemed especially awe inspiring. I would have loved to have seen them. Maybe someday...
Wait, I thought Canada was just a bunch of hockey rinks surrounded by permanent fan villages...
You're right. While the US gets a lot of (deserved) knocks for all of its over-consumption of natural resources, we do actually have a significant commitment to conservation and protection. A huge part of my goal to visit all of the US national parks has to do with what you mentioned. By committing to visit these places, I will expose myself to quite a diverse sample of the beauty that is within my own country, whether it be an Arizona desert, a Maine seacoast, or a Florida swamp. It will also force me to visit and appreciate places that I would have never even considered going to before (like Texas, which has two parks). Of course, I also want to travel around the globe as well so if I want to accomplish either of those two goals, I better start figuring out how to get rich pretty quickly...
hi john
i haven't read this post yet, i'm just between appointments and can't pay attention yet... though i will.
but i wanted to stop by and thank you for the sentiments you expressed on my blog. i've never wanted to kiss someone i've never met more than i do right now.
thank you sir, you'll eased a little some of the nausea caused by that mess...
Watch out now! My wife reads this blog and I can get in trouble with comments like that...
But you're welcome. All that vitriol needed some diffusion. And I meant what I said.
btw - I'm digging the new avatar
Hey John... I've upped my privacy settings on my blog so that only people I choose can read the blog. Send me an email to
SLG.sweetlilgal.gmail.com if you want me to add you. I need to add email addresses to give you the "invite".
Hope all is well!!!
Those mules didn't challenge you to a duel? I can see it now.
You're arm is off.
No it isn't Its just a scratch.
lsd i'm glad i'm not the only one picturing duelling burros...
john how about a kiss on the cheek then? :)
seriously, that helped a lot that comment you made and don't for a second think it didn't... and yeah even the defending me comments were sorta unpleasant and the dilution was incredibly well timed :)
2-0 my overtime team following football brother. 2-0
Nope, no donkey duel. Which is good because, one, I don't think the state park would have been happy to find out that I smuggled in my broadsword, and two, the girls might have been a little freaked out by a pack of legless mules. Instead, I think for the burros it was a matter of will. As in "how long will they keep feeding us if we surrounded them in the road and didn't move." Eventually another group came and when the donkeys went over to see what they had to offer, we were finally able to make our escape...
Sass- it's no problem, and again, I meant what I said.
LSD- Dude, I about flipped out when Janakowski's second kick boinked the upright. I couldn't believe it. Of course, the Broncos shouldn't have given up a 17-point lead in the first place, but that's beside the point... And how about those undefeated Lions? The've got a better record than the Bears right now... could there be a division title in the future????
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