Day 7: The Black Hills

Driving Dist/ Time: N/A

Sights Seen: Jewel Cave National Monument, Crazy Horse Memorial, Mount Rushmore National Memorial

Sights Missed: Devil's Tower National Monument, Deadwood, Wind Cave National Park, Custer State Park, National Woodcarving Museum, 1880 Train Ride, and I'm sure a number of others.

Beautiful. Awestriking. I've decided that I have said these words too many times already. But here's my problem- I don't know how else to describe most of the stuff we're seeing out here. We began the day by going to the second longest cave system in the world, Jewel Cave National Monument. (What, pray tell, is the longest? Mammoth Cave in Kentucky). Now we did not stroll through all of its over 140 miles of passageways, but rather took the 1/2 mile guided-tour version, which we felt gave us an excellent example of why this cave is called what it is, for you see, over 90% of Jewel Cave's surfaces are covered in calcite crystals. WARNING: SCIENCE AHEAD... All caves are formed by slightly acidic water eroding stone away. Now, most caves are formed by flowing water which give them the classical cave forms of stalactites, stalagmites, and flowstones. However, Jewel Cave was formed by standing water, which meant that as the water eroded the calcium from the cave's limestone surfaces, the now calcium-rich water just stayed there. Over time, the calcium would redeposit itself onto the walls in the form of calcite crystals, making Jewel Cave one of maybe a half dozen caves in the world of this type. END SCIENCE... Needless to say, Jewel Cave is a truly unique, and yes, beautiful site to see.

Once back atop of God's green earth, we went to see the Crazy Horse Memorial. Once completed, this statue to the great Lakota chief, Crazy Horse, will measure in at 563 ft high, making it the largest statue in the world. For comparison's sake, the entirety of Mt. Rushmore will fit inside Crazy Horse's head; it will also stand taller that the Washington Monument, the Statue of Liberty, and the Egyptian Pyramids at Giza. To be completely honest, while we have absolutely nothing against a memorial to the Lakota, we find it somewhat hypocritical that the descendants of this man are honoring him by dynamiting the same sacred hills he wished to protect in his name. Despite this, Crazy Horse is definitely something to see, and while there are some exhibits and Native American art displays (mostly art displays) at the site, we suggest forgoing the $27 fee to get in and take a perfectly decent (and free) photo of the memorial from the main road (see the sunset photo my mother took in the photo album for an example).

After honoring a great Native American, we decided to honor some people we knew a little better from history class and drove on to Mt. Rushmore, and it was amazing! We've all seen the Memorial from movies and all sorts of media before, but it is NOTHING like being there and seeing it firsthand. Just looking around you, you can see the Black Hills towering over the surrounding landscape, truly a monument to God's handiwork, and here, in front of you, is a small homage to four men who formed, sustained, and made this nation great! The 3 million visitors a year who come to Rushmore can't be wrong; so this is definitely a must see for any cross-country traveller.

States visited to date: 8

National Park Passport cancellations to date: 5