Mount Rushmore National Monument, Wind Cave National Park, and Iron Mountain Road

 9.1.2023

Rapid City, SD

Mileage: Only the truck moved today.

                                                

We started with breakfast on the Blackstone Griddle.  I found a recipe on Pinterest for Cinnamon Pancakes.  They were yummy with some turkey sausage.  Mount Rushmore was our first destination of the day.

The first views of Rushmore can be seen from the road driving up the mountain.

After parking we walked into the monument.

The man who created the plan for the mountain has a bust here carved by his son.

A list of all of the workers on the project.  Amazing that no one perished during its creation.

The Virginia Flag.

We went into the visitor's center and watched the movie.

Then we walked the Presidential Trail.

At the Sculptor's Studio we listened to a ranger talk.  We learned how workers used the 1/12 scale model to create the monument by using a device with a compass, a ruler, and a plumbob.

This is one of the swings workers used to reach the faces.  They were suspended down over the mountain in this.  They were only held in by a belt around their waists.

Driving out we saw Washington's profile.

We drove to Custer for lunch.  We had great burgers at Burgers and Buns.  It was very hot, but we walked a bit in town.

Wind Cave National Park was our next stop.  We went knowing that the elevator down into the cave was broken.  The visitor's center was interesting though.  We chatted with a ranger and learned that there are 168 miles of discovered caves to this point all below one square mile.

The hole below is the only natural opening into the caves.  Sometimes the air is sucked into the cave and sometimes it blows out.  When we were there it was blowing out chilly air.

A map of the discovered cave.  It is on many levels.  The different colors signify different depths.

We then drove the Wildlife Loop.  We only saw bison and prairie dogs.  The scenery was beautiful though.

On our way back to Rapid City, SD we drove through Custer State Park again.  This time we drove Iron Mountain Road.  

We saw a deer.

On a clear day this road has great views of Mount Rushmore.  Today our view looked like this. Bummer.

There are three tunnels on this drive two of which frame Mount Rushmore.  Unfortunately, it was too smoky to see it today.

Pigtail turns, more hairpins, and a few steep grades and we were back in Rapid City for the evening.  Comet was a very good boy while we were gone and was very happy to see us when we got home.