Bear Lake, Rocky Mountain National Park

   The temperature dropped into the low 50’s last night – the first time we needed the quilt over us.  But the morning was sunny and soon warmed up as we had a slow start today.  The altitude certainly makes us tired.

    We made it an easy day.  There are several Visitor Centers in the park.  Moraine Park Visitor Center has a small museum which explains the creation of the large, flat, meadow strewn with rocks which is just outside the museum.  Huge glaciers used to cover the area and left behind thousands of boulders and many small streams.  The area was the site of 3 hotels, a nine hole golf course, and many shops before this became a national park.  Now the buildings have mostly been removed and the area is regaining its natural beauty.  The Visitor Center and Museum are located in one of the remaining log buildings.  As we drove in to check out the Moraine Park campgrounds we saw a coyote crossing the road in front of us.  I was so surprised I did not get a decent picture.  Following the coyote was about an 8 year old girl.  I was wondering what she was doing walking down the road alone.   Then as she got to the entrance to the campground a Ranger walked her back to her family.   She must have gotten turned around on her way to the restrooms.  This campground still has trees and lots of big boulders.  Therefore a lot more shade than the one we are in.  However, the wonderful mountain views are blocked by the trees.  Everything is a trade-off.

    We also stopped at Beaver Meadows Visitor Center – it is large and modern.  We watched a movie about the park to get oriented to the roads and trails.  Our drive took us along another rushing mountain stream.  There are many fly fisherman enjoying the high water and abundance of trout. 

     In the afternoon we drove even higher in the park to Bear Lake.  This was a popular attraction and the parking lot was full.  There is a shuttle which runs throughout the park and helps to keep some of the congestion down at the most popular sites.  Luckily we found a spot and discovered the beautiful lake had a half mile walking path around it.  No challenge in Minnesota but at almost 9500’ it was work.  A large portion of the walk was wide and flat for strollers and wheel chairs.  It is so nice to see these remote areas made accessible.  There are several wheelchair accessible trails in the park and an accessible camgground at Sprague Lake.  This campground is one of the sites visited in another of the Nevada Barr novels about Rocky Mountain National Park.

    Our campground emptied out quite a bit and now is filling up with weekend campers from Denver, Loveland and other nearby communities.  Nice to have such beauty in your backyard.  We spent a quiet late afternoon watching folks arrive.  At one point we watched in horror as the awning on the camper next to us blew up and over the top of the camper.  Rick and another neighbor rushed over to get it under control before it banged up the siding.  Then we got out the tie downs for our awning and secured it from the unpredictable breezes.  Now it’s time for a campfire.

Rocky Mountain National Park

     We are watching the sun go down in Glacier Basin Campground at Rocky Mountain National Park.  It’s a beautiful evening, but cooling off quickly.  The campground is about 8 miles into the park up a narrow, winding road.  However, the campground area itself is quite large as it sits in a meadow that used to be covered with a glacier. 

     Our drive today was only a little over 200 miles but we gained 3500 feet in altitude so we are both pretty tired.  It is 8500 feet here at the campground.  For the first part of the drive we could see the Laramie Mountains in the distance.  Not spectacular, but mountains.  Then, as we drove through Cheyenne we came up over a hill, and there they were – The Rockies.  Snow covered peaks, jagged, magnificent. 

     Most of the drive was freeway until we got to Loveland.  Then we drove for several miles through a very busy town.  Finally the road narrowed and we drove 25 miles along the Thompson River through a winding canyon with steep rock walls.  The river was just thundering along.  Sometimes the walls of the canyon were so steep I could hardly see the sky.  We got to Estes Park and were amazed at how busy the town was.  Rocky Mountain National Park is one of the most visited in the park system.  The town is only a couple miles from the park entrance so there are dozens of motels, campgrounds, and shops. 

     We are nearing the weekend and all the campsites are full.  Either reserved or already filled by folks waiting this morning to get a site.  The large group site seems to be full of Boy Scouts.  Most of the trees have been cut due to the pine beetle.  Half of the area is reserved for tent camping only.  The other two loops have some spaces big enough for small RV’s.  There is no electricity or water at the sites, just amazing views.  Five snow topped mountains are just outside my window.  The campground is full of activity, but quiet.  I am so glad that we scaled down our RV to a size that lets us stay right in the park.  It is a wonderful time.    It rained a little this afternoon and the air got quite cool. Now the sun is down and we are chilly.  What a fabulous sunset.  Colorado!

