Mount Rushmore

What a glorious sight! They have done a wonderful job of setting the monument up to help you focus on the carvings from the moment you enter. What is to say – 4 of my favorite presidents memorialized in the top of a mountain. You can see pictures of it from now until forever but it isn’t the same as being there.

Mt. Rushmore is in the Black Hills, which I must say are green, not black. They are rolling hills covered in pine forests right until you get close to Mt. Rushmore and then they become granite pillars. In the 20’s they imported some mountain goats to hang out in the rocks. There is at least one who has decided that hanging out in the parking lot provides for better, easier foraging.

Park mammal count: 7 – deer, chipmunk, big horn sheep, mountain goat, red squirrel, prairie dog, rabbit
Trip mammal count: 10 - deer, moose, chipmunk, big horn sheep, mountain goat, antelope, rabbit, mule deer, red squirrel, prairie dog

Dollars saved on this trip with Park Pass: $52.00

Devil's Tower

We got ready for this sight by watching “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” the night before. We were worried about not being able to see it well on my 14” computer monitor until we remembered our much loved Sony Trinaton TV with the 13” screen. We used to watch it from across the room. Hard to believe since we now have a 42”.

What a cool thing! Just standing up out of the middle of nowhere. We took the 1 ½ mile walk around the base and enjoyed watching all the climbers. They were everywhere. We added to our mammal count a red squirrel who was flitting all over the place. He was so light on his feet – even more so than the squirrels at home. The Tower is made of columnar rock (we thought maybe basalt but they called it something different) that was formed by magma making a bolt for freedom through other rock which is why it stands by itself unlike the columnar basalt in Eastern Washington where it makes walls.

We had lunch in a prairie dog village at the base of the Tower. The little tykes were everywhere and totally fearless. The signs all say not to feed them but based on the way they came running whenever a car stopped I think some visitors must belong to the 20% of the population that is illiterate. They were so cute and fat. Woe to the prairie dog that encroached upon a neighbor’s begging area.

Park mammal count: 7 – deer, chipmunk, big horn sheep, mountain goat, red squirrel, prairie dog, rabbit
Trip mammal count: 10 - deer, moose, chipmunk, big horn sheep, mountain goat, antelope, rabbit, mule deer, red squirrel, prairie dog

Dollars saved on this trip with Park Pass: $52.00

Little Big Horn Battlefield - Custer's Last Stand

This afternoon we visited the Little Big Horn Battlefield where Lt.Col. George Custer’s soldiers were wiped out by Indians who were not interested in living on a reservation. It is a beautiful place for so many to die. There are markers where each of the soldiers fell and they are currently putting up markers where each of the Indians who died fell.

I’m glad we came although I can’t really explain why. There don’t appear to be many really good or really bad players in the story. The Indians may have won the day but they definitely lost the war. Custer’s actions don’t seem to make a lot of sense but since he died there no one will ever know what he was thinking. And the soldiers who died were, like all soldiers, following the orders of those in command.


Park mammal count: 4 – deer, chipmunk, big horn sheep, mountain goat
Trip mammal count: 8 - deer, moose, chipmunk, big horn sheep, mountain goat, antelope, rabbit, mule deer

Dollars saved on this trip with Park Pass: $42.00

Pompey's Pillar

What is Pompey’s Pillar you might ask – I did. It is a bluff on the Yellowstone River a little east of Billings, MT. Capt. Wm. Clark, of Lewis & Clark fame, explored the Yellowstone River on his way back to St. Louis. Capt. Meriwether Lewis was busy looking for a more northern pass across the Rockies and running into Blackfeet Indians. Anyway, Clark saw this pillar of stone alongside the river and decided to climb it and see what he could see. He could see a long way in every direction. While he was climbing he decided that since the Indians had already defaced the rock with drawings, paintings and such that he should put his name on it also. It is the only permanent marker of Lewis & Clark’s trip. Oh yes, and why did Clark call it Pompey’s Pillar? He named it for Sacagawea’s son whose nickname was Pompe.

Park mammal count: 4 – deer, chipmunk, big horn sheep, mountain goat
Trip mammal count: 7 - deer, moose, chipmunk, big horn sheep, mountain goat, antelope, rabbit

Dollars saved with Park Pass: $32.00 ($25 @ Glacier, $7 @ Pompey’s Pillar)

Housekeeping

A couple of random things I want to cover.

