From Mitchell, we head for the “Badlands”! The countryside quickly changes from rolling plains to forested slopes – the Black Hills – and we’re entering gold country 🙂
We decide to go see Mount Rushmore straight away as we still have plenty of time. Unfortunately, they’ve built loads of stuff on the approach to the rock face, so it’s difficult to see the faces until you’re right in front of them. This isn’t so bad though, as they’re fairly small so you have to get close for a good look anyway. The clouds had been rolling in and while we were up there the lightning and thunder started, even shaking the ground when a few strikes hit nearby! I tried taking a photo but I’m not quick enough 😛
We stayed in a town called Lead, which is right next to Deadwood, the place the TV series of the same name is based. All the towns we’ve seen in the area are throwbacks to the gold rush era, with lots of old buildings preserved and newer ones built in the same style. And every single bar and café seems to be full of slot machines! I guess there’s still gold in them thar hills for some. Unfortunately, every time I tried to pan for gold (or poke at shiny things in a river at least) Katherine said I was embarrassing her, so I won’t be bringing back any this trip 😛
The next day we drove along the Needles Highway, which is punctuated by a series of extremely narrow tunnels through the rock. Somehow they manage to squeeze tour coaches through these tunnels, some of which are only 8ft wide. We stopped at one place to take pictures and were swarmed with chipmunks looking for food – they seem to be everywhere in America!
We went to check out the Crazy Horse monument too, which is the Native American equivalent of Mt. Rushmore. It’s a huge sculpture of a guy called Crazy Horse on horseback. Or rather, it will be – only the face is finished so far. The Black Hills were supposed to be left for the Native Americans, but they were forced out as soon as gold was found.
The last thing we visited on our way out of the Badlands was Devils Tower, also called The Bear Lodge, which is the mountain from Close Encounters Of The Third Kind. It really does look like it’s had a fork raked down the sides!
Next… drive until we drop!