The Black Hills of South Dakota

 Tanyán yahí

Welcome from the Lakota nation.

 

The night before we left Theodore Roosevelt National Park, the same night I had to tell Dave the low tire light was on, I had a hard time unwinding after the music and dancing at the Medora Musical. I decided to take a walk to make my brain turn off. (Haha, I know some of you think my brain is always off. But it's actually the carefully cultivated art of daydreaming.)

It was dark. Really dark. I usually check out the stars to see what's showing, and Wow! It was incredible! There were so many stars thanks to the low level of light pollution in North Dakota. I happened to be facing south as I left the camper, and there it was! The Milky Way! I moved beyond the camper to follow the path of this incredible display, and was able to see the spread of the galaxy from horizon to horizon. That was a first, and also a check mark for my bucket list. A coyote howled, and I decided it was time to hit the hay.

The next day we drove into South Dakota to enjoy the many highlights of the Black Hills in the southern and western parts of that state. It was a tad sad leaving western North Dakota. It was a ruggedly handsome land, manly with rocks, minerals, and packed dirt. I felt a kinship with Theodore Roosevelt and his desire to protect the land, wildlife, and culture in the Dakotas. 

So, what makes the Black Hills, uh, black? Glad you asked. The tall hills in western South Dakota rise abruptly from the tan and yellow of the rolling grasslands and prairie which cover the eastern part of the state. These hills are covered with Ponderosa Pine and Spruce trees, which give the hills a dark, almost black appearance, especially from a distance. 

Devil’s Tower: Our Nation’s First National Monument

I was eager to see yet another spectacular vista: Devil’s Tower in Wyoming. My BFF, Janice, told me, “If you’ve seen one rock you’ve seen them all.” Not so with this hunk of a rare type of igneous rock. While serving as our 26^th president, Roosevelt proclaimed Devil’s Tower and over 1,000 surrounding acres our first country’s first national monument. Many native Americans still visit the tower, or Bear Lodge as the tower is known, to participate in sacred ceremonies.  Not just any old rock!

Devil's Tower, Wyoming

Rising 867 feet from its base, the top of the monument is over 5,000 feet above sea level. Rock climbers frequent the tower for a challenging climb, and we viewed a few of them on the face of the tower from the binocular viewers near the visitor center.

A rock climber on Devil's Tower

There are two trails that encircle the monument, one being paved for accessibility purposes, but dogs were prohibited on any of the trails, so we decided to make this a quick stop and head on to South Dakota.

Custer State Park, South Dakota

After leaving Devil's Tower we headed to our campground, Custer State Park, near the small town of... Custer. Kristi stayed at the Roost Resort, so named because her cabin was right next to a chicken pen with a - you guessed it- rooster. She just couldn't catch a break with the critters and her cabins.

This largest of all the state parks in South Dakota was our home for the next three days. Five historic lodges, along with their accompanying (non-historic) campgrounds are spread throughout the Black Hills area. Located mostly in the center of the sights in which we were interested, it was the perfect base camp. 

I must admit, I'm really taken with this pretty area, and even saved a QR code to apply for a campground host position. Dave, since you are just hearing about this for the first time, don't panic. It was a spur of the moment decision, and one I probably will never act on. Maybe. Never say never. 

We saw a lot of deer and bison in this area, and oh yeah, prairie dogs. 

The deer were in the same area along the road.
So we probably saw the same 4 deer 8 times.

The recommendation is to stay 2 bus-lengths away from bison at all times.
So what do you do if...

Barn swallow nest near the restroom doors.
Mama dive-bombed campers at their most needy moment.

Wind Cave National Park

Each native nation has its own “emergent” story – the story of how that tribe came to be. The Lakota who inhabited this area of the Black Hills were no different. Their emergent story is directly linked to “Maka Oniye” – breathing earth, or Wind Cave. 

Paisley, our Lakota park ranger guide, showed us a hole going down into the rock. This hole exchanges air in the cave below with surface air by barometric pressure. If the air pressure outside is higher than that of the air in the cave, air is sucked into the hole, to equalize the air pressure. If the pressure outside is lower than that of the air in the cave, air comes out of the hole, again, to equalize the air pressure. Just like our mustard bottle. It was closed at Ocala’s air pressure, but when it was opened at 3800 feet, the air inside whooshed out (along with some mustard) to even out the inside and outside pressures. Same with the ketchup and mayo. And shampoo, conditioner, and body wash. Back to the story.

I was expecting stalactites and stalagmites in the cave, but Paisley pointed out two new-to-me features: popcorn and boxwork.

Popcorn is a type of mineral deposit that resembles bumpy, white popped kernels of popcorn. In Wind Cave, rich mineral water drips out of the limestone cave walls, and then evaporates. The calcite mineral is left behind. 

Can you see the popcorn in the upper part of the photo?

Imagine turning Amazon boxes upside down and gluing the bottoms to the ceiling. The flaps are hanging down, forming a grid-like system of thin cardboard.  Boxwork resembles this. It is formed by water, evaporation, and erosion. This feature looks like a crisscrossing grid of thin wafer “growing” on the top and side walls of the cave. The wafers are made of calcite.

Wind Cave has more boxwork than all other caves combined.
In the entire world!

Some of the passages inside were a bit narrow and low. We were instructed to pass the word back if we were at a low clearance area. Unfortunately, no one in front of Dave had a height problem, so he had to keep an eye out. Or up. 

Squeeze through!

Dave wishes the tour was less rushed. There were only a few areas large enough to accommodate our group, and these were the spots the ranger spoke about the upcoming two or three features. A lot was lost by not having the explanation johnny-on-the-spot.

A few other fun moments on the Wind Cave trip:

A coyote on a hill as we drove by.

Greenish black hills as opposed to the rock of the badlands we just left.

Ubiquitous Black-tailed Prairie Dog

Crazy Horse Memorial

What an incredible undertaking! A massive memorial to Crazy Horse, the chief who led his people to victory against Custer at Little Big Horn. The face alone, at 87 feet, is larger than Mt. Rushmore's presidents heads (60 feet). There is no timeline for completion, as this project accepts no federal funds; progress is dependent on donations and private grants.

The sculptor, Korczak Ziolkowski, was an assistant on the Mount Rushmore project, and after a confrontation that included a fistfight, he left that project. Lakota chiefs asked him to make a sculpture that would honor Crazy Horse. 

Ziolkowski's concept of the Crazy Horse Memorial

After Ziolkowski's death, his wife, children, and grandchildren continue the work.

Wall Drug

A visit to the Black Hills area is not complete without a visit to the iconic Wall Drug. Now taking up an entire block of the town of Wall, plus more real estate for parking, this roadside  destination once gained customers by offering free ice water. They still offer this service, along with 5¢ coffee. 

The history of the store, the Hustead family's struggle to make a go of it in Wall, and other interesting area history, can be found on the Wall Drug website. https://www.walldrug.com/about-us/

Mount Rushmore

Ah, you'll have to read the next blog to hear about this. Stay tuned!