Douglas, Wyoming

     We left our quiet, green campground and drove south and west into Wyoming.  I was amazed to see that even Wyoming is still pretty green so late in July.   Many of the larger streams and ponds were still full of water.  Maybe Texas should send some of their poor, starving cattle here for summer vacation.  However, Rick read that South Dakota lost a lot of cattle in the last heat wave so perhaps green grass and water isn't enough.
 We have driven this road before in the winter when we were young, poor, and loved to ski.  We would start very early in the morning from MInnesota and end up driving through Lusk, Wyoming after dark.  Today as we drove through in the day time we saw the rolling prairies, antelope and cattle farms.  I was surprised to find several nice rest areas along the way - an unexpected bonus.
    Our drive was relatively short - under 200 miles.  We had planned to stay in Cheyenne but it is rodeo week and all the campgrounds are full.  The campground here in Douglas is really full too - probably overflow since there just aren't that many campgrounds that have an amenities in this area.
   We took advantage of the nice pool and were entertained by a couple German families.  I told Rick that we had seen so many Germans on the road we should go to Germany and try camping there.  There MUST be a lot of campgrounds since there are so many Germans who love to come to the U.S. and camp. We spent the rest of the afternoon sitting under our awning - alternately getting rained on and escaping the hot sun.
    This is the first campground that I have ever been to which includes a horse pen and horse stalls.  I suppose that folks in this area are frequently traveling with horses and need a place to keep them overnight.  We have quite an eclectic variety of neighbors - foreign travelers in rental RVs, rundown semi-permanent campers, very fancy 40+ foot Class A's, tent trailers and us.  Makes for a great time of watching everyone move around the campground - about the only entertainment.
   Tomorrow we head into the dead zone - a national park.  No phones, no Wi-Fi, just us and our portable house.  I will catch up with my blog when we come down out of the mountains.  We will be busy tomorrow filling our water tank, dumping our sewer tanks, filling up our gas tanks (gas is always really expensive if it is available at all in national parks) and filling our pantry.

Hot Springs, South Dakota

     Mark and Joyce left for Wyoming today.  It was such fun to spend a few days touring the Hills with them.  I am happy that they are enjoying the RVing way of travel.  We also leave tomorrow, so today we did housekeeping duty.  Washing a week’s worth of clothes was a breeze with a really nice laundry just across the grass from us.  We tidied up the RV, checked the tires and put outdoor stuff away because for the first time it looked like rain.

     Connie and Terry told us that they enjoyed the Mammoth site in Hot Springs – about an hour south of us.  We drove there through Wind Cave Park.  When we toured the cave we only saw a small part of the parklands.  It is beautiful, rolling prairie.  Today we saw the large bison herd which lives in the park.  I have never seen so many buffalo in such a short time. 

     Hot Springs is a pretty little town.  Most of the downtown buildings were built of pink sandstone from a local quarry including a large VA Medical Center and State Veterans’ home, the courthouse, Union Station, as well as hotels and business buildings.  Water from the hot springs has been channeled into a huge indoor pool – Evan’s Plunge – built in 1891.  We did not visit the pool today, but have been there in the past with Boy Scouts. 

     Today we went to a site where approximately 25,000 years ago huge Columbian and wooly mammoths died when they fell into a sinkhole and couldn’t get out.   This sinkhole is sixty-five foot deep and 120 X 150 feet around.   So far the bones of over 58 mammoths have been uncovered.  A huge structure has been erected over the dig which is still unearthing the skeletons of these huge prehistoric creatures.  A short tour explained the history of the site and told us about the work currently going on as they continue to work through layers to uncover additional skeletons.  It was fascinating to both of us.

    We had a quiet afternoon and then went to a steak dinner here at the campground.   A local musician provided serenaded us with some old cowboy songs.  They didn’t sing Happy Birthday to Rick, but he got that when we went to dinner last night with Mark and Joyce at the Desperado Bar in Hill City.  When we got back we heard from both sets of grandchildren (and their parents) so it was a great birthday for Rick.

