Shiny, Sparkly Feet - Sunday, June 4, 2017

Yesterday, I mentioned in the blog that we had a bonanza of wildlife sightings, but then I only mentioned the rabbit. "Silly rabbit, Trix are for kid.". Oh, sorry, I got distracted by a cereal ad from my youth. Anyway, in the past two days, our wildlife count includes elk, deer, pronghorns, bison, pheasants, turkeys, rabbits, prairie dogs, marmots, and a bull snake. Who knows what tomorrow will hold?

A quick factoid: Pringle, a very small town, is the elk capital of South Dakota. Now you know too. And that is where we saw one elk in our drive that day.

On to today: We woke up in our very nice lodge room at 6:00 a.m. Every morning, Susan and Darren make breakfast smoothies in their blender, and I make smoothies in my Magic Bullet. We're saving a ton of money by not going out to breakfast every morning. 

My breakfast smoothie recipe is a handful of half walnuts, three baby carrots sliced, a slice of apple (cut up), a slice of cucumber, a slice of raw beets (diced), two strawberries, sliced, about 4-6 blueberries, one cup of unsweetened almond milk, and a scoop of Costco's Orgain Organic Protein Powder (smooth chocolate fudge flavor). I put them all in the 8 oz. size Magic Bullet cup and run it for a little less than a minute. Mmm. Very tasty.

Crazy Horse Memorial is 15 minutes from our lodge. We wanted to be there before the 8:00 a.m. start time so we could register. That way we'd be in the start line by 8:00 a.m. when they open the trail to us. For three cans of food per person for the local food bank, we were admitted to the park for free.

All went well. We were registered and in line with 5 minutes to start time. Then I remembered I didn't have my knee brace on. It was very important to keep my knee stable, especially with the steep trails we would be walking. Darren ran to the van and retrieved my knee brace. I finished putting it on just before they opened the trail. Thank you, Darren!

Line waiting for trail to open--in front of us

Line waiting for trail to open--in back of us

Part of the San Antonio contingent--
Darren, Susan, Ellen, Mike

Darren, Susan, Ellen, me (with knee brace)

Shortly after that last photo, the trail opened and we were off much like the start of a marathon: everyone jockeying for position, trying to move around the slowpokes, and get out of the way of those faster than us.

And away we go!!!

Here's where the crowds thinned out...
going uphill. We stopped to breathe for a bit.

Very organized event with lots of signs

The day was absolutely stunning. The sky was azure with no clouds when we started. The temperature was a nice 64 degrees which, in our opinion, was perfect for walking. 

The trail started out with a lot of steep down. Uh-oh, I thought, that means a lot of up is coming. We made it through the up parts and let people pass us as necessary. We did our share of passing others. People who had done this walk in the past said that the trail was steeper in parts this year because they did away with a lot of switchbacks. 

On the trail, it was like old-home week. We saw Volksmarchers from other parts of the country, and from other clubs in Texas. I especially enjoyed seeing Carol and Dennis Romig from Menehune Marchers, the club Bob and I belonged to in Honolulu, Hawaii. We last saw them in Honolulu last December when they had their Volksmarch Christmas luncheon and walk. They graciously invited us when they knew we'd be in Waikiki.

Judge for yourselves how beautiful this walk is. Some high-level clouds moved in as we hiked.

On the trail

Crazy Horse's head taking shape, with the horse's head
outlined in white on the rock on the right.

Almost to the top

From the back side of the rock

A picture of a photo

In your face

From the front

From out on the arm - which isn't done yet

Me and Susan

Darren

Amazing detail

Someone's life got saved that day!

Darren and Susan at the tunnel

Susan and I at the tunnel

Susan taking a long look at Crazy Horse

Susan and John Ives

John Ives and Darren

Just awe inspiring

Three marmots on the rocks

Crazy Horse and tunnel. Above tunnel is his arm;
below tunnel will be his horse.

