Day 2 South Dakota Black Hills

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We were up early as we are still trying to adjust to crossing another time zone. We spent the morning exploring the Black Hills north of our campground. The Black Hills are a granite that are dark in colour but can reflect the light to look more like silver . They are called hills but in Nova Scotia they would be mountains. The drive has lots of twists turns, ups and downs. The cliffs have dense outcroppings of tall straight ponderosa pine. Along this route there are lots of mountain streams and some waterfalls. Francois would love the fishing spots in this area. We visited the historic mining town of Deadwood. The buildings on the cobblestone streets date back to the mid 1800’s. It had a rowdy reputation in its early days and still has lots of saloons and gambling. We took a drive through Spearfish Canyon Scenic Biway. It was an amazing drive between steep canyon walls.





We spent the afternoon in the southern part of the Black Hills. We visited the Crazy Horse Monument. It is a partially completed mountain statue in memory of all American Indians. The sculpture was blasted out of the pegmatite granite mountain (like Mt Rushmore). This was a dream of one man and was not funded by the government. After 70 years only the face of crazy horse is complete. It is 87 feet tall. The original sculpture’s children are continuing the project and work on it every day. They are currently working on Crazy Horses hand and the horse’s mane. They have no idea when the sculpture will be completed. The entire carving is planned to be 563 feet high and 641 feet long. We also visited the picturesque town of Custer named after General Custer. Going to relax around the campfire tonight and get ready for tomorrow’s adventure.

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Photos

Crazy Hore Monument
Being worked daily.