We were up early for breakfast at the hotel and then loaded onto the coach for a big touring day. The temperature is much cooler this morning after last night’s storm and the cold front which passed through. Also, a pretty stiff wind was blowing. Marilyn explained that one of the reasons for Rapid City being such a clean city is that the wind blows all of the trash down into Nebraska.

We headed down to the Black Hills, which were apparently so named due to their dark appearance from a distance caused by their cover of Ponderosa pines. Several areas in the hills have suffered large forest fires, and the pine bark beetle infestation has also caused damage, although what we saw of the beetle problem did not look as bad as we have seen, say, near Big Sky, Montana.

Our first stop of the day was at the Mt Rushmore National Memorial, and we got there fairly early before the crush of other tourists arrived. It was with this remarkable backdrop that Marilyn’s husband took our group photo.

Of course everyone knows about the huge carvings of four of our presidents, and it is indeed an impressive sight. The carvings have stirred up a lot of controversy over the years, mainly due to claims of sacred territory by the Indians. Nevertheless, they continue to be a major tourist draw and may be among the most recognizable sculptures in the world. The carvings would never have come into being without the efforts of the sculptor, Gutzon Borglum, and his bust is displayed on the walkway up to the viewing area.

Leaving Mt. Rushmore we took a short drive to the Crazy Horse Memorial. This enormous sculpture was the brainchild of Korczak Ziolkowski, and he started work there in 1948. His wife and now their children have continued with the effort ever since. No public funds have been accepted to pay for this work, and obviously there is still a long way to go. Maybe the grandchildren will take over and see it to completion. It looks to me like an exercise in futility.

Next we drove a little further south to the community of Hot Springs for a nice lunch at Woolly’s. Afterwords, we took a short walk up the hill to The Mammath Site, which was a big surprise to most of us. This was the site of a big sinkhole about 20,000 years ago, a lethal trap for over 50 mammoths – both woolly and Columbian — and for various other ice age creatures. The site features an excellent video describing how the sinkhole came into existence and how it was discovered. We then had a tour of the sinkhole dig itself. The Mammoth Site is a fascinating place and should not be missed if you are in southwestern South Dakota.

Next we drove back up through Wind Cave National Park and then through Custer State Park. While the two parks abut each other, the two parks are managed quite differently. The national park is left completely alone, while the wildlife in the state park is carefully managed. As we traveled through the parks, we saw many bison and pronghorns. In the state park we also enjoyed the antics of released burros, which are persistent beggars of the tourists passing through.

We made it back to the hotel for dinner and a short night’s rest, packing up for an early departure on the morrow.