I had a marmot nature moment today. I was kind of by myself between people on the trail. Someone yelled, "Susan look!" On the left side of the road, two marmots were having a territorial dispute. Apparently, one male was running another male off. The marmot that was running away was heading directly toward me! At first I thought it was being friendly, but it just kept on running. The male back on the left side of the road was marking its territory after the other one left.

Our first walk of the day was complete. After stamping our Volksmarch books, we walked to the Visitor Center to see the movie about the history of making Crazy Horse. It's really an excellent film that shows how the whole idea started and how many years it has been in the making. 

The man who was hired to work on the sculpting of the rock started out working alone. He had limited money and limited equipment. Every day he would go out and haul up his equipment. There were mountain goats out there with him that loved his ladder and they would climb the ladder too. As the years went by, he got married. They had 10 children, all of whom helped him with the work. The boys helped out on the mountain. His wife and girls collected money from the tourists and made sure the tourists' questions were answered. He thought the ladies had the harder job.

Can you believe it took a decade to make the tunnel? That's a lot of time and some very careful explosive work.

Outside of the Visitor Center are the Black Hills Nature Gates. This work of art caught my eye immediately with the highly polished golden metalwork. I must have taken 30 photos of it, but I'll only share a couple here.

This looks like stained glass with the blue sky background.

Mink

Also outside is the sculpture of what Crazy Horse will look like when it's finished. Amazing, no?

Sculpture showing the finished product

Hanging in the Visitor Center are flags of the Indian
nations.

You're probably curious by now what the title "Shiny, Sparkly Feet" has to do with anything today. When we returned to the van, we wanted to change out of our hiking boots into more comfortable shoes and dry socks. After taking off our socks, our feet sparkled in the sun. It looked as though they had been sprinkled with glitter. The granite rock in parts of the Black Hills has mica in it. The mica is a very soft mineral and it breaks down easily. The resulting "glitter" dust collects in your socks and on your feet. Hence, sparkly, shiny feet.

As is usual when we finish walking, we were famished. About 10 minutes away, in Hill City, we found Hubcap Diner and decided to eat there. What a good decision! We beat the rush and were seated right away.

I had a patty melt, side salad, and a root beer float. The root beer float hit that sweet spot in my mouth and tummy. It was sooooo good. It had been years since I had a root beer float.

Susan M. with her Crazy Horse walk medal

Here's my medal too

Decor in the Hubcap Diner

Neon Marilyn Monroe

From Crazy Horse, we headed north to Devils Tower National Monument in Wyoming. We opted to do two 1.5 mile hikes for a total of 5k. The first hike was Tower Trail, a relatively easy paved trail that went around the base of Devils Tower. This afternoon's temperature was about 95 degrees. Thankfully, part of the walk around the Tower was in shade.

Devils Tower - 867' from its base to the top

View of surrounding area

Happy Susan M.

Tower Trail

When we finished this 1.5-mile hike, we stopped at the Visitor Center to talk to a ranger about the best option for our second 1.5-mile hike. The Volksmarch Club recommended doing the 1.5-mile hike around prairie dog town, but that would have been in full sun. No go on a 95-degree day. She recommended the Joyner Ridge Trail which had some sun in the meadow at the beginning and end of the walk, but passed through some forest and a shaded ravine. The three habitats this trail goes through are prairie, forest, and ravine. She told us to make sure to hike it clockwise, starting at the trail on the left. The main reason to hike the trail clockwise is so you go DOWN into the deep ravine rather than having to climb UP out of it on the steep hillside. So we took her advice and had some stunning views of Devils Tower. 

View from Joyner Ridge Trail

I zoomed in on Devils Tower

Darren and Susan in the prairie

View from a different angle

Farmland below us

Susan with deep ravine and Devils
Tower behind her

Don't know what kind of wildflower this is.

Heading back to the van through the prairie

We had a two-hour drive to Buffalo, Wyoming, where we would spend one night and do two pre-convention walks. The first thing we needed to do that evening after we arrived was laundry! Lots of dirty clothes had piled up after all the walking we've been doing. We were happy to find a clean laundromat across the street from our motel. 

