We drove through the Black Hills National Forest to get to Custer State park. We were a little weary about getting a campsite in Custer because we had heard that they had booked a lot through the summer already. We stopped in the park office and talked to a really nice ranger who let us know where to try and get a campsite. It was right near the lake, and we were lucky in getting a spot, because the spot we got was beautiful, right near the creek, right by the lake, it was awesome. We got there in the afternoon so we decided to set up shop, have a bite to eat, and drive through the park and check out Mt Rushmore. The drive through the park and through the Black Hills was beautiful, not too windy but there were some spots where you would have to go through a tunnel only one car at a time. It was pretty fun because you got to honk a bunch while driving through. One of the tunnels you drove through the tunnel framed Mt Rushmore perfectly. It was about dusk when we arrived at Mt Rushmore, we knew that we were coming back the next night to see the light show so we just walked around a little bit and took some pictures. When we drove back to our campsite we got stopped on the road by some bison. This was our first encounter with the buffalo and let me tell you there are bigger than you think! They were crossing the road, just meandering across slowly. We were able to get some good photos of them because they were so close. Later after our encounter we talked with a ranger who said that the bison have come pretty accustomed to cars but not really motorcycles, which we found out the next day. The next day when we were driving through the park we encountered some more bison and a motorcycle did not want to wait for the buffalo to cross and when it revved its engine the buffalo sort of charged it. Pretty amazing animals.
We spent the second day in Custer at the lake, the water was cold but Joe and I still got in. We took a trail that looked like it went all the way around the lake, but halfway through we kind of had to make our own trail to get across the lake and back onto the real trail. It was a beautiful day of sunshine and a nice nature walk around the lake. After the day at the lake we BBQ’d early to be able to make it to the light show at Mt Rushmore. When we went back to Mt Rushmore we took the trail that got you as close as you possibly could get to the mountain with the famous carvings on it. Along the trail there were stops to read about each president and sort of why they were chosen to be part of the memorial. After we walked the trail and got some really great shots (or at least we think that they are good) of the four presidents on the mountain of granite, we headed down to the amphitheater to get seats to catch the light show. Before they lit up the mountain a ranger gave some history about the project, the presidents, and also some trivia questions about quotes of the presidents. We learned later after this evening that Mt Rushmore was never actually finished. When the government took over the project they stopped putting money into the project and the sculptures are incomplete. They were originally supposed to be full busts of all four presidents. If you look close enough you can see the top of George Washington’s jacket, but that is it. When you see the scale model of what it was supposed to look like it makes you a little sad that it was never finished. After the show we drove back to our campsite and got ready to leave the next day to see the Crazy Horse Memorial and hopefully get a good steak dinner in Hill City.
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