Die With Memories Not Dreams

Our trip has taken us a few hundred miles west to the town of Custer where we visited Crazy Horse Memorial, Mount Rushmore, and we explored the Custer State Park for lots of wildlife shots!

We did a lot of driving through prairies and hills dotted with ponderosa pines. The landscape changed to forests, ravines and grasslands and was much different from the landscape of the badlands. It’s easy to see why so many animals thrive in this area…creeks, lots of grasses and rocks for climbing; the perfect mix of landscape for Bighorn Sheep, buffalo/bison, coyotes, burros, deer, and pronghorn. We were able to see all of the animals on our various trips along Wildlife Loop Road, the Needles Highway, 16A, and Highway 87. The Bison (or buffalo as people call them) were one of my favorite animals to photograph as they’re the iconic symbol of the west and South Dakota. They are actually bison as buffalo aren’t found in North America but the terms bison/buffalo have been used interchangeably for years so both are often used to describe these majestic animals. They’re actually the heaviest animals in North America…heavier than grizzly bears and bull moose weighing in at 2,000 pounds. So a bison bull weighs about the same as 4 motorcycles!! They can also run up to 45 miles an hour so I photographed them from the car or through the window; venturing outside the car ONLY with my telephoto lens to capture some favorite shots. Here are a few of my favorite shots.

Wildlife Loop Road

Pronghorn

Bighorn Sheep

Burros on Loop Road

Loop Road

Bighorn Sheep

We also took a drive on the Needles Highway which is a 14+ mile road through pine and spruce forests, meadows surrounded by birch trees and rugged granite mountains. The name comes from the needlelike granite formations that are all along the highway. On this highway you’ll pass Sylvan Lake and the Needle’s Eye; a rock formation caused by wind, rain, freezing and thawing. It’s not a road for the faint of heart and RV’s can’t travel the road because of the 3 narrow tunnels that are along the road. We drove it twice in search of wildlife and to enjoy the beautiful scenery along the road.The most striking features of the drive are the Cathedral Spires – which sparked the first inspiration towards carving faces and figures on Mt. Rushmore. Here are some shots from the Needle’s Highway.

Granite spires along the road.

The area is famous for climbing. We didn’t see any climbers though.

Spot of inspiration for Mt. Rushmore

Most of the wildlife we saw weren’t on the Needles Highway but it was still a beautiful pass to explore the landscape. There were lots of hiking trails around the area but time didn’t allow for hikes on this trip. Along the road was the spot where the inspiration for Mount Rushmore can be seen. Don’t be in a hurry on the Needles or Loop Road as this is a familiar sight…

Beautiful sighting of a buffalo/bison herd…

We took a day and went to see Mt. Rushmore and the Crazy Horse Memorial. Crazy Horse is the world’s largest mountain carving and it’s in the Black Hills of South Dakota. The guide said when it’s finished, it will be considered the Eighth Wonder of the World. This memorial is being carved in granite to honor all North American Indians. The creation of the monument is very impressive and a tour bus takes you to the base of the mountain so you can get a better perspective of the actual size of the monument. We also visited the information building to watch a video of the beginning of the creation of the monument. The entire monument will be of Crazy Horse and his horse where as Mt. Rushmore only has the faces on the top of the mountain. The photo below shows the area behind his head which will become his hair when finished. The heads of Mt. Rushmore could all fit inside that hair space which gives you a better perspective of the immense size of the memorial.

Below are more photos of the memorial. The one photo with 3 pictures in it, shows the small scale creation of the monument with the actual “real” monument in the background. (Click on photos to see them larger.)

Scale model and how it will look completed.

Model in foreground and monument in background.

Crazy Horse from the highway.

The monument is 563 feet high and will take up the entire mountain when it’s completed. It’s a symbol for the spirit of all Native Americans. There are 741 steps to the top of the monument and Sculptor Korczak Ziolkowski climbed those steps to the top every time he had to carry tools and equipment to the top. He began working on the monument in 1948 and it depicts Crazy Horse-the Lakota warrior famous for his role in the defeat of Custer at the Battle of Little Bighorn. The monument and surrounding area is very impressive!!

When Gutzon Borglum first began thinking about creating Mt. Rushmore, two qualities were essential to his conception. The monument had to be large to show the importance to civilization of what it commemorated. It was also important to Borglum to represent the spirit and ideals of American political development on a grand scale. Permanence was critical to him as well. Jefferson was supposed to be the first figure on the left but when the carving was begun, it was discovered that there was insufficient rock for the figure to be created there so they blasted away the unfinished face in 1934 and a new start was made to the right of Washington and Washington became the first figure. Partway through the carving of Jefferson in the new location, a major crack was revealed running through the nose at the right-hand nostril. Borglum reset the head five degrees, set it back four feet, and tilted the head 18 inches. You can still see the crack cutting down across the right eye. I got a close up shot to show you the crack!! George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln tell the story of the birth, growth, development and preservation of our country. Combine that with the beauty of the Black Hills and you have an impressive monument!

See the crack??

Profile as seen heading down the mountain.

Off to Glacier National Park and Montana tomorrow. We enjoyed South Dakota!!