Posts Tagged South Dakota
Whew! We Just Missed the SD Blizzard
Wall, SD, Oct. 4
Well, maybe not “just missed” but we were in Wall, SD 18 days ago and the temperature was in the low 80’s. Today there’s a blizzard covering the entire Black Hills and I-90 is closed between Wall and Sheridan, WY a stretch we drove as late as September 12.
Related articles
- Snow buries SD, Wyo., as storms threaten Midwest (themorningsun.com)
- I-90 Blizzard Hammers S. Dakota, Wyoming (theepochtimes.com)
Spearfish Canyon
Since we only had a 400-mile drive today to get to Bozeman, MT, we decided to spend a bit of time in the morning driving the Spearfish Canyon scenic byway, a twenty-mile stretch due south of Spearfish. It was still another lovely drive along Spearfish Creek with views of the steep canyon walls and numerous waterfalls. It made for a very relaxing start to the day and we ended up spending well over two hours in the Canyon. Here’s a very short video of some of our photos.
Roughlock Falls
A Special Day–Wild Horses
We weren’t sure what to expect as we made the drive to Hot Springs, SD and the Black Hills Wild Horse Sanctuary. What a marvelous experience. It was just Trisha and me as our guide, Mark, drove us over hundreds of acres of the sanctuary to see some of the beautiful mustangs running free on the vast grasslands. Some of these magical animals were curious and tame enough that they approached us and we could pat their gorgeous snouts and feed them handfuls of grass. It was just so cool to see hundreds of horses living completely free. Here’s a short video…
Custer State Park; Needles Highway
A day of leisure driving. We stopped back at Mt. Rushmore to spend a bit more time at the inside exhibit. Then off to Custer State Park, the Iron Mountain Road with its Pigtail Bridges, the Needles Highway and the Wildlife Loop.
Needles Highway tunnel
Badlands National Park
We zipped out of the Cambria Suites early this morning to maximize our time at Badlands. We did the traditional stop at Wall Drugs where I had mammoth pancakes for breakfast. Yummy! The rest of the day we cruised around Badland National Park stopping countless times for photographs although the overcast sky wasn’t optimal for picture taking.
Mt. Rushmore & Bear Country
After struggling, believe it or not, to find a Starbuck’s for a latte to start the day we spent the morning visiting Mount Rushmore. What a fabulous setting. It was more impressive than I remember as a ten-year-old over 50 years ago. From the famous monument we drove a bit through Custer State Park then stopped off at Bear Country USA, one of those drive-through wild-life parks. It was very cool: in addition to dozens of bears we saw elk, big horn sheep, a wolf, mountain goats, pronghorn sheep, reindeer, bobcats, et al., all very close up.
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