September 29 and 30, 2009 Mt. Rushmore, Norbeck Scenic Byway, Custer State Park

September 29, 2009

First thing this morning we went back up to Mt. Rushmore to get some pictures in more favorable light. Hope you like these better!

The Approach

Closer

One More Step

Through the Arch

The Monument

Of course there were interesting things not made of stone on the Monument grounds!

Mountain Goats!

Following our morning visit to Mt. Rushmore, we drove the Peter Norbeck Scenic Byway. See lots of details about the Byway here. Read more about Peter Norbeck here.

While there is a lot of beautiful and impressive scenery which we will get to in a minute, one of the fascinating aspects of the Byway is the use of "pigtail bridges" to traverse the steep mountainsides using a minimum of land to do it.

Click to enlarge, then read all about the bridges.

Here's a video of our ride under, around, and over a pigtail bridge and immediately into a tunnel.


Here's the view as we exited the tunnel (it did not come through in the video):

The white object at the end of the tree clearing is the four faces of the Mt. Rushmore Monument!

Another outstanding aspect of the Byway is the trip through the "Needles", the sharp rock peaks that crown the mountains here.

This formation is The Needles (sic) Eye.

Our timing was perfect. We got to see the sun pass through the Needles Eye!

Here's the tunnel we had to go through to get to the Needles Eye.

It is just about as small as it looks -- no large vehicles here!

Not all the Byway scenery is exciting. Some is just idyllic.......

Sylvan Lake, Peter Norbeck Scenic Byway, Needles Road

The Byway led us to Custer State Park, where we found these friendly guys.

Part of a herd of Wild Burros in Custer State Park

And the Fall colors are coming on.

Someone has to be first!

Trees outline the stream in the valley.

And we did return to Mt. Rushmore for the nightly Lighting Ceremony. The dark and lights made it hard to get good pictures, but here are two that will give you the idea.

Through the State Flag Walk

While the Armed Services Veterans from the crowd participate in the flag lowering ceremony, the Monument comes to life.

So now you know why I was so tired last night!

September 30, 2009

Travel (only) day. US16 from Hill City to I-90 at Rapid City. East on I-90 to Sioux Falls, SD. 386 miles.

High wind all day. 25-30 mph with gusts to 40 mph. From the southeast, so we were driving into it all day. Kind of like driving an old car with very loose steering -- exciting sometimes! Took our fuel economy down from 7.5 mpg to 5.4 mpg!

Did get to stop at the big Cabela's in Mitchell, SD. Better, we managed to walk out without buying anything!

Sorry, but no pictures. Didn't see anything worth the effort. Increased our understanding of why South Dakotans are so enamored of the Black Hills -- quite a difference!

Our plan for tomorrow is in a state of flux. Tune it tomorrow to see what we do!

Love to you all,

MMG and DDG