Mt. Rushmore

From the Buffalo Gap National Grasslands, we drove to the Oreville Campground near Hill City South Dakota. This is a National Forest campground with no hook ups although there is water in the camp and pit toilets.

We had a thunder storm complete with hail one day and this is the only picture I got of the campground. If you would like more information, The official National Forest Service website is linked above.

The evening of our 1st day found us at the national monument called Mt. Rushmore.
The first glance at these sculptors strikes wonder in my mind as to the truly monumental undertaking it was. There lies below the main viewing point, a museum exhibiting the tools that were used, photos and examples of the cages, hanging from cables, the men worked in, and photos of the men who labored for 14 years to turn a mountain into a monument. Amazingly, none of the men who carved the monument died during the carving. Sadly, the man behind the curtain, the man who carved the models, who devised the method to transfer measurements from those models to the mountain, the sculptor himself,  Gutzon Borglum, did not live to see the finished monument. The museum below bears his name and pays tribute not only to the four faces carved into the mountain, but to the sculptor and the men who meticulously transferred his vision, his work into this huge piece of granite.

Every night at 9:00 pm, after the sun sets over Mt. Rushmore, The National Park Service holds (weather permitting) a ceremony witch includes a short film paying tribute to the four men whose faces are enshrined on Mt. Rushmore, Washington, Jefferson, Roosevelt, and Lincoln. At the end of the film, all member of the military past and present in attendance are asked to come to the stage. When all the military members are on stage everyone is asked to join in singing the Star Spangled Banner.  A pre selected honor guard then performs the flag lowering ceremony after witch the lights are turned off and the mountain is lit.

This was taken on the way out. The flags are the flags of all 50 states.

After a time the lights are turned back on and the military members are asked to introduce themselves with rank and branch.

It was a moving ceremony to to say the least and mere words cannot adequately describe how it made me feel.

This picture was taken the next day when we went back to get some shots of the canyon walls on the way into to the monument. This is one I kept.




By the way, the temperatures in the Black Hills were cooler. A welcome relief indeed.



We left the Black Hills with a full bucket, heading still further west for the next adventure. Still C & L On The Road, see you next time.