Adventures above and below ground

    We began our day with a drive through Custer State Park on the Wildlife Loop Road.  It is an 18 mile long scenic drive which winds through prairie and woods.  Custer's buffalo herd as well as a herd of wild burros live in this area.  Soon after we started the drive we came upon some of the 1500 buffalo who live in the park.  Once again they were just wandering along the road.  We saw many bull, cows and calves right up next to the car.  This is the closest I have ever come to these buffalo while driving in the park.
   A bit further along the drive we saw a band of pronghorn antelope browsing about 50 yards off the road.  Again, this is the closest I have seen a whole group of them.  Their white markings really stood out against the green prairie grass.   It looked like one buck and a bunch of  does and fawns.  They were not intimidated by our cars.
   A bit further on we came upon a group of burros on the road.  This herd is descended from burros used to take visitors to the top of Harney Peak.  When the tours were stopped the burros were let loose to roam in the park.  They were very tame and let folks pet them.  Very pretty animals.
    After a picnic lunch at Blue Bell Lodge in the park we drove south to Wind Cave National Park.  Much of the above ground area is rolling prairie and home to additional herds of buffalo and antelope.  It was a beautiful drive to the cave tour building.   We took the 1 1/4 hour Natural Entrance Cave tour with 300 steps (most of them down).  Since it was in the high 80s today, the 53 cave temperature actually felt pretty good to us.

    Wind Cave is the 5th longest cave in the world with 130 miles of explored passages.  There are still many areas to explore so it may move up in the ranking.  It is a dry cave with no internal rivers.  Therefore there are none of the usual cave formations - stalactites and stalagmites.  It was made a national park in 1903 and was the 7th park in the National Park system.  It became a Game Preserve in 1912 when a herd of bison was introduced to the park.   The cave is very three dimensional with many winding tunnels which move through various levels.  It has extensive amounts of beautiful "boxwork" formations.
    Our group of 40 amateur spelunkers descended into the cave and moved down a series of stair cases until we were about 160 feet below the surface.  The cave is well lit and has cement walkways and good handrails on the stair cases.  We were really fascinated by the many places where tunnels went off in all directions from our main walkway.  After winding through many narrow passages we came to a larger cavern and stopped to hear the Ranger give us more information about the cave.  Then the lights blinked out.  Some came back on.  She said that it was not usual for that to happen and went to a phone nearby and called the issue in.  Then the lights all went out.  She turned on her flashlight and asked everyone in the group to turn out whatever light source they happened to have with them.  Many cell phones and a few flashlights came out.  She asked us to decide if we were comfortable moving through the cave with only flashlights or if we wanted to wait for additional rangers to arrive with more lights.  We elected to move forward.  I was amazed at how orderly everyone was in moving through the sometimes very low ceiling, sometimes slippery and angled walkway, steep stairs and tight winding passages.  The group included some kids, teenagers, senior citizens, and me with my cane and knee brace.  We all helped each other as we moved along until we came to an area where the lights worked again.  Very nice to see that people can be calm and helpful  when necessary.
   It was a great tour and we came out of the cool cave to a very dark sky and rain in the air.  I regretted not closing up the camper.  However, as is so often true in the mountains, we drove through sheets of rain but got back to an entirely dry campsite.  Yeah!

Crazy Horse Monument

    The weather continues to be wonderful – cooler nights and warm, sunny days.  We have a huge, grassy area between our two campers so we can move our lawn chairs from one patch of shade to another.  This gives Rick a good perspective on all the surrounding campsites to watch our fellow campers backing in and setting up camp.  He really loves to observe their technique.  Joyce and Mark are missing their dog, Libby, and so they spend a lot of time watching and talking to our camping neighbors’ dogs. We have all enjoyed watching one ambitious little guy on his two-wheeler riding round and around our section of campground.  Every now and then he takes a pretty good tumble on the gravel road, but he just dusts himself off and hops back on the little bike.  I love being in a great campground with lots of family activity. 

