Saturday, Aug 8 - Mount Rushmore and Devil's Tower

We awoke to great stories of valor in the face of adversity, but once again the skies threatened. After a quick breakfast, we tore down and loaded up just in time to avoid another steady downpour. We drove on to Wall, SD for some supplies, coffee, etc. while the rain continued. From there we headed to Rapid City, then south to Mt Rushmore. By the time we arrived there around 9:30, the skies were clear blue, and the temperature had cooled quite a bit. Wow, what a change! We did a walking tour underneath the presidents, then back to the car and on to nearby Horsethief Lake for some drying out and a spot of lunch – hot dogs on the sidewalk near the lake. It had no real beach or even a picnic area to speak of, at least from where we parked. We couldn’t stray far because we had stuff laying all over to dry out. As I was about to throw out the weiney water soup that was left, I thought it might be interesting to add some powdered lemonade mix to see what it might taste like. Just like Gatorade, it was salty, but didn’t taste bad at all. We passed the broth around as if it was some sort of initiation ritual that all must participate. Some did, some didn’t. But, not a drop of the weiney water soup was wasted! Yum!

Mount Rushmore and Horse Thief Lake photos - click for more

Gary and Maggie drove the "Gear Daddy Caddy" on to Devil’s Tower to ensure us a campsite and dry out some tents, while the rest of us took the "Chuck Wagon" on a slower, more scenic route up to Lead, SD for a beautiful drive through Spearfish Canyon, with Spearfish Creek pretty much running the length of it. Early on the creek was running as strong as any river, but by the time we reached Spearfish, SD the creek was pretty much dry. Where did all the water go? It was nice, but we could see rain clouds forming again. Rather than take the interstate to get to Devil’s Tower, we headed north to Belle Fourche, SD, west to Hulett, WY (we could see Devil’s Tower by this time), then the 10 miles south to Devil’s Tower National Monument. Wow, I had never seen it before, and I couldn’t believe how surreal it actually looked, just sitting there in the middle of flat eastern Wyoming, surrounded by its own debris field of rock columns that had fallen off its sides over the millennium. Unbelievable, really!

Gary and Maggie had a group site reserved for us, and when we arrived we had to set up our tents ahead of another threatening rain storm. Sure enough, we got set up just in time and waited out the rain in our tents or the vehicles. After 20 minutes of rain (and a 20 degree drop in temperature) we drove to the base parking lot for the 1.5 mile walk around the base of the tower. True to the pattern we had been experiencing, the skies cleared to a crystal clear blue. After our walk we headed back to camp for dinner. We were disappointed to hear that they had both a fire ban and even a charcoal ban going on (what?? With all this rain?), but we had our handy Coleman stove. Still, we hadn’t had a campfire the whole trip. That didn’t stop me and Michael from breaking out our guitars and singing some songs while dinner was prepared, and more singing once dinner was complete. Being our days were very full, we were always eating dinner by lamplight or dorklight (my wife’s pet name for my headlamp). We were a bit nervous that the guitar and singing continued past 10 pm, but it turns out that our nearest neighbors were enjoying the music along with us, so we needn't have worried. Soon after, our voices straining from the constant singing (and our ears aching from the bombardment), we called it a night. It was quite cool that night – I do believe it was one of the coldest nights of the trip.


Devils Tower photos - click for more