In The Black Hills

The pine forests and granite peaks of the Black Hills of South Dakota are rich with Old West history, and despite the breathtaking natural beauty it's impossible to ignore the legacy of greed when you visit. These hills used to be rich with gold and freely roamed by a large community of America's native people. Now Crazy Horse and Mount Rushmore stand at odds, representing two very different versions of our shared American history. One side is told by the federal government, the other is remembered by the Lakota Nation. 

These photos are from a camping trip to Sylvan Lake in Custer State Park. Though small (and man-made) this lake was truly an oasis in the vast grasslands of Wyoming and southwestern South Dakota. 

Camping = Roughing it

Well, not exactly!

This cup made the trip all of the way from this event last year. Remember?

One morning, we hiked a riverside trail into Sunday Gulch. The scenery was gorgeous and the air was fresh and filled with the scent of ponderosa pine trees. 

We drove to Mount Rushmore and the Crazy Horse Memorial but didn't feel like paying entrance fees of $11 and $20, respectively. These are sculptures of mammoth proportions, and you don't exactly have to be up close and personal to see them and appreciate their scale. I don't have a picture of Crazy Horse, which is in the early stages of its construction, but to give you an idea of the scale and proportion: Mount Rushmore is 60 feet tall; the Crazy Horse Memorial will be 560 feet tall.

Weekend Getaway: The Badlands

I haven't yet mentioned on the blog that I'm officially living in Boulder now. In the past four weeks I've moved into a new apartment in a seriously convenient location and transitioned into working a new job.  It's been busy and exciting! I've put a lot of energy into filling the apartment with furniture, decking the walls with maps and artwork, and familiarizing myself with the neighborhood. I've also become part of a new team, sharing the vision of two endearingly quirky women and their stylish minions as we work together on a new boutique project.  

In the hustle and confusion of the move, the excitement of a new job, and the joy of living with my love, I lost weeks on end to non-stop action. Until last weekend, that is, when Marc and I roadtripped to South Dakota, of all places. 

We had four days not otherwise spoken for by work, climbing trips, and other obligations, and those four days were staring us down, demanding that we pick a new and interesting area to explore. Lots of ideas were thrown around, but in the end too many of them required a flight or would take us south into triple digit heat. The Black Hills and the Badlands beckoned. 

For two and a half days we car camped in Custer State Park in the Black Hills (post to come). On the third night, we drove further west to a small town called Wall. I'll say that although the Wall Drug Store draws lots of tourists, the main attraction of staying in Wall was its proximity to Badlands National Park.

The first (and only) thing we did in the park was the Badlands Loop, which takes you on an hour-long drive with plenty of stops for panoramic views, fossil replicas under glass, and poorly marked mini hiking trails. Peering out over the jagged and jutting formations in oppressive heat with the earth crumbling beneath our feet if we got too close to the edge - that was an experience that helped us to understand the term "Badlands," which comes from Native American and French names for the area, which translated describe the land as being bad to cross. Makes sense, doesn't it?