We visited Mt. Rushmore yesterday, so today we went to the “Other” huge mountain sculpture – Crazy Horse.  This monument may someday be a three dimensional carving of Chief Crazy Horse on a horse.  At the moment the only part that is finished is the face of Crazy Horse with many other areas marked in white paint and beginning to take shape.  The project is somewhat controversial – between the Native Americans and the family that is creating the sculpture and between our group as we visited it.  Over 50 years ago Korczak Ziolkowski, a well known sculptor who had worked very briefly on Mt. Rushmore, was asked Lakota Chief Standing Bear to create a memorial to Chief Crazy Horse to show that the Native Americans had heroes as well as the white man.  Korczak started the project in 1948 by himself.  He made a scale model of the final project.  Korczak died in 1982 with only a small portion of the project completed.  His wife and seven of his ten children continue to work on the project.  In 1998 the face of chief was unveiled - it is powerful and has great detail.  In addition a huge visitor center including a large collection of Native American artifacts, a restaurant and a replication of the Korczak’s studio and home were built. 

There have been many opportunities for the project to take state or federal funding to move it towards completion.  The family believes that it is needs to be a private enterprise.  Some Native Americans do not believe that blasting millions of pounds of granite off of a mountain that is sacred to them is a good thing.  The final monument will be 563 feet high and 641 feet long so a lot of the original mountain will be gone.   I guess that I am of the opinion that somewhere along the line this has become a memorial to Korczak Ziolkowski and his family rather than a project which belongs to the Native Americans.  Whatever the case, the collection of Native American items is very interesting and the huge face of Crazy Horse is quite striking. 

We enjoyed our visit – Joyce and I bought earrings from a Native American vendor in the cultural center.  We went back to the campground for lunch and then visited the train museum and the wood carving museum.  Neither one was much to write home about.  After a supper of buffalo burgers we enjoyed a campfire.  All around us other groups of campers gathered around their fires as well, as the sky grew dark and the stars came out.  I imagined that we were pioneers on a wagon train resting after a busy day.  One more day of touring with Mark and Joyce and then they head for Wyoming. 

Custer State Park Needles Highway

     We spent the day with Mark and Joyce driving the Needles and Iron Man scenic highways.  I have been on this drive so many times and still am in awe of the rock formations and the beautiful vistas.  The Needles highway was finished in 1922.  The tunnels were probably quite adequate for 1920’s cars.  Now the maps all describe very clearly the height and width of each tunnel.  In addition, there are clear signs on the road warning drivers about the coming tunnels.  The problem is that once you have ignored the signs and driven your oversize vehicle/camper along the road nearing the tunnel, there is no place to turn around.  The road is narrow and winding with only some very narrow turnouts for viewpoints.  We saw one rather large RV stopped along the road to the tunnels looking quite unhappily at the map.  The RV that Mark rented has a new awning – the old one having been torn off in one of the tunnels.  Today, however, we drove the nimble little CRV and had no difficulty at all.

     We stopped many times along the way to take pictures.  We noticed huge areas of trees within the park that are turning red or dead.  A mountain pine beetle has attacked trees in large areas of the park.  The park management is thinning out the pines in many areas to try to control the spread of the beetle.  Its sad to see such large areas that are becoming barren of trees.

     One of our first stops was at Sylvan Lake for a walk around the beautiful little lake.  My knee is better this trip. so I joined the group for the flat, level section of the walk. The lake is stocked with trout and we watched families all along the shore catching fish.  In another area a couple dozen chairs were set up for an afternoon wedding.  It was a perfect day – breezy, sunny, and a little cooler.  The pictures from the wedding would be beautiful.

     We stopped for lunch at one of Custer State Park lodges along Legion Lake.  Another beautiful place to stay while enjoying the beauty of the park.  Many of the park buildings were built by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930’s.  The buildings look very similar to ones built in some of the older Minnesota State parks – also by the CCC.  While we were at the visitor center we saw group who were learning to pan gold.  It was one of Custer’s men who discovered gold in the Black Hills.

    Our highlight of the day came as we drove past the Custer State Game Lodge.  President Calvin Coolidge used this lodge as his “Summer White House” in 1927.  Just outside the lodge we saw a herd of buffalo walking beside and on the narrow road.  Traffic was slowed quite a bit as the huge animals and their many calves walked slowly down the road.  They mostly completely ignored the cars and the people taking their pictures.  It was really fun to have such an up close experience to them.

