After sleeping in for a bit we awoke to a fairly brisk, but lovely, morning on Terry Peak in South Dakota. Kristen whipped up some breakfast as the rest of the family awoke and started the meander around for a while. Kristen and I along with her sister Trish and boyfriend took a nice hike to the top of the peak. During the winter the ski lifts operate, but being a lovely day the hike was just nice.
I know there was a geocache up there so brought my GPS and some travelbugs. the group enjoyed it and had some fun taking pictures on some of the lift chairs before continuing up to the top to take in the view. I introduced them a bit to the geocaching hobby before we headed back down so we could meet with the tour operator around 1PM. Kristen's mom had arranged for a local guide to take us around for the entire day.
The first stop was the
Crazy Horse Memorial that is still under construction after 50 years. It is a private project and one of the few memorials or monuments on a scale like this that is not operated by a government body. Even with all the work currently done, it will not be completed in our lifetime. We took the bus tour (which at even $4 per person I would have expected to be more than simply taking people a mile down the road just a little bit closer to the base) and checked out some the exhibits for a while before heading off again.
The next stop was Custer State Park to check out any available wildlife and wander around for a while. There wasn't a lot of major wildlife except a few antelope and a bison or two. but the scenery was stupendous and well worth the drive.
I especially enjoyed a section of the park called Iron Mountain road as it had several tunnels specifically designed to look onto nearby Mt. Rushmore as one drove through. This national monument would be our final big stop for the evening. Outside the carved granite faces, there isn't much to the park (no real hiking trails), however
Mt. Rushmore National Monument and especially the surrounding area is nice enough in itself to be enjoyable and quite relaxing.
We had a great meal with the family for a while before walking around the trail along the mountain base and then heading back to the amphitheater to get decent seats to listen to the evening interpretive talk and illumination of the mountain. The ride back was long, however most of us were able to catch a bit of rest after an exhausting day.
After sleeping in for a bit we awoke to a fairly brisk, but lovely, morning on Terry Peak in South Dakota. Kristen whipped up some breakfast as the rest of the family awoke and started the meander around for a while. Kristen and I along with her sister Trish and boyfriend took a nice hike to the top of the peak. During the winter the ski lifts operate, but being a lovely day the hike was just nice. 
I know there was a geocache up there so brought my GPS and some travelbugs. the group enjoyed it and had some fun taking pictures on some of the lift chairs before continuing up to the top to take in the view. I introduced them a bit to the geocaching hobby before we headed back down so we could meet with the tour operator around 1PM. Kristen's mom had arranged for a local guide to take us around for the entire day.
The first stop was the Crazy Horse Memorial that is still under construction after 50 years. It is a private project and one of the few memorials or monuments on a scale like this that is not operated by a government body. Even with all the work currently done, it will not be completed in our lifetime. We took the bus tour (which at even $4 per person I would have expected to be more than simply taking people a mile down the road just a little bit closer to the base) and checked out some the exhibits for a while before heading off again.
The next stop was Custer State Park to check out any available wildlife and wander around for a while. There wasn't a lot of major wildlife except a few antelope and a bison or two. but the scenery was stupendous and well worth the drive. 
I especially enjoyed a section of the park called Iron Mountain road as it had several tunnels specifically designed to look onto nearby Mt. Rushmore as one drove through. This national monument would be our final big stop for the evening. Outside the carved granite faces, there isn't much to the park (no real hiking trails), however Mt. Rushmore National Monument and especially the surrounding area is nice enough in itself to be enjoyable and quite relaxing. 
We had a great meal with the family for a while before walking around the trail along the mountain base and then heading back to the amphitheater to get decent seats to listen to the evening interpretive talk and illumination of the mountain. The ride back was long, however most of us were able to catch a bit of rest after an exhausting day.
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