"It's Just a Bunch of Rocks"

 Mt. Rushmore and Black Hills, SD

During a roadtrip in the movie Nebraska David Grant (Will Forte) asks his dad Woody (Bruce Dern), "How about we go see Mount Rushmore?" Woody's response, "It's just a bunch of rocks." While that is technically true of both Mount Rushmore and the entire Black Hills areas, they are some truly spectacular rocks, both the natural formations and the manmade carvings. 

Thanks to my own personal Park Ranger guide, Peelee, I got to see sites that I would not likely have found on my own because things out there are pretty far apart, often off the beaten path, and I can see how one can completely miss things if you didn't know exactly where to look. Case in point was the amazing vantage point of the side of the Mount Rushmore Monument where you get a clear profile view of only George Washington. Photographically, it turned out to be my favorite angle because the surrounding hills and trees become as much the focus as the carving itself.   

Another way to get a different view of Mount Rushmore is to drive the winding Route 16A road where you can catch glimpses of the monument, including two spectacular views framed in tunnels through the rocks. This road also has amazing almost circular bridges build to get around and through the terrain, and is a blast to drive with the top down on a beautiful sunny day. 

An additional mind-blowing tunnel in the Black Hills is the long, super-skinny rock passage and tunnel in the Needles area, named for a particular rock that has what looks like the hole through which one threads a needle. In the tunnel, you could literally reach out and touch the rock from the car, and it was cool to hear the motorcyles roll through it. The Needles area's other surrounding rock formations were simply otherworldly.  

The Black Hills are also home to the Crazy Horse Monument, whose carving was started in 1948, and almost three-quarters of a century later is still nowhere near completed. If it is ever finished as envisioned by the artist, it would be the largest statue in the world at 563 feet high and 641 feet long, depicting the Native American warrior, complete with long hair and sitting on horseback. The original artist died in 1982, but his work has been carried on by his family. With tens of millions of dollars already spent, there is some controversy - read details here. 

Sylvan Lake is a very special place in the Black Hills area. Driving through the hills and rocks, you come around a corner and suddenly come upon a stunning lake, surrounded by rocks that look as if they have been stacked by a giant being. They reminded me of the stacked rocks of zen gardens and beaches, or cairns marking paths for hikers, except on a gargantuan scale. To get a sense of the scale, note the tiny people on the shores and the little dot of a canoer in the lake in my wide image of the lake. Some of you might recognize the photos of Sylvan Lake from the movie Natural Treasures 2: Book of Secrets, where it was falsely depicted as being directly behind Mount Rushmore. Actually it is part of Custer State Park, and the lake provides all manner of activities, hiking, boating, picnic areas, rock climbing, swimming, and fishing. 

With every amazing thing that we had already seen that day, Sylvan Lake delivered a final heart-warming scene of a young teen boy teaching his little brother the fine artistry of fishing in this gorgeous setting with the light rapidly changing as the sun dropped lower in the sky. It was my absolute favor moment. If Woody had witnessed that magic, he might feel differently about a bunch of rocks.

If you came to this first through the blog, know that there are more photos on the Facebook post

Google Album for these photos: https://photos.app.goo.gl/B3hrdXoBPpV1GNFu8