Our final stop of the day was at Mt. Rushmore.  We took many pictures, but were unable to capture one of Mark on top of Washington’s nose.  It was interesting to note that much of the area on the back side of the mountain where the heads are carved is now very clearly signed as Federal Property – No Trespassing.  No more climbing up to see if you can get to the heads!

     A great day with many pictures and lots of kidding around.  

Rafter J Bar Ranch

    We drove from Badlands National Park on back roads to the Black Hills.  There was almost no traffic and lots of interesting rock formations along the way.   We looked and looked for buffalo herds which were reported to be in the area but only saw cows.  However, that brings to mind my cow observations.  Yesterday we saw a cow standing alongside the road looking up and down the road with a puzzled expression.  There was not another cow, barn, house, pasture anything in sight.  I wondered how far this cow had been walking before deciding that it was lost.  Today we saw cattle standing on top of big bluffs along the road looking down at us as though they had climbed up there to watch the traffic go by.  Maybe they are smarter than I think they are.
 Anyway, back to our road trip.  I bought Rick a fancy new GPS for his birthday.  We can set it for the height, width, length and weight of our camper so that we don't get routed into a spot that we can't get out of - tunnels, bridges etc.  This new GPS also includes an altimeter.  It was fun to watch the numbers as we drove up off the plains and into the Hills.  We are at about 4900 feet here near Hill City.  Although it has been a pretty warm day - in the high 80s, we were told as we checked in that the temperatures have been in the high 40's at night this week.  I can't wait to put on a blanket when we turn in tonight.

    Way back in the early 80's we bought a tent trailer.  One of our family vacations took us to the Black Hills.  I remember how hot it was going across South Dakota. We stayied one night near Wall with temps in our tent at about 90 most of the night.  (Now many tent trailers have air conditioners.  Ours only had a small fan.)  The next day we were driving along late in the day looking for a campground in the Hills that wasn't right on the road.  Luckily we came across the Rafter J Bar Ranch.  We were given a grassy site under some lovely shade trees.  Then when the sun went down the temperature dropped 25 degrees and I knew I was in heaven.  Well here we are back again - at Rafter J Bar.  Camping under huge red pines, the temperature dropping as quickly as the sun.  I may need to put on long pants - haven't worn anything but shorts for so long!   Heaven.
    We set up camp and were just finishing lunch when Mark and Joyce arrived in their rental RV.  They have a spot next to us with a nice green lawn in between.  We set up the lawn chairs and had a peaceful afternoon and a family dinner.  The only thing better than a beautiful evening in the Black Hills is being able to share it with family.  Tomorrow we will take off on a search to find where Mark was able to climb on George Washington's face - he remembers doing this sometime in the past.  Stay tuned.

Badlands

  I always forget how long a drive it is across South Dakota.  We left Pipestone early (for us) and drove through miles of construction.  I took the wheel for a bit to give Rick a break.  The flat, straight roads of South Dakota are perfect for working on my driving skills with the new camper.  Despite the fact that it is late July, the prairies are very green and there is water everywhere.  It was a beautiful drive.

We got to the Badlands in late afternoon.  We drove through the northern end of Badlands National Park.  The views were amazing.  It was in the 90s but much drier here.  Our plan was to park the camper and head back to the Visitor Center.  We are staying about 6 miles from the park along the White River in a shady campground.  However, the pool was calling us, so we went for a swim instead.  All I can say about the swim is AHHHHH!

As we sat by the pool we could feel the heat abating. and a whisper of movement in the air.  We had a quick supper and decided to drive out into the Badlands.  Earlier, the midday sun had made the terrain so bright it was hard to see.  However, as evening began to slide into the park we could see the fascinating contours of the rock formations. 

A storm passed through and we could see huge black clouds, lightning bolts and sheets of rain flowing across the prairie.  Then a double rainbow formed, just for us.  We stopped at several lookouts and trailheads.  The air was fresh and clear.  At one viewpoint the sign told us that one very clear days we could see a butte three miles away – and there it was off in the distance!  It was the perfect time to walk among the formations in the shadows and cooler evening.  We stayed on the path, though, since there were many “watch out for rattlesnake” warnings.

