Burdenofglory’s Weblog

Sylvan Lake was my favorite spot in the Black Hills.  Absolutely gorgeous.  Because we camped in Custer State Park, and it took forever to travel on Needles Highway, we only made it to Sylvan Lake twice.  It was worth every hairpin turn.

Katherine, Grandma and I hiked around the lake while everyone else stayed behind to rest and wade in the water.  We discovered a waterfall, steps cut into the stone, and several lookouts to drink in.

My younger kids just love to get their feet wet.

We admired the Cathedral Spires from afar, and Marcus found a trail in them on the trail map.  The brochure said the hike was “strenuous.”  I wasn’t sure about this level of hike with Grandma and all the kiddos, but Marcus was.

Maddie, Ashley and I made it to the end first.  I suppose it was a bit strenuous, based on the moans I heard on the way up.  But it was all worth it.  Side note:  Maddie’s magnificent scrapes came from running her scooter into a camper, not the hike.

Rebecca found so many cool rocks on the hike, her pockets were full of treasure.  Her pants were falling down by the end.  Elastic has its merits, but holding up pockets of rocks isn’t one of them.

The wildflowers were noteworthy, and reminded me of foliage in the Rockies.

Streams and ferns abounded.  Notice Rebecca’s healthy, red cheeks?

Finally, the Needles Highway’s namesake:  The Needle.  See the hole where you stick your thread?  The first time we drove through here, it was so congested we couldn’t even stop to check in out.  So we went back.

If your kids get whiny on the trip, which is a given, you can put them in “time out” under the needle.  Handy.

Wind Cave was alright for a cave, but I remember Jewel Cave being more majestic on our previous trip.

When we were in Fort Robinson, the camp host told us to stop at the Purple Pie Palace in Custer.  It wasn’t too hard to find.

When you stop in for pie and ice cream, take a moment to capture your likeness with the purple pig.  Then your trip will be complete.

You can’t forget Mount Rushmore!  That would be sacrilegious.  Or not.  But everyone needs to see it once.  I’ve seen it twice, but the first time doesn’t count because my kids were little and all I remember is exhaustion.  And Maddie’s shoulder going out of joint.  Eeeww.

When you look at a map, everything seems pretty close.  But these are mountain roads.  There is barely room for 2 cars to pass one another, especially if one is a Suburban.  You spend a day driving to Mount Rushmore, tooling around, and driving back.

The view from Needles Highway is fantastic, but don’t expect to drive over 35 miles per hour.

When you get to Mount Rushmore, you can pose your kids to look like the presidents.

Or you can take super-close up shots of the faces while you hike around.

I like the pine trees in this one – they look like Teddy’s mutton chops.

On the hike you also go through Borglum’s studio, and hear how he created Mount Rushmore.  It is quite an engineering feat.  The studio includes the scaled model on which he based his sculpture.  Marcus especially liked this part.  The talk made me squint my eyes, which is my reaction to an idea that forces my mind to think spatially.  Painful.  The only part I remember is that Borglum used Egyptian pyramid engineering techniques.  Ask Marcus about the rest, if you have enough time.

If Mount Rushmore isn’t enough sculpture for you, head over to the Crazy Horse Memorial.  We didn’t drive in, in part because we felt the $30 fee was exorbitant.  Maddie recorded history in the making right out the Suburban window while driving by at 60 miles per hour.

When you get home from your trip, you can compare your current pictures to the ones you took 11 years ago, or however long it has been.

Kat posted pictures of our Black Hills vacation on her BRAND NEW FACEBOOK account yesterday, and it reminded me that I was really going to do that here eventually.   Maybe.

As far as I can tell, they are called the Black Hills because they are covered in dark evergreens, which makes them look “black” from a distance.  No verification on that.  Just my observation.  Marcus seconded the motion.

I took trillions of pictures, and this will either turn out to be the longest post in history, or I’ll skip a lot, or do installments.  Let’s see…

This was a great vacation.  Here is why:

1.  Wildlife.  Buffalo, which are really bison, but we like “tatonka.”  They were everywhere.

Even though the sign said:

“BUFFALO ARE DANGEROUS – DO NOT APPROACH.”

They let them wander all over – even in our campsite.  I guess it is only dangerous if we approach buffalo, not if they approach us.  Even though they can apparently accelerate to 30 miles per hour in no time.  I took this picture while lying low in the camper.

We found this big boy munching grass in a field.  He was really breathtaking.

We also saw a trillion (this is my new number word, since I hear it all the time associated with national health care) prairie dogs, lotsa deer, and wild donkeys.  I refuse to post pictures of prairie dogs, even though the younger contingent ooo’d and ahhh’d over them excessively.

I forgot to take a picture of  the sign that commanded people not to feed the animals.  You know – they get used to getting fed, then in the winter they kick the bucket when no tourists are there to feed them pb & j’s.  Most people didn’t bother reading the sign before feeding these guys their second breakfasts.

I wasn’t sure where to put Jake, the little neighbor in our campsite.  After formal deliberation, I definitely decided he belonged under “wildlife.”  He obtained a plastic knife from the Crazy Horse gift shop, and proceeded to terrorize the girls with it.  Especially Ashley.

He had the best red rubber fireman boots on.  If I ever have a grandson, I’m buying him some boots just like them.