This motel had the worst room for me on the trip. My room reeked of cigarette smoke. I immediately called the office and told them. They told me the whole motel is non-smoking. I said, "Then why is there an ashtray in my room?" He couldn't answer that. I told him I was very unhappy with my room. He said they were full and didn't have any other rooms available. So we unpacked the van and moved into our rooms. Susan and Darren's room didn't stink. 

About 1/2 hour later, I took the ashtray up to the office and told the manager I don't smoke and handed him the ashtray. He then told me, he found another room on the other side of the motel. I told him it was too late, I was already unpacked and didn't want to move all my stuff. I hated that room.

Well, another action-packed day ended and we needed to get some sleep because our next walk would be at 8:00 a.m. More tomorrow. Time for sleep.

A Capitol, A Flaming Fountain, A Stockade, and Hot Springs - Saturday, June 3, 2017

If you thought yesterday was busy, wait until you hear about today. Last night we stayed at Baymont Inn and Suites in Pierre, South Dakota. It was nice enough. The rooms were huge and had refrigerators and microwaves. It had rained overnight, but this morning is cool and fresh. We decided to start our walk at 7 a.m. and only do a 5k so we could hit the road.

The weekend walk start point was at a hotel across the street. We drove over in the van, traipsed across the parking lot, and asked the front desk clerk for the "Walk Box." He looked at us as if we were speaking a foreign language. We had to repeat it and then describe what the walk box looked like...usually a plastic file box with large "Walk Box" labels on the front and back. He obviously had never heard of it. {{{Insert frowning face here.}}}

Well, we were here and we were determined to do the walk. At least the clerk had a city map and showed us how to get to the Capitol. A walk there, down to Capital Lake and back would be just about 5k. Off we went, map in hand.

Let me insert here: When I think of a capital city, and from the capitals we've seen so far, there is usually a pretty large population base. Not so in South Dakota. Pierre's population is a little over 13,000.

On the way to the capital, there were a couple of cute things, in addition to sculptures of each governor from the state.

I like the play on words using "Prairie Potters"
instead of Harry Potter

Quilt store (NOT a governor from the state)

Our first view of the Capitol

Up close and personal

No matter what size the capital city is, the Capitol itself seems pretty impressive. We were too early for it to be open, so we satisfied ourselves by poking around the grounds down to Capitol Lake.

A history marker tells us about the capital. 

"South Dakota's capitol is a fine example of Renaissance Revival architecture. Exterior features include a copper dome and graceful Corinthian columns. A grand marble staircase, faux marble columns, colorful stained glass ceilings, and mosaic tile floors grace the interior."

Very imposing, indeed

Fighting Stallions Memorial

The "Fighting Stallions Memorial" below commemorates eight South Dakotans who perished in an airplane crash April 19, 1993. The state plane crashed due to propeller assembly failure in poor weather. Five state employees including the Governor and three Sioux Falls corporate leaders were on an economic development mission to the largest agricultural processing employer in South Dakota. 

"Fighting Stallions" is enlarged in bronze from the 1935 mahogany carving by South Dakota sculptor Korczak Ziolkowski. The sculpture was selected because it symbolically represents South Dakota's struggle to overcome adversity, desire for achievement, and courage to believe in the future. (Information comes from a plaque at the base of the sculpture.)

Below: South Dakota World War II Warriors: They fought for flag, for country, for us.

Darren and Susan at war memorial overlooking Capitol Lake

The lovely Capitol Lake below was built in 1913. The 92-degree water comes from a natural artesian well. The lake is the site for South Dakota's service memorials to veterans, law enforcement officers, and firefighters. The warm water never freezes, making it home to thousands of geese and other waterfowl during the winter.

I could not see the flame in the flaming fountain.

Pierre's old downtown

Today was a bonanza in the wildlife-sighting department. It started out with this little rabbit trying to decide if it should jump the form and cross the street or hightail it back to where it had been. A car was coming down the street and we were rooting for it to go back. This little guy was smart and turned tail back the way he had come.