As the sun began to drop behind the rock formations a nice breeze came up and the meadowlarks were calling goodnight.  The damp prairie grass smelled of summer.  The clouds turned pink and orange.  We just sat and looked out at the amazing panorama. Sometimes as we travel I recognize moments that need to be captured.  This evening, in the mystery of the Badlands, was one of them.    We took lots of pictures, but you will need to come here and spend a sunset in the park to get the full experience.

Pipestone National Monument

    After several days of really punishing heat and humidity we got the camper packed and hit the road.  It was an unusual day for our first leg of driving because we were headed for a sightseeing destination rather than just trying to get a bunch of miles behind us.
   We drove Hwy 169 south towards Mankato.  This drive was so familiar to us after our years of attending Mankato State University.  The drive has changed a little, but there is still a big statue of the Jolly Green Giant as we headed into the Le Sueur valley.  We drove through St. Peter which was hit so hard by a tornado a few years ago.  It is good to see all the flourishing new trees which were planted to replace the hundreds that blew over.
   We drove cross country out of St. Peter through small towns with huge grain elevators.  The corn is high and green.  I read that the huge, green corn crop is part of the reason we have had such terrible humidity.  All the rivers, lakes and potholes are full to almost flooding.  We should send some of this water to Texas.
    Our campground is just outside the Pipestone National Monument.  We plugged into the electricity, turned on the air conditioning and drove a mile to the Visitor Center.  The soft red stone which is found in the Pipestone Quarries has been used by native Americans for over a thousand years.  Smoking tobacco through pipes which are carved out of the stone is a major part of tribal and spiritual ceremonies for many Plains tribes.
    The Dakota Sioux controlled the Pipestone quarries in the 1700's.  As the United States expanded west into the quarry areas a treaty was signed to give access to the Native Americans.  In 1937 Congress established Pipestone National Monument to protect the quarries and provide quarrying for certified Native Americans.
   The monument area is small.  A 3/4 mile walking trail follows a stream which flows through the quarry area.  Part of the trail was closed due to flooding, but we took our water bottles and walked out to a small falls hidden among the rocks.  It was a beautiful setting and we enjoyed the walk despite the high humidity and temperatures.

   Tonight we are feeling the wind shift to the north, the humidity drop along with the temperatures.  I am hoping for the predicted overnight temp of 62 so we can leave the windows open in this quiet campground.  A beautiful night.. 

To the Hills

     We are taking an unprecedented second RV trip this year.  In a few days we head to the Black Hills of South Dakota and then on to Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado.  I am so happy to be getting back on the road in our new RV.
    In the past couple months we HAVE used the RV at the cabin as our extra bedroom.   We took advantage of this by also working on the RV and reorganizing a few spots of inside and outside storage which didn't work as well as we anticipated.  Some items needed to be made more accessible, some less.  Rick worked on getting the load balanced, the front end aligned and the tires properly inflated to reduce a bit of the sway when we have a side wind.  It all helped and the rig is nicely stable on the road.  Downside was a problem with air leaking from the tires which made us think we had a flat.
     We will be joining my brother Mark and Joyce in the Black Hills.  We had a lot of fun last year when they met us in Oregon.  This year Mark and Joyce are renting an RV similar to ours in Rapid City.  Their tenting days may be over after enjoying the new luxury of an RV.  I am really looking forward to spending time at our favorite campground in the Hills - Rafter J Bar.
    After touring the Black Hills with Mark we will split up as they head for the Big Horn Mountains and we drive south to Rocky Mountain National Park and Estes Park, Colorado. We will be camping in a national park campground without electricity or water.  Dry camping for 3 days.  It will be a good test for the new rig.
   I have read about a drive in the park that is the highest paved road in a National Park - 12,000 ft in places.  Joyce's sister Betty was in the park just two weeks ago and some of the roads are still covered with snow.  We are packing some warmer clothes for the chilly nights.   We spent quite of bit of time in southern Colorado on our Yosemite trip.  This is our first time in the northern section.
   We still have a lot of packing to do but this should be an easier trip to get ready for because we left the RV packed with many items for use at the cabin.  We just need to put our clothes in the closet and fill up the refrigerator.  Then in less than a week we will be off on another adventure.