Hot Springs (Black Hills, South Dakota)

Wed 8th June

Our plan was to spend the day exploring the area and visiting Mount Rushmore and the Chief Crazy Horse Memorial. The strong winds had gone but so too had the sun and heat with temperatures this morning in the low 50’s.

We didn’t get far before Bob’s bike was spotted leaking fuel all over the tarmac……

….. Float bowl off and a bit of twiddling, had it fixed for now.

We rode into the Black Hills and Custer State Park an area revered by the Indians (and motorcyclists too if the number about was anything to go by).

…..The scenic, twisty roads were a pleasure after the straight lines of the past couple of days.

The wildlife (apart from the numerous Harley riders) was mainly proghorn antelope and...

.........more Bison than we saw in Yellowstone…..

…..This one and I came eye ball to eye ball. I made a rapid withdrawal when he started licking his lips.

At lunchtime we stopped off at a roadside restaurant, the bar stools were saddles and the idea of today’s group photo materialised…..

The customers and staff looked on bemused. No alcohol crossed our lips, honest.

Further down the road we came across this sign…..

…. a new vocation for Bob when he gets back home perhaps.

Much of our ride today was on Highway 87. Somewhat later than intended (because we were stopping so much) we eventually got to the Presidents at Mount Rushmore.....

This photo was taken from outside the site. We decided not pay the 10 dollar entry as time was getting on and we wanted to spend more time at the Chief Crazy Horse memorial.......

......The monument, carved out of the mountain, has been in progress since 1948. If completed it would (at the moment at least) be the world's largest sculpture and consist of Crazy Horse riding a stallion with his arm outstretched pointing forward.......

.........to date only the face has been completed in the 63 years its been worked on, so there is a long way to go. Pretty impressive nevertheless, as is Indian Museum of North America which is also on the site.

It was a cultural day today. On the way back we stopped off at the Mammoth Site where remains of this extinct species were found. The site has been covered and turned into a museum/exhibition.