Friday in the Black Hills started with a nice warm and sunny day and we were ready to do some exploring. There are many places to go and many ways to get there... most of them are very curvy and hilly.
Our first stop was Sylvan Lake. It was a little overcast, so the photos didn't completely catch the beauty of the place.
We entered the NW gate to Custer State Park and paid $11 and it is good for 7 days. There's many curves and turns in the road and some very narrow bridges. We were glad not to have the RV.
This is called Needles and the Eye of the Needle.
We drove through Custer City and headed out toward Jewel Cave. We were about 40 miles from Wyoming by the time we got there. We found a place to park and went up to the booth and found that the cave tours were already booked up. We were pretty bummed.
We headed on down the road and saw these long horned cattle. There were also some buffalo, but we saw them too late to get a photo.
The Indians commissioned Korczak Ziokowski to sculpt Crazy Horse on the side of the mountain in 1948. He did some of the work on Mt. Rushmore before that. You can learn more about the man and the whole story on the Internet, but needless to say, we were very impressed with what they are doing there without any Federal Funds. He has died, but his wife, sons and daughters are continuing with the dream.
Before Korczak died, he sculpted the scale model below and left direction on how to blast off the rest of the mountain. Just for scale, Mt. Rushmore's heads would fit in the area behind the finished face.
This was a picture inside the museum with the finished outlined overlaid. It's been 68 years in the making, so far.
The family has done an amazing job of honoring the Indian Tribes of America with the museum and buildings they are caretakers of. It was $11 each or $28 for a car load and we felt it was well worth the price. We took the guided tour and spent a couple of hours enjoying the Indian Culture Displays.
We drove on down through the Park and stopped to enjoy the Stockade Lake
And a very secluded Center Lake with a nice beach.
We cut back up toward Hill city along this road that had several tunnels.
And the Needle and Cathedral peaks.
We made it in to Hill City about 1/2 hour before the Alpine Inn opened for their evening meal. It's a very unique and fun place that has three items on their menu. Small Fillet, Large Fillet or Parmigiana. The Fillet was wonderful!!!
By the time we got back to our RV in east Rapid City, we had traveled 212 miles and much of it was on cut backs doing 20 mph!
Hope this finds you all well and enjoying your summer!
Blessings,
Kathy
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