Do you love the slide shows in my blog? I can put in so many more pictures! Thanks to Chalupa for giving me a step by step tutorial on how to create them. And to Bear for troubleshooting the inaugural posting.

As a celebration for our trip I got Bear the new CD by Jerry Lee Lewis Mean Old Man. It is fabulous. He is doing duets (and trios) with lots of fun folks. If you like rock and/or country, give it a try.

This is our inaugural trip with the National Parks and Federal Recreational Lands Senior Pass. What a deal! It makes getting old almost worth it. For a one time fee of $10.00 it grants you admission to all sites run by the National Park Service and to many other federal sites like those run by BLM for the rest of your life! And if that isn’t enough, it is a trailhead parking pass for the National Forests. We are keeping track of our savings on this trip. So far we are up to $42.00 - $25 for Glacier Park, $7 for Pompey’s Pillar and $10 for Little Big Horn Battlefield. If you know anyone 62 or older who doesn’t yet have a pass let them know what a great deal it is.

Glacier Park - the east/eventful side

The Going To The Sun Road was closed part way up the west side because of some construction they are trying to squeeze in before the snow hits hard (They had better hurry up because some fell on Tuesday) so we drove around the Park to come in from the east side. It is a beautiful drive even if not actually through the park. The aspen stands were fantastic, especially when surrounded by the dark evergreens. When we got to the Visitor Center at St. Mary (the east end of the Going To The Sun Road)the sun was shining. We found out that the road was closed right before Logan Pass because of snow but that they expected it to be cleared by 1:00. So we lunched at Sun Point and enjoyed the fabulous views up and down St. Mary Lake. We took a short hike to another beautiful falls and then up the road to the pass.
The mountains were all out and it was even warm in the sun. We hiked along the Highline Trail which is cut into the wall above the Road on the west side of the pass. Did I say “above”? I meant “overhanging”! Part of the trail is a narrow catwalk literally cut into the rock wall. Fun!
Our next and final stop in the Park was at Many Glaciers. Seems like a cutesy name until you see it – there ARE many glaciers visible from the deck at the lodge. The lodge had just closed but the mountains and lake were still there for us to see. On the hillside we saw more big horn sheep and some mountain goats.
Park mammal count: 4 – deer, chipmunk, big horn sheep, mountain goat
Trip mammal count: 5 - deer, moose, chipmunk, big horn sheep, mountain goat

Glacier Park - the west/wet side

Lake MacDonald Lodge

Hike to Avalanche Lake

Waterfalls on the MacDonald River

We arrived at the Lake MacDonald Lodge in the rain. I was disappointed because I wanted Bear to see the mountains for his first trip to this glorious park. Instead we had to satisfy ourselves with the wonderful colors of the trees and waterfalls everywhere. Up as high as we could see (which did occasionally include the top of a mountain) all the way down to Lake MacDonald. We went for a hike in the not-yet-rain to Avalanche Falls. The access is by way of the Trail of the Cedars, a level boardwalk less than a mile long and a definite must see for everyone who comes this way. At the falls we left the boardwalk and hiked another two miles up to Avalanche Lake. Along the way we passed wonderful places to look down on the gorge for Avalanche Falls before turning into the forest and the rain. I confess to wondering if the whole thing was worth it – uphill and in the rain. It was! Avalanche Lake is one of those alpine lakes surrounded by mountains and this one had at least 4 visible waterfalls .
On the way back to the Lodge (wet, cold, hungry and tired) the rain had stopped so we pulled over at each overlook on the way. They all turned out to be waterfalls on the MacDonald River. They were fabulous and I had a nice chat with some folks from Western North Carolina – where my Dad was raised. One of the best parts of the National Parks is meeting all the people who have come here from around the world. We had dinner in the bar at the Lodge and met some interesting folks from near Manchester, England. He is a retired physics teacher and they came here to see Glacier and Yellowstone and were having a wonderful time.

Park mammal count: 2 – deer, chipmunk
Trip mammal count: 3 confirmed - deer, moose, chipmunk
Bear thinks that whatever the owl was eating doesn’t count.