South Dakota Road Trip - Day 6 - The Rest

This is part 3 of a 3-part post about the 6th day of our trip.  See part 1 here and part 2 here.


Let's see...where did we leave off?  Oh yes: it was 1pm and Todd and I had just returned to the cabin after our hike up Harney Peak (now known as Black Elk Peak.

We got out the sandwich stuff and Mom, Todd, Shirley and I sat down for lunch.  After our sandwiches and chips we cleaned up and got in the car - the plan was to spend our last day in Custer driving around the park.

A map of the park

A little larger

Iron Mountain Road (US 16A) is an especially beautiful drive for it's famous pigtail bridges, tunnels framing views of Mount Rushmore, and the sections of one-way, single lane roads that wind and dance through the trees.

We first drove over to Keystone then south down 16A before cutting west to go back to the new visitor center.

We didn't take many pictures along the way as we just wanted to enjoy the drive.  However we did stop a few times at designated parking areas.  This one provided a view of nearby Mount Rushmore.

Another shot through the trees

One thing about road trips - they add a lot of used-to-be-bugs to your front bumper, grill and windshield.

At the visitor center we watched the short (but excellent) Kevin Costner-narrated IMAX film "Spirit of Tatanka" about the park, then turned drove back east a short way and turned south onto the Wildlife Loop Road.

While we saw many, many prairie dogs (so many prairie dogs) along the way, we didn't see much other wildlife until near the end of the loop.  We did see some great scenery though, and several cyclists being trailed by the bicycle rental van.  We mentally added "rent bicycles" to our list of things to do for next time.

Fall colors were coming in all over the park

A solitary pronghorn

Getting bigger.  The famous "begging burros" of the park.  Greedy and cute, but the park is famous for bigger animals...where are they?... 

At last, there they are.  On the slope behind the trees are hundreds of the park's approx. 1300 head of buffalo.  It was gratifying to see them, though we certainly would have preferred for them to be closer to the road.  Oh well, "where the buffalo roam" and all that...

Zoomed-in a little

We finished with the Wildlife Loop then continued to Legion Lake.  Legion Lake's water level was surprisingly low, so we only stopped briefly for the nearby restroom before heading back to the cabin.

Since it was our last night in Custer State Park we were doing it up right for dinner:  hot dogs roasted over a fire followed by s'mores.  Yum!

The general store by Sylvan lake sells bundles of firewood, but there was already pieces of wood (and old beer cans in the pit) at our campsite from a previous occupant.  We piled the wood in the fire pit and Todd got the fire going using the ample amount of dried pine needles on the ground for kindling.  Mom and Shirley found the sticks that we would use for skewers, stripped them down, and got the food ready.  Then Shirley and I tended the fire until it was ready.

Firestarter (in a good way)

Good times!

Now, unfortunately, we come to a sad part in our tale.  While getting the fire going we discovered a mouse huddled beside the fire pit.  He was really cute, but could barely keep his eyes open - like he was really tired; it was clear that something was seriously wrong with him.  He didn't run away and just shuffled around a little when prodded (very gently) with a stick (not a hot dog stick).  Shirley made a little nest of pine needles and set some food in front of him, but he didn't eat.  We left him alone for the rest of the night and in the morning found that he had expired.  Poor little guy.

Mr. Squeakers isn't looking too hot, even though he's by the fire pit

Little guy just wants to be left alone

We did what we could for the mouse, which wasn't much, then the fire was ready and we enjoyed our delicious hot dogs followed by ooey-gooey toasted marshmallows and s'mores.  It was the perfect meal to end our Custer State Park adventure!  After everyone had their fill we doused the fire and made sure it was completely out before turning in for the night, because as Smokey the Bear says:  "Only YOU can prevent forest fires."

What a great day it had been.  The next morning we would pack up and start the journey home.  I'll post about it soon.