The Rock, the Bad and no Ugly

Rocky Mountains National Park is one of the gems of the park system and it gets very busy so going slightly pre season was fun in a number of ways. Having had the winter weather through though, it was more snowy than we anticipated. Being back in nature and forests didn’t disappoint though. Our first hike out to Cub Lake gave us 2 x Moose, numerous Elk, Mule Deer and a Wild Turkey as well as a sore ‘ass’ from a slide on snowpack! RM is also about the views though, the immense snow covered mountains, gorgeous mountain lakes and moody weather. And of course, snow sculptures!

At Sprague Lake we were treated to Osprey diving in for fish which we’d never seen and Bear Lake, frozen still and covered in snow, made for a tricky snowpack hike, being careful where we put our feet. Alberta Falls was another ‘Alice in Wonderland’ type hike in the snow among the trees to a cascading waterfall. The snow melt across the Rocky Mountains was certainly upon us, narrow streams finding the paths of least resistance to hop over and tiny spring flowers everywhere. The weather was ever changing, strong winds blowing the snow off the 13k ft peaks, snow flurries and sunshine.

The park is vast but the best areas are East (the road to the West side is closed until June anyhow) Lumpy Ridge was a great spot to hike, very quiet with lots of birds to close your eyes to and just take it in. The Gem Lake Trail was, like bird song, great for the heart too. A 1077ft elevation climb over 1.7miles over primarily boulders to a lake at 8860ft We were getting Olympics ready with altitude training! Worth it as ever, at the top for a placid lake in a bowl of ‘lumpy rocks’. It reminded us of the rock at Joshua Tree, like dough, all rounded and smooth. Very different to the majestic mountains in other parts.

Sad to move on from Rocky Mountains NP and its nature, we headed north, leaving the mountains behind and moving into prairie lands once again. A pit stop for an explore in Fort Collins, the main campus town for Colorado State Uni we took our lap tops out and joined the students in the cafes… kidding! It has the most brew pubs per head of population, in the US. Maybe all the fields are growing hops? It was such a difference, flat and agricultural, we were in Pawnee National Grassland and as we left Colorado, the long sun shadows gave a stunning warm glow on the grasses. Thankfully no bombs!

The drive into Nebraska was dull to be honest, save for the birds flitting along with us as we travelled. The grassy verges were alive with fluttering and darting, skillfully mastering the high winds across the fields. The journey was typical of high agriculture lands, crops, feed lots and the odd fields of cattle roaming free, they are the lucky ones. Lots of trains carrying, it seems coal or an aggregate, crossing the vista, long snakes of wagons. Nebraska National Forest, where we stayed, is a vast area and was a surprise as it was a forest for a start off, yes the name gave it away! Trees though, when there’d been none, Chadron State Park was Nebraska’s first. 1.1m acres of conservation effort and a historic federal tree nursery to boot. The Bessey Nursery was founded in 1902 and is the oldest seedling nursery, seedlings from there were used to create the worlds largest manmade forest when Bessey convinced The Great Outdoors President as we call him, Roosevelt, to set it aside.

Nebraska to South Dakota was a similar experience, dull but we were in for a treat. Basing ourselves at Rapid City we were able to explore all the wonders of this state to the West (there’s not much in the East!) The Iconic ‘Mount Rushmore’ was a must visit spot, it was there to see in all it’s glory, perched up in the rock face. Although 60ft tall, they’re smaller than we’d imagined, as there’s more ‘scale’ when looking at it, its an incredible feat. Designed and sculpted by Gutzon Borglum, he and his team took 6.5 years to carve the faces, completed in 1941. Originally the plan was for local ‘heroes’ but he insisted that if it was to be a tourist draw it needed to be the 4 presidents who best embodied leadership and talents that underpin the US. There were several conversations we heard about who a ‘fifth’ should be, Barack Obama and Susan B. Anthony were favourites and thankfully, the big T wasn’t getting a look in on that vote!

I forced The Tall One to watch Calamity Jane on the telly box as were in the Black Hills of Dakota and we could thus, hum along to the tune as we drove around. The Black Hills are home to one of the best state parks we’ve been in, Custer State Park. Founded in 1919, it’s 71k acres give for a wonderful and diverse experience. The park pass was for a week so we were in and out like a fiddler’s elbow, it was so good. The wildlife loop road had Buffalo/American Bison (same thing) with their young, playfully bouncing around in the open pastures, Prairie Dogs aplenty, also with young, uber cute, that darted in and out of their burrows when the cheep cheep warning sounds were called. Elk, wild Burro’s, Pronghorn, Mule and White Tail Deer all over the place. The Buffalo nonchalantly crossing the road, not a care in the world these days, with their bonded calf in hot pursuit. It was a day full of joy!

