Wandering and Pondering: Black Hills South Dakota

On Tuesday, Aug 29th, we weighed anchor and set sail on a southeast course for the Black Hills in South Dakota. It was about 120 miles, or about a 2 hour 15 minute drive. We have reservations at Rafter J Bar Ranch. Rafter J is a huge mountain resort set on a ranch in the Black Hills.

They have five different areas separated by meadows and trees, so you have "glamping" amenities (water, electric, sewer), but a "camping" feel (grass, meadows, trees, space, fire pit). In my mind, this is a happy compromise between an average RV park and a campground. It gives us the comforts of home, but the feel of being more connected to the outdoors.

We are there for four days and use it as our basecamp (or baseglamp?), as we explore the Black Hills area.

Right at the edge of the property is the Mickelson trail. The Mickelson trail is a beautiful 109 mile long, crushed limestone and gravel trail that runs through national forest lands, thru towns and tunnels and over old railroad bridges.
I was very impressed with it and would love to go back and spend some time checking out the entire trail.

The picture at left is one of the entry points for the trail at the base of the Rafter J Bar ranch.

Tank and I did a nice easy walk/jog... maybe a 'waog' or a 'jolk'...of about 5 miles while Wendy rode along on her bike.

Thursday, the 31st, we headed off to see Mount Rushmore. Both Wendy and I had mixed feelings about Mount Rushmore. Let me explain. On one hand, I can appreciate it for the following reasons: 1) a sculptor, with a relatively small group of people helping him, could create a sculpture of such size and likeness is an amazing feat. It is an awesome spectacle, and 2) it honors four men that were integral to the creation of our country and, more importantly, were strong and effective advocates for the constitutional ideals that our country is based on.

Here, though, is where I have trouble with it: 1) the original idea, by a local named Doane Robinson, was to sculpt an area in South Dakota called the "Needles" into likenesses of famous people as a way of bringing tourism and money to the area. It was a money making idea. Even the decision of who was to be honored came later. 2) As Wendy and I have traveled thru much of South Dakota - Devils Tower, the Black Hills, we became aware that much of this area was considered sacred to many Native American peoples that were here before us. The Native American people believed that the earth is their spiritual mother, and as such, the land, trees and rocks were all to be shown ultimate respect. Not only did we kill thousands of Native Americans and take away their sacred land, we dynamited and defaced strikingly beautiful, sacred mountains into symbols of the country that did it.

Some people would consider the act of questioning an American icon like Mount Rushmore blasphemous and un-American, but I think it's the opposite. Isn't free speech and the ability to question our government one of the founding ideals that Washington, Lincoln, Jefferson and Roosevelt stood for?

Lastly, my personal belief is that we should appreciate things just as God or (if you prefer) mother nature created it.

I'll climb down off of my soap box, so we can continue our journey. We leave Mount Rushmore and head down to a very cool historic town of Keystone. While there, we decide to have lunch at Jane's Boardwalk Pizza. I have to say this was one of the best pizzas I've ever had. This pizza was loaded with toppings and cheese and neither of us could eat more than two slices, but man it was good!

We roll down the Keystone boardwalk and pour ourselves back into our car. We decide to take a long, scenic ride home - Hwy 16a. Hwy 16a is famous for scenic views, one way tunnels and 'pigtail' bridges.