This is the only way I would ever "shoot" a bunny!

At the end of the walk, we went past our hotel and I went back to the room to finish packing while Darren and Susan went to pick up their van from the hotel. When they went back into the starting point hotel, another employee had come on duty who knew where the Walk Box lived. Susan and Darren were able to get their Volksmarch books stamped. (Note: Susan is the AVA Southwest Regional Director [Texas, New Mexico] and she was able to make a stamp to stamp my books. Yay!)

We immediately loaded the van and headed to Custer, South Dakota. We had lots to do there. As soon as we arrived in Custer, we went to the grocery store that was the start point for the walk, signed in, went to the Chamber of Commerce to get our $4 (each) pass to use the Mickelson Bike Trail. 

Buffalo Bill bison at Chamber

Of course it was lunch time, so before we started the 11k (6.8 mile) walk, we headed across the street to Baker's Bakery for lunch. The meal was very good. Their logo is cute. Didn't have room for dessert, but the blueberry cheesecake, brownies, cookies, and seven-layer bars looked divine.

After lunch we went directly to the Gorton Stockade section of the Mickelson Rails-to-Trails path. The temperature was in the high 80s and the trail was asphalt with very little shade. Every once in a while we'd get a breeze which felt  good!

The trail followed alongside highway 16A on the way to Custer State Park so there was traffic noise the whole way. The scenery, however, was spectacular. We did pass a prairie dog town en route and it was fun to listen to them squeak their warning cries.

Mickelson bike path

Prairie dog sounding the alarm

LOVED the scenery!

On the trail we passed by the motel where we were supposed to spend the night. It looked like a lot of construction workers were staying there as there was construction equipment, along with pick-up trucks taking up most of their parking lot. The place looked sketchy at best, closed at worst.

About 1/4 mile down the road, we passed an adorable place called Calamity Peak Lodge. Here are some photos of it.

Calamity Peak Lodge

Susan and Darren on the path's bridge
in front of Calamity Peak Lodge

We slogged along the boring bike trail hoping for a cool visitor center at Gorton Stockade. It wasn't to be. There was a small stockade by a pretty lake, and a few historical markers. It took us maybe 15 minutes to look at everything. NO visitor center, but there was an outhouse. Woo hoo.

Mickelson Trail to Gorton Stockade

Gorton Stockade (yes, that's all of it)

I was more interested in the bird than the stockade
(this is Stockade Lake)

You can see how tall the walls are

Susan checking out the stockade

Darren and Susan inside the stockade

Susan and I making ourselves at home

My favorite view (looking out of the stockade)

We returned to Custer the way we had arrived, walking back to retrieve Susan and Darren's van at the grocery store. It was after 3 p.m. so it was time for us to check into our motel, Mystic Valley Inn. I'm mentioning the name of this motel so what happened to us won't happen to you. Here's the story:

I booked two rooms at Mystic Valley Inn on August 19, 2016 through hotels.com. An immediate confirmation was sent to me when I booked the rooms and then three days before our arrival date, I received a re-confirmation from hotels.com for Mystic Valley Inn--Valley Motel. 

In addition, I tried multiple times to call Mystic Valley Inn on my own to reconfirm, but no one ever answered. I had a bad feeling about it, but thought maybe they were short staffed and were out cleaning rooms or something. The phone wasn't disconnected, but there was no answering machine either.

Remember, we walked by this place earlier today and it looked like it was inhabited by construction workers with equipment parked in the lot? When we drove up, Susan went to the office and knocked on the door. No one answered. We looked in the office window and the whole room was torn apart to be remodeled, we guessed. We looked in guest room windows and none had beds made or looked like anyone had stayed in them for quite some time. 

Plan B: Do you also remember we walked past Calamity Peak Lodge? After the debacle above, we drove 1/4 mile down the road and stopped in the Calamity Peak Lodge office to find out if they had any rooms available. Turns out they did as two different Volksmarch parties had canceled. They had a two-bedroom suite with a full kitchen. The price for us to split the room was less expensive than the price for two rooms at Mystic Valley Inn. We took it. What a great place. The three of us were ecstatic and everything worked out for the best. No advance deposit had been paid to Mystic Valley Inn so we weren't out any money for that.