There’s a couple of stunning scenic drives in the area, Needles Highway and Iron Mountain Road. Needles was a drive following a valley within craggy granite rock towers, climbing into a pine forest where the rock jutted above the trees, like literal needles pointing to the sky. Sylvian Lake was a gorgeous spot, popular with the fishing and wedding communities it seems. Iron mountain was different, for it’s ‘Pig Tail Bridges’ as part of the road climb up the steep sides through the trees. At a view point we met some ‘interesting’ Harley Trike riders, one was very proud of his flag…. I’m trying not to use the word stereotype but I can’t…

We popped back to Wyoming for a day. Heading into sci fi territory we went to Devils Tower National Monument, the first one. It was lost on me but its where Close Encounters of the Third Kind was filmed and of the iconic film poster image. Visible from miles around, the rock itself looks like a cluster of angular towers formed by cooled molten magma underground, before erosion of the surrounding sock rock made it visible. At over 61m tall, the columns are a magnet for climbers and it’s a fabulous place to walk around, making sure to avoid the entwined in true love, mating Bull snakes. In 1906 Roosevelt passed The Antiquities Act as a way to ensure protection for places and objects, much of his legacy surrounds this and the pioneering of the Federal Parks, so prevalent today.

Who knew that Calamity Jane was a real person? Nope, we didn’t, but we did go and check out her grave in Deadwood…. home of the ‘stage’…. She’s next to Wild Bill Hickok. Nothing like our Doris, she was reputedly a foul mouthed, lawless, gun toting woman but the two of them were the celebrities of their day in those parts. Deadwood itself was awful, for us anyway. It was full of gambling halls, ‘Goodtyme Photo Booths’ and tat shops, like Disney doing The Wild West. A tad conflicting as the buildings were well preserved but the place itself, hideous! We didn’t stop!

South Dakota is home to Badlands National Park. To get there involves a detour to ‘Wall Drug’. Someone took marketing the place to another level, we counted 63 roadside billboards on our way there. In 1931 it was a failing small town apothecary until in 1936 the owner had the bright idea of offering free iced water to passing travellers and the rest is history. The free iced water remains but the not free tourist junk throughout the now enlarged establishment isn’t. A giant tacky gift shop full of kids being pandered to by parents to keep them quiet, a cafe with nothing veggie, the self described ‘Unique Experience’ is accurate. The donuts were good though!

Buffalo Gap National Grasslands is home to Badlands. Covered in a haze, it didn’t distract from the otherworldly landscape. Not the easiest to photograph, even for The Tall ‘professional’ One, the vast landscape of air and water chiseled spires, ragged ridges and rugged canyons was a wonderful panorama. There are three kinds of layer within, the lower prairie along The White River Floodplain is lush at this time of year, with scattered Buttes rising from the floor. The upper prairie has grassy flat topped buttes and undulating land, soon to turn dried out yellow next month when the summer hits. It is a good time of year to view as the greenery creates contrasts and relief. From the other levels, the eroded fins are visible and some of the rock colours are vibrant in a way we’d not seen elsewhere. The landscape is very contrasting and of course, there’s Buffalo, Pronghorn and prairie Dogs to entertain.

Around and about our base we found the Worlds Largest Big Foot, 23ft tall, chainsaw carved by the local Dahl Brothers. We also found what seems to be a readying of a teddy bears picnic. They’ve lots of outlets selling their wares around South Dakota. Also, we found a very authentic looking replica Norwegian Stave Church, based on Borgung Stavkirke of Laerdal, Norway. Built in 1969 by banker Arndt E Dahl (we couldn’t find out is related to the chainsaw boys) to honour his parents, Rev. and Mrs Anton a Dahl, Lutheran faith pioneers from Norway. Dahl is a popular name, many Nordic nationals moved to the Dakotas. It was a stunning building and great craftmanship shown by the Norwegians who built it and the prayer walk within the woodland behind was peaceful, even in the rain.

Rapid City itself has initiative, even if the pace of the place was slow. Taking advantage of Mount Rushmore it has named itself ‘City of Presidents’ and in the downtown, has a bronze, to size, President on every corner, 43 to date. Only one isn’t to size as he was a tad portly. Fabulous works of art and so detailed and lifelike. Even ‘The Declaration of Independence’ scroll being signed by Thomas Jefferson, 4th July 1776, was etched out. The centrepiece of the town is the ‘Germanic Tudor Inspired’ Hotel Alex Johnson built in 1928. Built to blend the German immigration to the Dakotas with the heritage of the ‘Plains Indians’ it also has a Starbucks and George Washington is a regular at their door! A different type of blend?! The town also has 2 pieces of the Berlin Wall, yes, unexpected, but a great little outdoor exhibit in a park, detailing the post war story of separation and reunification. Street art galore brought colour on a grey day although their ‘Art Alley’ was the worst we’d ever seen, overtaken by tags sadly.

Moving on east towards Sioux Falls, we were glad we’d taken the time to explore the West of South Dakota. We met some fabulous people, were given gifts, made a ton of memories and the Tall One became a Doris Day aficionado and super fan! Not!

For the Jigsaw followers, she’s grand! A snowshoe in the snow wasn’t really for her though!