A bit of familiar territory on our travels today.
And more national parks along the way
We redeemed ourselves this morning and were up to see the sun rise. It was worth it as the shadows jumped across the formations as the sun rose. It was a bit cloudy but worth it nonetheless !
This also gave us an early getaway as we headed for some familier territory from our last tour to the area in 2009. The first part of our drive was through the southern part of the Badlands which is more a wilderness area – but the formations are very similar. We then crossed below the Black Hills and more farming land until we came to Rapid City and onto Keystone – where we had stayed in 2009. We stopped here for some breakfast before our first stop at Mt Rushmore.
Our cabin at Badlands 
Corn fields in the Black Hills ! Who’d have guessed !
We visited Mt Rushmore National Monument back in 2009. With the cold temperatures at the time of that visit we were unable to walk the “President’s Trail” closer to the sculptures due to the icy pathways. This time there is quite a bit of work being undertaken to widen the viewing areas and move back the avenue of state flags – so the access to that trail is now very difficult also. Maybe next time !
The Peter Norbeck National Scenic Byway is another thing we missed on our 2009 tour due to the weather. Thankfully this time we were able to do this drive ! It is South Dakota Highway 87 and part of the route is known as the Needles Highway. It was completed in 1922 and is named after the high granite “needles” it winds among. It passes through two one-way tunnels blasted through sheer granite walls—Iron Creek Tunnel and Needles Eye Tunnel. Owing to the narrow roadway, sharp turns, and low tunnels, the road has very little traffic – other than sightseers – and is a favourite for motorcycle riders.
Car waiting a turn at one of the tunnels 
The “Needles” 
With disruptions the order of the day, our visit to Wind Cave National Park was also curtailed as the elevator used to bring tours up from the bottom of the cave went bung a few days ago and won’t be available until October ! So no cave tour. We did manage to catch an excellent ranger talk which gave quite a bit of information about the discovery of the caves and the local Indian legend of it. The original hole where the cave was found – from the rush of air being expelled – still works today. The “wind” is created from changes in barometric pressure – so some days the “wind” blows out – like today – and other days it “sucks” air into the cave.
Air from the cave blowing out today
Our last stop for the day was the Mammoth Discovery Site in the town of Hot Springs – where we are stopping tonight. Back in 1974, a bulldozer unearthed some huge bones whilst excavating for a planned housing development. Further investigation found more and it turns out this site has the greatest concentration of mammoth remains in the world. As of 2016, the remains of 61 mammoths, including 58 North American Columbian and 3 woolly mammoths had been recovered.
An almost complete skeleton
It is an active paleontological excavation site at which research and excavations are continuing. The area is a prehistoric sinkhole that formed and was slowly filled with sediments during the Pleistocene era. It is believed that the mammoth – and volumes of other species – died by entrapment and ultimate burial within the sinkhole as the surrounding material was too sloped and slippery to get out once they had got in. Many of the bones are so fragile they cannot be moved. Due to the uniqueness of the site they have not fossilised and can almost break under their own weight.
Our hotel was just down the road and we arrived around 4pm. Our dinner option at this end of town was the Woolly Grill and Cellar just up the road. We decided to go “full American” for dinner – in the door at 4.30 to beat the 5pm dinner rush and drive the 100 yards up the road (they don’t do sidewalks very well in some locations). Oh, and I had my baseball cap on for dinner 😂😂 – we like to blend in with the locals !
On to see some of Nebraska tomorrow – our (mainly) last state for this tour !
Today’s Tour Trivia – We have clearly missed the “biggies” in this state – Clark, SD (way to the east of the state) is the Potato Capital of South Dakota and is home to the “world famous” Mashed Potato Wrestling contest !