Here are more photos of Calamity Peak Lodge...It is very convenient to Custer, South Dakota, and Custer State Park. (Oh, and close to the Gorton Stockade. LOL.)

Calamity Peak Lodge and grounds

Calamity Peak Lodge setting

View from Calamity Peak Lodge

Each room has its own outside BBQ, table and chairs

Calamity Peak Lodge office

We stowed all our belongings in the room and took off immediately; still lots to do today. Wind Cave National Park was on our respective bucket lists so we went to the Visitor Center to see about going on a tour. All tours were sold out for the rest of the day. They told us the next day started summer hours and they would have tours throughout the day. Susan shopped in their Visitor Center and "adopted" a bison--a 16-year-old female which she named Cassiopeia. She gets a stuffed animal out of the deal and updates on "her" bison sent to her email. That was our rather rapid in-and-out of Wind Cave National Park. 

One more walk for us today: 5k (3.1 mi.) historic Hot Springs city walk. What a walk and what a beautiful day for it! This place deserves a repeat visit to spend more time. Everywhere we looked we were surprised by something: a building on a cliff that looked like a castle, pink sandstone buildings, steep stairs in multiple places so you can hike to the top of the cliffs. 

They could do a stair-stepper Volksmarch in this town! Then everyone could go to the warm pool to ease their aching muscles at the end of the stair-stepper challenge. 

Hot Springs, South Dakota

Susan and I were talking away, looking at the walk directions, when Darren said, "Stop! Don't go there!!" 

"Why?" we asked. 

"Because there's a big snake there, didn't you see it?" 

No, neither one of us had. The snake was about 8' long. Thankfully, it was not a poisonous snake. 

The police officer that we reported the snake to and showed the photo to, thought it was a bull snake. He said it would still hurt if it bit us. He was going to go track it down (at least that's what he told us.)

Bull snake in front of the post office.

Bull snake at the bottom of the post office steps.

Colorful buffalo mural in Hot Springs, SD

Old storefronts

This buffalo made it to the roof!

Fun to read.

In case you need to know this for Jeopardy!

Smallest Union Depot in the world

Does anyone know what kind of flowers these are. I LOVE them!! Found out they are clematis. [Thank you, Patricia Hotchkiss for the I.D.]

WOW!! Clematis.

While on our walk, we stopped at a Chinese buffet restaurant for dinner. It was Saturday night and the town was dead. There were four people in the restaurant when we went in. Those people left and we were the only four eating dinner. I didn't really care for the food. Two of my deep-fried shrimp had the shells on them. Ptui! After dinner, two doors down, was an ice cream parlor where I had dessert to get the bad taste of the Chinese food out of my mouth. The ice cream was memorable--some kind of sea salt, caramel, chocolate chunk variety.

Look at these rocks and layering

A long, long time ago, people would come from all over to "take the waters." In other words, they would soak in these high-mineral-content waters to soothe what ailed them. The sign below analyzes what's in the water.

A waterfall with no name

Susan is retired from the Army, and Darren from
the Air Force...a fitting sign for them

Part of a large mural on the VFW building

The beautiful creek that flows through Hot Springs, SD

We headed back to our cute room in Custer but only long enough to freshen up. We wanted to make it to Mt. Rushmore for the night-time history movie of each president up there, the lighting of the faces, and the honoring of military personnel present that night. It was 50 miles one way to Mt. Rushmore from our motel. ETA back to the lodge: 11:10 p.m. 

That was our Saturday. We all slept soundly Saturday night! Up and at 'em early Sunday morning. We want to start the Crazy Horse Volksmarch right at 8:00 a.m. (along with hundreds of our closest friends). Who's the crazy one?

[Note:All opinions expressed in this blog are strictly my own. You need to make up your own mind on what you think.]