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Published: September 4th 2009
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What a fabulous day we had today. This morning we headed for the Norbeck National Scenic Byway/Needles highway in Custer state park.
What a gorgeous drive. The road is very steep with lots of hairpin turns and incredible vistas with each turn of the road. Driving through rock tunnels and winding past rock spires, the Needles Highway was labeled impossible when it was constructed in 1919.
It curves and winds through 14 miles of magnificent rock formations called needles. It also has two tunnels blasted through sheer granite walls. These tunnels are less than 13 feet high and 11 feet wide. Owing to the narrow roadway, sharp turns, and low tunnels the vehicles that travel this road are almost exclusively sightseers. There were hundreds of bikers on the road, mostly Harley riders and what a great way it would be to travel this particular road.
Custer State Park covers 71,000 acres. Some areas of the forest have been affected by pine beetles and the battle to control the problem is ongoing. It's home to an abundance of wild life including a herd of 1500 bison which roam freely throughout the park.
We just hit the jackpot as far as seeing
wildlife today. We saw bison, pronghorn, prairie dogs, wild burros (donkey's but they call them burros here), big horn sheep and wild turkey. I was fortunate enough to photograph all but the turkeys.
The burros are not native to the Black Hills. They are descendants from the herd that once carried visitors to the top of one of the peaks. The rides were discontinued years ago and the burros were released into the park where they have become very friendly to the tourists. We pulled over to photograph them and they came right up to the car. One stuck his head right through the car window. Evidently they are very friendly and comfortable around people but I was a little nervous when I could feel his breath on my face. I leaned away from him for safety but also to take his photo. So incredibly cute!!! What a neat experience. The bison were everywhere in the park. We came across one herd beside the road and one silly bison decided to take his afternoon nap right on the road.
I had never seen a prairie dog so inquired at the visitor center for the best place to see them in
the park. We did find them at the areas where they mostly make home but they were way off in the distance. I got out my long lens, mounted the camera on the tripod and took a lot of photos of little tiny specs off across the prairie. I was happy to have seen them at least from a distance. We continued on the road and of course right around the next corner were several at the road side. I deleted all the distance photos from the camera and took a lot of one particular little fellow who I'm sure had been sent out for the day to amuse the tourists. He posed and turned at every angle to show me all sides. Another photo opportunity came when we spotted a group of big horn sheep. I'd wanted to see one because on our previous trips out west they had eluded us. Today, there they were, peacefully grazing on the hillside.
It's hard to put into words what a fabulous day it was. Some days are just magical and everything seems to be right. Well yesterday was one of those. The weather (temp 72 and sunny), the scenery, the wildlife.
It was incredible!! We drove with the windows and the roof open, took it all in and felt so incredibly blessed to be retired, in relatively good health and able to see and do what we were doing.
On the way back to Hill City we passed by Mt Rushmore. We will visit there tomorrow. We had seen Crazy Horse monument on the way into Hill City yesterday. More to come..........
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