Day 14: Rocks Above Ground and Below Ground!

Rock Climbing at Slyvan Lake

Neil going up our final climb the 90 foot ascent, when we got to the top we could look over the rock and see the lake

Neil at the Top, hes the little spec up there

Repelling back down

Me going up that same ascent.

Met at the top

Repelling back down

We climbed up the back side of the rock that is the fourth one in from the left side, looks a lot smaller from this view point. That large boulder in the middle of the lake is where they filmed National Treasure 2.

Neil under one of the rock formations at Sylvan lake

Me in front of the waterfall.

A nice view of Sylvan Lake

Wind Cave National Park

These are hard to see, but they are popcorn formations in Wind Cave

Box Work Formations in Wind Cave

Day 13: 1880 Train Ride, and Scenic Drives

Neil and I rode the 1880 train  round trip from Keystone to Hill City, this was the diesel engine that took us to Hill City

That was the steam engine that took us back to Keystone

The view of Mount Rushmore from Iron Mountain Road

The Cathedral Spires on Needles Highway

The needles eye.

There are multiple one way tunnels on Needles Highway, this one was one of the largest!

The bison behind that small bush was huge, he had to have been the largest in this herd and he was about 3 feet from our car and he did not look happy

The bison herd in Custer State Park

One of the Donkeys along the Wildlife loop, we also saw some big horned sheep!

Day 12: Deadwood, Crazy Horse and Mount Rushmore Night Ceremony

Days of '76 in Deadwood, SD, too bad we could not make it to any of the Rodeos

Neil and I took the Deadwood Boot Hill Tour, an hour long bus ride through Historic Deadwood and up to Mt Moriah Cemetery where Wild Bill Hickok was laid to rest.

The Historic Franklin Hotel...that is not where Neil and I stayed.

Mt Moriah Cemetery where many Western Legends found their final resting place.

Madame Dufran, owner of many western brothels in the 19th Century. Her epitaph reads simply "business woman"

Calamity Jane's burial site, she requested to be buried next Wild Bill Hickok even though the two only met in passing once.

Wild Bill Hickok's grave site.

The view of the black hills for Mt Moriah Cemetery

Wild Bill was shot and killed in the back of his head by Jack McCall here at Saloon Number 10.

Scale of the finished crazy horse memorial in front of the statue

The scale model of the Crazy Horse Memorial

The view today of Crazy Horse Memorial

Mount Rushmore at night

Shout Out to Minnesota

This is the tribute flag the hung at the unveiling of Mount Rushmore, at the time it was the largest US flag ever made. I thought this picture was neat since the glass reflected the image of Jefferson and Lincoln from the exhibit in the back ground.

Lighting ceremony at Mount Rushmore

The flag ceremony at the end by Veterans in the crowd.

Day 11: Buffalo Bill Historical Center and Devils Tower

This is a scenic view of Big Horn National Forest in Wyoming.

 Unfortunately we did not see any big horn sheep.

On our way to Deadwood, SD we stopped at Buffalo Bills Historical Center. This museum in Cody, WY houses a huge exhibit of Firearms, the life of Buffalo Bill, Native American artwork as well as the Wyoming Outdoor Hall of Fame.

The bear pictured here was a bear that was put down by rangers because it was used to eating food left over by people within the park. Many tourists in the national parks do not follow many of the bear  safety guidelines and as a result many bears are put down when they become a potential threat to people.

One of the Indian Headdresses at the Museum, I believe this one symbolized protection and strength!

Shell Falls in BigHorn National Forest

Neil and I in front of the falls

Neil and I in front of Devils Tower

The red piece of fabric tied to the tree is Indian Prayer Bundle, Devils Tower is Sacred Land for many of the regional tribes. In June many Native American comes out to Devils Tower for religious ceremonies. You will  see hundreds of these prayer bundles along the trails. 

This little Ground Squirrel was super cute nibbling on his pine cone!

He his hard to see but that is a chipmunk in the middle of picture, we also saw a Golden Eagle flying over head but I was not able to get a good picture!

This a prairie dog hole, unfortunately the prairie dogs are not out this late at night so we were only able to see a few and thus no pictures.

Sunset of Devils Tower

Devils Tower at Sunset, my camera was not able to catch the brilliant purple and blue hues behind the tower. The top picture is the closest to the actual colors but of course it was better in real life!